Listerine begins a noble tradition: actively instilling fear in its customers

To celebrate Hallowe’en, I thought I’d focus on the pros and cons of scaring your readers as a copywriter. 

Negative copy focuses on bad things that will happen if people don’t choose a particular product, service or course of action. The sell is predicated on the idea that the consequences of not buying will be distressing, embarrassing or otherwise undesirable. We might call these potential outcomes ‘negative benefits’. Copywriting driven by negative benefits points out a problem that the customer has, before positioning the product or service being promoted as the solution to that problem.

Whole product lines have been driven by this kind of copy plot. As Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner recount in Freakonomics, Listerine brought a completely new problem – ‘chronic halitosis’ – to the public’s attention while simultaneously offering the solution. The fact that Listerine’s marketers had invented the faux-medical term didn’t hold back the campaign or the product. Nowadays, the sell for such products tends to be more positive – we buy in order to have fresh breath, rather than to avoid bad breath.

Jumpers worn over shirts clearly won't work as maternity wear

Negative benefits don’t even have to be real to be effective. Saatchi & Saatchi’s famous ad from the 1970s asked ‘would you be more careful if it was you that got pregnant?’ The question is rhetorical but still thought-provoking, which was surely the intention.

In most cases, there’s a choice to be made between selling on a positive or a negative. Insurance can be presented as obtaining peace of mind (positive) or avoiding financial crisis (negative). Even classic ‘distress purchases’ – those that we make because we have to, not because we want to – can be positioned positively. For example, buying sticking plasters could be portrayed as part of being a good parent. Or there may be the opportunity to stress some benefit that mitigates the distress of the purchase, as with one-coat paint or similar convenience products.

So, is it ever right to focus on the negative? Personally, I think the scare tactic needs to be used with great care. You’re evoking negative associations and banking on the reader taking the next step to the solution that you’re offering – rather than simply walking away before you even get to make your pitch. I once saw an ad for a will-writing service that described the problems of dying intestate in such apocalyptic terms that it was a complete turn-off. It made it sound like the taxman would take every last penny and your family would end up on the street. The aim was to cultivate a healthy fear of financial chaos, but the copy went too far and ended up generating resentment and irritation (in my mind anyway). As ever, there were positive aspects that could have been emphasised instead – being organised, helping relatives and so on. In most cases, it’s probably less risky to associate your product with positive feelings and enjoyable outcomes that will mean something to the customer.

The exception may be products that solve a well-known or long-standing problem that the customer will definitely recognise and be interested in solving (as opposed to one they’ve never thought about before). An example would be online comparison sites that offer to take the hassle out of buying insurance, holidays or other items where the choice is very wide. Here, people are well aware that buying can be a chore, making the task of the copywriter far easier – there’s no need to explain the problem before offering the solution.

What goes around comes around... 2009 is the new 1979

The problem you offer to solve shouldn’t include using a competitor’s product, no matter how inferior that product is in reality. Comparative advertising or ‘knocking copy’, which actively criticises a rival offering, is another high-risk tactic. However, it’s one that can work in the right circumstances, as Saatchi (again) proved with ‘Labour isn’t working’.

Most modern ads, if they choose this tactic, opt for (say) a comparison table that purports to let the facts speak for themselves. Of course, the advertiser is controlling the game by choosing the areas for comparison, but this can give the impression of being impartial – or at least factual.

However, mentioning your competitor is dangerous for two reasons. Firstly, it’s an invitation for the reader to start thinking about the competitor rather than you. If they’re not paying careful attention, it might be the competitor’s brand that sticks in their head, not yours. In a way, you’re inviting them to check out your competitors before making a decision. Or, if they’re already using a competing product, your pitch implies a criticism of their choice. Telling the customer they’re in the wrong is rarely the way to close a sale. By contrast, offering to improve their situation is a great opening offer. So it’s better to focus on what you can do for the customer, not what a competitor can’t.

A USP, or Unique Selling Point, is a unique attribute of a product, service or company that customers cannot get from any other source. By focusing on USPs, the received wisdom goes, firms can differentiate themselves from competitors and resist ‘commoditisation’, where competing products are effectively equal and customers buy primarily on price. Sugar and oil are commodities; MP3 players are not.

Most markets feature products and providers that are, to some extent, interchangeable: not completely commoditised, but not completely unique either. Each product or provider probably has some unique attribute, but it’s just one of many factors affecting buyers’ choices, along with price, quality, convenience, switching costs and so on.

If uniqueness isn’t the be all and end all for your product or firm, it follows that relying on USPs exclusively doesn’t always make for good copywriting, or good marketing. ‘Unique’ doesn’t necessarily equal ‘good’. In order to sell, your USP needs to meet all three of these criteria:

• Does it translate into a benefit for the customer?
• Is it clear – easy to communicate and understand?
• It is compelling – that is, does it have the power to motivate a switch from a rival product?

The sorts of attributes that might constitute strong USPs are:

• The only product to offer a particular function or benefit (patented devices, secret recipes, proprietary solutions)
• The only supplier to offer a particular range of services or set of skills under one roof (the ‘one stop shop’ argument)
• The only product, service or company of a certain type in a particular location
• The leading or largest company of its type, perhaps in a particular location
• The cheapest product or service of a particular type (but use with great caution: if price isn’t compelling, it won’t work as a USP – plus if you’re undercut, your USP goes down the pan).

