These manifestos present a big-ass problem and offer a big-ass solution. This doesn’t always mean that you have to save the world. The (RED) manifesto is fighting aids in Africa. Knix is normalizing talking about periods in sports. Axe is helping one person believe in themselves. All of those are equally important.
The key is to raise the stakes as high as possible. If a change doesn’t happen soon, something valuable is at risk. I think about this as an area of influence. If you can solve aids, go for it. But a lot of brands can only help with one part of someone’s life. That’s okay. Bring us into why improving that matters so much to solve and show us how.
The secret to these scripts is simplicity. Complexity is death here. You have to remember nobody is asking to care about this problem. You’re asking them. Make it easy. Even the most objectively complex problems should be conveyed as clearly as possible. The best versions reduce the message to a single action. You want people to buy a certain product, change one thing about their thinking, remember one idea that changes everything, and so on.
The Ticking Clock
Demonstrate the immediacy and severity of a massive problem. Go heavy on what’s wrong. We need to be crushed by the weight before we care about the solution.
The Easy Button
Provide a simple action that solves a huge crisis or problem. These work best if people already care about the problem. Want to save the whales? Just do this.
The Wakeup Call
Dismantle a willful ignorance that’s hurting a subjugated group. To do this, you have to go all the way. Don’t hold back. You need to prove that not fixing this is insane.
The Best Friend
Best friends know when you need a kick in the ass. Drop the floor out from someone you care about and tell them straight how to start doing better.
The Hard Button
The opposite of the Easy Button. Show the value of goal or dream by how hard it is to get. You’re in crowded territory here. Do lots of concepting for a new way in.
The New Definition
Make people feel seen by crushing or reclaiming an oppressive label. Try a U Shape structure. Focus on the problem for the first half, and the better way for the second.