 So many broken ad messages lack humanity...
Not all, mind you. Some make a sincere effort at humanity, but miss the mark a little. However, so many broken ads follow a pattern: “Jam in all these facts! Talk about them! Buy now!” There’s no recognition of the human being at the other end of the pipe, only a recognition that “I want to sell this!” “Fact! Fact! Fact! Fact! Fact! Buy now!” How am I supposed to feel about these facts? How am I supposed to feel about you, the seller? How does any of this solve my problem? And what IS my problem, anyway? Do you, Mr. Seller, even recognize that I’m here? As you know, an advertising message is like asking for a date. What if you start asking for a date by saying, “I have a good job, I make a lot of money, I’m fit and healthy, and I’m available. I would make an excellent mate. We could have lots of strong, healthy children of both genders. They will be well above average and go to the finest private learning institutions. We would live well, and retire to an upper-middle-class enclave on the west coast of Florida. Want to have dinner?” Before the end of the first sentence, the answer was "I have to stay home and wash my hair." There’s no recognition of the prospect, the prospect’s feelings, and the conversation the prospect is already having inside his or her head. A much better, self-centered way of doing it would be this: “Look at my fabulous shoes. Want to have dinner?” At least it’s an amusing non-sequitur. The date might be entertaining. Here now, a brief tale… The Fabulous Honey Parker has just written a novel. Neither of us saw this coming, but it happened. It’s a topical novel that has to get to the public yesterday. Even a friend of ours in publishing said, “This is a great idea. But it has to get out in October, and a traditional publisher can’t make that happen. You have to self-publish.” One joy of self-publishing is self-marketing. And marketing a novel is so much different than marketing anything else--yet so much the same. In the marketing, humanity matters. Nobody cares about the facts of the book. They care about the feeling of the book. The feeling they will get from it. The feeling the story will give them. This extends to the author’s story as well. What’s the feeling behind the book? How did the author feel about writing it? How does she feel about the experience? How does that feeling influence the feeling of joy, laughter, sadness, and/or pathos I’m going to get from buying that book and reading it? “Well, yeah! It’s a novel, not a home improvement product! “It’s entertainment! My rugs and window blinds are not about feeling good. They’re about getting the best deal on rugs and window blinds!” And you, my friend, have missed the boat that’s sailing into the psychology of home improvement. People who buy rugs and blinds are not buying function. They’re buying form. Form leads to a feeling. Aesthetic form makes the customer feel good about being at home. And in a time when people are locked inside more than ever, feeling good about one’s home is huge. Just like feeling good about one’s entertainment is huge. How does the customer feel now, and how will they feel after they buy? This is where the metaphorical rubber meets the road of emotions. Everyone right now is living in A Place They’ve Never Been. All stories have to understand that. Whether they’re stories about home improvement or stories about novels, the stories that sell require knowing how the customer feels. That doesn’t mean talking about the feeling. It means talking to the feeling. Identify the customer’s feeling and know how to speak to it. Master that, and you win the first date. We will be speaking more about this in coming screeds… LIGHTNING BRANDING ON AMAZON The Kindle edition of our new book is now available at Amazon for the bargain price of $19.95. For details about our new Lightning Branding courses, both do-it-yourself and we-do-it-with-you editions, click here. (There's even a video of us!) Cheers, Blaine Parker Your Lean, Mean Creative Director in Park City
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 It's nice getting ammunition from the industry's big guns... I've just been writing some radio advertising to promote radio advertising. (I'm not a narcissist. Really!) The message is going to ring inside your little marketer's heart. But I can't name names yet. That's because not all the intel is in my hot little hands. Yet. But here's the top line info... One of the biggest gorillas in market research says you are right! Let's face it, there's one reason you're here: on some level, you subscribe to the idea of branding big for a healthy tomorrow. You come back here each week to celebrate successes, laugh at the lunacy, and pick up new tools for more powerful marketing. And at the core of all this relentless screed is a simple idea... Branding your business with purpose and intent leads to power. You get beyond the challenges of endless "me-too," buy-now advertising. You get to join the ranks of the commanding and authoritative brands that lead the pack. Well, that previously mentioned market research gorilla agrees. They have intel. It says as much as 70% of advertising is selling for today. As little as 30% of advertising is branding for tomorrow. Those numbers should be flipped. (At least, IMHO.) In simplest terms, advertisers are yelling "Buy now!" to people who aren't gonna. Most customers will not buy now. And by putting all effort into pushing the idea of immediate purchase, you're sacrificing sales tomorrow. Tomorrow is when many, many more customers are going to buy. But putting money behind branding instead of buy-now'ing (that is a word--as far as you know), there's more opportunity for long-term health. Know your brand, know your customer, and know that this is a long game... Instead of having ongoing fire sales, you light a fire in the heart of your customer. And that goes a long way towards attracting them to buy, winning them as fans, and having them refer your business. BOTTOM LINE: it makes no difference whether you're marketing your own business or doing it for a client. Building brand today is about more sales tomorrow. The numbers are on your side. Not yet downloaded your free copy of Lightning Branding: How to Generate Revenue Faster With An Electrifying New Brand, there's still time. Just visit http://www.lightningbrandingbook.com. For information about our new Lightning Branding courses, both do-it-yourself and we-do-it-with-you editions, click here. (There's even a video of us!) Cheers, Blaine Parker Your Lean, Mean Creative Director in Park City |
AuthorBlaine Parker is prone to ranting about any and all things related to brand. In many ways, he is a professional curmudgeon. While there is no known vaccine for this, the condition is also not contagious. Unless you choose it to be so. Archives
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