25. Writing a News Release

Using News Releases to Get Free Publicity

     News reporters can’t know everything. In fact, they can’t know anything newsworthy unless someone tells them.

     They have many sources for news. To name a few, there are news services in other countries, government agencies, civic groups, and—yes, businesses that have recently come up with a new product and want people to know about it.

     That’s where you come in. Before you call the local newspaper or television station and tell them, “I have news for you. Will you please come and report it?” you have to understand two things:

1. What is news?

2. How can you make it convenient for the news media to report your news item?

Step One: What is news?

All news has three things in common:

1. It’s current (That is, it’s new information and it relates to the readers’ or viewers’ lives today.) It’s even better for it to be immediate (That is, breaking news), but new products don’t usually have immediacy.

2. It’s local (That is, the people who read that particular newspaper or watch that particular news program will think that it relates to them.)

3. It’s visually striking (That is, you’re showing the reader or viewer something that’s interesting to see.)

Step Two: Getting the news media to cover your story.

     Okay, you’ve found the right angle; your publicity item is local and current; and you’ve figured out a way to really catch people’s eye (visually striking.)

In most cases, editors and news stations still won’t send a reporter to cover your story. Why not?

     You may have heard of the New York Times’s slogan, “All the news that’s fit to print.” Actually, that’s not true.

     In fact, the amount of news going on in the world each day is far more than any newspaper can cover. Locally, there aren’t enough reporters to cover more than a small fraction of all news items on any given day. Editors have to decide which ones are the most important, based on three things:

1. The kind of information that the editor thinks is important,

2. How much space the editor has in his newspaper (or how much time he has on his news program), and

3. Whether the newspaper (or news station) has the manpower (reporters, copy editors, etc.) to cover the story.

     Let’s say, you know that you have something the editor will want to use. Then what? There are three ways to go about getting publicity:

1. Have someone excitedly call the television station or newspaper and say something like, “Hey! What’s going on at such-and-such a place?” Give just enough detail to indicate that people are all excited over it, and add, “Since you work for the newspaper, I thought you’d know.” Of course, pretend that you’re just a person who’s curious about it and that don’t really know what’s going on. This works only when you have something that’s visually exciting and different.

2. Write a news release and send it to all of the local news media. Don’t leave out any of the news media; if you do, they’ll resent you for it.

3. Present your information at some event that the news media already will cover, such as a trade show or an electronics exhibition. Of course, you still should be prepared with a news release. Don’t expect a reporter to go to the trouble of writing a news story based on a brochure you’ve given him. He’s too busy to go to the trouble of doing that.

From the author’s personal experience:

     Many years ago, I read a piece of advice that was given to a diplomat: “If you attend an international event, sit next to someone who is wearing a turban.” Since photographers want their pictures to be interesting, they’re more likely to include something like that in their photographs.

     After I learned of this, I attended a week-long event that would be nationally televised. I knew that no one would be wearing a turban, but I got an idea: At events of that nature, television cameramen often wanted to show the reactions of the crowd. How could I make sure that the cameramen would want to show my part of the crowd? On the day that the most people would be watching the event on television, I wore a very, very bright green shirt. One of my father’s friends who had watched the event on television said that the television camera kept turning to focus on my part of the crowd. Since I was in the center of the television screen, I knew that my idea had worked.

Getting noticed at trade shows

     With all those displays, how are you going to get the attention of the news media and your target consumers?

Question: Which of the exhibits you see below is more likely to get you the publicity that you can turn into sales?

     You don’t want to do what others have done so many times that it’s no longer new. Which exhibits most catch your interest? Chances are, you were more drawn to the photo on the right because the person in the photo is showing interest in the product. An attractive, scantily clad young woman is no longer new. Do you see what we mean?

     Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have an attractive young woman manning your exhibit at a trade show, but you need more than that because many others are doing the same thing. Think about these or some other combinations:

1. A friendly, attractive woman at an interactive display

2. A fun interactive display

3. A friendly, attractive woman wearing an interesting costume, such as an Indian sari.

How to write a news release

At the top of the news release, you give certain information about the release itself:

1. The words, “News Release”

2. Name and telephone number of the contact person. If they want further information, they’ll want to know whom to call.

3. The name and contact information for your company

4. When you would like the story published or broadcast (To give two examples, “For release on or about March 23, 2010,” or “For immediate release.”

5. Suggested headline for the news release.

     Find out which editor is responsible for editing stories like yours. Send it to that editor, by name, and write a cover letter.

     Do not call it a press release. Since the word press applies only to print media, this may offend members of the broadcast media. Call it a news release.

     How long should your news release be? One page (typed, double spaced) or a page and a half should be enough. If, however, the editor has room for only a half a page, he’ll cut from the latter half of the news release. If he needs only a quarter of a page, he’ll cut off the latter three quarters of the news release.

     For that reason, when you write your news release, use inverted pyramid style. That means that, in your news release, you should write the information in order of importance. Put the most important information in the first paragraph. Put the next most important information in the second paragraph, and so on. The least important information goes in the last paragraph.

     That way, even if the editor uses only one paragraph of your news release, he’ll still have a story that makes sense to the reader.

The first paragraph should tell the readers WHO is doing WHAT, WHEN, and Where. You may also include the information HOW and WHY.

Question: Someone from the Mamahuhu Hotel chain probably wrote the article, but Judy Chen took credit for writing it. Is that fair to your company?

Answer: Of course, it is! If the Mamahuhu Hotel took credit for writing it, readers would think of it as just another advertisement. Then they’d be less likely to read it. Since it’s presented as a news story, they’re more likely to read it and accept it as fact.

Question: The news release says that the new hotels will be built in China. Why would the Mamahuhu Hotel want this information published in a Taiwanese newspaper?

Answer: Locals residents don’t stay in hotels; tourists stay in hotels. The target readers of the news release are rich Taiwanese who are likely to visit one of those eight cities in China. It’s a hidden advertisement for the Mamahuhu Hotel. They probably sent similar news releases to Japanese and Korean newspapers, as well as Chinese language newspapers in Taiwan.

Now it’s your turn!

Get together with your team and write a news release promoting your product or service.

24. Guerrilla Marketing on the Internet

          We’ve already discussed building your business web site. Every team did a credible job of it, and some teams did an excellent job.

There are at least two other ways to “advertise” your product or service on the Internet:

1. Pay-per-click advertising arrangements with search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and AltaVista.

2. Product placement “ads” on popular web sites such as Flickr, Facebook, and YouTube.

Pay-per-click Ads

     When you make an arrangement of this sort with a search engine, they place your advertisement where they think it will most help your business. For example, advertisements for cosmetics may be placed on a blog or web site that appeals to women. Advertisements for Taiwan organically grown tea may be placed on a blog or web site belonging to a Taiwanese—especially if the site is devoted to health or environmental issues.

Try this:

     Go to your favorite Internet search engine and key in some words for a search. For example, you may key in “furniture.” Once you’ve hit the “Search” button and you see the page that comes up, you’ll see the words “Sponsored Links,” at the top and along the side of the page. Those are the pay-per-click ads.

     Something like 20% of the Internet clicks are for sites located at the top or side of the first page.

     With pay-per-click ads, your business doesn’t pay for the advertisement unless someone clicks onto the advertisement. When he does that, four things happen:

1. The visitor learns more about your product or service.

2. Your business pays a set amount for each person who clicks onto your ad.

3. The search engine receives some of the money you paid for the advertisement.

4. The owner of the site or blog gets some of the money you paid for the advertisement.

     Remember that, in a pay-per-click ad, you can’t give the target consumer enough information for you to make a sale. Use the nudging technique to direct the visitor to your business web site. That’s where you’ll make the sale.

What is Guerrilla Marketing?

