Advice to in-house marketing and advertising departments

Please, no more "puzzle" ads! Nothing screams "we're in-house and
kissing the CEO's posterior because we have no ideas and we have to
justify our salaries" more than the tired, trite and
stale-for-the-last-30-years puzzle ad.

What is the haunt of the puzzle ad? Mostly in electronics components
and computer programming trade journals. The puzzle ad consists of a
jigsaw puzzle with a disembodied hand inserting one last piece of the
puzzle, thereby completing the company's logo. The headline? Always
along the lines of, "Looking for High-Density Electro Widgets? PUZZLE
SOLVED." Isn't that just so clever? (The puzzle ad was updated in the
mid-1980s by using a Rubik's Cube rather than a jigsaw puzzle.)

C'mon tech marketers, you can do better than this. Or maybe you can't.
If you can't do better than this, you need to outsource. The puzzle ad
is a PAGE TURNER, and a page turner means you're wasting money. There
are an infinite number of ways to better present features and
benefits.

(Sorry, I saw three of these heinous ads today while browsing through
a trade journal and felt I HAD to say something!)

lou minatti said:

Advice to in-house marketing and advertising departments

Please, no more "puzzle" ads! Nothing screams "we're in-house and
kissing the CEO's posterior because we have no ideas and we have to
justify our salaries" more than the tired, trite and
stale-for-the-last-30-years puzzle ad.

What is the haunt of the puzzle ad? Mostly in electronics components and
computer programming trade journals. The puzzle ad consists of a jigsaw
puzzle with a disembodied hand inserting one last piece of the puzzle,
thereby completing the company's logo.

The headline? Always along the lines of, "Looking for High-Density
Electro Widgets? PUZZLE SOLVED." Isn't that just so clever? (The puzzle
ad was updated in the mid-1980s by using a Rubik's Cube rather than a
jigsaw puzzle.)

C'mon tech marketers, you can do better than this. Or maybe you can't.
If you can't do better than this, you need to outsource. The puzzle ad
is a PAGE TURNER, and a page turner means you're wasting money. There
are an infinite number of ways to better present features and benefits.

(Sorry, I saw three of these heinous ads today while browsing through a
trade journal and felt I HAD to say something!)

-------------------------------

Interesting Comment.

But...The reason they have in-house in the first place is because they
feel they hold a technological/ intellectual trump card I would think,
and that would match with them putting a descriptor in the headline.

In other words, everybody can't offer you this jollywizzer. For ANY
price.

I think I agree with the idea that in-house designers can be limited by
the vision of the CEO in many cases. But let's face it, it's also smart
to keep your doggone job.

See, in the real world It's easier to justify a puzzle ad not pulling (
ex: Respectfully, It didn't pull cuz we went with YOUR dorky idea, Mr.
CEO, Sir {lol}) than placing the AD the big cheese hated, watching the
thing pull like a lion, having your numbers rise so he can cut the
creative staff in half, meaning you since you placed that forbidden
(thought effective) ad. See most people would rather be right than rich.
Lol.

Another note.

Where it comes to secondary demand ads, forget CLEVER, forget new, and
FORGET entertaining, and definitely forget funny. Forget Features And
forget Bennies.
At least forget them until you get the functionality in the pocket.
Until then
ONLY 1 THING MATTERS:

1- Getting Attention (speak to the nose eyes or ears)
PSSST! HEY BUBBA!
Then
2- Getting Interest (Speak to the head)
THERES A MUCH EASIER WAY TO CORE AN APPLE
Then
3- Getting Desire (Speak to the heart)
ENJOY FRESH BAKED PIES MORE OFTEN!
Then
Getting Action (Speak to the schedule)
SEND THIS FORM IN NOW -- AND WE WILL SEND YOUR PACKAGE IMMEDIATELY

"Clever" can make you poor. "Entertaining" can break your heart. Humor
can cost your budget. New can get you nilled. Use what works, WHATEVER
it is, and no matter how OLD. USE SIMPLY WHAT WORKS.

That's why it is so critical to track RESULTS!

(puzzle ads?! lol)


~zion~