I want to believe

It is a fact of history that a lot of the great ad men and women of the last century had a strong background or upbringing in the Christian church (I’m talking about the western world here, my knowledge of the Indian, Chinese and other ad industries being rather limited.)

I have always assumed that there are two key reasons for this, the first being that the church are the past masters at ‘spreading the gospel’ (and thus a great place to learn one’s trade), and the second being that, as with everything else in life, there is a point at which advertising, and therefore brand-building, moves into the territory of faith.

Faith is the belief in something or someone, and it is a belief that cannot be wholly justified with reference to cold hard facts. The commercial world, the market-place, the universe of brands, is full of ‘communities of faith’.

The classic example of this is Apple, which as many others before me have observed is structured essentially along the lines of a religious organization, with a founding father/prophet (SJ RIP), a core philosophy or principle (design shall overcome), places of worship (Sarit, Yaya) and a large and devoted band of disciples (you know who you are).

The point is that ‘followers’ of Apple are operating at a level several degrees above that of the purely rational. We all know that you can easily out-spec an Apple with a custom-designed PC for half the price, but that is not the issue. Just as you cannot convince certain people that dinosaurs did for a fact once roam this earth, so too you cannot convince true Apple-ologists that that which they worship could have a superior competitor – for to do so is to challenge their most basic article of faith.

Why the religious talk on a Monday morning? Because today my heart has been enlightened by a double-page spread that is essentially one big, glorious, outstanding statement of faith.

And I quote, “We believe our country has what it takes to be the next technology leader of Africa and we are passionately working hard to contribute our share towards this vision.”

If you pay any attention to these posts, which you probably don’t, you will notice that one of the words that I highlight most frequently is believe. This is not by accident. This is because if you do not understand, when you boil it right down, that advertising is fundamentally and ultimately about the creation and maintenance of belief (or perhaps more accurately ‘communities of belief’), you do not understand a thing.

Why buy Omo instead of Sunlight? Because you believe it is better. I can produce 5,000 scientists to prove that Omo is better, but I can also produce 5,000 scientists to prove the opposite….

Why buy an Audi instead of a BMW? Or a BMW instead of a Benz? Or a Toyota instead of a Nissan? Or a Nissan instead of a Subaru? Lots of question marks I know, but it’s ultimately a question of belief. What do you believe that the car you drive will say about you? How do you believe it will make you feel? How do you believe it will handle? What do you believe your friends will say about it?

I am not ignoring or discounting the importance of rational underpinnings to the purchase decision-making process, but they are just underpinnings. You can’t have a good house without good foundations, but you don’t fall in love with a set of foundations, you fall in love with the house…

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again because for me it is an article of faith, a brand must stand for something. Here we have a brand taking a very strong stand – we can lead the continent in this industry. If you are not moved by this stand then I’m not sure what will move you…

As per the laws of physics, the stronger a stand a brand takes, the stronger the reaction from the market. To repeat, this brand has taken a very strong stand – simply look at some of the words used – love, believe, country, leader, passionately, share, vision – this is strong stuff, confident stuff, signs of a brand that knows exactly where it’s going and who it wants to go their with.

Plus it’s fun! Their smiles are genuine, you can see it in their eyes. It’s one of the best ads I’ve seen in this town for a long time. Care has been taken in it’s making and a generous dose of love applied, plus don’t tell me it doesn’t make you wish you worked for them too…