Putting your best face forward can sometimes be difficult. You don’t know what people will think or say about you, and you don’t know if they’ll even like you. And possibly worst of all, something that is really exciting to you may be really boring to them.
The trick to this is to know your audience. Let’s say, for example, that I’m really into soup. I can’t get enough of the colors, the combinations and the names. (Minestrone just rolls right off the tongue, don’t ya think?) But I’m writing a press release to someone that could care less about soup, and all that they want to talk about is art. Now that you know your audience, how can you make soup exciting to them?
Andy Warhol’s famous tomato soup painting is one way. The painting, known as Campbell’s Soup Cans, was his first one-man gallery exhibition. It’s a significant piece for artists who have a special interest in pop art.
Now, it can be argued that Warhol could’ve become just as famous if he’d painted a giant bowl. But it could also be argued that for some reason, he chose to paint a can of soup – not a bowl. Other artists hadn’t thought of that yet.
When you’re trying to get people excited about a product or a service, learn about your audience with a little research, and then work on your message. What message might be more interesting for the Average Joe?
“In the 1960s, soup was hot, and not only in temperature. In 1962, artist Andy Warhol turned soup into a trend with his Campbell’s Soup Cans exhibit. And now, almost 50 years later, the folks at SoupShaloop are bringing soup back into style with they’re newest work of art, “Tomato Soupin’ It Up.”
OR
“Today, SoupShaloop announced its newest product, “Tomato Soupin’ It Up”, will hit supermarkets on March 1, 2008. The soup is a combination of the classic tomato soup, mixed with SoupShaloop’s trademarked onion spice.”
The first lead grabs the attention of a wide audience, art lovers and soup lovers alike. The second one may draw in supermarkets, other soup brands, or soup scholarly journals (if there were such a thing.)
So, whatever you’re promoting, remember your audience. If you know your audience is very limited and you’re okay with that, a simpler message is probably sufficient. But if you’re looking toward a much broader audience, you may have to get pretty creative. Think soup-and-art creative.