A LESSON IN ADVERTISING FROM THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

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Back in the 1760s, the great Dr Samuel Johnson ...
... the dictum that ...
large promise is the soul ... It's a good thought, a great thought; and I ...
what was Back in the 1760s, the great Dr Samuel Johnson delivered himselfof the dictum that 'promise, large promise is the soul ofadvertising'. It's a good thought, a great thought; and I contendthat what was true then is equally true today.
But it seems to methat modern advertisers are tying themselves into unnecessaryknots in an attempt to reach audiences which they believe arebecoming increasingly indifferent to their blandishments.Well, yes, markets are turning deaf ears and blind eyes, but theyalways have done, though not for the reasons generally espousedby the world's marketers. I am convinced that despite all thesophisticated research and marketing effort that goes intoadvertising these days, the real reason that markets areindifferent to advertising is because much of it ignores the manysplendoured principle that people don't buy products, they buythe benefits of owning those products.Today, the great proportion of advertisers don't deliver salesmessages, they tell what they hope are emotive stories with whichthe market can empathise, then they drop the product in as anafterthought, hoping that enough emotional cross-communicationhas been achieved for people to reach for their credit cards.That it doesn't and people won't has resulted in huge advertisingbudget cut-backs in the developed world in recent years.
Only amanufacturer who has taken leave of his senses will throw evenmore money at a strategy that doesn't work.The strategy responsible operates under the title Emotional SalesProposition (ESP), thought in some quarters to be an advance onthe Unique Sales Proposition (USP) which, on the contrary, doesactually work. What has been overlooked or, more likely, ignored,is that in developing the principle of the USP in the late 1950s,the brilliant Rosser Reeves was striving to replace anadvertising strategy that had been in situ for 30 or so years andwas fast running out of steam.
What was the device he was hopingto supersede? Well, by any other name, it was the emotional salesproposition. I won't bore you with the detail, but if you'd liketo find out more, you should lay your hands on Reeves' book,Reality in Advertising (MacGibbon & Kee - 1961).
It could be aneye-opener.So, it's true - the one thing we learn from history is that wenever learn anything from history. Let's go back to Dr Johnson.It's worth remembering that the kind of advertising old Sam wastalking about in the 18th century was fairly innocuous andlargely unexceptionable.
It could be read in coffee-house flyers,in chapbooks and in rudimentary newspapers; and it consisted ofsales messages as diverse as where to get your wig powdered andthe date of the next public hanging at Tyburn. Even so, theproducts and services on offer were as important to the peopleof the time as mobile phones and computers are to us.In the human condition, nothing much changes.
Our egos still needto be massaged and we are all in hot pursuit of happiness. Onlyour methods for achieving these goals, only our technologies,vary with time.So the next time you are tempted to commit advertising, thinkabout Sam Johnson and give your market a reason for owning yourproduct.
A good reason.Which prompts me to suggest a visit to www.wordpower3.com. There,you'll find an e-book that could make your working life a wholelot easier.
It contains close to 200 ready-made headlines,taglines, copy openers and clinchers, plus a comprehensive theme-finder that will give you just about every promotional word andphrase you'll ever need.It's called Word Power III. Over the years, its content hashelped me make a lot of money.
What it has done for me, it can dofor you. And that's a large promise.
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