     Guerrilla marketing is an unconventional system of promotions that relies on time, energy and imagination rather than a big marketing budget. Typically, guerrilla marketing campaigns are unexpected and unconventional; potentially interactive; and consumers are targeted in unexpected places. The objective of guerrilla marketing is to create a unique, engaging, and thought-provoking concept to generate buzz, and consequently turn viral.

     Guerrilla marketing involves unusual approaches such as intercept encounters in public places, street giveaways of products, PR stunts, any unconventional marketing intended to get maximum results from minimal resources. More innovative approaches to guerrilla marketing now use cutting edge mobile digital technologies to really engage the consumer and create a memorable brand experience.

YouTube

     If your television commercial is entertaining enough to “go viral,” then do it. The only way to make sure that someone will put it on YouTube is to do it yourself.

Of course, when you put it on YouTube, you’ll have to sign up for a YouTube account. Play it smart; sign up in the name of an individual—not the name of your business.

Photo Sharing Sites

     Flickr is one example of a photo-sharing site, and it doesn’t cost you anything to use it. Photo-sharing sites are supposed to be used only by individuals—not businesses—but you can get around this restriction.

Here’s how:

1. Have someone in your business open a personal account with Flickr or some other photo-sharing site.

2. Upload a lot of pictures that would interest your target consumer. Include some pictures of an ordinary person using your product, and show that he/she is happy with it.

     Suppose you were marketing a fashionable style of clothing. You might insert a picture of someone wearing your brand on this page. Since you also see this person in other photos, this doesn’t look like an advertisement.

     When the viewer clicks on the thumbnail photo to view the full-sized photo, he’ll also see whatever comments the photo sharer has to make. That’s your opportunity to mention the name of the brand. If you say any more than that, it will look like an advertisement.

.

Social Networking Sites

     Facebook is one of many social networking sites. I mention Facebook only because you’ve all heard of it. I also mention Facebook because it’s a fantastic tool for guerrilla marketers. If you play it right, Facebook can be the most effective use of your online advertising campaign.

     Start a fan site for some aspect of your product. Fan clubs for various products are nothing new. For many years, there have been clubs devoted to cars such as Volkswagens, Barracudas, and 1957 Chevrolets. There have been fan clubs and other named clubs devoted to organic foods, certain clothing styles, and even certain computers (such as Apple Macintosh) and computer software products (such as Photoshop.) There are even clubs devoted to homemade, pin-hole cameras! I’ll be you’ve never heard of pin-hole cameras.

     If people can get excited about it, a fan club can be built around it.

Some Internet sites even give advice on how to use Facebook to advertise your product or service. According to one such site, here are a few avenues for guerrilla marketing on Facebook:

I. Tools for Guerrilla Marketers

1. Profile Page

2. Groups

3. Pages

4. Events

5. Notes and Photos

6. Messages

7. Marketplace

8. Share / Posted Items

9. Networks

10. Mini Feed and News Feed

III. Tools for Application Developers

11. Profile Box

12. Mini Feed

13. News Feed

14. Invitations

15. Facebook Notifications

16. Email Notifications

17. Application Directory

     That’s quite a few, isn’t it? For more information, you can go to the following web site: http://www.insidefacebook.com/2007/12/09/inside-facebook-marketing-bible-24-ways-to-market-your-brand-company-product-or-service-in-facebook/

Now it’s your turn!

In your advertising campaign, include pay-for-click ads and guerrilla marketing. Show how you will design this campaign. The more realistic you can make it, the better you will learn—and, the higher your grade will be.

Remember, if your guerrilla marketing campaign looks “too much” like an advertising campaign, sites such as Facebook, Flickr, or YouTube may close your account. Try to disguise your ad campaign as “just another person who is doing social networking and file sharing.”

23. Designing TV and Video Advertisements

     Years ago, products were often advertised simply by having someone stand in front of a camera and talking about the product. In those days, watching an advertisement was like listening to a salesman.

