Most people think I go to work, write a few headlines and then scoot off to lunch only never to return until the next day. Come to think of it that would be nice; but we all know it doesn’t work that way.
So what it is that I do? I Sell.
If you don't sell, you don't get paid
But I’ve come to realise that I do not only sell products to consumers; but also sell advertising to clients. So to be able to sell, I need to be able to sell the idea to the client first before being given the go-ahead to sell products to the end consumer.
Sounds confusing? But here’s the kicker.
Before I can even think about selling anything, I first must sell the idea about selling an idea to a client to sell a product to a consumer to my partners first. And I haven’t even written a single line of copy yet.
So with all this selling going on, you tell me… Isn’t advertising fundamentally about selling? Or rather shouldn’t it be all about selling?
Every CEO thinks about how much money he is making as opposed to how wonderful his company’s advertising is, which may be the reason why you see lots of crappy (but often effective) ads out there.
So is there a way to balance a strong sales-driven message with compelling creative? Last I checked, it was called Direct Marketing.
Yeah, I suck at over-the-top advertising. I suck at making deceiving claims. I also suck at conjuring mindless superlatives just to make my copy ‘catchy’. Heck, I even suck at advertising that decorate rather than communicate.
I suck at many things because I can’t – no matter how hard I try – know it all.
I believe advertising should be about sending right message to the right audience in the right time and hopefully with the right offer to compel a desired action.
It’s nice to be reminded about what we are really supposed to do.
Just disregard the intro music; David Ogilvy was not a king.
Because truth be told, no one gives a shit about award-winning creatives or kick-ass art direction or genius copy except for those in the ad industry.
Everyone else is just concerned about getting the best value at the lowest cost in the most convenient way possible, and I am referring to both clients and consumers here.
Advertising should be more accountable, where money spent can be justified, and less about strategic mumbo jumbo and pointless creative masturbation.
With ROI becoming more and more important to clients, creative work – or anything that happens within an advertising agency – must strive to bring more bang to clients’ ADEX.
Anything less is just not acceptable; at least for me that is. This renewed enthusiasm for advertising that sells is borne from years of watching clients spend money in big idea yet low effectiveness advertising.
It turns out the thing we creatives think ought to be better written, is the very thing that’s limiting our creativity in the first place. Yup, creative briefs block creative thinking.
Creative briefs are written by brand or account managers; whom are both normally analytical, tactics-driven and strategically sound. These are a bunch of people who are left-brained if you will. Their objective is to manage a project to produce a desired result while being on time and on budget.
Now a recipient of a creative brief is usually a right-brained creative director, art director or copywriter; who some say is hard-wired to ignore a creative brief. It seems the tendency to disregard a brief is actually a natural reflex, and not an act of defiance as normally assumed.
Many a creative briefs have ended up here. Blame our right-sided brain for that!
Creatives are motivated by their craft and their need to excel in what they do. They also know other creatives are watching their work and that the next awards night is just around the corner. There is this need for a creative to justify his existence in the creative department, and to satisfy his toughest critic – himself.
A well-written creative brief then comes along to put a spanner in the works.
The fact of the matter is that most creative briefs are hardly creative. They’re full of dry data, assumptions, restrictions and guidelines; exactly the kind of thing that does not get creative juices flowing. The ‘better’ a brief is, the harder it becomes to translate it into a compelling, effective and engaging communication.
So allow me to apologize to all the suits that I’ve previously chided for not giving me a proper brief. It seems we never needed it in the first place.
This is it. I found the freaking jackpot. Experiments that confirm what I have believed all along. All those times clients picked apart creative options and tried to make them into 1 rojak creative, now I know why!
Because they couldn’t decide which creative option to choose.
Quick! Don't think, just choose a rojak...
In advertising, giving clients design or copy options is the norm. It shows that the agency takes the initiative to provide choices, and that we’re not a bunch of lazy arses force-feeding one single idea to the client.
But it turns out, providing too many options, actually makes the client decision much harder to make. Consider these studies conducted, excerpted from Chip and Dan Heath’s book Switch!
Study 1: at a Gourmet food store
On a sampling table, 6 different jams are on showcase for free tasting by customers. The next day, 24 types of jams were on display. As expected, the 24-jam display attracted more customers. But when it came time to buy; shoppers who saw only 6 jams were 10 time more likely to buy.
