George Orwell was right when he said “truth is always stranger than fiction”. And this poster advert proves it.
If you work in advertising or marketing communications you probably work tirelessly. After all, it’s bloody hard work trying to create and deliver messages that achieve sales results.
And make no mistake about it, making people buy things is the ultimate objective of advertising.
If you don’t believe me, here’s what Raymond Rubicam once said of advertising: “the only purpose of advertising is to sell. It has no other function worth mentioning.”
And given that Raymond Rubicam was an advertising pioneer who many people consider to be the father of modern advertising, his opinion will do for me.
Anyway, back to you and your job.
When you are creating your messages you’ll spend countless hours choosing the right photographs or illustrations, writing attention grabbing headlines, interesting body copy and probably a big fat call to action.
Then you place your advertisement.
And if you don’t have control over exactly where or what your advertisement appears next to, your message can be seriously misconstrued like this:
You really couldn’t make this stuff up.
Unless, of course, it is a PR stunt. Although if it is, I don’t really know who benefits.
How a 13 year old Cookie Girl used one of Marketing’s Ps brilliantly
You’ve probably heard of, and used, the 4ps of the marketing mix 100s of times. And if you work in services marketing, you’ve probably used the extra three too: process, people and physical evidence.
But I wonder how many of you have used Place as effectively as this girl. Because last month, a 13-year-old business-savvy cookie girl in San Francisco made the shrewd decision to set up her cookie stall outside a medical marijuana dispensary.
I guess knowing that people using the dispensary might get a little peckish after smoking.
The result: she sold 117 boxes in just two hours! Now that what I call understanding your customer buying habits.
Maybe Alan Sugar should get her on the apprentice; in place of the bunch of dimwits he usually finds.
Here’s the most expensive Google product ever made. And a great piece of DM (with photos)
What do you think this new Google product might be? A new app? Maybe a swanky titanium Nexus 10? Or how about a pair of gold Google glasses?
Nope.
It is a woolly hat. And it was worth every penny of my budget.
Let me explain.
I am a Google Adwords user. I ran a fairly large campaign over the course of a few months. It created a healthy rate of £60 per enquiry. Which given the competitiveness of the market – and value the service – was OK.
Anyway, in today’s post the below package turned up. It created a fair amount of excitement in the office…..
I opened the package to reveal this…
A nice message on the swing tag
You might be thinking, as my wife does, that I look like someone from a Police line-up.
You also might be thinking this hat is a bit naff. And you might be right. But that’s a matter of opinion.
But what this demonstrates is a great piece of posted direct marketing by the kings of digital advertising.
Because me and my team were genuinely excited when the package arrived. We couldn’t wait to open it to see what was inside.
And when we did – we all thought this free hat was cool. And that’s not a funny play on words for a hat designed to keep you warm.
We also liked the little swing tag with the simple thank you message from the Google Adwords team.
The whole direct marketing piece made us feel a bit special. A bit flattered. So like all good marketing, this is more emotional than practical. After all, the money I spent on Adwords could probably have paid for 15,000 of these hats.
Personally I think it could have benefited from a personal letter to me – maybe with an Adwords offer: particularly as my campaign has been paused for about three months.
Nonetheless, I think this is a great piece of ‘old school’ direct marketing from the undisputed kings of modern day advertising.
Would you dare put your logo here?
As a marketing professional you’ll be looking to get your advertisement or branding in places that give you maximum exposure. Places that give your message a high ‘opportunity to see’.
And, it goes without saying, in front of the eyeballs that are relevant to whatever you are selling.
So, would you put your logo or advert on an emergency vehicle?
The reason I ask is the Nottinghamshire Police Force has just announced it is considering selling advertising space on its cars.
Aside the obvious – and crass – advertising for personal injury claims, which could also be extended to having personal injury adverts on the ceiling of ambulances, what opportunities do you think this offers?
And would you advertise on emergency vehicles?
PS: I’ve just of another stinking example. Ambulances could have L’Oréal’s ‘Because you’re worth it tag statement’.
Here are the only 3 headlines you should ever use in your advertising
The most important part of your advertisement, direct marketing, poster, email or social media campaign is your headline.
The majority of people read little else. As proof of this, think about how you read. What draws your attention to the stories you read in your preferred newspapers, websites and magazines? I’d bet it’s the headlines.
And, just like the headlines used in news stories, your advertisement’s headline has one goal: to interest people enough to make them read on.
In fact, it’s not an overstatement to say that your campaign might win or flop entirely on your headline.
So how do you write a good one?
Obviously your headline depends on what you are selling. But no matter what your headline is, it should fall into one of these three categories:
- Self interest: The best headlines are those that offer the reader some kind of benefit. They offer your reader something they want – something they can get from you. Here’s an example:
“Your cold sore gone in 5 days with Vutuexin – or your money back”
This headline targets its prospects (people with cold sores) and instantly offers two benefits: to get rid of their cold sore in 5 days (which is what they want) or they get their money back.
Who can argue with that proposition?
