Earning the space between someone’s ribs

When I was at Langland, Sir John Hegarty came to give us a talk. He chatted about his vineyard and Johnnie Walker. But the thing he said that stuck with me the most was that the only media space worth occupying is ‘the space between someone’s ears'.

I think the best advertising, and the best brands, do that and then some. They leave something in the people they touch - something that extends beyond those people’s thoughts about Coke or Dairy Milk, or which drug is best for the patient in front of them.

Great brands earn hearts. Great brands become a tiny part of people’s souls. A bit of added, subconscious pleasure that exists outside of the process of buying and sipping fizzy pop or tearing open purply plastic or typing a prescription.

I know plenty of people who see influencing people without them being totally conscious of the influence as a bad thing, but I think that's missing the point.

Coke and Dairy Milk are two examples of sometime great brands because they do stuff that adds joy to the world, both to people who consume them and those who don't. If those consumers are equipped to take it or leave it (advertisers can and should help with this), then surely we're much better off with brands than without them...

What about in healthcare? I used to think advertising in healthcare shouldn't exist - see my post on this. But I've seen and worked on so many examples of health and wellness brands that are doing their bit to change the world for good that I think it's hard to argue them away. So long as they make the effort to do good where they can.

It's the belief that healthcare brands can and should do good that motivates the Soul Copy approach to every brief. We search for the opportunity to create or transform health and wellness brands into vehicles that make people feel better about their lives. Because that's surely the most effective way to earn not only a space in people's minds, but their hearts too.

#mediaspace #greatads #giveitsoul