By:Alex A. Kecskes
Whether he knew it or not, Sam Clemens had quite a bit to say about
advertising. Here, among his many notable quotes, you’ll discover 9
refreshingly incisive nuggets of wisdom that can help you create stronger,
more compelling ads. Here are 9 refreshingly incisive nuggets of wisdom
from Sam Clemens to can help you create stronger, more compelling ads.
“Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising.”
Advertising is life made to look larger than life, through images and
words that promise a wish fulfilled, a dream come true, a problem
solved. Even Viagra follows Mark Twain’s keen observation about advertising.
The worst kind of advertising exaggerates to get your attention, the
best, gets your attention without exaggeration. It simply states a fact
or reveals an emotional need, then lets you make the leap from “small
to large.” Examples of the worst: before-and-after photos for weight
loss products and cosmetic surgery—both descend to almost comic disbelief.
The best: Apple’s "silhouette" campaign for iPod and the breakthrough
ads featuring Eminem—both catapult iPod to “instant cool” status.
“When in doubt, tell the truth.”
Today’s advertising is full of gimmicks. They relentlessly hang on to a
product like a ball and chain, keeping it from moving swiftly ahead of
the competition, preventing any real communication of benefits or
impetus to buy. The thinking is, if the gimmick is outrageous or silly
enough, it’s got to at least get their attention. Local car dealer ads are
probably the worst offenders--using zoo animals, sledgehammers, clowns,
bikini-clad models, anything unrelated to the product’s real benefit.
If the people who thought up these outrageous gimmicks spent half their
energy just sticking to the product’s real benefits and buying
motivators, they’d have a great ad. What they don’t realize is, they already
have a lot to work with without resorting to gimmicks. There’s the
product with all its benefits, the brand, which undoubtedly they’ve spent
money to promote, the competition and its weaknesses, and two powerful
buying motivators—fear of loss and promise of gain. In other words, all
you really have to do is tell the truth about your product and be honest
about your customers’ wants and needs. Of course, sometimes that’s not
so easy. You have to do some digging to find out what you customers
really want, what your competition has to offer them, and why your
product is better.
“Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable.”
In advertising, you have to be very careful how you use facts. As any
politician will tell you, facts are scary things. They have no
stretch, no pliability, no room for misinterpretation. They’re indisputable.
And used correctly, very powerful. But statistics, now there’s
something advertisers and politicians love. “Nine out of ten doctors
recommend Preparation J.” Who can dispute that? Or “Five out of six dentists
recommend Sunshine Gum.” Makes me want to run out and buy a pack of
Sunshine right now. Hold it. Rewind.
“Whenever you find you’re on the side of the majority, it is time to reform.”
Let’s take a look at how these stats—this apparent majority—might have
come to be. First off, how many doctors did they ask before they found
nine out of ten to agree that Preparation J did the job? 1,000? 10,000?
And how many dentists hated the idea of their patients chewing gum but
relented, saying, “Most chewing gum has sugar and other ingredients,
that rot out your teeth, but if the guy’s gotta chew the darn stuff, it
may as well be Sunshine, which has less sugar in it.” The point is,
stats can be manipulated to say almost anything. And yes, the devil’s in
the details. The fact is, there’s usually a 5% chance you can get any
kind of result simply by accident. And because many statistical studies
are biased and not “double blind” (both subject and doctor don’t know
who was given the test product and who got the placebo). Worst of all,
statistics usually need the endless buttressing of legal disclaimers. If
you don’t believe me, try to read the full-page of legally mandated
warnings for that weight- loss pill you’ve been taking. Bottom line:
stick to facts. Then back them up with sound selling arguments that
address the needs of your customer.
“The difference between the right word and almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.”
To write really effective ad copy means choosing exactly the right word
at the right time. You want to lead your customer to every benefit
your product has to offer, and you want to shed the best light on every
benefit. It also means you don’t want to give them any reason or
opportunity to wander away from your argument. If they wander, you’re
history. They’re off to the next page, another TV channel or a new website.
So make every word say exactly what you mean it to say, no more, no
less. Example: if a product is new, don’t be afraid to say “new” (a product
is only new once in its life, so exploit the fact).
“Great people make us feel we can become great.”
And so do great ads. While they can’t convince us we’ll become
millionaires, be as famous as Madonna, or as likeable as Tom Cruise, they make
us feel we might be as attractive, famous, wealthy, or admired as we’d
like to think we can be. Because there’s a “Little Engine That Could”
in all of us that says, under the right conditions, we could beat the
odds and catch the brass ring, win the lottery, or sell that book we’ve
been working on. Great advertising taps into that belief without going
overboard. An effective ad promoting the lottery once used pictures of
people sitting on an exotic beach with little beach umbrellas in their
cocktails (a perfectly realistic image for the average person) with the
line: Somebody’s has to win, may as well be you.”
“The universal brotherhood of man is our most precious possession.”
We’re all part of the same family of creatures called homo sapiens. We
each want to be admired, respected and loved. We want to feel secure
in our lives and our jobs. So create ads that touch the soul. Use an
emotional appeal in your visual, headline and copy. Even humor, used
correctly, can be a powerful tool that connects you to your potential
customer. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling shoes or software, people will
always respond to what you have to sell them on an emotional level.
Once they’ve made the decision to buy, the justification process kicks in
to confirm the decision. To put it another way, once they’re convinced
you’re a mensche with real feelings for their hopes and wants as well
as their problems, they’ll go from prospect to customer.
“A human being has a natural desire to have more of a good thing than he needs.”
Ain’t it the truth. More money, more clothes, fancier car, bigger
house. It’s what advertising feeds on. “You need this. And you need more
of it every day.” It’s the universal mantra that drives consumption to
the limits of our charge cards. So, how to tap into this insatiable
appetite for more stuff? Convince buyers that more is better. Colgate
offers 20% more toothpaste in the giant economy size. You get 60 more
sheets with the big Charmin roll of toilet paper. GE light bulbs are 15%
brighter. Raisin Brain now has 25% more raisins. When Detroit found
it couldn’t sell more cars per household to an already saturated U.S.
market, they started selling more car per car—SUVs and trucks got bigger
and more powerful. They’re still selling giant 3-ton SUVs that get 15
miles per gallon.
“Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.”
Who gets the girl? Who attracts the sharpest guy? Who lands the big
promotion? Neiman Marcus knows. So does Abercrombie & Fitch. And Saks
Fifth Avenue. Why else would you fork over $900 for a power suit? Or
$600 for a pair of shoes? Observers from Aristotle to the twentieth
century have consistently maintained that character is immanent in
appearance, asserting that clothes reveal a rich palette of interior qualities
as well as a brand mark of social identity. Here’s where the right
advertising pays for itself big time. Where you must have the perfect model
(not necessarily the most attractive) and really creative photographers
and directors who know how to tell a story, create a mood, convince you
that you’re not buying the “emperor’s clothes.” Example of good fashion
advertising: the Levis black-and-white spot featuring a teenager
driving through the side streets and alleys of the Czech Republic. Stopping
to pick up friends, he gets out of the car wearing just a shirt as the
voiceover cheekily exclaims, "Reason 007: In Prague, you can trade them
for a car."
About The Author :
Alex A. Kecskes
ak creativeworks combines strategic marketing and
high-impact creative for ads, brochures, mailers, articles, scripts, web
content and more…
Contact Information visit www.akcreativeworks.com
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