This headline uses the problem / solution concept. Which is probably the most successful recipe you can use to create your advertising.
And it gets the brand name in too.
So all-in-all a pretty good headline.
- News: Research shows that people love to get news. Think about how often you seek it out yourself. How often do you read newspapers, news TV channels or news websites?
This is particularly successful in business-to-business advertising. Here’s an example:
“Announcing the new way for you to improve your business’s cash flow – effortlessly”
How many business owners and finance directors would like to improve their cash flow? And do so with very little effort? I suspect quite a few.
Here is a news headline taken from consumer advertising. It’s from a banner advertisement running on the Sky News website at the moment. It’s for Boots No7.
“Now there’s a new serum to reduce the looks of ages for all women”
Like the cold sore one, this is good for other reasons too. It uses the word ‘now’, which conjures up the thought that this is something new. This is then backed up/confirmed by the actual use of the word ‘new’.
It also defines its target market too by clearly pointing out it’s for women. The visual then scrolls to show the different products for their different target age groups.
- Curiosity: This is the most common type of headline used in advertising, although research shows it to be the least successful.
Here’s one I literally just found in my wife’s latest copy of Vogue Magazine:
“Life, intensified”
Do you know what this headline is for? Does it get your attention. Or make you want to read the copy that follows?
To be frank, this headline is meaningless.
But curiosity headlines can work. For instance a headline that stated “What’s wrong with this picture?” successfully sold a course for self- improvement. This headline urges you to read on. It taps into your subconscious because you automatically try to find out just what is wrong with the picture.
Some people think headlines will make sense when used with a relevant and engaging image. And to some degree that’s right; a great image can rescue a poor headline. But not always.
It is always sensible to write the best headline you can. That way your great headline, used with an attention-grabbing photo, has the best chance of being a winner.
And never look for an image and try to write copy that suits it. Always write the copy first, then get an image to dramatically and interestingly make your point
Here is a simple trick to quickly check how good your headline is
Write your headline down on a piece of paper. Then use nothing else other than your logo / branding and position it where you usually would do.
Show your paper to someone who knows nothing about your business / product or service.
Do they understand what you’re are advertising? Do they understand the general benefit? Would they be interested in reading on?
If yes – then find a great photo to illustrate your advertisement and bring it to life. If no, look at re-writing it.
So the next time you’re writing headline copy for an advertisement, direct marketing, poster, email or social media campaign or any other item you want people to read – make sure it falls into one of the above three categories.
And by the way – the meaningless headline I mentioned early was for Porsche cars.
How this simple idea will improve your advertising. And you can watch an example here too
If you’ve ever tried to create advertising you’ll know it’s not just hard. It’s very hard.
In fact Leo Burnett, one of the most successful advertising men of all time, famously said: “I have learned that any fool can write a bad ad, but that it takes a real genius to keep his hands off a good one.”
So, how can you avoid being the fool and become the genius?
You can start by using the problem / solution concept. Or in other words, work out what is the number one problem your prospects face right now – and give them a solution.
And make your solution better than your competitors. And by better, I mean: cheaper, quicker, faster, easier to get hold of, smaller, tougher, more luxurious or anything else that will make people buy your products / services over your competitors.
Sound easy? It’s not. But at least the problem / solution concept gives you a place to start creating your advertising.
Here are just two obvious examples of this concept that you’re probably already aware of:
- Anadin: “Tense nervous headache? Nothing acts faster than Anadin!”. This problem / solution advertising concept ran for over 30 years.
- Specsavers. All their advertising shows the problems you get into by not being able to see properly. And their slogan “Should have gone to Specsavers” is the solution. In fact, this slogan is now commonly used be people all over the UK when someone does something obviously wrong. By the way, this does something else brilliantly too, which is get the brand name in the slogan.
But what about the example I promised you. The one you can watch right now?
It’s a Thomson Holidays TV advert featuring a guy called Simon who has, through the relentless drudgery and stress of life, turned into an ogre. But he becomes human again thanks to the restorative powers of a holiday.
The advert ends with the line “ It’s amazing what our holidays can do”.
There you have it. A simple problem / solution concept using this guy, Simon the ogre.
But the advert has a couple of other elements you should always try to use to improve your advertising.
The first is the advert grabs your attention. It’s visually unusual. Your intrigue is aroused. You subconscious is saying “What on earth is this ogre doing with this family.”
The second element is emotion. In fact, I think the advert is quite moving. We can all see ourselves turning into Simon the ogre with the pressure of daily life. And how we might sometimes look to our loved ones. Our wives and children.
Whether the advert will be a success or not is not down to my opinion. Or anyone else’s for that matter. It is down to the sales results of Thomson.
But if I were a betting man, I’d wager a few quid this will get their cash tills ringing.
You can watch the full advert here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXNJA1yGn-8
Insulting customer service and an embarrassing missed opportunity
Do you watch movies?
I do – and lots of them too. I find movies a good way to give my brain a few hours rest from the reality of life. Sad, I know.
