Six Second Ad

Some time ago, in Find Your Words, I talked about the value of distilling your business down to three words. Just doing the exercise of finding three words to express who you are, what you do, and how you do it will lead to deep discussion and insight about your business. The simplicity of these three perfect words will change how you think about, and run, your business.

In the October 20 Wall Street Journal, Michael Sprague, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing Kia Motors America, talks about the need to stay flexible and embrace rapid change if you want to get your message out. Actually, staying flexible and embracing rapid change in everything are requirements for success these days.

What particularly caught my attention was Sprague’s mention that “it used to be that video ads needed to be 30 or 60 seconds. Now with online video, some want them to be six seconds long.”

Six seconds. Not much longer than it takes to say your three words. My thoughts about presenting who you are, what you do, and how you do it in three words converging with what it takes to create a successful marketing video.

Three words – Six seconds. The simplicity of it is amazing. The difficulty of effectively presenting your entire message so simply is immense. The effect it will have on how you and others think of your business, products, and services is transforming.

Reaching for such simplicity and brevity forces you to distill everything you are and do down to their very essence. Get rid of the obfuscating verbiage, extensive and unnecessary detail, random words and images that just fill up space and time while confusing everyone. Find the basic essence that lies at the heart of everything that goes on. The basic essence that is inviolate, that guides all decisions, all actions, all messages.

It’s so much easier to make it longer. The effort to prune it hard is worth it. It’s much more powerful when it’s short.

Be powerful. Share your essence widely.