The turn of the 20th century saw advertising evolve more than ever before, arguably more than the swift rise digital marketing had in the 21st century (but that's another article altogether).
The second industrial revolution (technological revolution) enabled the rapid expansion of railways and telegraph lines, allowing for the commerce of goods and ideas to exchange unlike ever before. Globalisation and increased trading routes created further opportunity in foreign markets, intensifying the competition to win consumers’ hearts.
In an effort to hold the attention and minds of their customers, major brands during this time began to understand the importance of creativity. They began to realise how effective it was to highlight what made their product different to their competitors.
While ads were certainly becoming more engaging during this era, many of them still lacked personality. They were often very heavy on information with an emphasis on quality, function, and price. Even across separate industries the ads looked and sounded the same. Now this wasn’t really a problem when the world was a little smaller and competition was light. But as international markets and competitors were seen on the horizon, the pressure on advertisers to innovate became more apparent.
Campaigns that focused on ‘hard sells’ or ‘information dumps’ became less common as the years went on, in favour of shorter, more creative copywriting. Once advertisers saw how effective this was in gaining audiences attention, the industry was brought to a new standard.
In the years following this creative revolution, a man called Rosser Reeves took this memorable approach a step further with the concept ‘unique selling proposition’. Although this philosophy had been used by Reeves for years, the term was officially coined in his book Reality in Advertising (1961).
To summarise this fancy phrase, a unique selling proposition (USP) encapsulates why your product or service is better than the competition. Basically a USP translates “Buy this from us, here's why”, with a little more flair. This to-the-point sales pitch often forms the foundation for a brand’s identity, personality and messaging.
A perfect example of the USP being used in an advertising campaign during this era was for M&M’s. Their product was simple, a candy-coated chocolate. The first of its kind. Rosser Reeves summarised their unique offering into one sentence: “it melts in your mouth, not in your hands”.
Rosser Reeves M&M’s USP Campaign - Melts In Your Mouth, Not In Your Hand (1954)
Ok, we understand what a USP is, but why is it important? Because the USP set the stage for more brand identity, more creative writing, and more attention-grabbing design. This eventually led to my favourite era of advertising: the 60’s.
The 1960’s was an exciting time for advertising. Agencies took bold swings, businesses drastically increased their marketing budgets, and for the first time copywriters and art directors worked together on campaigns.
While that sounds like a rather obvious pairing, it was uncommon for these two to collaborate until William Bernbach came along. In the early days copywriters and designers would work separately. The writer would come up with the copy and the designer made it look good, often without ever meeting each other. It was Bernbach who thought ‘hey, let's put these two in a room together and let them exchange ideas’.
The result? Another revolution. Campaigns of this era had a more distinct look. The graphics got better, the copy was shorter, and they clearly complemented one another.
The more creative these campaigns became the less they seemed to focus on the product's quality. This more creative approach saw the rise of another major evolution that’s still a pillar in all marketing to this day: Selling emotion. Advertisers realised people resonate more with how they believe a product will make them feel rather than the product itself.
To help harness the power of emotion, advertisers created brand personalities, worked with celebrities, and cultivated a brand image that people wanted to be associated with. This is where we begin to see classic 1960’s advertising in full swing. Emotion-based campaigns, brand personalities and the unique selling proposition.
The 1960’s is also where we began to see the younger generation become a target demographic for the first time. Prior to the 60’s young people were often seen as an extension of the parents when it came to selling. Therefore ads focused more towards mum and dad. This changed when the post war baby boom saw the population of people aged under 25 skyrocket, providing a large untapped market with disposable income.
Fortunately, for advertisers, emotion and lifestyle driven campaigns were received very well by the younger generation.
Looking back on successful campaigns through the decades is like a time capsule to society. Writing about your product's quality worked just fine back when there was practically no outside competition in the early 1900’s. But when the world becomes your market, you need strong brand perception, personality, a USP, and captivating advertising.
The leaps we took from the 1900s to the 1960’s shows how dynamic and ever-changing organisations must be to remain at the top of their industry. And when you consider how little advertising philosophy has changed since the 60s, you can understand just how impactful that decade was to the advertising world.
Albeit with a modern approach for the digital landscape, Beans apply these foundational principles in our advertising all these years later. Understanding how these ideas and practices began allow us to truly appreciate and part-take in the ongoing evolution of advertising.
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