This is the Christian Aid press ad from a few weeks back that I mentioned in my presentation about implicit communication that I gave for Camedia last week. I think it is one of the more powerful examples of implicit messaging recently used and successfully brings together the issues of climate change and poverty in a brilliantly succinct package. Here copy and picture are more than the sum of their parts, together they punch home a message that neither can do individually.

In my talk I mentioned the way that we can so often fall into cliche and clutter, and lose the opportunity to be powerful with our messaging in the course of our work as communicators. The difference between getting a message across and not is usually found in the murky area between merely illustrating with words and pictures and the space between two almost dissonant elements that put together say so much more.

If for example I use the words ‘unlocking potential’ and illustrate it with the picture of a key in a lock, I would then have to provide much more description in order to provide context and deliver a message. It is cliche and almost useless as a communication device. Alternatively if I place the words ‘unlocking potential’ next to the picture of a girl at a blackboard in a classroom in Africa, immediately you start receiving a message about the importance of education for the development of children. Add the relevant logo and the message is further clarified.

The next challenge to overcome is clutter. The danger of implicit messaging within an organisation is that many people inside the organisation are over-familiar with the subject matter and can become blind to powerful subtleties. Falling back on being explicit seems like the obvious thing to do. Being explicit is not a bad thing in of itself, in many situations it can be the best technique, but the danger is that the communications piece will not just attract one explicit message but many, and as soon as clarity is lost, you may as well abandon it for all the good it will do. It has ceased to be effective. I was delighted to discover a spoof video that Microsoft produced to explain this particular problem by ‘redesigning’ the ipod packaging. While I giggled at the various points highlighted, inside I felt not a little chagrin at 12 years of having had the same conversations with various clients and directors - my career flashed before me in those 3 mins.

I’m not normally one for quoting ad gurus but in the words of Leo Burnett:
‘I have learned that any fool can write a bad ad, but that it takes a real genius to keep his hands off a good one.’