How long can you keep your audience’s attention before delivering a punchline?

In a moment, I’ll explain why “Surprising Broca” is so important to both advertisers and comedians. But first, watch this video.

Regardless of whether it cracks you up or annoys you, show it to some friends and see what they think. I guarantee you’ll be puzzled by the reactions you get. I was.

I loved the video, as did my mother and the colleague who sent it to me in the…

...continue to read "Going for Broca: “Show Don’t Tell” in Action"

While somewhat counterintuitive ten years ago, it’s painfully obvious today: saving the customer time and aggravation is usually more persuasive than simply saving them money.

This seems to hold true in the online world as well. A fairly recent MIT study showed that a majority of online buyers will forego the super discount websites and spend more at Amazon or brand-name sites in order to assure a reliable shopping experience.

So instead of an examination of when to focus on price savings vs.…

...continue to read "Copy Perspective Monday: #4, Time vs. Money"

Last week’s article on Style vs. Substance, kept driving me back to one question: “What is substance?”

It seems a pragmatist would insist that anything the customer is willing to pay for automatically becomes substantive. And while I abhor the reductive sophistry in such definitions (tell me “quality” means simply “meeting standards/expectations” and I’ll be tempted to punch you), I feel this particular definition is worth accepting — at least provisionally, and for the purposes of a thought experiment.

With that settled,…

...continue to read "Copy Perspective Monday: What is “Substance”?"

Perspective #5* really isn’t an “either/or” proposition so much as it is a continuum; not a question of one-or-the-other but of which one will dominate, and to what degree.

Here are some things to consider:

1) Persuasive copy should always have style.

Remember how even intellectual ads should affect emotions? Well, regardless of how substantive the message, you need to use drama as an essential part of the copy.

The question isn’t whether to use stylistic elements to make your points persuasive — you…

...continue to read "Copy Perspective Monday: #5, Style vs. Substance"

Don’t think of a white bear.

Are you thinking of a white bear? Stop. Don’t think of them.

Not to sound too much like the Verizon guy, but how about know? Still thinking of a white bear?

Ahhh, the power of a mental image. So what does this have to do with Perspective No. 6? (As you may recall from last week, this is a six-part series.) And why am I jumping past numbers 2 through 5? Because there are powerful reasons to…

...continue to read "Copy Perspective Monday: #6, Pain vs. Gain"

Numerous difficult choices have to be made before your fingers ever touch the keyboard, if you hope to write compelling copy. Among those choices are what Future Now calls the Six Perspectives:

1) Intellect vs. Emotion 2) Then vs. now 3) Me, Them or You 4) Time vs. Money 5) Style vs. Substance 6) Pain vs. Gain

Depending on the circumstances, either side of any one of these polarities can be the right choice. So choosing correctly requires you to know more than simply what circumstances…

...continue to read "Copy Perspective Monday: #1, Intellect vs. Emotion"