There are two ways to prepare the carrot for consumption: it can be left untouched (raw) or it can be cooked. Invitations to become a customer are either raw or cooked. We’re most familiar with cooked invitations. Cooked invitations are about production values, deliberate creative messaging, market research, and technique.
That’s the traditional invitation most of us grew up with. We felt manipulated by the broadcast model of radio and TV commercials, gimmicky print ads that urged us to “come on in”, and sales techniques which had us signing on the dotted line before we knew what hit us. While there are good and honest examples of cooked invitations, many of us have grown weary (and leery) of the overcooked world of marketing.
That’s why raw is “moving up the charts”. Raw brand invitations don’t worry about super-high production value. They avoid slick. They’re very direct and straightforward. Transparency is more important than technique. And it’s served up using social networking and conversational media. YouTube, blogs, wikis, and word of mouth are some of the great ways to disseminate the raw, unfiltered story of your brand. Your potential customers, tired of the overcooked messages of the broadcast world, are eating it up.
Don’t get me wrong, I like a highly-produced Super Bowl ad as much as the next guy. But there is a line that gets crossed and that’s when I feel the hype – some marketer is trying to yank me around. That’s when I go looking for a raw, direct, and honest invitation to become someone’s customer.
People are now faster and smarter than the advertising and sales guys – they have been for some time. Ad agencies schooled in the traditional cooked version of creative are now open to something a bit more raw and believable. Raw is catching on.
Your brand is marked by the way you invite people to buy into what you are selling. Have you thought through how much cooking is too much? Consider dicing up your brand’s message and serving it raw – at least once.
Some like it raw.
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