     The spokesman would introduce himself. Then he would talk about the product. Sometimes he would demonstrate the product for television viewers.

     As television advertising developed, advertisers would develop little skits to promote their products. Many advertisers continued to do well by having celebrity spokesmen talk directly into the camera.

     Nowadays, fewer advertisements rely on having famous people talk like salesmen. The most effective advertising strategy these days is psychology and entertainment. If an advertisement seems more like entertainment, people will pay more attention to it.

 Affective Filter

     Affective filter is a psychological term. It’s kind of like a guard standing at the gateway to your mind, and it decides what information is going to pass into your brain.

     When you are aware that someone is trying to convince you of something, you’re more “on your guard.” Your unconscious mind decides whether the message is true. If it says, “No,” or, “I doubt it,” the message is not allowed into your brain, except as “someone else’s opinion.”

     But, what if the “guard at the gate” is told that it’s not really a message; that it’s just entertainment? Then the “guard at the gate” lets the message through without questioning it, and it goes straight to your brain. Then you’re more likely to accept it as your own opinion.

     That’s one of the reasons that the most effective advertisements don’t look like advertisements; they look like entertainment. These advertisements are scripted and blocked in the same manner as movies, stage plays, and television programs.

     (When a movie director blocks a scene, this means that he has already decided where everyone and everything in the scene is supposed to be. Whether someone stands in one place or moves is decided by the director. Everything about how the scene is supposed to look is blocked by the director even before it is filmed. We’ll tell you more about blocking later.)

     As for celebrity spokesmen, they can hardly be called “spokesmen” anymore, because they usually don’t speak. Advertisers still use the technique of transference, but without making the advertisement look as much like an advertisement. Instead, the celebrity “spokesman” is seen using the product. Since that doesn’t look as much like a message, the “guard at the gate” is more likely to let the message go straight through to the brain.

     Transference is the subtle art of taking the viewer’s feelings about one thing and transferring it to something else. Take, for example, a typical political advertisement in Taiwan. When an unknown person is running for public office (we’ll call him Ou-yang), you often see pictures of him standing next to a popular politician (we’ll call him Su). They hope that your good feelings about Su will be transferred to Ou-yang and that you’ll vote for Ou-yang as a result.

     Sometimes, in your college life, you’ll see a person with low self esteem associating with a popular person in hopes that some of that popularity will “rub off” on the insecure person.

     Let us give you an example of the use of a storyboard to block a scene. In the scene below, the Little Mermaid is talking with the sea hag. The director has decided that the scene would open with the two of them in the same frame. Then the camera cuts to show only the mermaid, then the sea hag, and so on. The scene ends with the mermaid and the sea hag in the same frame.

     If you were filming live actors, that would be a great deal of trouble. Each time you changed the scene, you’d have to move the camera, the lights, the actors, and everything else. It’s much more convenient to film it the way you see it below.

     Both scenes with the mermaid and the sea hag in the same frame are filmed. Then all the scenes with just the sea hag are filmed. Then all the scenes with just the mermaid are filmed. Later, the film editor cuts and splices the film to produce a scene in the order that the audience will see (as above.)

Now it’s your turn!

     You and your team, now design a television or video advertisement for your product or service.

22. Blocking Your Advertising Images

What exactly is blocking?

     In advertising, blocking is the arrangement of words and images in print or television advertising. In television advertising, it also refers to deciding the direction in which a person or animal will move.

     For example, if you see someone sitting still in the middle of the screen, someone has decided that he should sit in that place in that manner. If he rises from his seat and walks to a certain spot, stops, and turns to look at the camera, every movement he has made is because someone has decided the moves he will make.

     You want to arrange the words and images so that they’ll be most appealing to the reader or viewer.

     Mentally divide the image into six parts, like the image below:

     The image you see here is poorly blocked. As you can see, it’s perfectly balanced, and the viewer can tell that the photographer mentally balanced it as he took the picture. The land runs precisely along the center of the picture. The two skyscrapers are almost equal distances from the center of the photograph.

