Here’s a picture of Benny.
His owner Richard tweeted his picture, and Bob’s your uncle, Benny’s “the world’s most famous dog.” (Mail Online). Mail Online, is the world’s biggest English language newspaper site. Benny’s been shared 697 times. A story alongside on it, on the reform of the British welfare system is shared 243 times.
Without stating the bleeding obvious, or building on what Siobhan Sharpe might say; there is, what is often referred to in a patronising manner, "a lesson here."
Agency planners are paid, and build their careers on their intelligence. It is in their personal interest to build their personal brands with the trappings of that evidence. Data, intelligent publications, tweeting Economist and Harvard Business Review links to clients all do their bit to build credibility and sell an idea. Creatives too, lean heavily on culture for commercial gain. Work emanating from art, design and theatrical studios in cities across the world, end up in diluted form for commercial gain within 12 months.
None of that is to be sniffed at – just as long as the intelligenzia that help to shift consume products recognise the power that comes from the lowest common denominator. It’s a world where the written word is simply not needed. The copywriter becomes surplus to requirements.
An image that makes you laugh, fantasise or cringe, is your passport to worldwide fame and access to eyeballs. Benny is living proof and by dint of statistic, cannot be ignored.
The ingredients of imagery - useful for any creative session - include:
- Cats & dogs (Benny).
- Animals displaying human qualities (PG Tips, meerkats, page 3 of Metro every day).
- Physical disfiguration, (Cheryl Cole, C4’s Undateables, war).
- Wealth extremes (Kardashians, Benefits Street).
- Class divison. (Binge drink vomiting montages, Ladies day at Aintree, Kardashians).
- A bikini (Every newspaper site, notably Mail Online’s sidebar of shame).
- Cleavage (ditto).
- Attractive women in dresses (ditto).
In the search for intelligence – it’s best not to overlook what stares you in the face every day.
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