The Purpose Of Advertising…
August 11th, 2005
Odds are you believe you know “good” marketing from bad. After all, we are so awash in advertising, how could you NOT believe you know the difference between good and bad marketing?
If you are like most people I speak with, the advertising you believe is “good” is the stuff that entertains you or makes you laugh.
And why not? I mean, that type of advertising IS entertaining, and I do personally enjoy it as well.
But, is it “good” advertising???
Stay with me here. All of my years in advertising and direct response have taught me one thing. Good advertising is there to do one thing, and one thing only.
SELL PRODUCT.
Somehow, some way most of the General Advertising agencies have forgotten about this very fact. I was chatting with someone about an Ad for a certain type of car the other day.
It was the ad where the guy is singing the song “I feel like a woman” by Shania Twain. His friends are packed in the car with him and they are obviously extremely perturbed.
It’s very funny! However…
Can you name the product? I asked my friend this and naturally, like most people, he forgot the product…
And even if he did remember, what is the correlation between a guy singing “I feel like a woman” and Chevy Trucks? (That’s the product being “branded” in this particular ad).
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!!
And hence that is my exact problem with “branding” and exactly why branding does not work. I will write more about this outdated idea of branding in a future blog.
Getting back to advertising that works (or sells product, if that’s your goal 
)
The type of advertising that works does the following:
1) Grabs your attention (knocks you out of “Alpha” Mode and into “Beta” Mode)
2) Engages you
3) Educates you
4) Offer
Let’s first talk about the “attention” aspect. I have to admit, some of the advertising you see on TV and what not does a great job at grabbing your attention, or knocking you out of “alpha” mode.
First of all, “Alpha” mode is a state of conciousness in which we exist most of the time…a good example is when you are in your car driving to a place where you go consistently, so let’s say a drive to your office in the morning…
Have you ever driven to the office in the morning, arrived there, and realized you saw absolutely NOTHING on the way there??
That’s a perfect example of “Alpha” mode. It’s a level of conciousness in which you do not really recognize much.
On the flip side, and example of “Beta” mode is driving to work in a terrential rainstorm, and you have your hands locked in the “10 and 2″ position. (Your high school gym teacher turned driving instructor would be proud )
Nevertheless, during these times, you ARE aware of things going on around you, and you are more apt to remember them.
All of this being said, ALL advertising is designed to knock you out of Alpha mode and into Beta mode. This is a smart thing because, of course, you want your prospects to remember you and your product.
However, the problem is in which the way most advertisers do it…
I call their advertising a “false beta”…
In other words, their advertising headline is something like:
“SEX”
Now that I have your attention, I would like to offer you this great health insurance package. We have very competitive rates blah blah blah blah…
That’s a false beta. You THOUGHT the ad was going to share something with you about sex. Instead you got the cheesy health insurance ad.
And the same goes for the “I feel like a woman” ad that Chevy has run in the past. Sure, it’s funny, it knocks you out of Alpha mode and into Beta mode, but where is the correlation there?
IT’S A FALSE BETA!!!
And also probably why you don’t remember the products behind some of your “favorite” ads.
So, in learning this, what is the advertising formula that DOES work???
1) Knock you out of Alpha Mode with a promise to solve a problem you have:
EXAMPLE:
“Do you have dandruff? Here’s some good news…”
“Are you in debt? Are the bill collectors calling? Learn how you can get out of debt for pennies on the dollar!”
ALL of these headlines do the following:
1) Take you out of Alpha mode and into Beta where you are aware…
2) Make a promise of solving you problem, and then getting into the “how”…
As they say, the best selling product in the world is a solution to a problem. So ask yourself, how does your product solve the problem of your prospects/customers?
And how are you addressing that in your advertising? Are you trying to “entertain” or “brand” yourself in your advertising???
Gosh, I hope not…
Address your prospect’s pain. Address their needs, not yours! Talk about them, and what they will get, not about you!
The internet essentially consists of two different types of sites….
1) “About Us” sites (95% or more sites online)
2) WIIFM Sites (What’s in it for me sites, 5% or less)
As you can imagine, the 5% or less sites work MUCH, MUCH better.
Let me clue you in on something. Your prospects can CARE LESS about you. Deal with it, it’s the truth. They want to know, specifically, how the heck you are going to solve their problem, make their life easier, make them healthier, make them sexier, make the richer, etc etc.
SO WHY IN THE WORLD ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT YOURSELF??? Stop it, you selfish moron!
;-)
Just kidding!
Remember:
Address THEIR needs. Tell them how THEY will benefit. How they will become the person they want to be by virtue of buying your product. They are buying the benefits to themselves, not because you are family owned and operated and have been in business for 20 yrs.
If you cannot solve their problem, they can care less!
Ok, more on this later. I hope you enjoyed it. Please, if you have not already, subscribe to my newsletter.
Till next time,
Matt