     Your picture should look balanced, but it should appear naturally balanced. Your photograph shouldn’t draw attention to anything the photographer did.

The Six Elements of Art

     Professional ad men don’t just “eyeball” a picture to decide whether it looks good. They also have certain standards for deciding whether it’s good and how good it is. Their standards include the same standards used by art critics:

1. Color: What colors and color combinations “say” what you want to say about your product?

2. Light: Shades of light and shadow help to set the mood.

3. Form: Do you want your images to look 3-D, like solid images, or should they appear more like line drawings?

4. Perspective: Do you want to create a feeling of distance or depth, or does flatness strike the proper mood?

5. Proportion: The way the size of some things relate to the size of other things in the picture.

6. Motion: Rapid movement creates excitement. No movement can indicate rest.

Color:

     What colors and color combinations “say” what you want to say about your product? The use of green in this image fits the image of a “natural” product. You can see the word natural on the product label. If you could see the above photo in color, you would see that the blue of the water matches the green in the background. It also provides a space for the advertising copy.

Light:

     Shades of light and shadow help to set the mood. In black and white, what mood does this image strike?

Form:

     Do you want your images to look 3-D, like solid images, or should they appear more like line drawings? Notice that the top of the bottle in the picture hides part of the shoreline. The unconscious mind wants to think of the shoreline as one continuous line; but the image of the product breaking up the shoreline suggests that the bottle is a solid object.

     By contrast, take a look at the image below. The form may fit some products, but certainly not a health-food product.

Perspective:

     Do you want to create a feeling of distance or depth, or does flatness strike the proper mood? In most of the advertising images in this lesson, distance and depth are used because they fit the image of health better than a flat line drawing would.

Proportion:

     The way the size of some things relate to the size of other things in the picture. We recall seeing a billboard advertising an insurance company. The billboard covered most of a multi-story building. The building in the picture appeared to be normal sized, but the gorilla in the picture was gigantic. A casual viewer would think that it looked as though the King Kong-sized gorilla were tearing down the multi-story building. This image was intended to suggest the emotional effect of problems that are too much for us to handle. The insurance company is suggesting that they are able to handle it for us. By this means, they are offering us a feeling of security.

Motion:

Rapid movement creates excitement. Lack of movement can indicate rest. In this advertisement, a more peaceful mood is required. Only the gentle movement of the water is seen.

Now it’s your turn!

Decide what kind of images best fit your product. Work on images for your advertising.

21. Designing Radio Advertisements

     This is a fairly brief lesson, but it covers a great deal of decision making for advertisers. You and your team can use the items in this lesson as a checklist for designing a radio advertising campaign for your product or service.

Why would you choose radio for your advertising?

1. It fits your target consumer.

2. It fits your target area.

3. It fits your product or service.

4. It has other advantages over other media.

How might radio fit your target consumer?

Your target consumer might be someone who…

1. Listens to the car radio while driving (truck driver, commuter, etc.)

2. Works in a place that has the radio playing all day (a laborer who plays it to keep his mind occupied, for example)

3. Listens to the radio only at certain times (after school and before bedtime, while driving to or from work)

4. Manages a store and plays the radio to provide atmosphere for his customers

5. Happens to hear the radio where he or she is shopping

6. Plays the radio while doing housework (housewife, cook, maid, etc.)

Who is your target consumer?

Each of these people listens to the radio at different times.

1. Listens to the car radio while driving (truck driver (all hours), delivery worker (9:00 AM-6:00 PM), etc.)

2. Works in a place that has the radio playing all day (a laborer who plays it to keep his mind occupied (9:00-5:00), night watchman (evening or night), etc.)

3. Listens to the radio only at certain times (after school and before bedtime (5:00-10:00), while driving to or from work 8:00-9:00, 5:00-6:00))

4. Manages a store and plays the radio to provide atmosphere for his customers (Radio station may vary according to type of store or time of day.)

