SIMPLE IS DIFFICULT
The power of simple thinking.
Jordan Delapoer
Partner & Director, Brand Strategy
NORTH
Simplicity gets a bad rap. A simple person, a simple problem, a simple solution — we place little value on simple. Instead, we hold in high regard the complex, because complexity suggests hard work, commitment, intelligence, diligence, and focus.
We’re thinking about it all wrong. Simple and difficult aren’t constants; they aren’t states of being. They’re approaches, processes, ways of thinking. Simple and difficult should be used to describe how we attack a problem, not the problem itself. Complex thinking is guaranteed to make the most uncomplicated subject arduous, unnecessarily. Simple thinking, on the other hand, can transform even the most daunting problems into manageable topics. The thing is, thinking simply is extraordinarily difficult.
Steve Jobs once said:
“Simple can be harder than the complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”
When you’re looking at a big problem it’s easy to be overcome by the volume of information, the volume of data, the volume of inputs. It’s the rare mind that can look at a problem as a whole and intuit a simple solution. In a recent interview, Joe Staples, ECD of Wieden+Kennedy Portland, breaks it down into simple terms. Joe says, “Don’t focus on outcomes; focus on the process.” Joe’s approach is to perfect the thing in front of him and then move on to the next problem. Essentially, he’s talking about breaking big problems down into all their little pieces and solving those pieces bit by bit. He explains that if you go wrong in your thinking, you don’t have to throw the whole thing out; just go back to the last point you were right and move forward again. Point being, if you focus on the outcome, you don’t perfect the thing right in front of you, and you ultimately sabotage the very outcome you’re working toward.
In the world of marketing and communication, complexity is the most direct path to failure. You know it when you see it — ads that aren’t exactly sure what they’re trying to say, what problem they’re trying to solve. They try to cram everything into a TV spot or a print ad and in the process say nothing at all. At the risk of being gauche, I’m going to borrow from a Thoreau quote to make a point about marketing. Henry David Thoreau once said:
“Our life is frittered away by detail. An honest man has hardly need to count more than his ten fingers, or in extreme cases he may add his ten toes, and lump the rest. Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!” he writes. “[L]et your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail….Simplify, simplify.”
As consumers, inundated constantly with marketing messages, I’d argue our attention is frittered away by detail. Unfortunately, that’s much of what we see every day across our iPhones, across the pages of our magazines — unclear marketing messages not worth paying attention to.
Recently, two examples of exceptional advertising jumped out at me. In both cases they reduced the problem to an exceptionally simple strategic and creative idea. As a result not only are they memorable, they’re fun, they’re worth sharing, and evidently they’re worth writing about.
The first is the recent Arby’s campaign, We Have the Meats. The agency’s job was to attract a younger consumer to the Arby’s brand while promising freshness and quality. The easy solution would have been to follow the fast food industry convention of showing overly stylized beauty shots of the food to convey freshness.
Or they might have gone the Carl’s Jr. route, relying on shallow sexual innuendo to attract a younger male consumer.
Instead, we got this. Meatcraft.
And these…
You can watch the full line-up on the Arby’s YouTube channel.
These spots are risky. They’re equal parts appetizing and gross. They’re produced impeccably. Importantly, they’re worth paying attention to. They’re all that because they’re beholden to one, and only one, simple idea. The Meat.
And because of that simplicity, when Arby’s accidentally failed to fulfill their contractual obligation to feature Pepsi products, they were able to quickly and elegantly come up with this:
When you have a simple idea, free of ambiguity or confusion, it can liberate you to innovate. Beginning from a singular, clear point allows you to explore wildly and find ideas and solutions that would have otherwise been shrouded in complexity. For example, to further demonstrate just how seriously Arby’s takes its meat, the brand cooked a brisket for 13 hours, on TV, setting a Guinness Record for the longest commercial, which of course created even more reason for people to talk about Arby’s commitment to the meat.
From the New York Times:
The ad begins with the brisket being loaded into a smoker equipped with an internal light. Then it just sits there and cooks. Finally, half a day later, any viewers still tuned in will see the arms of Arby’s chef Neville Craw as he removes the brisket, slices it and compiles it into a sandwich with some gouda, fried onions and barbecue sauce.
I’m hungry.
Another recent example of creative liberation and innovation born from a simple premise comes to us from Honda UK with the incredible digital experience, The Other Side.
If you haven’t already explored this interactive film, you should probably do it now, before I spoil it for you. Ok, got that out of the way? Pretty great, right?
What would most car brands have done? Features and benefits spots. They would have told you all about fuel efficiency, cabin capacity, and performance. They would have over-explained.
What Honda needed the consumer to understand was that there were multiple Civic models to consider — a Civic for any type of driver — but we don’t need to be told which Civic is right for which kind of driver. People are smart; they don’t need their hands held. Instead of explain the differences between each car and outline why you might choose one over the other, Honda opted to create a narrative, an exceptionally engaging one.
Just over a year ago Toyota had a similar brief with their new Prius Family, and this was their solution.
I’ll give it to them — it’s cute, and it’s catchy. It’s fun to watch. But really, if we’re honest, it isn’t engaging. And that’s because there’s no real idea here. They just used lovely imagery and a sweet song to explain the differences between each car and which might be right for you.
I would argue that because Honda made the choice to simply allow the consumer to experience the vehicles, they were then liberated to create a piece of communication that’s only job was to engage. What they sacrificed in explaining the different features and benefits of the two models, they more than made up for in experience. And I’m left with an emotional connection to the car and the brand. I can’t rattle off the technical specs of each car, but I’ve got a pretty good idea of what each is good for, and which I’d want.
So when it comes to assessing business problems, developing communication strategy, and ultimately crafting communications, how do we keep it simple (and good)? What are the ingredients for making a piece of communication worth paying attention to? I’d be lying if I said there was a template. However, a 2013 Wall Street Journal article, entitled When Simplicity is the Solution makes an attempt at outlining some parameters.
From that article:
Complexity is the coward’s way out. But there is nothing simple about simplicity, and achieving it requires following three major principles: empathizing (by perceiving others’ needs and expectations), distilling (by reducing to its essence the substance of one’s offer) and clarifying (by making the offering easier to understand or use).
If we all endeavor to apply those three tenets to developing marketing communications and we do it by thinking simply, even in the most difficult of circumstances, I’d be willing to bet the challenges will seem less insurmountable and our work will be better. I’m certainly still a work in progress, but personally I find this approach immensely helpful.
So the next time you’re handed an intimidating marketing assignment, from which you’re expected to craft award-winning communication, remember these few things.
- While the problem may seem complex, how you go about solving it doesn’t have to be.
- Break the process down into phases: empathy, distillation, clarity
- Focus on the problem right in front of you, solve it, and keep solving until you’ve cracked it.
- And don’t get frustrated; after all, Simple is Difficult.
