On Advertising and Ethics (new article for the James Randi Educational Foundation)

02/18/2010

0 Comments

 
I had intended my recent Swift article to be an empowering piece on personal responsibility. I also wanted to bust a few myths about advertising’s alleged powers of control. Judging from many of the comments, it seems that some readers took the piece for a unilateral defense of marketing, abuses included, and a disavowal of marketers’ responsibilities for what and how they sell.

Nope. I am an outspoken critic of marketing abuses. If you’d care to search my blog, you’ll find that I routinely take marketers to task for flimflam products, racism, sexism, non-promises, certain business practices, needless vitriol, and sticking flyers on my door, to name a few. And, yes, I routinely bring up personal responsibility as well. Fair is fair.

Marketing abuses indeed occur and shouldn’t be tolerated. That should be an easy call in clear-cut cases, such as outright lying. But more often... (click here to read the rest)
Add Comment
 

To Xfinity and Beyond

02/17/2010

1 Comment

 
Comcast has done a good job of making their name a household word. Now they have announced plans to rebrand their internet, phone and cable TV services under the name Xfinity.

I'm not sure what Xfinity means. "Formerly infinite," perhaps?

Such so-called rebrands cost money. New signs, letterhead, business cards, vehicle IDs, etc., etc., are but the iceberg's tip. The real expense comes in retraining the masses to recognize you by, and trust you in association with, the new name. 

Which leads me wonder: what marketing problem does this so-called rebrand solve for Comcast?

I refer to this as a "so-called" rebrand because a new name and logo do not a brand make. Those are marks. Brands are bigger and go deeper. (I deal with this extensively in my book.)

Steve Cuno
1 Comment
 

Is Advertising the New Devil?

02/15/2010

0 Comments

 
My newest article for the James Randi Educational Foundation's Swift is now online:

Avoiding personal responsibility used to be clean and simple. Caught red-handed? The devil made you do it. End of story.

But today we have a dizzying array of bogus blaming options. We can choose from rap music, movies, TV, video games, the Internet, Twinkies, genes, society, the neighbor’s kid, our upbringing, the booze talking, atheism, evolution, the definition of “is,” planets, stars, lunar phases, the ever-vague and passive “mistakes were made,” the economy, being an only child, not being an only child, and more. Just keeping track can exhaust the most adept excuse-maker. Call me extreme, but some days I wonder if it might be easier simply to say, “I made a mistake.”

I saved the excuse that accuses my profession for last: “The advertising made me do it.” If you fed your kids fast food until your spouse mistook them for the minivan, blew the budget on a video game system, or bought trendy clothes you didn’t need and that went out of style as you were paying for them, take heart. You can blame us slick advertising people and our so-called hypnotic work.

 Just one problem... (To read the rest of this article, click here.)

Add Comment
 

Copywriting Tips for Professional Service Firms

02/08/2010

0 Comments

 
Here are some thoughts I shared with a company that recently approached us about rewriting their law firm client's website. It's sound advice for any professional services firm. 

Thanks for your email. I actually enjoy writing law firm copy. Other than that, I assure you that I am for the most part sane.

I agree with your assessment of your client's site. It's typical law firm copy that covers the usual bases while utterly failing to engage. It is to your client's credit that they have requested a writer to produce copy that they wouldn't produce on their own.

My experience has been that, the larger the law firm, the more the attorneys seem to obsess on "positioning" themselves as "the professionals." While we certainly don't want to be unprofessional, "the professionals" is no position at all. For one thing, it's redundant: attorneys are professionals by definition. For another, positioning has to do with setting yourself apart. If all law firms are "the professionals," not one of them has a position.

A better approach is to write from the standpoint of what connects with the prospective client. When I recommend my business attorney, I do not say, "He's such a professional. He has great suits, dimples his tie and never speaks with contractions." Here's what I do say: "He's a bulldog. He bites my opponent on the leg and doesn't let go until I get my way." Invariably, the person I'm talking to says, "That's the guy I want," and calls him.

Leg-biting is, of course, over the top for a website. (Or is it?) But if we expect people to read, we must at least engage them, and that means not writing the same old stuff they've seen on other sites. Otherwise, they will only skip-read, if even that.

As I'm sure you know, the more attorneys who have approval/editing power, the weaker the copy will turn out. If the law firm's principals can discipline themselves to (1) limit review to one or two principals only and (2) resist the urge to rewrite and instead provide feedback, they will increase their odds of finishing with compelling copy.

Steve Cuno
Add Comment
 

"Who Dat" NFL trademark kerfuffle

02/01/2010

0 Comments

 
Entrepreneurs have begun marketing T shirts and other memorabilia with the words "Who Dat" to football fans. But the NFL sent their attorneys after them. They claim that "Who Dat" is an NFL trademark, which makes it NFL property. Senator David VItter, R-La, has taken up the side of the entrepreneurs. 

I suspect that the entrepreneurs will prevail in this instance. But should the NFL prevail, I'm going to rush out and slap a trademark symbol next to all the popular phrases I can think of. Then I'll sue anyone who uses them. Consider this fair warning, readers! I now officially own "Oh yeah," "Oh baby," "All right," "What's up," "Thank you," and "Hubba hubba."