5. Happens to hear the radio where he or she is shopping (variable)

6. Plays the radio while doing housework (housewife, cook, maid, etc. (Radio station may vary according to age of person or time of day.))

Choice of radio stations depend on target consumer.

1. Listens to the car radio while driving (truck driver (country music), delivery worker (pop music), etc.)

2. Works in a place that has the radio playing all day (a laborer who plays it to keep his mind occupied (variable), night watchman (something light), etc.)

3. Listens to the radio only at certain times (after school and before bedtime (pop, rock, or hip-hop), while driving to or from work (depends on type of person))

4. Manages a store and plays the radio to provide atmosphere for his customers (Radio station may vary according to type of store or the store’s target customer.)

5. Happens to hear the radio where he or she is shopping (variable)

6. Plays the radio while doing housework (housewife, cook, maid, etc. (Radio station may vary according to age of person or time of day. This person probably will be a woman.))

How might radio advertising fit your target area?

Your target area might be…

1. Just the city and surrounding county (small radio station, low-cost advertising)

2. A mid-sized state, province, or island (medium-sized radio station, somewhat higher cost for advertising)

3. An area covering thousands of square kilometers (more listeners, higher overall cost; it may, however, cost less per listener.)

How might radio advertising fit your product or service?

Your product or service might…

1. Appeal to reason as much as it does to the eye (for example, help in making a decision)

2. Appeal to the imagination as much as it does to the eye (for example, concepts such as relaxation or confidence)

3. Be difficult to portray in more visual media (for example, medicine)

4. Be more suitable to radio due to other reasons.

Now it’s your turn!

     Decide how your product or service may benefit from radio advertising. Design a radio advertising campaign that will fit your product or service and your target consumer. Using real radio stations in your area as a model, decide on which radio stations you will place your advertisements and at what times. Be prepared to support your decisions based on the criteria mentioned in this lesson.

20. Mistakes to Avoid in Writing Copy

     “Rumble, rumble, rumble! A horse-drawn carriage carries you along a cobblestone street. On the edge of a harbor, you see a charmingly quaint city from an earlier day. Each house and building is over 160 years old. A chill hits you in the face. Where are you? You’re in ‘America’s Most Charming City,’ Charleston, South Carolina! 100,000 people live there.”

Don’t talk down to people.

     “Rumble, rumble, rumble!” “Where are you?” (You might try something more grown up.)

Don’t say anything negative about your product or service.

     “A chill hits you in the face.” Doesn’t that sound unpleasant?

Don’t begin a sentence with a digit; begin it with a word.

     “100,000 people live there.”

This is much better:

     “Your horse-drawn carriage rumbles along a cobblestone street. . On the edge of a harbor, you see a charmingly quaint city from an earlier day. Each house and building is over 160 years old. A brisk wind brushes across your face. Welcome to “America’s Most Charming City,” Charleston, South Carolina!  Some 100,000 people live there.”

     Rather than go over the article point by point, we’ll just point out the areas that need improvement.

     “The way of a carriage running on cobblestone streets is the same as the car.”

Try this instead:

     “Carriages and cars may be seen moving along Charleston’s cobblestone streets.” (If the reader has to read it twice to understand it, he’ll quickly lose interest. Improve it.)

     In most of the paragraphs in the article, the name of the city was hardly mentioned. Some paragraphs didn’t mention the city's name at all. You should take every reasonable opportunity to mention the name of your product. In a 30-second advertisement, your product should be mentioned by name at least three times.

     From the top of one of these hills, you can see St. Michael's Church It is the most striking building of the Charleston skyline. It rises impressively above Broad and Market Streets in the heart of Charleston's historical district.

Don’t tell people what to do; suggest it.

     Don’t say, “When you’re in Charleston, visit the Battery.” It’s more effective to say, “When you’re in Charleston, you have an excellent opportunity to visit the Battery.”

Use verbs that show action.

