When it comes to advertising, we often believe that working on multinational brand campaigns is the ultimate goal – the advertising paradise. Recently, I made the shift from working for multinational brands to focusing on local, regional brands. To my surprise, I began to really enjoy the genuine and real impact that my work has on the success or failure of the local and small businesses I was doing advertising for. I immediately felt a larger sense of responsibility, even if the budget for our campaigns were so much lower. What I soon realized was that when you work for local, regional brands you really get invested in their business, you become part of their team, and you end up wearing many more hats than you expected. But, I must admit, there is something that sometimes pulls me back. Every time I work on a project I feel a void, a huge absence of the well-known and praised “Big Idea”. An idea that is so important, that it ends up being the end takeaway for consumers; it is what they remember, what they take home, and what motivates them to make the purchase.
What I’ve come to realize is that “big ideas” or overarching campaigns are almost obsolete. Once in a while, you come across businesses that do operate with big idea campaigns, but sadly they are only a few. I think as a society, we underestimate the importance of consistency and we overestimate speed. I believe that there is nothing like having an overarching big idea that dictates not only the overall messaging but also the look, tone, and feel of your brand. It is this same idea that should be expressed throughout all channels in order to become a memorable brand. The bottom line is that consistency = brand loyalty and strong brand presence, and if you don’t’ have these, your chances of failure are so much larger.
Why is it important for small, local, and regional businesses to start thinking like multinational brands?
One thing we must all remember is that big ideas are not the actual executions. It is like an ingredient, the most important one; it is the strategy and the insights crafted into a creative big idea that can then be executed in many different shapes and forms. So, instead of wasting money and time on developing seasonal campaigns that have no connection to one another, I highly recommend investing time in developing an overall creative campaign that is grounded in a well thought-out strategy that is meant to make an impact and provoke action.