Study 2: on a speed-dating night
Singles meet one-on-one, spending about 5 minutes with each person. The result? Young adults who meet eight other singles make more matches that those who meet twenty!
This is called Decision Paralysis where too many choices make making a decision much harder than usual. I guess the key words here is ‘too many’, we can’t help but weigh in all the options presented to us. One or two options (at most) are still fine I’m sure.
Well now we know what “Less Is More” really means. While people like having choices, they hate weighing those options to make a decision, probably for fear of making the wrong choice.
So think about all those times that you found it hard to make a choice. Were there too many options?
Ladies, chill for a sec. Nobody is calling you a moron. The quote above illustrates that wives – who often shop for the whole family – are whip smart consumers. Yes, you can lower your pitchforks now.
This was one of the business advise of a certain David Ogilvy. We’ve all heard of David Ogilvy. We know his famous works. We even aspired to work for his company. But David was not only an advertising legend; he was a revered businessman too.
One of the ugliest book covers ever; but beautifully written.
Here are his advice on building and running a business, as told to a Fortune Magazine reporter some time back:
Remember that Abraham Lincoln spoke of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. He left out the pursuit of profit
Remember the old Scottish motto: “Be happy while you’re living, for you are a long time dead.”
If you have to reduce your company’s payroll, don’t fire your people until you have cut your compensation and the compensation of your big-shot
Define your corporate culture and your principles of management in writing. Don’t delegate this to a committee. Search all the parks in all your cities. You’ll find no statues of committees
Stop cutting the quality of your products in search of bigger margins. The consumer always notices — and punishes you
Never spend money on advertising which does not sell
Bear in mind that the consumer is not a moron. She is your wife. Do not insult her intelligence
I don’t want to spoil the eloquent beauty of these points by adding any of my 10 sen opinions. But I will say this – if there’s one thing you take away from this list, it better be No.6. Kapish?
Ads are probably one of the most ignored things in the world. Nop, not even the ‘No Parking’ sign in central KL is as ignored. Or the warnings on a pack of smokes. When it comes to being ignored; ads rule!
To make matters worse, an average person is bombarded with hundreds of advertising messages in a day. Don’t believe it? Think of all the billboards you pass on the way to work, the jingles you hear on the radio, the little ads you see online, the TV commercials, the subtle product placements in movies, TV shows and games; the list is virtually endless. There’s an ad pretty much wherever you look.
Ads are everywhere, but do they solve problems?
But you will be hard-pressed to remember even one of the ads you saw or heard even as recent as this morning because you have learned to ignore them. Then why are millions, if not billions spent creating and disseminating stuff people are going ignore anyway?
Probably because out of the millions of ads that don’t get noticed; a few do break through the clutter. Here’s where I would like to share the story of the Wooden Whistling Bird:
In a makeshift stall by the five-foot-way; a man was selling decorative Wooden Whistling Birds; and the hand-written sign outside the stall said – Wooden Whistling Birds $5.
The man didn’t sell much, just the odd 2 to 3 birds a day. One day the man got an idea, he quickly scribbled his thought on a piece of corrugated carton and placed it over the sign outside his stall.
That day, the man sold out all his birds. The new sign said – ANNOY THE CRAP OUT OF YOUR NEIGHBOURS FOR $5.
So how to make people notice ads? Solve their problem.
Okay, this particular neighbourhood in the story probably had lots of inconsiderate neighbours to start with. So the man recognized this and offered a way for the residents to exact revenge via his Wooden Whistling Birds – hence solving a problem – instead of his birds just being a decorative item.
In case you’re wondering; I’ve yet to find a Wooden Whistling Bird myself, as I do have asshole neighbours.
I feel I have the best job in the world… sometimes. Most other times, I feel I’d rather use what meagre savings I have to buy a push cart and start selling a variety of nuts at a night market.
Working in advertising is a love-hate relationship. At times, it feels that I am on top of the world, looking down at number-crunching, corporate rats struggling in their long sleeves and heels under the burning sun. Most times, I feel the only real perk of working in this industry is the part where I only need to be attired jeans and t-shirts.
After 12 years; I still hear this shit!
