Archive for July, 2008
Someone Didn’t Get The “Reason Why Copywriting” Memo
Posted by: | CommentsHere’s a couple more current ads from Australian financial institutions that provide illustrations of bad and not-so-bad copywriting.
Let me say, I don’t pick on financial institutions out of spite or some sort of grudge. It’s just that they seem to be so prominent and, often, so poor. As I’ve observed previously, they seem to have money to burn.
The first example is from an outdoor display ad from National Australia Bank. It’s pitching at the business banking market, where there seems to be a battle for market share going on.
“The Dark Knight”, The Social Mood And Copywriting
Posted by: | CommentsThe new Batman movie, “The Dark Knight” is a massive hit and looks like it could challenge “Titanic” as the biggest grossing movie of all time.
I went to see it yesterday and loved it. Best film I’ve seen all year. To paraphrase one reviewer “It’s visually stunning and works both as a conventional all-action blockbuster and as a psychological thriller”.
Here’s the trailer…
Copywriting Video – More About The “Nitty Gritty”
Posted by: | CommentsHere’s another video from the “Copywriting Checklist” series from John Carlton. Gee, the last one I posted was a month ago!
This is a follow up to that previous video. It’s titled “Nitty-Gritty: Discussion”. In it John hammers home the point that it’s benefits, not features, that need to be emphasised in copy.
I’d go a little further. It’s benefits plus the POSITIVE EMOTIONS that someone will experience when they have your product or benefit from your service. Now, I’m not suggesting that John Carlton isn’t aware of this. Read his copy and you can see he is hitting “emotional hot buttons” all the way through. However, in this particular video he doesn’t bring this point out explicitly.
Enough from me. Here’s the video. Enjoy…
Copywriting Notes – Dealing With Procrastination
Posted by: | CommentsCopywriters obviously aren’t the only people who struggle with the demon of procrastination. But, as I said in a previous post about dealing with “resistance” it’s something that anyone involved in a creative endeavour seems to struggle with.
Procrastination comes in various forms. One is the idea that you don’t know enough just yet to get started.
I was reminded of this recently while reading Dan Kennedy’s “Official Get Rich Guide To Information Marketing”. Here’s what Robert Skrob, one of Dan’s co-authors, says…
“Even though I was an idiot, with a grasp of only a narrow bit of knowledge, my study had given me far more knowledge than anyone else around me, and they knew it. I’ve discovered that only a small number of people ever make this revelation. They are stuck in the stage where they realize they know nothing. Most people are constantly intimidated by everyone around them because they are searching for the person with all the knowledge.”
The point is you don’t have to be perfect. You simply need to know information or have a skill that other people want (and will pay for, of course).
Of course you will never know everything. So don’t get caught up in that trap. Yes, you need competence. But in most cases you have what you need. And if it turns out you do need some further knowledge or skills, taking action will confirm that and, more importantly, will give you the feedback as to exactly what that required knowledge or skills are.
Taking action brings multiple benefits.
As Mike Litman says…
“You don’t have to get it right but you do have to get it going”.
One other aspect of procrastination I’ll mention is simply being overwhelmed at the apparent scale of the task. In that case, use “chunking” and breaking the task down into smaller pieces that you can tackle. One step at a time, you’ll be amazed at what you can get done.
Quick “Public Service” Announcement For Copywriters…
Posted by: | CommentsAce copywriter John Carlton is about to withdraw all of his current copywriting programs from the market ahead of launching new versions (“Say Bye-Bye To The ‘Bag Of Tricks’”).
It’s likely that the new versions will be significantly higher in price. Can’t say I’m surprised. The current prices are absurdly low.
I have pretty much all of John’s courses. There is no way you could part me from my copy of his “Kick Ass Copywriting Secrets” course (and the amazing “Power Words” report). At the very least, every serious copywriter should have this. The current price is a ridiculously low US$299 (plus shipping). That is a truly crazy price when you compare it with other copywriting programs currently on the market.
If you can stretch to the more expensive packages, then that’s all to the good.
No affiliate link. Just something I thought you should know about. You’ve got until this Friday (July 25) US time. Get the details here.
Now Is When Direct Response Copywriting Is Needed Most…
Posted by: | CommentsThe chill winds of hard economic times are blowing across the world and hitting some places more than others.
I’ve refrained from commenting about the economic situation so far, but I will be posting about the implications for copywriting and sales messages.
The “social mood” definitely has implications for sales promotions.
However, that’s not what I’m going to talk about today.
Noticed this item (“Ad Sales Drop 16.4% At New York Times”) in the “Financial Times”…
Why Do Big Financial Institutions Have Such Dumb Advertising?
Posted by: | CommentsIn the City today I couldn’t help notice a new advertising campaign from BT Financial Group, one of the big local funds managers.
It’s promoting their superannuation (retirement savings) products and the part that I saw was the outdoor display ads.
There’s a whole series of these advertisements and they all have a question theme along the lines of…
“Do we really care more about organising our music than our super?”
“Every year the average Australian spends 40 days watching TV. Why don’t we spend more time on our super?”
…and so on.
So what’s wrong with this? Two things…
Wonderful Example Of An Intriguing Headline
Posted by: | CommentsHad to share this wonderful example of the use of intrigue that I came across in today’s UK “Daily Telegraph”.
“The Sticky Toffee Pudding Mystery”
The article leads off…
Thoughts On Traffic…And Copywriting
Posted by: | CommentsI’ve commented in the past about the importance of traffic for any business and observed how some businesses are very vulnerable to changes outside of their control. I mentioned the impact on my local Starbucks and a small bakery shop of the relocation of a big corporate headquarters away from the area.
Fortunately, business seems to have recovered and the bakery shop has even moved to new and larger premises. And the local Starbucks had a little boost over the last week because of the “World Youth Day” event here in Sydney.
(The whole thing lasted about a week, so I’m not sure why it’s called “World Youth Day” but let’s leave that.)
“Scientific Advertising In The 21st Century” – Part 7 “Being Specific”
Posted by: | Comments“Our prices have been reduced 25 per cent”
“Our net profit is 3 per cent”
“The final result of testing and comparing 130 formulas”
The 3 claims above are all drawn from chapter 7 of “Scientific Advertising”, called “Being Specific”.
The point that Claude Hopkins makes throughout the chapter is that when you make a specific claim in your copywriting, it is evidence that you have conducted research and tests. As a result, people are much more inclined to believe your claims.
“Platitudes and generalities roll off the human understanding like water from a duck. They leave no impression whatever. To say, ‘Best in the world’, ‘Lowest prices in existence’ etc are at best simply claiming the expected. But superlatives of that sort are usually damaging. They suggest looseness of expression, a tendency to exaggerate, a carelessness of truth. They lead readers to discount all the statements that you make.”
This last point is critical, especially in situations where you’re already dealing with a high degree of scepticism or resistance from the reader. If you’re in a highly competitive market, you cannot afford to have the reader instantly dismiss your claims and move on.
