Archive for the ‘Advertising’ Category

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Be in control of your copy, but let the reader think they are in control at all times. Never make them feel like you are pushing them in a direction they don’t already want to go. Lead them in that direction and they will go willingly. If you do this successfully, they won’t even know you are leading them anywhere. Here’s a few tips to help you refrain from being a control freak:

• Trust people
• Let the customer do the driving
• The visitor is the center of attention
• Remember, you can’t do this by yourself
• If the customer is always right, you could be wrong
• Don’t be insulted if others don’t take your advice
• Listen to others with enthusiasm, not boredom
• You don’t know what’s best for everyone
• Get used to different styles
• Nothing is perfect, even you
• Learn to like surprises
• People can disagree
• Be patient

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You all have felt this one, that stupid feeling after you think you thought something and you were way off. Like you meet someone and start chatting maybe even a kiss or two, then you feel really stupid when you call them and they were really just on a three day binge and don’t remember you anyway. Well that’s a bit extreme, but the point I’m making is that human nature is a dumb, fumbling instinct that leads us to believe in things that are faulty. Yes, we have evolved beyond cavemen, no offense. We know better, but every once in awhile it will catch us with our guard down.

After That?

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Use bullet points or a numbered system to:

• Break up your copy into consumable pieces
• Aid in the clean design of your page
• Make it easy for the reader to reference previous points
• Save time when reading through dense copy

When you are marketing to an audience, logic would dictate that you need to speak to them in a language that they understand. This seems like an obvious statement. But I am talking about something far more subtle than sending a Spanish commercial to an English speaking audience. I am talking about a common mistake amongst marketing professionals, especially when dealing with the youth market.

Just like clothing styles that rotate in and out of fashion with the occasional new concept joining the cycle, the words used to describe the trends move in cycles as well. What was “cool” yesterday is “hot” today. Or maybe it’s “wicked” or “awesome”, “boss” or “sweet”. You most likely won’t find accurate definitions for these terms in Webster’s Dictionary. But, if you’re going to be in the marketing game you better know today’s definition of the word.
Having an understanding of your target’s demographics current linguistic nuisances not only establishes your credibility with your audience, but its helps them better understand your message. It also makes them feel like your message is for them, not aimed at them.
So how do you acquire such rapidly changing language skills?

You PARTICIPATE in conversation with your audience and when they are speaking you LISTEN.

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Here’s a tip about writing press releases. Simply put, never ever ever do this!!!

The basic concept of how a television station makes money is simple. Provide interesting and entertaining content to draw an audience and then sell advertisers time to promote their products and services to your assembled audience. Every show that is on the air is designed to draw the interest and attention of as many people as possible. The fact that these shows are designed for a shot at grabbing the largest market share is no secret with one exception: The News.

Although it is presented as an unbiased update of current events, the nightly news has become the worst form of reality TV. The difference between House or Survivor and the news is that we aren’t duped into thinking that the shows are anything other than entertainment. We don’t make decisions about our daily lives, nor have our views and thoughts influenced nearly as much based on who gets voted of the island or who the new cast member is. These shows know this and do not attempt to tell us otherwise.

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The Culture Code
Author: Dr. Clotaire Rapaille
Paperback: 272 pages, $24.95
Published: June 2006

Pros – Dr. Clotaire Rapaille is a genius. His innovative approach to understanding the unconscious associations all people make to their world and everything in it is ground breaking. By applying his knowledge of human psychology and anthropology, he shows us how he cracks the “culture code” for a variety of topics. The hypothesis is that we are all subject to imprinting during our formative years. These imprints have a permanent affect on our perception of everything in our lives. The key to accessing these imprints is The Culture Code. The system goes on to explain why different cultures are drawn to or repulsed by the same product. Why was Chrysler’s PT Cruiser such as success in the American market? Why did Chrysler’s German executives think the project was going to be a disaster? The answer to those questions is: The Culture Code. When applied to the marketing goals of his clients, Rapaille is a force to be reckoned with. His system allows the advertiser to directly access the public’s subconscious perception of their brand and tap into those primal urges. His proven methods are behind many of the marketing campaigns of the Fortune 500. The reptilian brain, as Rapaille calls it, always wins.

Cons – Dr. Clotaire Rapaille is a genius, and he makes sure to tell you that. His ideas are great, but allowing the reader to make that deduction on their own would have made for a better read. The results speak for themselves and I am convinced of the merit behind the concept and the methodology of The Culture Code. I do not need to be told, repeatedly, about the brilliance of the culture code. I can draw my own conclusions.

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This post is a slight departure from my norm and is the product of my increasing disgust with what I like to call the “Macintosh March”. Ok, I’ll keep this short and to the point.

The aura of non-conformity which is aggressively cultivated by Macintosh through a slew of anti-PC advertising campaigns designed to establish the Mac brand as a sort of hip anti-hero, cleverly positioned against the clunky and counter-intuitive PC which symbolizes a robotic established norm that is out-of-touch with today’s ultra-cool, carefree, “down-with-the-man” computer user.

The problem is that the Mac campaign has been too successful and now every gutless-yuppie-thrill-seeker type is filing into the Macintosh March where they too can join the ranks of the tech-rebellious and “Stick it to the man” in a very controlled and safe way. So much so that the Mac is in fact the very antithesis of true non-conformity: It has degenerated into a “non-conformity fad” (uber-oxymoron). A predictable outlet for the masses to be “hip” and different, while marching alongside a million other mindless idiots who purchased their Macintosh not because it was the logical solution for their unique computing requirements, but because “it’s a freakin Mac”.

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If you’re tired of my yabbering recounts and “lessons” learned from each apprentice episode, have no worries. On Thursdays, March 22, 29, and April 19 you can learn from a real apprentice!

Trump university is sponsoring a series of call-in seminars featuring Sean Yazbeck (The Apprentice Season 5 winner), Kendra Todd (Season 3 winner) and Randal Pinkett (Season 4 winner).

You need to sign up for each session, which is limited to 200 callers each.

Rosser Reeves, one of the original greats in ad copy, claimed Hemingway would have performed poorly at writing copy for advertisements, “I’m quite sure Shakespeare would have been a bad copywriter; Hemingway would have been a bad copywriter, Dostoevsky or Tolstoy- you name the novelist.” He states the art of copywriting and the art of novel writing are two different specialties, each requiring distinct skills.

I’d agree that Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, and Tolstoy may not have shown their stripes in ad copy and the novel writers do possess well-defined talents, but all writers can not be clumped into one category. Hemingway wrote novels, but he authored several short stories and is credited with writing an advertisement. He spent four years writing news for the Toronto Star Weekly and was a contributor to Esquire, Colliers, and Look. He was a reporter, war correspondent, and seasoned journalist. Hemingway was a multi talented writer, as writers should be.

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