     Instead of saying that the food is “at many seafood restaurants,” you may say that the food “is served at many seafood restaurants.”

Avoid words that can be taken as positive or negative.

Don’t say that the food is “special.” It could be especially bad. You might say that the food is succulent or mouthwatering. There are plenty of words you can use that would encourage people to eat it.

     Don’t tell people to “relax” at a certain spot. By doing so, you’re not only telling people what to do; but you’re also suggesting that a vacation in Charleston is tiring or hectic.

Try this instead:

     “After your tour of Fort Sumter, you may want to enjoy a change of pace afforded by the night life south of Broad Street.”

Look at all the mistakes in this paragraph!

     By now, your feet must be tired. Rest in one of Charleston’s 1,500 hotel rooms! As you relax, think of all the different things in store for you tomorrow. There’s still plenty to do in Charleston.

For crying out loud! Is a vacation in Charleston that much torture?

That’s like saying, “If you go to Charleston, you’ll get sore feet. I’m ordering you to take a rest. If you think today was torture, wait until tomorrow.” (Are all the hotel rooms in one area, or are they conveniently located? The paragraph doesn’t say.)

Try this instead:

     At the close of the day, you can rest in one of the 1,500 hotel rooms throughout Charleston. As you rest, you can anticipate all the exciting and romantic experiences you will have tomorrow. There’s much more to enjoy in the charming city of Charleston.

     I’ve removed the exclamation point. Exclamation points are for excitement, not for rest and relaxation. The word throughout tells the target consumer that the hotels are conveniently located. All 1,500 aren’t in just one place. Anticipate suggests that you’re not just “thinking about” it; you’re actually looking forward to it. In the closing sentence, the target consumer doesn’t just “see” things in Charleston; he “enjoys” and “experiences” them. Make the vacation sound like a positive experience.

19. Writing Advertising Copy

     Your teachers may have told you that there’s no such thing as a stupid question. That may be true in the classroom, but in the advertising business, it’s different. Don’t ask your target consumer stupid questions.

     For starters, don’t give your target consumer an excuse to say, “No,” or, “I’m not sure.”

      Here are a few foolish questions you should avoid asking your target consumer:

     1. “Do you like _______?” (You must make statements that assume that they like your product.)

     2. “Are you interested in __________?” (If they’re not already interested, your job is to arouse their interest. If they are already interested, they’re probably buying the product from someone else.)

    3. “Have you thought about ________?” (If they’ve thought about it, they’ve already done something about it. Besides, since you want your target consumer to think that your product is new, of course they haven’t thought about it.)

     By asking these foolish questions, you’re making five big mistakes:

1. You’re giving them a reason to say, “No,” or, “I’m not sure.” (You should speak of your product or services as though they can’t live without it.)

2. You’re suggesting that they may not be interested in your product. (You should present your product as interesting.)

3. You’re suggesting that there’s nothing new about your product; so why should they switch to your product?

4. You’re drawing attention to your target consumer’s doubts. (You should draw his attention to the benefits of having and using your product.)

5. You don’t sound sure that they should buy your product. (If you’re not sure of your product, why should they want to buy it?)

Don’t say anything bad about your product!

     Of course, no one deliberately says anything bad about his product, but it’s surprising how often amateurs come up with slogans that insult their product. About a year ago, the staff members of a school were trying to come up with a slogan to attract students to their school. They somehow convinced themselves that the first part of the slogan should be, “It’s small, but it’s….”

     I did everything I could to dissuade them from using the word but as part of their slogan. The word but always suggests something negative. It’s like saying, “Our school is bad, but it has its good qualities.”

     If your target consumer is going to notice the apparently negative characteristic of your product anyway and there’s no way to avoid it, what do you do? You present it as something positive. Let’s suppose you were marketing a small car, and let’s call the car the Toyota Smarts.

