Grrr for Honda
Peeing Baby for Mark’s Work
Pac Man for Saturn
Cashmere Cow for L.A. Country
Crash Text for Toyota
No, this isn’t some sort of crazy Internet swap list. It’s the titles of last week’s most popular ads on adforum.com. I receive an email each week from adforum with a listing of screenshots with similar titles. I’ve trained myself to ignore the titles as best I can. It’s not easy though. Once you go to their website, the titles are in the menu you use to navigate to the other ads.
Why would I ignore the titles? Because they can be spoilers. Sometimes they give me too much information and they ruin the experience for me. The title can sometimes destroy any sense of mystery an ad may contain. Honestly, it may not be much of a loss though. Not that mystery isn’t important, but many advertisements and marketing pieces just aren’t very mysterious to begin with.
How many movies based on love stories follow the exact same pattern? Boy meets girl. Girl hates boy. Boy hates girl. Girl falls for boy. Boy falls for girl. They make up and… happily ever after. I think I’ve seen that movie hiding under 50 different names. Once I realize I already know the ending, I lose interest. What’s that old saying, why buy the cow when the milk is free? Same goes for marketing. If you want someone to finish reading/watching/hearing your promotion (buy your cow), then don’t give them the milk right off the bat.
Ever watch a movie or TV show begin and you ask, “What in the world is going on?” You’ll probably continue watching until you have some idea of what is going on. The writers and directors didn’t cause you to ask that question because they did the same thing so many others have done. They did something different. Novel idea, isn’t it?
Well, how many unopened envelopes are in your trash right now reading “0% INTEREST FOR 6 MONTHS!” “NO PAYMENTS UNTIL 2005!” or “90 DAYS SAME AS CASH!”? The same old messages. You know how those end, and you have 0% interest in their offers. Build a little mystery into your campaigns. Make them want more. Give them a reason to call. Don’t be too vague, but don’t give away the milk either. Maybe you’ll sell more cows.