The need to produce compelling content can be overwhelming considering the velocity and quantity needed to keep customers engaged. For the most part, great content transcends culture, geography and values. But, when brand decision makers want to deeply connect with a specific group of customers, say the 60% of folks living in the new heartland (Midwest, Southwest, Southeast), they must put in extra effort if they want a seat at the dinner table.
- Get Real: It’s one thing to say ‘we’re authentic’ and another thing to actually be authentic. Even though “authentic” has become another over-used marketing-speak term, it’s hard to dispute its power when describing content (or anything) that feels real…unforced…natural. Authenticity is incredibly engaging when it’s done right, but it’s extremely unforgiving when it’s faked or contrived. New Heartlanders are so used to being talked at instead of understood—oftentimes feeling like they’re just fillers between the elites on the Coasts. Creating content that doesn’t treat them as country bumpkins is a great place to start.
Okay, but how? Use creators that actually understand and/or have lived the life of a New Heartlander. While making the obligatory market visit to 'get to know' the locals can be helpful, it doesn't solve the natural disconnection a brand and the NH have. When it comes to creating valuable content that represents the brand and resonates with the customer, bridging the gap in a believable way is a must. Using NH-rooted creators makes a huge difference.
- Be Culturally On Point: Nothing will expose your content as being a lame attempt to reach the NH more than missing key cultural touch points. The NH is extremely nuanced. All the research, focus groups, and leaning on the guy that went to Ohio State as your NH expert will not ensure you properly account for the nuances.
Ok, but how? While the content concepts can be built outside the NH, producing it in the NH gives brands a much better chance of avoiding embarrassing pitfalls (like mispronouncing a city in a radio spot) sure to occur when you use that NYC-based casting agent or LA-based director.
- Introduce the Strategy and Creative teams to each other: Sounds simple, but what if content strategy was built with the creative team? Ok, I know some agencies and brands work this way (at least in theory), but so much content seems to be dislodged from the brand strategy. When building content that resonates with the NH, it may take a version or two that speaks more directly to this group than hoping the ‘national’ spot (I put ‘national’ in quotes because how can you have a ‘national’ spot without accounting for the biggest customer segment?) will hit the mark.
OK, but how? We’re not talking adding hay bales, mason jars, or pickup trucks to your national spot to check the NH box. But, a cut down of your brand spot with a NH focus works well. When delivering NH content, ensure the creative team understands and supports the strategy. Whether its a spot or social post, all content should have carefully curated versions that bring the strategy to life the way it was intended.
- Get Personal: The NH would love to build a relationship. As a matter of fact, NH’ers want to feel a kinship with the brands they support. The only way effective content can be created is by understanding the culture, lifestyle, and values of the NH. Whoa, before bible-beating-tractor-riding-country-music-singing-fringe-Trump-supporters occupy your brain, the NH is so much more diverse than many stereotypes.
OK, but how? Talk to the NH’ers like you know them and show that you truly care. This requires you to have some extra empathy and develop that caring heart your mom taught you to have. Then and only then, can you create personal-feeling content. Lifestyle activities are a great way to get a clearer understanding of how people spend their time. Love of music, food, fashion, outdoor activities (hunting, fishing, camping), youth and college sports, and reliance on technology are a few examples.
I get a chance to see content in various stages of production that was doomed from the whiteboard session; concepts that were built on a foundation of stereotypes, erected by lazy thinkers who didn’t really care. For example, I received a storyboard from a top global agency in LA featuring a major country artist wearing a “10 Gallon” hat sitting in a bathtub in his back yard. First of all, the multi-platinum selling, chart topping, GRAMMY- winning, nationally loved TV celebrity didn’t wear a hat…much less a “10 Gallon” one since those aren’t even a thing. We need to strip down the big data and really think about the folks we’re trying to reach as customers (notice I didn’t use the word ‘consumer’). Take the extra steps of employing New Heartland-rooted resources to ensure your brand has a good shot at winning in the NH...it's the difference between success and mediocrity.