To feed my habit I subscribed to Love Film by post, which is a pretty good service. For just £14.99 a month you get to have three movies out at any time – and as soon as you post them back, you get three more sent to you. I watched 9 films in one week before!
But sadly, and like so many businesses, their good service disappears when you try to cancel.
That’s because you can’t cancel if you have their movies in your possession. But every time I sent them back, they posted me more! And that’s despite me twice confirming my cancellation by telephone.
So I did exactly what you would do. Out of share frustration I cancelled my direct debit payment in the vain hope that would stop them.
But no. Those efficient people at Love Film just kept on posting.
Then I got an email. It confirmed I’d not paid and my subscription was cancelled. But it also confirmed I had three of their movies. They were correct, I did.
At this point, here’s what a smart business would do.
They would ask me some questions that might help them in the future. Maybe:
- “Why am I leaving?” or;
- “What did I value about their service?”, maybe even;
- “Did I find their service convenient?”.
They could have used this opportunity to try to change my mind. An offer or incentive mayAn offer be?
Sadly not. In fact this is what they said:
- Please note should the discs still be outstanding after that point we will have no option but to pass your details onto our debt collecting agency (CreditLink Accounts Recovery Solutions) for the recovery process.
In case you’re wondering if you read that correctly, you did. They actually threatened me with a debt collection service if I didn’t send my movies back!
That is not just insulting to me – it is shameful on them.
So I sent their movies’ back.
And will never use their service again.
I’d appreciate your opinion on this Ogilvy advertising question
I am reading, for the second time, Ogilvy on Advertising. Which, in my humble opinion, is the greatest book ever written on the subject.
Every time I read the book it gives me new ideas. And confirms my beliefs in some others areas where I’m constantly questioned.
Anyway, I have a question I’d like your opinion on. On page 109 Ogilvy talks about the problem with using celebrities in TV advertising; particularly for their ability to change people’s brand preference.
He gives these two reasons:
1, People forget the brand being advertised and remember the celebrity instead
2, People are cynical of the brand as they guess the celebrity has been paid – and they are right
But has this now changed since this book was first published in 1983? Does our fascination with all things celebrity mean using famous people in advertising increases brand preference – and ultimately sales?
Or do big brands, armed with even bigger budgets, not monitor brand preference or sales accurately enough to know?
I’d really like your comments and opinions on this subject.
Put this much thought into your customer service, and you won’t go far wrong
In my experience customer service is the most ignored aspect of the marketing mix.
Businesses seem to spend so much time and money promoting their brands they forget to consider how it is actually delivered – and the experience the customer gets.
This mistake can kill a brand stone dead.
Have you ever bought anything and suffered the misery of having it delivered? If your experience has been anything like mine, you’ll know the service is usually lousy.
You have to waste the best part of a whole day waiting around for your items, as usually the best delivery estimate is somewhere between “9am – 6pm”
But not so at delivery service DPD – who’s service and use of technology I just had the pleasure of experiencing.
Here’s the story:
Late on Saturday night my wife bought some overpriced boots from UGG Australia via their website. We had actually spent the day visiting their stores in London but none had her size.
Anyway, after we paid online we were told the items would be with us within 5 working days.
Then Monday we got a text message from DPD, the distribution firm UGG use. It said the items would be with us on 22nd which was just 3 working days. Not a bad start.
The text message also gave these three helpful options:
1, I could text back the number 1, which meant deliver next door, as I’m out that day.
2, I could text back the number 2 for a Thursday delivery, or the number 3 for a Friday delivery.
3, Or visit their website (link provided) to rearrange
All helpful stuff.
But here’s where it got brilliant.
Because on the delivery day, I got another text message. It told me the delivery driver’s name was Lee and he would be with me between 11.53 and 12.53.
And it had a link to a real-time map that showed the locations of Lee and my house. It also showed how many more deliveries Lee had before getting to my house. At the time I looked, Lee was just delivering order 26. Mine was number 62.
It looked a bit like Google maps.
Wow – I could actually watch my delivery making its way to my house by Lee the delivery man.
And as promised, the overpriced boots arrived on time and on the correct day. And Lee was a friendly bloke too.
I take my hat off to DPD. The service it fantastic. Which also helps UGG too, as it reflects on their overall brand image.
If you’re interested in Google Ad Words this infographic might help you.
I like Ad Words. I’m told done well it can make you lots of money.
From a marketers point of view, it gives you useful information on how well, or not, your advertising is performing. And you can make instant changes to improve your advertising so it performs better. I consider it the evolution, but not the replacement, of direct marketing.
But I also think Google does an appalling job of explaining how it works – unless it’s just me that struggles to understand their advice pages.
But a colleague of mine, Zoe Arcatinis, emailed me the below infograhic that I think does a good job of explaining all the confusing terms Google use.
I hope you find it useful.
It’s from a company called Wordstream.
Zoe also tells me that ‘Google AdWords For Dummies’ by Howie Jacobson explains Ad Words really well too.
You can read more about Howie and his books here http://askhowie.com/
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Carl Weston 