10.000 identical flyers, the one even more authentic than the other

Authenticity. Everybody knows the concept, but nobody knows precisely what others mean when they talk about authenticity. How, then, to put this on a flyer to promote your festival?

You could drop detailed analyses and discussions on a complex concept like this. They surely plan to do this at the IMPAKT-festival, see:

The dominant definition of authenticity as being ‘of undisputed origin’ and not a copy, may need reconsideration, or even a redefinition to accurately apply to the post-digital realm and its configurations.

At any rate, to do this, you do need visitors. How to make sure to grab them, as they stroll by your poster or flyer? Well, like this:

This flyer is a nice three-stage-rocket:

  1. First, it draws your attention with a striking element: on a neat flyer, clearly printed out, there is something handwritten. Your brain responds to deviations from the norm, so it wants to look further.
  2. Then you see the whole picture: 8.545 / 10.000. At once you grasp the difficulty. “This is not authentic, is it? There are 10.000 of these things! But wait, maybe it is, because this is the only one carrying number 8.545. And a handmade product is authentic anyway, right? Or it isn’t in this case, because the handmade element lacks any sign of creativity?”
  3. The rest of the flyer offers you a satisfying answer: you can attend a festival about authenticity and think the subject through. At the back you can find all the information you need.

A well composed message, accompanied by a striking image: two principles that we also use in our Analytic Storytelling-methodology.

Next time you make an image for your poster or flyer, check whether you can apply this three-stage-rocket of attention-problem-answer. Before you know it, you’ll have an approach that is just as authentic as that of IMPAKT.

 


Stijn is director, trainer and advisor at Analytic Storytelling. We help people to make content-driven stories. That is: clear and compelling communication on complex content.