As marketers we’re repeatedly exhorted to make our messages simpler.  To cut words, cut nuance, cut anything that may clutter or occlude the core message.  Cut the rest and let the simplicity of the message shine through.  This, our business leaders tell us, is the only way to reach customers in a cacophonous marketplace.  Simplicity.  Design your message so that a busy potential customer doesn’t have to think about you or what you offer.  And it works.  Often.  It works for the middle of the market.  If you’re selling cheese or milk for example you can get your key message down to a few words, Low Fat or Extra Calcium or Organic, for example.  And it works when your product is inherently easy to understand, like the Energizer Bunny and it’s message, “Our batteries last a really, really long time.”  But it doesn’t always work.  And sometimes in our attempts to cut as much fat from the message end up taking some bone with it as well.

Some products are not easy to explain. Others shouldn’t be explained easily, lest they lose their mystique and unique value.  The first case is pretty straight forward. Some products have multiple value propositions and messages that need to be told.  Trying to cull it down into a single, simple message hides inherent meaning and value from potential customers.  It makes the product or service look dumb.  Something is missing in the customer’s eye.  The simplicity has made the value harder to see.  This may have made the message simpler but did it do the product any good?  Take the iPhone for example. Did Apple try to promote it just as the best smart phone out there? No. That would be an over-simplification that hides the inherent value in it’s complexity.  In fact, watching the Apple ads they showcase the variety of applications and features of the phone.  They don’t simply say “It can do whatever you want,” rather they show the value of the phone through it’s rich and unique feature set.  The marketers simplify and clarify, but not at the expense of showcasing the value.

The second case, with a technically simple product is even more interesting.  Consider Burt Bee’s or Kiehl’s body products.  They are tied to a strong creation story that resonates throughout their messaging.  Trying to read a bottle of Kiehl’s is like trying to read a VCR instruction manual.  But it is this complexity that communicates an attention to detail, an artisanal approach to the product that can’t be met by a mass market brand.  This folksy complexity is part of the value.  It’s how Kiehl’s differentiates itself from the mass market brands that are all busy cutting their word counts and culling their message for the sake of simplicity.

A Kiehl’s label:

The moral of the story here is that simplicity is often the right approach; but complexity shouldn’t be ignored simply because of its nature. Complexity can be a good thing. It can stop and make people think. It can convey a sense of artisanal craftsmanship that adds authenticity in a world of soulless mass-produced products. It can be a big differentiator. Not every story was meant to be told in a sound bite – double check to make sure you’re not hiding your value by being overly simplistic in your message.