Financial marketing

The Conative Campaign – Knowledge to Act

20th December 2016

A while ago, there were a series of striking text-based ads from Thomson Reuters on the tube. The key messages support their ‘Knowledge to Act’ campaign.

Each of the ads reveals a different aspect of the business and the nature of the proposition is fundamentally conative.

The first creative execution is headed, “The end of think. The beginning of know,” which is a theme echoed in the line “It’s no time for ‘think.” This culminates in the dependable proposition, “Knowledge that businesses and professionals rely on worldwide.”

Here, the proposition is played out by emphasising the inherent dynamism of the process in response to Board pressure, driving towards a decision to act instantly, eliminating or subjugating both cognitive and connective dimensions:

The end of think. The beginning of know.
“Markets are watching. Your board is waiting. It’s no time for ‘think.’” Enter Thomson Reuters, the world’s leading source of intelligent information. Thousands of industry experts filtering vast databases of information with the most intuitive applications. Checkpoint. Westlaw. Reuters News. It’s knowledge that businesses and professionals rely on worldwide. Thomson Reuters – Knowledge to Act.”

The second ad in the series serves to highlight the difference between feeling and knowing. Although friendship is mentioned, the decision-making process taps into gut instinct and experience, rather than the world of emotion and feelings. The proposition for this advertisement centers on trust:

Introducing a better gut instinct.
“Trust your instincts. Trust your experience. Trust the world’s leading source of intelligent information, business insight and knowledge to act, for businesses and professionals; information mined, analyzed and filtered by the smartest software anywhere. Thousands of industry experts. Friend to your gut. Thomson Reuters – Knowledge to Act.”

The third ad execution is creating empathy based on peer knowledge and experience, resulting in robust insight and knowledge that drives action:

Insight from people who don’t just get what you do.

They do what you do.
“Taxation, finance, accounting, healthcare, law; thou- sands of experienced specialists working for you 24/7. Add the most intelligent insight-generating software in the world and you get the world’s leading source of intelligent information, business insight and knowledge to act; for businesses and professionals. Thomson Reuters – Knowledge to Act.”

Like the ad before it, the fourth and final ad maps out the target audience as businesses and professionals. This ad sharpens the focus still further by utilizing peer-to- peer or aspirational positioning, citing the Fortune 500 amongst its clients. We are told that they ‘help uncover decisions’, suggesting a process or discovery that leads to action:

Decision in a haystack.
“Plea bargain? ‘Launch Invest?’ We’re the world’s leading source of intelligent information, business insight and knowledge to act, for businesses and professionals (including the entire Fortune 500). With insight mined from reams of data by experts who do what you do, we help uncover decisions. Thomson Reuters – Knowledge to Act.”