Make it clear or don't make it

When something isn't working, most marketers believe they have a creative problem.

They don't. They have a clarity problem.

The frustrating part is that almost everything else in a video ad can be fixed.

Audio is off? Fix it. Music doesn't land? Swap it. Line read is weird? Grab another take.

Clarity is different.

Clarity is not a post-production problem. It is a pre-production decision.

If it is not baked into the concept from the very beginning, you will struggle to fix it later.

There's a quote from Dave Ramsey that I love: "To be unclear is to be unkind."

That's how I think about clarity now. If your audience doesn't understand what you are trying to say, that's on you. Not them.

And here's the reality that makes this even harder. Your audience is not paying full attention. Unless your ad is a must-watch moment, assume they are watching at about 50% attention.

It means your job is not just to be clear to someone who is locked in and focused. Your job is to be clear to someone who is half distracted, scrolling, multitasking, or thinking about something else.

That is a much higher bar than most people realize.

There's another quote I always come back to, from Errol Morris. "Subtlety is for amateurs." (Note: got this from George Tannenbaum)

I agree with that, especially in advertising.

Look at how phones are shown in movies or big commercials. You rarely see a real interface. It is always simplified. Big text. Few words. One obvious action.

Why? Because the audience needs to understand what is happening instantly.

Your ads should work the same way.

That does not mean it has to be boring. You can still surprise people. You can still make them think a little.

But when you are choosing between two directions, one that is more subtle and clever, and one that is more obvious, you should almost always choose the clear one.

If people don't understand your ad, nothing else matters. It does not matter how well it is shot, how good the acting is, or how clever the idea felt in the room.

So I come back to a simple standard now.

Be clear in your visuals.
Be clear in your concept.
Be clear in your dialogue.
Be clear in your audio.
Be clear in how people speak.

It is already incredibly difficult to get someone to pay attention.

If you are not clear, you have no chance of holding it.

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