But that’s the nature of the business isn’t it? While I may not absolutely love every moment; I can’t think of doing anything else either. And after being a copywriter for 12 years *gasp*; here are some commemorative observations, unofficial facts and anecdotes:
I often hear the words catchy, punchy or juicy and a combination thereof frequently. Until today, I have no idea what they are supposed to mean.
There is never a shortage of misguided advertising graduates thinking that this is a cool and awesome industry to work in.
The one thing that’s more irritating than clients are ex-agency people who have become clients.
Copywriters are assumed to have memorized the meaning, spelling and pronunciation of every English word in existence.
There’s often a meeting to discuss what was supposedly decided at the previous meeting.
When there are two or more creative directors in a room, the one that ‘looks’ more creative is actually the least creative.
Everyone tries very hard to pretend to be smarter or more creative than they actually are at open briefings.
Agencies make more changes on creative on the eve of presentations than on the eve of material deadlines; and then complain about how fickle clients are.
Most designers and art directors at one point of their lives had or currently have an unhealthy looking ponytail.
Account Exes are highly paid dispatch riders; at least in the early days of their careers.
You think you’ve conceived a great idea only to wake up the next morning and realize you’ve pulled more crap from your arse.
And there you have it… the Top 11, because 10 is just not enough.
When it comes to marketing, doing what everyone else is doing is a recipe for disaster. So screw what everyone else is doing if you want to stand out from all the monotonous clutter out there.
Yes, granted, sometimes copycat marketing works. But doing so will only get you a share of an existing pie but will not make you your own pie. If you’re saying what your competitors are already saying, then you are just another business saying the same old shit in the eyes of the consumer. There’s no strong reason for consumers to buy from you, and only you.
Copycat marketing is as old and battered as the Roman Colosseum
It’s quite common where something printed, that was on air or seen online is made as a basis for drafting your own communications. I mean it is okay to emulate, but never imitate. A few examples:
1. If you’re selling energy drinks: instead of saying “gives you energy” say “makes others lazy”
2. If you’re selling cars: instead of saying “travel in comfort” say “it’s like you never left home”
3. If you’re selling pizzas: instead of saying “the best-tasting pizza” say “tastes like a real pizza”
4. If you’re selling beers: instead of saying “refreshing, satisfying brew” say “never satisfying, if you stop at one”
5. If you’re selling handmade cookies: instead of saying “handmade every step of the way” say “machine-hating cookies”
Let’s face it. If you’re selling something, chances are someone else is selling pretty much the same thing too. Anything opposite of what your competitor is saying, something that evokes a little curiosity or perhaps adds on to what is already being said is good to go.
All the better if your product has that one Unique Selling Proposition (USP) that none of your competitors can’t live up to. But that’s a product issue, which goes to reiterate the fact that even the best marketing can’t sell a lousy product.
And don’t be afraid to change up when it’s not working; at least you won’t be called a failed copycat.
The thing is I am angry. Yes, angry. Not cheesed-off, neither dissatisfied nor unhappy. I am mad. I created this blog so that I can have an opinion. And have a freaking opinion I will
You know, I wanted this post to be a meaningful, heartfelt review of my online escapades of 2010. About how I made a humble yet determined start to create an online presence, which culminated in this site being listed on Page 1 on Google if you’d searched “Copywriter Malaysia”; for a very brief period that is. But screw that and let’s get down to business.
In my 12 years in the advertising industry, I’ve made my fair share of mistakes. And I’ve also seen many more committed by brands, marketers, agencies, advertisers and the like. And among all the mistakes; the biggest most unforgivable sin that a brand or company can make is taking their customers for granted.
And I have recently been given the middle finger by a company/brand that I’ve been loyal to for 12 years.
Ask any direct marketer worth his salt and he will tell you that once you become a customer, you should immediately be put into a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) programme. And most of the time, it doesn’t take much to keep a customer. A hello once in a while, maybe a small discount for purchase and perhaps a free gift or two; if budget permits of course.
The point is you want to keep your existing customer happy or at least contented. Just to let them know that they are valued for the business they’ve been diligently giving to you. And as long as customers know they enjoy just that little bit more than non-customers, everything should be well and good.
