Humanise the product.

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As the world of marketing gets increasingly rational and logical and, if we’re honest, subsequently ineffective, I believe we’ll start seeing a resurgence of one of the oldest tricks in the book.

Humanising the product.

What do I mean by that? Giving the brand or product a personality. Not just ‘features and benefits’, but quirks, traits, behaviours. Because that’s what humans relate to more than anything else. Other humans. Because when we see ourselves or attributes we’re naturally attracted to in a product we become similarly endeared to it as we would another person. More so than a bottle of dishwashing liquid with all new patented SuperBioFreshTec®, anyway. (Much to the chagrin of all the Product Managers out there, I’m sure.)

Humanising a brand or product creates a bridge of communication that can’t be achieved via a laundry list of callouts. And there’s a whole host of ways to go about it.

Take this classic Altoids ad.

It’s incredibly simple, but equally as clever for a few reasons. It says ‘strong’, but via a more human and quickly interpretable version of ‘strength’, whilst also leveraging a unique product truth - the metal container - that was otherwise fairly inane as a ‘feature’.

Stabilo quite brilliantly gave life to the usually mundane act of ‘highlighting’ something by humanising the act itself. Taking the thought of ‘highlight the remarkable’, which is generally why you would highlight something, and contextually humanising it.

Adidas even managed to humanise a media placement by turning double page spreads into people working out.

Then there’s the quite literal humanisation of brands perfectly captured by Apple in their Mac vs. PC campaign. It’s a brilliant exercise in perception-creating, something that Apple is near unrivalled in, that positioned Apple as the more approachable, young, creative computer against the dweeby corporate PC. A platform so versatile that this clip is 30 minutes long. 30 minutes of spots. Hard to think of many modern campaigns with legs like that.

Many years ago when working on iSelect, a ‘bill comparison’ service (not exactly an exciting endeavour), we humanised the process of comparing energy bills via a magician. Called ‘The Billusionist’.

And who can forget this classic. (I won’t say what it’s for just in the rare chance you haven’t seen it before.)

Side note. DTSA has become quite expensive to run. And it’s all your fault.

In all seriousness, I really appreciate the following and support. But as the follower count grows, so does the hosting costs. And I’m talking thousands here. I’ve toyed with making it paid to cover it, but I don’t really want to wall off content.

So I’m going to experiment with ads. I’ve rejected every offer up to this point, but if there are some that feel somewhat aligned, I may start including them.

Every click helps keep DTSA free (and grease the old wheels). Much appreciated.

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Then there’s humanising elements around the product or brand that allows you to take ownership of things you otherwise wouldn’t be able to.

Like elements of nature.

Or testicles.

And on top of inventing a new avenue of connection, it can unlock some super fun worldbuilding that allows you to make people imagine a cracker being knighted.

Or picture a vengeful bottle of ice tea John Wick-ing your thirst.

Or cry over a lamp.

Or become Betty White because they haven’t eaten a Snickers which, in a genius move, is the only way to turn back into themselves again.

It’s a simple technique, and well-trodden, so you do need to approach it from a fresh angle, but it’s a very, very fast way to connect with your audience on a level that transcends being an inanimate object or immaterial service.

And it just makes you smile, doesn’t it? Every ad here just makes me smile.

‘Animals’ and ‘characters’ have been having their moment lately, and for good reason as they are often fun and interesting and memorable, but as with most trends, the executions become diluted by being created out of perceived necessity rather than truth or insight. And animals and characters aren’t always ideas in and of themselves (sometimes they are, granted). Whereas many of these campaigns above are human truths expressed through human behaviours and human ideas, which to me feels more tactile than just making an ad ‘with a cute animal in it’.

So, have a think. If that brand, or product, or who or what it interacts with, was a person - what would they be like? How would they talk? Who would be their friends or enemies?

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