A Powerful Secret to Great Ads
Powerful ads are the few that stand out in your mind because they made an impression. Here's how that happens.
Brand Codes in a World of Continuous Partial Attention
We are all, as T.S. Eliot wrote, “distracted from distraction by distraction.” So how can you craft ads capable of working?
Marketing Predictions for 2023 (?)
Before I question my Ogilvy & Mather Tarot Cards and tell you exactly what will happen, let’s see if past predictions have held up.
Value Proposition: Stand Out From The Competition
The only way you can have a clear message is if you speak the same language as your customers.
Advertising in Hard Times: 3 Quick, Easy, and Essential Lessons
If you continue to invest in long-term brand building through an economic downturn, you will overtake your competition.
Fables are Better than Facts
If all you do is list facts, you've created a documentary... not an advertisement. Advertisements are made to persuade.
Do Your Ads Romanticize What Your Customers Actually Want to Buy?
“The customer rarely buys what the company thinks it's selling him.” — Business Management Legend, Peter Drucker
Sales Funnel Optimization: The Myths and Facts
How’s your sales funnel looking? Is it optimized for conversion? If not, what can you change to improve it?
Be Who You Are — A KFC Case Study
The Colonel was seen as old, outdated, and associated with the old south. Tragically unhip for a newer, younger audience.
Strange Limiting Beliefs
The strangest belief I see nowadays is, "I love my digital person; can I keep using them" when they don't know what's under the hood.
But What About the Rest of Us?
The direct response ad industry, which includes most of what you see online, is built upon hyper-targeting to those scant percentages of people shopping today.
HOPE gets crushed when Despair uses a megaphone
The only advertising that gets customers immediately is through discounts. I’ve seen this picture before, and I don’t like the ending.
Are you Brand Handicapped?
Big corporate entities have warped the definition of Brand. Why? To handicap their competition. Which is you. The little guy.
Pizza is not like its Italian cousins
Price is the easiest to match. Competitors will drive you out of business using this strategy when they have more money than you.
Character, statues, and a promise no one else will make
"Do you know what you're selling?" "Custom-made furniture." "God no. That's the product. You're selling nostalgia."