THE POWER OF VISUAL SUBTEXT; INSPIRATION FROM TESCO

Here at Eyeful we love it when we find articles or content that resonate with our passion for presentations… We found ourselves reading with admiration Tesco’s recent marketing campaign “Food Love Stories”

“We’ve always taken great pride in the quality of our food and we know how good food brings people and families together. So this January, we’re launching ‘Food Love Stories brought to you by Tesco’, a campaign which puts food at the very heart of our business and tells the stories behind the meals we all make for those closest to us.”
Michelle McEttrick, Group Brand Director, Tesco

We are huge advocates of using story to deliver key messages to your audience, just see our Story Season page for the proof!

It’s the simple but very effective use of (seemingly) real stories to deliver key messages that presenters should take note of when preparing your PowerPoint presentation designs in the future.

The Tesco adverts are perfect examples of this in action. But like a presentation, it’s not just the words being spoken by the presenter that deliver the message.

Let’s take one of the Food Love Stories as an example… David’s ‘Hot or Not’ Chicken Curry

The story is simple, David met his wife 15 years previously and discovered that she loves spicy food, he fibbed and told her he did too, and ever since has been making her his chicken curry – even though he hates spicy food!

It’s personal, it’s part of a love story which means the audience buy in by relating to the situation in their own lives…

As David tells his story, his words are akin to a presenter telling a story that we the audience can relate to and therefore connect with.

What’s really clever here is that David doesn’t mention Tesco. His words tell one story whilst the visual subtext tells another…

A simple city landscape helps you relate as this could quite possibly be your street, or a street nearby…

As David follows a Tesco employee through the store to find an ingredient, the subtext of the visual reinforces to us that Tesco colleagues are helpful…

Without being overtly obvious, this shot is critical as it really drives home the family connection that almost anyone can relate too…this is one of the key messages of the campaign.

The actual cooking section of the video looks easy; we don’t see any of the prep work – we only see the easy fun parts, it’s all very relaxed and re-enforces the message that this Tesco campaign is making it easy for you to cook good food.

Ah… the wine shot! Again, the visual, not the words, drive home the message that Tesco can help you create a nice, romantic meal for you and your other half all in an easy way with the support of Tesco.

This series of adverts aren’t just clever stories, there is a complete experience for the viewer. You can find ingredients and methods on how to cook the different meals and find Point Of Sale material within Tesco stores where you can quickly grab all of the ingredients from one convenient location.

Your presentations need to be a complete experience for your audience too. Your presentation visuals need to convey the right messages and context, your presenter needs to deliver with passion, knowledge and the right level of enthusiasm and your audience need to feel a connection with your presentation.

Tesco’s campaign drives home to the audience that they can be inspired to recreate this situation easily just by going to Tesco.

Heck, it’s worked on me, I’ve just been out and bought all the ingredients for David’s ‘Hot or Not’ Chicken Curry!

You can’t help but applaud the Tesco team for this series, they are a prime example of using story and visual subtext to deliver simple, yet strong key messages to the audience in an all-round experience.

The question is how are you going to give your audience an excellent all-round experience in your next presentation? Pick up the phone or drop us an email to find out how…

In the meantime, I’m off home to cook a curry…