One of the things that always bugs me is when brands try and bash people over the head with 10,000 reasons why they should buy their product.
The most common mistake is that more often than not, the reasons they throw out have little to do with what will make someone buy, and all to do with what will make the brands marketing/R&D/management team feel good.
I know this shows how thick I am, but it’s only in the last few years I have actually realised why clients like having a “REASON TO BELIEVE” statement in all their briefs, because ultimately it lets them brag about what they’ve been doing for the last few years and feel they’ve done something of value or worth.
Of course research should prove that in many cases, the general public don’t give a flying fuck about the stitching on the piece of fabric or the AMR chip in their DVD … but as we all know, corporate ego beats common sense on many occasion which is why we now have consumer electronics ads where half the page is taken up with meaningless symbols just because the company needs to show off all the stuff they’ve been doing even if they can’t be arsed to explain what it does to benefit the purchaser.
The reason I bring this up is because Andy recently sent me the best used car ad I think I’ve ever seen.
No copy talking about 100 point inspections by highly trained engineers … no “we’ve been caring for drivers for 30 years” bland statements … no BMW are innovators in car technology ego bollocks … not even a trade-in or finance options chart … just the appreciation and acceptance that an ad is very unlikely to make someone go out and buy a used BMW on the spot, but – if done well – it could get interested parties to want to find out more and this ad does it brilliantly, thanks to understanding what to say and – more importantly – what to leave out.
