This marketing technique is out for 2024…

Below is some marketing copy from the back of a pack of plant-based sausages. This playful advertising trend of placing (effectively) nonsense in your advertising spaces to show people what a fun, laid-back brand you are, has been in circulation for years now. I first came across it, as I’m sure many of us did, via Oatly, who seemed to coin it for the British audience. When it first appeared it was fresh, fun and appealing (especially to a certain demographic) but isn’t it all getting a bit cliché now?

THIS™ Plant-Based Sausages – delicious, but marketing space as been wasted here.

This bugs me for a few reasons. Firstly, because it’s lazy; this took no effort to write. Secondly, because it’s frankly a bit juvenile and patronising – do you think your target audience (which possibly includes me) talks like that? Am I meant to relate or find it cool? And thirdly, because it’s a waste of good space where you could tell me something great about the brand. If I’m opting to buy your plant-based product over another brand’s plant-based product, you’re going to need to convince me that you’re a wholesome, ethical, planet-friendly choice.

Here's an example of a brand using what could be dead space to actually say something useful. They’re not compromising on tone of voice, I still know they’re fun, but reading their copy has actually added some value to my perception of the brand. (This is Who Gives A Crap?).

Who Gives A Crap on-box marketing, one of just many examples of simple yet effective communication.

As it happens, I like both these brands. One is tasty not-sausages, one is toilet paper, but both appeal to me in terms of ethics, sustainable credentials and company direction. The marketing by WGAC, however, makes me feel a much more tangible connection and makes me better understand the brand. The marketing by THIS™ just makes me wish I hadn’t spent those 30 seconds reading it. They’re not the only culprits, by the way, they’re just the ones I spotted on my weekly shop.  

Out for 2024? – Lazy, nonsense, we’re-hilarious-really marketing.

In for 2024? – Sincerity, useful info and a dash of down-to-earth personality.

I think the sun has set on sloppy, wannabe-ironic, nonsense marketing taking up valuable advertising space. 2024 is calling for something fresh, snappy and exciting. So how could this brand convey their tone, and maybe some information, in a more 2024-appropriate way?

What do you think? Has this tone of voice/marketing tactic had it for 2024? Is it time to move onto something fresh and valuable? Or did it appeal to you and make you smile? Let me know.

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