The Lost Cat Poster Theory
The Sell! Sell! Blog: The Lost Cat Poster Theory
While the blog discusses general advertising, this post makes an interesting point that also applies to direct response--that creativity can get in the way of the message.
The author's cat got lost one day. Eventually the owner decided to put up those little one-sheets you see in the neighborhood that say "Lost Cat" or "Missing" with a photo of the cat.
He writes:
"Afterwards I thought about what would happen if you gave the brief of a lost cat poster to a typical creative department. If they applied the same methods to the poster as they do to their clients' communications, what would the end result be like? Would it be shot by an obscure Brazilian photographer they'd always wanted to work with? Would the main point be obscured by a joke, or by an obtuse idea that got in the way?
Would the focus of the creatives be on the poster's absolute effectiveness? Or would they be obsessed with creating a poster that 'had never been done before', or that their peers would be impressed with? Would they have avoided using a picture of the cat because 'it's a bit of cliche innit'? I'll leave you to your own conclusions. But if they had to design a poster to get their own loved pet back, would they approach it differently?"
Is the main theme of your latest copy obscured by an obtuse idea?
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As an aside, this page on their main site just gave me a headache:
http://www.sellsell.co.uk/who_the_hell_are_sell_sell
Aspiring copywriters: if you need 1:1 advice from an experienced copy chief, head over to my Phone a Friend page.
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