How Do You Know if Advertising Works?

"There is no better test of an advertisement than whether or not it actually sells the product! In fact, it is the only true way of determining if your advertisement works."
-- John Caples, Advertising Hall of Fame

Truer words have rarely been spoken in marketing circles.

Legendary ad man John Caples

John Caples was a legendary ad man (Mad Man) who is probably best known for writing one of the most famous advertising headlines ever when he was a young copywriter in 1926: 

"They Laughed When I Sat Down at the Piano but When I Started to Play!''

The copy that followed was long. Several hundred words long, designed to solicit students for a correspondence course at the U.S. School of Music. And the ad was an instant and classic success, inspiring many imitations over the years. 

The ad that changed an industry

Caples went on to become an expert in direct-response advertising. According to his obituary in the New York Times:

“Mr. Caples was credited with pioneering many aspects of advertising, including copy testing and extensive research. He debunked humorous advertising copy, saying that ‘only half the people in this country have a sense of humor, and clever ads seldom sell anything.’ He also advised copywriters to ‘use words you would expect to find in a fifth-grade reader’' because ‘the average American is approximately 13 years old mentally.’

Mr. Caples was elected to the American Advertising Federation's Hall of Fame in 1977 and passed away in 1990. But his pioneering thoughts and practices about advertising live on.

The One That Gets Me Every Time...

I imagine I’m not alone. As writers, surely we all have that one word that trips us up every time we attempt to write it. Ok, maybe there are even more than one.

For me, it’s the word “bureaucracy.” Fortunately, I don't need to use the word all that often - which is probably part of the problem. But for the life of me, it never looks like it’s spelled right – and consequently, I always have to spellcheck it or look it up in a dictionary.

(Wait – an actual dictionary? Yes, I do use online dictionaries – but I also still have and regularly consult my bound, hard-copy, “old-school” dictionary by my desk… but that could be a whole other conversation…) 

Anyway, in the word "bureaucracy," it’s that crazy “eau” combination... and then the second “u” in the word that throws me every time.

I remember one of my friends in sixth grade telling me how her father taught her to remember how to spell the word "friend." She always had trouble with the "i before e" thing, as many do. She used a simple mnemonic (now there's a word that can trip you up!) trick to remember the correct spelling: you must "fri" (fry) to the "end." For the life of me, that old memory trick has stayed with me to this day and I still think of it often when I write that word.

Now if I could only come up with a similar mind/memory trick for "bureaucracy."

What's your killer word - the one that gets you stuck every time you write it?

Grumpy Old Ad Men

I generally don't mind grumpy old men, unless their grumpiness and wrath is aimed in my direction. Otherwise, I find them fairly amusing – and often with some valid points behind their grumpiness.

Statler and Waldorf, the quintessential grumpy old men, from The Muppets

Dana Carvey's Grumpy Old Man from SNL

And so I enjoyed the recent ranting of Bob Hoffman on his always-enjoyable blog, The Ad Contrarian, where he presented, of course, a contrarian view of content.

"Content" remains all the buzz in marketing circles – but Mr. Hoffmann takes umbrage with the phrase. Now before you dismiss him as a grumpy ex-ad man, at least hear him out. "Content' has become something so broad that it can encompass anything and everything from a lengthy white paper or case study to a selfie or a shot of last night's dinner.

Maybe it’s time to reconsider how we use the word, or the concept of online content. When the word is so all-encompassing, it loses a lot of impact. If you disagree with the Ad Contrarian's point of view, at least you’ll have fun reading his thoughts on the matter.

Check out adcontrarian.blogspot.com for more of Bob Hoffman’s opposing views on the status quo of advertising today.

On Cursing, Copy & the Classroom

I really enjoyed this colorful post from Magnus Shaw on Creativepool.com, regarding the use and power of swear words in copywriting. 

Is there a place for curse words in our copy? Will we see more of them in the years to come? I imagine we will, for better or worse, as standards change.

