"Sell the Sizzle, Not the Steak” — or so says Elmer Wheeler. And if you’re in marketing or sales, either you like that phrase, or rather strenuously object to it. Those who object say things like "If you sell sizzle without the steak you’re a con artist."
“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don't know which half.” That statement has driven businesses on a quest to determine what is working. Many claim to have the answer when they actually don’t. All they know is last point of contact.
Now, I don’t subscribe to the notion that “hey, they remembered you…and that’s all that matters.” It’s very easy to be outrageous and “get remembered.” The job of your ad is to “get remembered” and sell some stuff.
Without a consistent theme, you probably don't even have a campaign. And then at that point, what are you doing? You're not branding. You're not bonding.
All the data including marketing spend, sales numbers, profit margins, etc.
I saw the following posted as a bit of humor online and thought it contained a powerful advertising lesson.
Shared values and tribes are the life blood of bonding campaigns. And you can’t have attitude without a point of view.
Howard McMann once said of his partner, “He’s slippery, he lies beautifully, and he has a great head of hair.” Legend has it, Tate once told a subordinate “If the client loves it, I love it! If the client hates it, I hate it!”
If you have fewer competitors barking on the airwaves, your ad will do a better job of “branding” your business.
How long should each ad stay on? How many ads do you run at a time? And as we look into the second half of 2020, is there less clutter out there?
Makers of ads push their chairs back and say “yeahhh…now that’s smooooooth.” …while your customer sliiiides right off.
Attitude imbalances are the most useful for advertising — especially for branding — because they speak to and most directly reveal personality, character, and values.
Radio never teamed up copywriters with sound producers to create great ads that pushed Theatre of the Mind to full effect and that were more than the sum of their parts.
If you try to buy attention without a story, you’ll strike out. This is what happens to most advertising and marketing efforts. People buy “exposure” via advertising and presume that they’ve also purchased attention...
The best way to drive exponential traffic to your front door is to stop targeting your advertising to the 7% of today’s buyers and start bonding with the 68% of all buyers.