10 Basic Truths of Advertising, Part Deux
The things we are hardwired to find unignorable and “fascinating” involve the (mostly social) triggers first discussed and popularized by Sally Hogshead.
Grow Your Business With a Courageous Offer
Yes a few customers will take advantage. Get over it. A Courageous Offer opens up the customer floodgates. The money of the many will wash away the bad taste of a few.
10 Basic Truths of Advertising, Part 1
America has always sorted its mail over a trashcan, and now just as ruthlessly sorts, filters, and dismisses every other incoming stimuli. Modern life demands it.
Are Your Ads Missing Hope? | Wizard’s Roundtable
You need all four... (1) A Big Idea (2) Nuts and Bolts (3) Entertainment (4) Hope. The last is the easiest to overlook… but it’s the most important.
No Parking on the Dance Floor of Your Mind
Are your ads letting the imagery and the story-logic do the persuading and selling? Or are they relying on whacky creative that’s actually counter-productive?
Naming the Disease
Nobody knew bad breath was a destructive social ill until Gerard Lambert pointed the blinding spotlight of his ads at the dangers of halitosis as a means of selling Listerine.
Good Advertising Can’t Solve Every Business Problem
Many years ago a business owner wanted me to fill his nightclub on the slow nights of the week. The club already ran cheap drinks and promotions on these nights... and the club was empty.
Money Follows Talent, and Talent Follows…
“Those who build great companies understand that the ultimate throttle on growth for any great company is not markets, or technology, or competition, or products...”
Logo Change? Consider This First
She walked right up to the wall with all of the options and pointed right to the logos with the red and blue waterdrops on them. My 80-year-old grandma knew the Moen brand because of the red and blue drops in their logo.
Learning from the Legends — MacManus and The Penalty of Leadership
Too often inexperienced copywriters and advertising clients want to persuade with copy points — with information being pushed at the reader.
How to Spot and Eliminate Digital Ad Fraud
This conversation started on Facebook in our private group discussing an article in Forbes. The headline said, "When big brands stopped spending on digital ads, nothing happened. Why?"
Chick-fil-A Let Me Down!
We hold the places we adore to higher standards. Chick-fil-A’s the most beloved fast-food restaurant in America. The Cathy family developed a lengthy list of systems, policies, and procedures – observable behaviors...
90% of Local Advertising Summed Up In 2 Slogans
Optimizing a purchase demands more time, energy, and attention than anyone can spare for 99% of purchases. Instead, people simply want their needs filled and hoped-for benefits granted at a reasonably fair price. “Satisficing.”
Sowing Rhetoric, HARVesting Attention
In another post, I lauded Paul Harvey’s “So God made a farmer” speech for its message. Mining it for rhetorical ore in this post feels a little sacrilegious…almost like making an ad out of it. Wait. I didn’t mean that.
Not a Farmer? Check Your Heart!
Dear Intrepid Entrepreneur, if you have the heart of a farmer, you're already a success. What? Explain! On Super Sunday, February 3, 2013, Dodge aired this legendary ad. Take two minutes and listen.