The best advertising is either very fast or very slow.
Unfortunately, most advertising is neither.
First, some definitions…
“Fast” advertising is highly contextual — a quick, clever & unexpected brand response to culture and/or real-world events.
Oreo’s ‘Dunk in the Dark’ tweet during the 2013 Super Bowl blackout is a pro-typical ‘fast’ ad. So is Old Spice’s ‘Response’ campaign. Or KFC’s ‘FCK’ apology ad.
The beauty of ‘fast’ advertising is that it implicitly attaches favorable attributes to the brand.
If nothing else, that it is culturally aware — paying attention to what its consumers are paying attention to. Also, that the brand possesses some audacity — the guts to act quickly…and bear the consequences.
Consumers are willing to forgive some quality for speed.
Sometimes, timeliness is effectiveness.
A well-timed “fast” ad can be infinitely more impactful than a perfectly crafted, but late ad.
In our always-on social media environment, a fast, “free media” tweet often has a good chance of overpowering a million dollar, paid-media TV spot.
Also, consider that a 1 in 10 success rate for fast ads is great.
Whereas with a million dollar TV spot, anything but a 1 in 1 success rate is a disaster.
“Slow” advertising sits on the other extreme.
“Slow” is when a brand sticks to one ‘thing’ for years or decades.
It’s “Just Do It.” vs. Impossible is Nothing / All In / Here to Create.
It’s a single Absolut bottle expressed in a hundred ways vs. whatever it is Absolut is doing now.
‘Slow’ ads work because the consistency of one idea executed across time, topics and shifting cultural trends imbues deeper & deeper meaning into a brand.
“Slow” earns love cumulatively, not transactionally.
It has the effect of making consumers feel like the brand actually believes what it’s saying.
It feeds itself, by demonstrating over and over again, how universally true “it” is despite how times change.
Many forget that the first “Just Do It” ad was about an old guy who still runs.
Then, most recently, to politics.
That’s really “slow.”
‘Shot on an iPhone’ helps Apple own photography because it’s one idea stretched across people, landscapes, architecture for iPhone after iPhone after iPhone. Its brilliance lays within its simple conviction to showing things — all things — shot on a iPhone — all iPhones.
Be “slow” enough with an idea and you’ll start to own it.
“Slow” advertising becomes iconic advertising.
But while “fast” advertising is hard, “slow” advertising is nearly impossible because it requires something we systemically lack in the creative industry — patience.
“Slow” isn’t slow the first time it’s executed.
“Slow” usually doesn’t have the monster splash the first time around.
“Slow” takes time, endurance through the occasion mistake and conviction from all (and constantly rotating) stakeholders.
And worst of all, it requires what we despise most — a re-run.
We hate inheriting others’ work.
“Slow” doesn’t feel ‘new.’
We like to make our mark, shake things up, “re-position” — when, most of the time, we really should just stay the course.
But back to the beginning — I believe the worst speed of advertising is unfortunately most common.
For a lack of a better term, ads made at “medium” speed dictated by product launches, historic seasonality and ultimately, internal budget allocation processes.
No human buying the stuff your ad is trying to sell cares about your fiscal year, brand planning process or when Wall Street wants to hear good news.
Not one.
Yet, so much of advertising is based on a desire for internal predictability and cadence, not an attempt for real-world effectiveness.
This contradiction of “speed” leads work that is either mistimed or forced to fit a time (i.e. a fixation on “annual campaigns”).
Go fast or go slow.
Or go home.