So for 12 years I was a happy camper with Maxis. No real issues or crisis-like situations, I simply got what I paid for. And then one day, I stumbled upon the fact that I was paying RM30 more than new customers for their broadband service. I was surprised and honestly thought that this was a small problem that their customer service will easily fix. Boy was I wrong!
Things between me and Maxis turned sour... oh lemons!
Here’s the gist of the conversation:
Me: Hello, Maxis Customer Service?
MCS: Yes sir, how may I help you?
Me: Well, I’m just wondering why I’m paying the old price of RM98 for 3GB broadband whereas new customers only pay RM68?
MCS: Well, you must be still under contract sir?
Me: No, my contract ended just last month. Correct?
MCS: Yes, sir your contract has ended.
Me: So why am I not enjoying the reduced price of RM68 for the 3GB package?
MCS: Well sir, you purchased the package for RM98, so you will have to pay that amount indefinitely.
Me: What?! Nonsense! Are you telling me that new customers can enjoy the new price but old customers still have to pay the higher price?
MCS: Yes sir.
Me: So what do I have to do to enjoy the RM68 price?
MCS: Well you have to terminate your current broadband account and return the modem. Then register again to enjoy the RM68 price.
Me: (not believing this shit!) Errr… you mean I have to cancel and register for the same thing over again?
MCS: Yes sir, that’s the only way.
Me: Errrr… (WTF!… lost for words, hang up)
If the price of a good or service goes up, I don’t see any company saying “oh, you can still pay the old, prior-to-increase price because you have a contract”. They don’t just make the new customers pay the increased price while the existing customers pay the old, under-contract price. But when the price is reduced, every effort is undertaken to make it difficult for old customers to enjoy the new reduced rates.
We don’t even have to look at this from a marketing, CRM or customer service point of view here; just see it based on freaking common sense! Some of my friends claim that I am a bit of a diva here. They say I should just go to the Maxis Centre and re-register to enjoy the reduced rates. But why the fuck should I? I don’t want to go along with the idiotic process of re-registering for the same bloddy thing because that would make me a bigger idiot.
Maxis is seriously deluded and very arrogant to think that I would succumb to their plain bullying. I think I am going to the Maxis Centre after all, but the re-registering will certainly happen someplace else. Yes, I think I’m going to take my business (Broadband + Principal Mobile Line + 2 Supplementary Lines) elsewhere because loyalty obviously doesn’t matter.
P.S. I gave Maxis close to 3 months to explain themselves, during which time I’ve been letting my RM30 a month go down the drain. After contacting their Customer Service, I recently raised the issue in their Facebook Page (with my name and account number). I have since received no acknowledgement whatsoever… not even a squeak.
It’s not always about being the biggest, strongest, longest, smartest, fastest or other chest-thumping claims. Some brands – especially start ups – can and should take the humble route in their communications.
Everyone loves an underdog:
Rocky Balboa: an unknown prize fighter who took on the champion
Frodo Baggins: the least expected carrier of the One, precious ring
Jake Sully: the wheelchair-bound savior of the Na’vi alien race in Avatar
Or in Malaysian brand terms:
Perodua: introduced the diminutive Kancil and is now the No.1 automaker
Ramly Burger: started from a mobile kiosk and now a household name
MarryBrown: took on the fast food giants and now has over 200 outlets regionally
The pint-size, often ridiculed Kancil; paved the way for Perodua to become the nation's top automaker.
An underdog’s tone and manner is always relevant and relatable because each and every one of us have been dismissed as not worth it (or underdogged) in the past. And we always like to hear stories where the protagonist goes against the odds or does something beyond his or her means to save the day.
One good example of this is the still-classic advertising campaign for Avis Car Rental. In 1963, Avis launched a campaign declaring “We’re Only No.2, We Try Harder”. In my books, a headline can’t get any better that this: it tells the truth, it immediately promises a benefit and it puts a smile on your face.
Needless to say, the campaign knocked the then No.1 Hertz Rent-a-Car from the top spot. And even to this very day, Hertz has to live with the stigma of being one-upped by Avis. In fact, I don’t think they really recovered from the “punch” in Avis’ tagline.
However, an underdog claim not only has to tell the truth, but must also be able to act the part. You can’t be an established, top player in your business category talk about the hardships you face. It’ll be like De Beers explaining the adversities of extracting diamonds from war torn Sierra Leone. Believable? Not in a million years.
