This is deep: so much so that at first glance it seems easy.
It’s not. It sits at the heart of artistic and creative endeavors, not the
least of which is the marketing narrative.
Hemingway claims that he developed his terse, poetic style
by looking at Cezanne’s work. That sounds a bit romantic and perhaps
apocryphal. [We all realize that great artists often give enigmatic answers
because they don’t like the idea of talking about art.]
Later, Hemingway said that the key to good writing is understanding
what to leave out. An expert can leave things out because he knows them… the
less knowledgeable and less talented leave out important things and include the
obvious and the unnecessary.
These ideas mesh if you think long and hard.
As an impressionist/post-impressionist, Cezanne was obviously
not trying to be realistic. Not every detail had to be exact or included. He
painted only those colors and strokes and images that were needed to create the
physical effect on the optic nerves and the emotional impact he was seeking. Not
one stroke more or less.
You already know that Hemingway was the same. Read “Hills
Like White Elephants” and notice how little description it takes to convey the
emotional tension between the man and woman. At first glance, it appears that
Hemingway has told you nothing of importance. The dialog is like eavesdropping
on a couple at dinner. “Would you like a drink?” “No, I’m not thirsty.”
“Hungry?” “Perhaps a little.” “It’s a simple thing, really.” “Yes, it’s always
so simple.”
There’s seemingly nothing there, yet we’re emotional wrecks
by the end of the story. That’s art.
We know that good marketing is both factual and
emotional and I believe more emotional than facts because these days consumers hear
so many contradictory facts that we’ve lost all scientific certainty.
So let’s say we’re trying to build an emotional connection
with our audience by describing a scene… a couple on a park bench. Think –
there are thousands of words and pictures we can use to describe the park, the
sky, the couple, the bench, their clothing down to the color of their socks…
skin texture, grass, birds, squirrels, etc. It’s endless.
You’re getting it. The artist takes a long hard look and chooses
to describe only those things that best convey the emotion he or she is seeking… let’s
say one close-up photo of the couple’s feet barely touching and short
descriptions of their posture, the rickety bench seat and a child that goes
running past. That’s it! From all the limitless possibilities (again, the
weather, the sky, their complexions, the sounds, the smells, virtually millions
of things) the artist has chosen the three or four essentials that few others
have noticed, and has left out all the rest. That’s Cezanne; that’s Hemingway;
that’s great marketing storytelling and design.
Most of us include too much of the obvious… and ironically
we still manage to leave out the essential bits that someone like Hemingway picks
up on. Why? Because he ‘knows’ about couples the way Cezanne knows how two
colors placed side by side make a third. All the rest is just so much
unnecessary bull that clouds the mind and kills emotion.
Plus, Hemingway and Cezanne took the time to really see; and
they never describe the obvious things we all grasp at first glance. To do so
is to be trite and tired.
Marketing is the same. You need to be an expert in humanity
and emotions and have a keen eye for subtleties that contain the whole truth (all
of this takes years); you don’t really need to be an expert on the product
because you’re selling emotion more than facts – and consumers can easily find any fact they like.
Tell and show the consumer only those few, simple things to
best convey emotion – and little else (facts here and there are fine, depending
upon the product, if it’s B2B or B2C).
Be more like Cezanne and Hemingway and less like the
directions you get in a box of IKEA furniture.
NOTE: This has nothing to do with length! It might take you
1,000 words and 10 pictures to convey a simple emotional truth. Rather, this
has to do with your ability to get to the core of a product or a service or a
cause with as few unnecessary words and obvious images as possible.
No one said this would be easy.