All this thinking about swear words reminded me of an academic experience I had when I was in college. I had a class in semantics and one day, the professor engaged us in a discussion of swear words. She explained how some words (curse words, particularly) have more power than other words, because of the association we bring to them. She then had us yell out all the possible swear words / curse words / dirty words we could think of, while she wrote them all on the blackboard. 

Imagine a class of students given free rein to yell out swear words in the classroom – and then having your teacher write them down for all to see – without anyone being sent to the principal's office or given detention. It was oddly cathartic – and an impressive way to make the point that words are merely words, a conglomeration of various letters that, in and of themselves, have no meaning, for good or bad. It's amazing how much meaning is attached to curse words, based on what we bring to them.

Personally, I rarely swear. I don't judge those who do, and I don't want a medal, a gold star, or a pat on the back for abstaining. The younger me avoided it for moral/religious reasons. The older (wiser?) me avoids it in accordance with the quote I once read somewhere (sorry, can't recall the author): 

"Swearing is a lazy man's way of being emphatic."

As writers, it seems like we (I) should be able to conjure up a better alternative, rather than taking the easy way out with a curse word.

But then again, maybe sometimes there's just no replacement for a good "#&@%"...

Seeing It Through to the End... Even When It's Junk

Many times as writers, we need to just plow on and keep at it... even when we're not so proud of what we're producing. I really enjoyed this short, encouraging piece from Stephanie Kaptein on on 99u.com. I like the idea she presents, borrowed from social behavior expert James Clear in Entrepreneur, that in any creative endeavor you have to give yourself permission to “create junk.” Who can't relate to that? Creating junk is part and parcel of what we do as writers – and it really is a necessary practice, if only for the benefit of seeing something through to the end. The very act of completion is a reward in itself - and it can be a strong confidence booster, to enable us to move onto the next project.

Great thoughts for the start of a new week!

Just Say "No" to Business Babble

A lot has been written and said about business jargon... but as long as it's alive and growing, it's worth taking the time as writers and communications professionals to consider any and all alternatives to this kind of "corporate speak."

I really liked this piece from Corey Eridon onHubSpot on what she calls "business babble" - the perfect way to describe it, really. These words and phrases make the user sound like he or she is "hip" in the corporate world when, really, they sound more like babbling idiots. Eridon gives 20 great examples of business babble: overused, over-imaginative phrases and words, along with simple, better alternatives for each one. 

I've been in corporate jobs or settings where nearly every one of these phrases has been used regularly (except "boil the ocean" - that one was new to me). The worst offender, in my estimation? "Open the kimono." It's meant to be another way of saying that someone is being revealing, or willing to share. It sounds more the act of a creepy guy on a park bench.

I hereby pledge to do my part to eradicate these silly expressions from my communication efforts. Or, in other words, I'm going to stop using these ridiculous phrases.

Do Taglines Still Matter?

In the wake of all the chatter about Burger King’s new-but-not-improved tagline ("Be Your Way"), I came across this interesting piece on TalentZoo.com’s Beyond Madison Avenue blog. Brian Keller posits the idea that maybe the tagline doesn’t matter anymore – that taglines “probably stopped working… over a decade ago” and that no one but agency folk really care about them anymore.

The very idea that the tagline is obsolete goes against the grain of all I’ve learned and how I’ve worked (and still work) as an advertising/marketing writer. Creating taglines is one of the first steps in our branding/positioning strategizing – and it still seems to resonate strongly with our clients as more than just a vain exercise. 

But I have to admit, when I saw the jumbled list of corporations and taglines that Keller posted, it did kind of jar me. How many well-known taglines/slogans are interchangeable? “I’m Lovin’ It” – couldn’t it work for Macy’s as well as McDonalds? “Just Do It” – everyone knows it’s for Nike (so there’s validation for the “it still matters” camp) – but couldn’t it also equally apply to, say, Home Depot?

Good food for thought… and a creative challenge to writers and agencies, to make sure that when we do create taglines, they are truly exclusive to and identifying of a particular, unique client – and not just nice words that could apply generically to a slew of different clients.