 Steve Cuno
Add Comment
 

Should you put a 1 in front of your phone number?

01/29/2010

0 Comments

 
"Remove the 1 from in front of the toll-free number," my client said.

I asked why.

"It's policy."

The RESPONSE Agency was creating a direct mail package for a worldwide financial institution to send to 300,000 clients. The objective was to increase signature-based debit card transactions.

You might think that it's silly to obsess over whether or not to place a 1 in front of a toll-free number. Actually, it's only silly to obsess over things if they don't matter — and sometimes seeming minutia make a difference. In fact, a 1 in front of a toll-free number will ever-so-slightly increase the number of calls you receive.

But in this case, it wasn't worth arguing. For one thing, we'd have lost the argument. Policy, you know. For another, the desired action wasn't phone calls; it was behavior change, from PIN-based to signature-based transactions. Even without the 1, response was over 25%.

 Steve Cuno

Add Comment
 

Need a break? Watch these 10 worst Super Bowl commercials

01/26/2010

0 Comments

 
JUST FOR FUN: Click here to watch msnbc's 10 worst Super Bowl commercials. (Actually, there are 11. I guess 10 makes for a more compelling headline?) Thanks to hindsight bias, you can marvel that anyone produced them, much less ran them during the Super Bowl. (This year, one 30-second exposure starts at $2.5 million.) 

Equally amusing is msnbc's psychobabble as to why each spot failed. Perhaps they feared that they wouldn't sound intellectual enough if they simply said, "This was a really dumb idea."

Steve Cuno
Add Comment
 

Great Direct Response Copy — Written by a Girl Scout Brownie

01/21/2010

0 Comments

 
Picture
Amelia and 'friends'
I just found a great example of powerful direct response copywriting. It was a scrap of paper taped to my doorknob. I assume the writer is seven or eight years old, since she identifies herself as a Girl Scout Brownie. Here is the text in its entirety:

Hi! My name is Amelia, and I'm a Brownie selling Girl Scout cookies. I was wondering if you would like some cookies. Do you think you would? The money I get I will use for Girl Scout camp and other fun activities. If you would like some, I'd appreciate it. And if you don't want to eat G.S. cookies, you can buy them, then our troop will give them to a family homeless shelter. Each box costs $3.50. Please call me if you would like to buy some. The cookies should be delivered in early March. Thanks! [Hand-signed:] Amelia

Great copywriting. Its strongest attributes are its clarity; its outright, soul-baring honesty; and its strong, easy-to-follow call to action. Sure, these should be basics. But sometimes we so-called professionals get so caught up with being clever that we overlook them.

How could I resist? I sent Amelia a check with a request that my cookies go to the homeless. I urge you to contribute as well. Contact Amelia by clicking here now: zaui@yahoo.com. Amelia can deliver cookies in Utah's Sandy-Draper area only, but if you want to donate your cookies to the homeless, you can contribute no matter where you live. PLEASE RESPOND NO LATER THAN JANUARY 29.

Who knows… not too many years hence, Amelia might be making a living as a copywriter.

Steve Cuno
Add Comment
 

Most Important Part of the Uniform

01/19/2010

0 Comments

 
The boys in the scout troop nodded solemnly as the scoutmaster explained that the most important part of their uniform was none other than the scarf. It said so, right there, in the manual. You could use it to make a bandage, carry things, shade yourself, etc., etc.

But at lesson review time, the scoutmaster had the misfortune to ask my brother Pete, then 11, which part of the uniform was most important. Quickly jerking his mind back from elsewhere, Pete said, "The pants." 

"No," said the scoutmaster, "the scarf."

It was a snowy January night in upstate New York, Land of Unforgiving Winters. Pete said, "Let's go outside. I'll wear pants. You wear a scarf. Let's see who lasts longer."

I would call that an example of critical thinking trumping Argument from Authority. 

It pays never to let down your critical thinking guard. This is good advice for life in general, including marketing. Be especially suspicious when the accepted wisdom smacks of magic. (For instance, "If it's truly creative, it will sell.") Ask questions like, "How do we know that's true?" And beware answers like, "Because everybody knows." Everyone knew the earth was the center of the universe, too.

Steve Cuno
Add Comment
 

Oh I Wish I Were an Oscar Mayer Wiener...

01/15/2010

0 Comments

 
Two of the best-known advertising jingles in America belong to the Oscar Mayer Company. Who hasn't hummed about wanting to be an Oscar Mayer wiener, or rhapsodized bologna's first name?

But Oscar Mayer worries that the ubiquity of the jingles eclipses their other products. So they're launching a jingle-free campaign touting all their lunch meats together. It's another "we're not—we're also" move, in the tradition of Radio Shack calling themselves "the Shack" ("we're not just radio stuff") and Pizza Hut calling themselves "the Hut" ("we're not just pizza anymore").

I predict the jingles will be back.

Steve Cuno
Add Comment
 
<< Previous
Forward >>