The $1,480,000,000 Case Against Using Emotion In Advertising

Comments? Yeah. Ogilvy nicked the idea from Louis Engel's 6,500 word press ad for Merrill Lynch. It did billions.

Ogilvy also nicked the idea for his celebrated Rolls Royce ad "At 60 Miles Per Hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls Royce comes from the ticking of the electric clock" - Vic "Mister Subtle" references it here somewhere.

Disclosure: I briefly worked for O & M. They were a very innovative agency back in the day. Especially their Direct Response division.

Frank Kern talks about the Merril Lynch ad. Actually, he focuses on that first, then goes into the Ogilvy bit. He has a video, a template and in the template are links to the swipe files which are on some swipe file website. I forget the name.

Here's the video for anyone interested: http://convertbook.frankkern.com/the...ar-swipe-file/

This makes the case effectively content can sell, or at least position, doesn't it?

Amuses me to hear people say that...or to ask whether the stuff in some of the classic advertising books is "still relevant." Some of most effective stuff out there is a repurposing of something that's worked for decades. Just have to remember what Edison said:

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."

If you're a business owner or executive and your livelihood depends on how you spend your advertising budget, then these ads have an emotional impact.

Look at #9 in the first ad. Ol' Ogilvy was a big proponent of using emotion in his advertising.

Kern fully understands he's pushing emotional hot buttons by showing off his wife's Rolls Royce too... he's an amazing pitchman.

The "big secret" here is not to pull emotion from your advertising -- that's the worst advice ever -- it's simply to make your advertising useful. You want your prospects to read your ads like a 12-year-old boy reads Playboy...

And one way to do that is by sharing valuable information within your ad.

Colm

Not to go off topic, but am I the only one who's unimpressed by the O&M website? (Home | Ogilvy & Mather)

Not sure how it looks on a tablet or a mac, but on my machine, I'm seeing cheesy flash fly-ins... It's not horrible, but it's not what I'd expect of O&M.

Then there's the CEO's statement when you click "Why Choose Ogilvy & Mather?"...

At one point he says: "We don't think creativity pursued for its own sake is very useful. And we certainly don't think effectiveness, pursued for its own sake, is very useful."

Huh? Effectiveness pursued for it's own sake isn't useful? Isn't effectiveness everything?

I dunno. I just would expect a much better site (and better statement) from O&M.

I've been watching this Kern video a lot as I am transcribing it. I've noticed two things:

1. It seems like the series of videos is nothing more than the ads he is explaining to you acted out in a different medium, while he walks through the ads.

2. He says "Right?" over 30 times in the first video alone. And about 75% of the time, the next word is "So".

It seems very natural when he says it but do you think it is on purpose? I mean, it's gotta be. Right?

Your sales letter doesn't have to BE emotional as long as it's talking about solving the problems or needs of the prospect. Because if you write to solve their problems... it will become emotional for them.

They'll start to picture and imagine certain changes... and hopefully that will trigger them feeling a certain way so they want to buy.

But the letter itself can be quite factual and matter-of-fact... but as long as it's specifically talking to the prospects wishes... it will be emotional to them.

I remember Gary B, in his retirement seminar, saying how being overtly emotional, and using a ton of emotional phrases in your copy to try and make it seem emotional can actually backfire, because it seems manufactured... as if you're trying to hard to throw those emotions into play.

Along the lines of Kern's letter and the Ogilvy letter... Gary Bencivenga also had a promotion piece he used for his advertising agency... and just like Ogilvy's piece... it was nothing but benefit-based copy that simply talked about how his company created advertising that sold.

It was a demonstration.... taking the prospects through their entire process of creating winning campaigns... from how they wrote headlines, to how they researched and did their design... Gary's piece was magic, and it was modeled right after Ogilvy's.

So, Kern is simply using something that many top marketers and copywriters have been doing for years... which is make your advertising valuable itself.

Overcook or undercook.

The end result can be a bit of a disaster.

Copywriting is all about getting the right "balance."


Steve

Whoops! Posted something here for another thread. Ignore everything I ever say please.