“Nobody reads ads. People read what interests them, and sometimes it’s an ad.” – Howard Luck Gossage
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advertising
I recently ordered some bedding online and the package came with a printed insert that began “Dear valued customer.” At first, I scoffed at the amateur writing (clearly written by a non-native English speaker), but upon further reflection I am convinced this is the best marketing copy I have read all year. Or at least the most effective.
It successfully introduced their unique brand, it engendered empathy with their employees, it made me feel better about myself, encouraged me to read closely and completely, and was something that I joyfully shared with a few friends (and all of you). I can’t say any advertising or marketing literature I encountered in 2017 was as effective as this.
Here are a few excepts that you might enjoy and the principles they illustrate.
Authenticity: The first paragraph thanked me for my business and ended with this sentence “It is really a great luck for us to be able to encounter you on Amazon. Thank you for choosing our products, without your support, maybe I will get unemployed.” It might be hyperbole or brutally honest, but it certainly isn't boring or too "corporate" sounding.
Relational: The second paragraph talks about the product features. They end this idea by saying “Welcome to contact us and give us some advices that will be helpful to improve our products quality and services, we will continue to optimize the service and strive to do better.” You can just picture the eager employees awaiting the advices of customers. The third part of the letter encouraged customers to write positive reviews and if they couldn’t to contact them first for support. They sum up their approach like this “We convince that communication is the bridge to solve problems, we will certainly let your concerns get a good solution.”
Customer-Focused: The letter ends with a final greeting: “Finally, hope you could be nice every day ! Happiness every moment ! Have a healthier body and a sunny mood !” (spaces before the exclamation points are as printed). I couldn’t help, but smile when I read this.
Now, perhaps it is my deep familiarly with English-as-a-second-language communication for all my years working with Chinese, Japanese, and Korean suppliers that makes this letter endearing, but I think you can agree that it stands out in a sea of well-crafted correspondence. Although the experienced marketer in me shutters when I read the run-on sentences, improper vocabulary, and the like, this copy was effective in it’s purpose and isn’t boring! Not every brand or company could pull this off (nor would they want to), but perhaps it inspires us all to be a little more real in our communications in the coming year.
And, I hope it gives you a “sunny mood” as well!
Forgive the poor quality scan of the flyer. The actual was readable (mostly) and looked better than this.
When I was in college, I combined majors in history and business, which necessitated a lot of writing. The professors began classes by asking that students write a minimum number of formatted pages for each assignment. After the first few, the professor then implemented a page limit. I tried not to take it personally, but I did notice a pattern. More was not always better.
Thus my love-hate relationship with editing began in earnest. And now, I think of editing as a more encompassing task and valuable talent, because I don’t see it limited to writing. Sure, we edit copy for an ad, content for a blog post, speeches or videos for length, or even these articles to match the attention span of the reader. But I am now very aware that editing is something you must do in your life overall.
Identifying which stories need to be told. Selecting the right things to focus on. Making each word and each moment of the day the highest impact possible. Taking out everything extraneous so that the important things can be achieved.
Just like editing, it is easier said than done. You’d think it would be easier to strike words from sentences or sentences from paragraphs than it was to write them in the first place, but anyone who has done it knows it is not true. Just like curation makes the museum collection, so does editing make the writer.
And in life, editing is hard. But worthwhile.
This article was originally published on LinkedIn Pulse.
Investors and advertisers love networks that have captive audiences. They love that fuel dispenser toppers catch people when they are tethered to a gas station with an 8 foot hose. They love that people waiting for a movie to start in a cinema have to watch something when the lights are down and their cell phones are put away. The captive audience that can’t escape the message you are trying to deliver.
But, think about it from the user’s perspective. Who wants to be captive? “I want to be a captive audience,” said no one ever.
People want to be captivated, not captive. It’s a higher calling that we should all strive for.
Without power the economy and our civilization as we know it falls apart. This is why wide scale power outages are always part of the plot of post-apocalyptic movies and strike fear into our hearts.
But now, connectivity is our new electricity. We simply do not accept that we will not have connectivity. I just texted pictures from on top of the Great Wall of China.
“We must shift from an asset business to an audience business.” – AdNews, November 2nd, 2015
Advertising networks, like those with ad spots or billboard locations to sell, have long been an inventory business. More inventory (thus, the invention of the 22 minute TV show) and higher value inventory (ie, Times Square billboard) has been the recipe for growth. But in today’s multi-channel world with mobile and multi-tasking consumers, it may be less about inventory than it is about audiences. They may be able to quantify how many people walk through Picadilly Circus each day or would pump gas at a particular gas station during a particular month, but those aren’t audiences. Those are statistics.
Modern buyers are allergic to the old ways of marketing. The unsolicited emails, direct mail, the interruption-based advertising. If not allergic, then they are immune. In any case, the old ways don’t work anymore. And we must find a new way.
Some can visualize words. Some need to be shown pictures. And some need to experience things before they can learn. In any case, one style of communication doesn't work for everything. This affects not only formal education, but advertising and branding experiences as well.