Your marketing is simply an extension of your brand. Every advertisement should be thought of as a contribution to your brand image, which honestly, is one of the only things your customers consider when choosing who to buy from.
Take whisky for example.
Why do some people choose Jack Daniel’s while others choose Grand Dad or Taylor? Have they tried all three and compared the taste? Let’s be honest here, we know they probably didn’t. The fact of the matter is that these brands have different images that appeal to different kinds of people. It’s not whisky that’s being sold, it’s an image, and that’s a challenge that your advertisement is going to have to overcome.
So without further explanation, here they are, 3 simple marketing tips that everyone seems to ignore.
1. Make Your Product The Hero
Whenever possible, make your product the hero of your advertisements. If you think that your product is too dull, understand this fact. There is no such thing as a dull advertisement, only dull writers who lack the creativity to make something boring seem incredible.
Think Folgers coffee. I apologize for the fact that its theme song is probably playing in your head. That’s right, a coffee bean made a home in your brain for its theme song to live.
Scary, isn’t it.
2. Be “Positively Good”
To paraphrase Joel Ralphaelson and David Ogilvy, your products don’t need to be superior. You simply need to convince the consumer that your product, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is good enough. If your customer is certain that your product is good, and is uncertain of your competitors, they will buy yours.
Forget trying to say you’re better. Instead, focus on doing a clearer, more honest, and more informative job of explaining why your product is reliable.
Wait, did I seriously just say honest?
Yep, and to nail the point, honesty always goes further than lying through your teeth. It’s good business, and is simply just the right thing to do.
3. Repeat Your Winners
If something is working, double the amount of energy you put into it. This simply philosophy extends far outside the territory of branding and advertising, but for this discussion, we will simply say that if you find an ad that sells, repeat it until it doesn’t. It’s a marketing tragedy when you consider the number of advertisements that have been discarded before they lost their potency.
Ultimately, advertising and marketing is not entertainment or an art form. It’s simply a means of transferring information. You don’t want your customers to tell you your advertisement and marketing is creative, you want them to buy your products. When a comedian speaks, everyone says “they’re hilarious”, but when Ghandi spoke, he had millions of people join his cause. Therein lies the difference, you want people to act on your marketing, not just find it entertaining.
About the Author: Babar is a managing partner of Ninja Presentation, a marketing firm he manages alongside his partner and long time friend, Adrian Liu.
