Is there a difference between a hook and brand identity?
This was a question posed to me by a new client.
And the answer is, yes.
Your brand is your positioning in the marketplace.
Your hook takes the main marketing message of your brand and brings it to life.
For instance...
Whole Foods is the brand.
They could use a corporate tagline like: "Changing the Way You Live" to give their brand a main marketing message.
If I were writing a sales letter for Whole Foods, I could create a hook in the headline to further cement their brand positioning: "The Quality of Your Life Depends Upon What You Eat... Whole Foods is the Only Chain Grocery Store to Give You the Choices You Need to Thrive!"
Okay, that's not a great hook.
But you get the point.
Even in direct response campaigns, it's important to build depth to your main marketing message.
Here's how to start:
Step One: Articulate your brand. (i.e. What your company/product/service IS... And how you want to position your company, product or service, to niche yourself, in the broader marketplace.)
Step two: Identity your target prospect and write up a proper customer/client profile. (I even describe my ideal client on my website. Most people/companies don't do that. But I've found it to work well.)
Step three: Write down all the ways your company can help change people's lives or appeal to their desires (you know, the person you just pinpointed in step two.)
These are your emotionally-driven benefits/irresistible offer. And it's beyond important to write this stuff down, because this is HOW you'll create the kind of value (in your copy) that exceeds what everyone else in the marketplace offers YOUR prospects.
Now take this information and start writing taglines, headlines and sub-headlines.
This will help you define and accentuate your brand, while giving you at least one really unique hook to drive home your main marketing message.
Mark Pescetti
And the answer is, yes.
Your brand is your positioning in the marketplace.
Your hook takes the main marketing message of your brand and brings it to life.
For instance...
Whole Foods is the brand.
They could use a corporate tagline like: "Changing the Way You Live" to give their brand a main marketing message.
If I were writing a sales letter for Whole Foods, I could create a hook in the headline to further cement their brand positioning: "The Quality of Your Life Depends Upon What You Eat... Whole Foods is the Only Chain Grocery Store to Give You the Choices You Need to Thrive!"
Okay, that's not a great hook.
But you get the point.
Even in direct response campaigns, it's important to build depth to your main marketing message.
Here's how to start:
Step One: Articulate your brand. (i.e. What your company/product/service IS... And how you want to position your company, product or service, to niche yourself, in the broader marketplace.)
Step two: Identity your target prospect and write up a proper customer/client profile. (I even describe my ideal client on my website. Most people/companies don't do that. But I've found it to work well.)
Step three: Write down all the ways your company can help change people's lives or appeal to their desires (you know, the person you just pinpointed in step two.)
These are your emotionally-driven benefits/irresistible offer. And it's beyond important to write this stuff down, because this is HOW you'll create the kind of value (in your copy) that exceeds what everyone else in the marketplace offers YOUR prospects.
Now take this information and start writing taglines, headlines and sub-headlines.
This will help you define and accentuate your brand, while giving you at least one really unique hook to drive home your main marketing message.
Mark Pescetti