     Here’s the wrong way to promote the Toyota Smarts: “The Toyota Smarts is small, but it has plenty of leg room.” When you say something like this, you sound as though you’re trying to defend your product instead of praising it.

     Try this instead: “The Toyota Smarts handles easily in traffic, fits conveniently into parking spaces, and it offers you all the leg room you need for your traveling comfort.” In this copy, smallness is presented as a benefit, and the word small is not used at all.

The “Holy Trinity” of Advertising:

NEW!

YOU!

FREE!

NEW!

     You’re offering (Don’t say selling; that only draws attention to the money they’re giving up to buy your product.) a benefit/advantage/opportunity (That’s right: Sell the benefit, not the product or service.) that no one else has ever offered before. If someone else has offered it, they’re satisfied with buying it from someone else. They won’t buy it from you. That’s why they have to think that it’s new.

YOU!

Notice how many times the word you, or something like it, is used in this copy: “The Toyota Smarts handles easily in traffic, fits conveniently into parking spaces, and it offers you all the leg room you need for your traveling comfort.”

The words you and your are used a total of three times, but it’s suggested two more times. After all, who is handling the car in traffic? You are. Who has to fit the car into parking spaces? You do.

FREE!

Of course, nothing is free, but there are ways of suggesting it. Here are a few of them: 

1. Make a “special offer” such as, “Buy one, get one free!” That sounds much better than, “It’s now half price, but you have to buy two of them.”

2. Make the bottle (or other container) 20% larger than your nearest competitor’s but charge the same price. You can claim that extra amount in your bottle is “free.” You can raise the price later, and it will seem reasonable since your bottle holds more product.

3. Offer discount coupons or some other discount. If you raise your prices by 10% before offering a 20% discount, it will look as though it’s a bigger bargain than it really is.

Avoid using the word buy.

     When you use such words as buy and purchase, you’re drawing their attention to the money they’ll have to give up in order to get your product. Instead, of focusing on the cost, you should continue to draw their attention to the benefits of having and using your product.

     Many advertisers use the word invest, as though buying their product is an “investment in the future.” Look for other positive-sounding words you can use.

Give your target consumers a reason to buy now.

     The longer your target consumer waits to decide whether to buy your product or service, the less likely he is to buy it. Give him a reason to buy now rather than later. Here are two approaches you can use:

1. “Supplies are limited, so get yours today!

2. “We’re offering this amazingly low price for a limited time only, so get yours before the offer ends!”

     Notice how the pitchman is using the word yours. Actually, the product won’t belong to the customer until he has paid for it. Most people are afraid of losing something that belongs to them, but they don’t really mind not getting something that doesn’t belong to them. That’s why the pitchman is speaking of the product as if it actually belongs to the target consumer. It’s a clever way of saying that if they don’t buy it now, someone will take it away from them.

     In this respect, the advertising approach is no different from the person-to-person salesman. People involved in direct sales know that, if he can get the target consumer to hold the product in his hands, he’s less likely to give it back to the salesman. Of course, a television announcer can’t place a product into the hands of a person who is watching him on television, so he does the next best thing: He suggests that the product already belongs to the target consumer.

Now, here are two really, really, REALLY stupid approaches:

1. "Our unique Da-ge-da phones are cheaper than any other brand."  The problem here is, you're offering a high-end product by means of a low-end strategy.  If your product is high end and unique, you should want people to think that it's also high quality. 

2. "We'll pay you to buy our product."  Nobody actually uses those words in selling a product, especially if it's a high end product, but lots of students have said something like them.  Just remember that no matter how cheap your product is, it's still cheaper for the consumer not to buy it at all.  In fact, the consumer is the only stakeholder who isn't trying to make money from the product.  The consumer is the only stakeholder who is giving up money for the product.    You can't bribe someone to take your product.

Now it’s your turn!

     What does your team want to tell others about your product or service? Remember to sell the benefit! Remember, when you create a slogan, you’re stating the benefit in just a few words. Everything else in your ad copy should, in some way, support that one basic idea.