Why CMOs Should Create a Movement, Not an Advertising Campaign

 Initially, when the Smart car wanted to sell you a new model instead of talking about the usual advertising claims, like how great the car drives and how fuel efficient it is, Smart USA took a radically different approach. It came out with the idea of being against certain things. It asked you, the consumer, to think about what you were against in life, like excess stuff you buy but don't need, McMansions with four car garages, and of course gas guzzlers.

This is an unusual thing for a car company to do. It was not simply pushing polished cars in ads; it was saying something controversial. It’s taking a stand for and against something. And it went beyond advertisements and set up social media pages. Why would advertising do this, why would the brand have this social message?

Well, the Smart car, with the help of StrawberryFrog, the world’s first Movement Marketing, Advertising and Design company based in New York, was trying to spark a national movement against dumb mindless over-consumption. The thinking was: "Hey, if we could get millions of people excited about joining the fight against waste and dumb consumerism, it's a great way to get them excited about the Smart car."

In the age of great social movements, this unique approach brought to the world by Scott Goodson and his company StrawberryFrog, is part of a larger trend in advertising. To get people excited about a brand in this new social-media-Facebook-crazy world, you need to dump the old advertising playbook and spark a movement that people can get involved with. 

What is a movement? 

It is usually a big idea that people are thinking and talking about in life. As a brand, if you can capture that idea, crystallise it with emotion and rally loads of people around it, then you have the makings of a movement. You have to develop it and expand it in places and on platforms to interact with people. This is how you gradually build the movement in ways that appeal to more and more people in more and more ways.

We have seen movements before with brands like VW in the 1960s and more recently Apple, which not only created ad messages but experiences. Apple gave their fans and fanatics a sense that they are a part of this revolutionary movement going on in the tech world, going against big brother and IBM, standing up for creativity in their messaging, a counter-culture movement. You can even say that the Apple store designed by the firm Eight is a clubhouse for the Apple movement, a place you go to feel a part of the movement where you are cool, smart and unique, a cut above the rest, with abundant creativity.

Brands like Nike have developed powerful movements for its own brand. Nike was smart by getting involved in a big way but very unconventionally and low-key, without big ads, which gave the movement support and credibility and allowed it to take off and grow. Recently they went big and took a stand for Colin Kaepernick. The benefit for Nike was tremendous.

Why is the emphasis on a movement more important than ever? Because traditional ads are not as effective as they used to be. Consumers don’t trust brands as they once did so brands are left trying to find more meaningful roles in people’s lives. And products are very similar, no one believes that my stuff makes my teeth whiter than the other stuff. Movements are a new and more powerful way to communicate with you, the consumer.

Movements are also for individuals with a cause they are passionate about. In the past the barriers for one person to put a dent in the universe were very high. No more. Take Kate Milliken, for instance, who recently launched a movement and a powerful film at The Nantucket Project about resilience in the face of MS. Her trailer is now on YouTube and you can watch it here.

Why is this "movement" marketing trend happening? Advertisers need a new way to engage with people. People are savvy about ads. Some brands understand this and create wildly successful advertising by making fun of ads to get you to pay attention, like Geico. Movements, on the other hand, attempt to go beyond an ad. Is this a way of advertising to infiltrate your life? Absolutely. The question is, are we a positive element or are we an negative element? Are we going to make you angry that we are in your face(book) and all we are doing is exploiting it, or are we contributing in some way, by adding new ideas, creating new discussions, that make you feel better and happier every time you and the brand get together? That is what we will have to be judged on. Since brands are going to be part of your life, the question is what are they going to add? Can they have fun with you, stir your inner soul and align with your passions?

There is always the risk of greenwashing and phoniness in this new model of communication. Just look at the backlash against Pepsi ad featuring Kendall Jenner which according to The NY Times "trivialised the Black Lives Matter movement". 

This is not an example of how brand fueled movements are wrong. This is an example of how people can see through greenwashing and a bad brand movements. We’ve proven that companies grow faster when they attach themselves to movements that people are passionate about. It’s all in how you do movement marketing and it’s not easy to do well. 

Some movements bring exciting ideas to the table. And if they get it right they can help people get things done. Take for instance the recent Movement for Coca Cola’s Peace Tea standing for Randomer Random Acts of Kindness by StrawberryFrog, the Movement Making Company. According to The Drum, Peace Tea donated $1 to RandomActs.org for every like on a Peace Tea post. Sharing a Facebook post and commenting on an Instagram post triggered a $2 donation. 

How viral ads have exploded into the mainstream

Often these movements try to express a philosophy about the way you live your life, the choices you make, what you stand for, what you are against. For example, look at the recent Jim Beam "Make History" movement created by StrawberryFrog. This movement helped rebuild the brand with great results by taking a stand for equality and against the patriarchy, and crystallising this stand with the first female spokesperson for a whiskey: Mila Kunis. Or the “onUp” movement for SunTrust Bank. At the movement siteonUp.com almost 4 million participants have taken a stand against financial stress and for financial confidence.