“Originality.
The most dangerous word in the lexicon
of advertising” – David Ogilvy
Smart words from the man hailed as ‘the father of advertising’, David Ogilvy knew it best. By trying to reinvent the wheel with your advertising you are actually tripping yourself over.
In this blog post by Seth Godin titled ‘steal, don’t invent’ the best selling author and founder of Squidoo reiterates this point that you should find someone with a working practice and use the same strategy. As for the majority of people this is the most successful way of doing things.
“Good artists copy, great artists steal’ – Pablo Picasso …. Need I say anymore?
Now the point of this isn’t to go ahead and break every copyright law in the book, or to mimic something exactly. It is to be aware of the fundamental principles that make stuff work and use them. Rather than going into something blind and copying bullish brand advertising used by the ‘big names’, look at the central principles that formulate a reaction in someone to get off their seat and dialling the phone to you.
Anything else is pointless.
A conservative estimate by the guardian is that we are exposed to over 3,500 ads per day. How many of those can you remember from just yesterday?
We need to create a direct response then and there from a person who views our ad.
Anything else is just stroking the ego.
We need to use direct marketing principles that work, and have worked since the days of Mesopotamia. Not just things we think may work but have no solid foundation to prove this.
Anything else would be playing roulette with your business.
