Learning from Legends: Who Are You Really Talking To?
Direct Response practitioners claim it’s much more effective and efficient to talk directly and only to the decision-maker for the purchase.
Learning From Legends — When The Obstacle IS The Way
There’s a reason Advertising Age named “A Diamond Is Forever” the best advertising campaign of the 20th century!
Reverse Camouflage Advertising
Sharply define the edges between you and the alternatives. Not only with content, but with style as well. If everyone else is doing a “yell and sell,” talk intimately with the audience.
Offering Something Great? What’s In It For You?
People believe in social proof and social signaling, making price an almost-fail-safe guide to quality. So if your price is out of line with your claims, people distrust the claims.
The Viewmaster Guide to 3-D Testimonials
3 common mistakes from testimonials and examples of what a 3-D Testimonial sounds like as a finished product. Here’s how most people screw it up, and how you can make sure you get it right.
The Social Engineering Brilliance of “L’eggo My Eggo”
To understand the brilliance of what Leo Burnett did, you have to consider what they didn’t do — what a lesser advertising title might have done.
Why Character-Driven Ads are the Key to Higher Margins
Facts presented as facts — as standard “reason why” advertising — cause people to buy from a Consumer Reports mindset. They want bang for the buck.
The 2 Most Common And USELESS Pieces of Marketing Advice Given to Home Service Companies
Unique Selling Propositions are counter-productive.
Never Let a Committee Make Strategic Marketing Decisions
"If Columbus had an advisory committee he would probably still be at the dock." - Arthur Goldberg. A committee in small business can be a group of employees or a loose bunch of well-meaning family and friends.
Reverse Psychology and Advertising Strategy
It’s called “reactance.” When someone tries to tell you what to think or do — that automatic resistance you feel is called reactance by psychologists. And for advertisers, there are plenty of work-arounds for reactance.
Good Spiderwebs
Too often, a company uses their marketing to push their features and benefits - ‘Best location, Best Product, Best Service, Best Employees’ - but these are not clingy and sticky. Features and benefits are slippery and rarely remembered.
The Bard, the Beatles, and Beyond
McCartney rocks and Shakespeare roles and both showmen move their audiences with antithesis. Steal a gift from Paul and Will. Use antithesis in your writing.
Change the Name, Change the Results
If you’re selling a commodity and that commodity is called the same thing at every business, give yours a better name. I can get a “large coffee” anyplace. I can get a Grande only at Starbucks.
The Magic of Portals
The goal is to move shoppers from an objective, consumer-reports mindset to an enthusiast’s mindset. Put plainly: if you’re selling premium products or experiences, you need to understand the power of portals.
The 7 Most Common Ways to Fail When Making Your Ads “Creative”
Creativity is the second most important factor in advertising effectiveness, according to over 50 years of quantitative data.