Your product may not be unique, but it can still appeal to customers

The recipe for Coca-Cola is a good example of a USP. If you want the taste of Coke, you have to buy Coke. That’s a unique benefit, and one that’s easy to communicate (‘Coke is it’, ‘The real thing’, etc) and compelling for customers. However, there are many ‘generic’ colas that people also like and buy.

Similarly, UK entrepreneur Clive Sinclair understood in the late 1970s that home computers would not become truly popular until they were available at the right price point. By designing a machine (the ZX80) that could retail for under £100, he gave his product an unbeatable USP.

Very few firms have a ‘killer’ USP that can drive their whole marketing effort. But that doesn’t stop them using the USPs they do have, however ill-advisedly. I once worked for a firm that was over 200 years old. This point was much trumpeted in marketing and PR, since it positioned the company as an important part of local history – which, of course, it was. But although being long established is easy to communicate, it offers very little benefit to customers and therefore no reason to switch.

Other companies bend over backwards to achieve a USP just for the sake of it, setting up tiny ponds in which they can be the biggest fish. Don’t fall into this trap. If you have to scratch around for your USP, it’s unlikely to be effective. For example, I could position myself (I think) as ‘the only copywriter in Norwich with both publishing and agency experience’, but my clients couldn’t care less about that. ‘Experience, professional, reliable’ is clearer, more compelling and offers more benefit, even though it’s pretty generic and far from unique.

So what should you do if you haven’t got a strong USP? It comes back to the three points above:

• Communicate benefits. Work out (or ask!) what customers really value about what you do, and build your marketing around that. Don’t worry if it’s not unique – very few companies have a genuinely unique offer.
• Make it clear. Just clearly and simply convey the value you offer. So much marketing falls at the first fence by trying too hard to be unique – or different, clever, quirky, whatever – and neglecting the audience in the process. Why not stand out with some straight-talking copy, strong branding and elegant design?
• Compel the audience. Give people a reason to switch to you with a special offer, fixed-price package, free consultation or some other variation on the standard offering in your market. 

Not being unique isn’t necessarily a barrier to success, but failing to connect with your audience certainly is.

One of my favourite assignments as a copywriter is to help entrepreneurs promote a new business, product or service in writing. Over the years, I’ve helped clients as diverse as sales trainers, electricians, marketing companies, property developers, digital agencies, gourmet food shops, IT consultants and driving instructors to express their offers in writing – usually at the early stage of planning or building the enterprise.

The power of words in that situation simply can’t be overstated. There really is something almost magical about writing. It makes ideas real, generates commitment and focuses energy. Just by putting thoughts down on paper, we can shape our futures. It’s easy to see how this benefits the entrepreneur as they plan or develop a business.

Good copywriting helps to make ideas real

Although most entrepreneurs generally feel positive and confident about their ideas, they sometimes find it hard to do them justice on the page. Working from a fresh perspective – the outsider’s perspective – the copywriter can make sure that their client’s marketing pitches the offering to the right audience, with the right tone and the right emphasis. 

Sometimes, the appropriate ‘level’ for the message may be far ‘above’ that envisaged by the entrepreneur. Often, when they see what I’ve written, my clients say ‘I could never have written that,’ or ‘I don’t recognise myself’. This type of feedback confirms that the entrepreneur may simply be too close to his or her product or business (whether emotionally or intellectually) to communicate its selling points effectively. If the business is a one-person startup, it’s easy to see why.

Talking an idea through with a good copywriter (one who asks questions) is a great way to road-test a new idea. ‘If we translated this idea into marketing messages,’ the entrepreneur is asking, ‘Would it fly? Would the proposition be consistent, compelling and capable of converting interest into actual sales?’

Here, the discipline of copywriting can act as a useful reality check. The flip side of confidence is over-confidence, and entrepreneurs are prone to many delusions and self-deceptions, brilliantly documented in this post. But the copywriter cannot spin straw into gold; to make convincing copy, they can’t work with unclear, inconsistent or self-contradictory ideas. As part of the briefing process, they can help the entrepreneur to iron out these knots and kinks in their thinking – provided they’re ready to put some tough questions to the person who pays their bill.

Whatever branding, design or marketing channels you use to market your business, it’s essential that your copywriting communicates benefits: the good things that your product or service does (or promises to do) for your customers.

The first and foremost benefit of a product or service is meeting a need. Don’t underestimate the power of stating this to a reader. It’s particularly important online, where people are impatiently searching and seeking to confirm that they’ve found the right thing. If your product solves a problem, make sure people know it.

Then we come to ‘hard’, concrete benefits. These usually boil down to one of three things: save time, save money or (for businesses) make money. They have tangible effects that can be measured – they’re bigger, faster or cheaper. A kettle that boils water faster than competing products offers this type of quantifiable benefit.

However, people are also interested in ‘softer’ emotional benefits such as convenience, fun, style, fashion or the sense of having made a sound buying choice. For example, when you buy jeans or trainers, you’re looking for more than the optimum cost-benefit ratio – you want to buy into a brand that feels cool and appropriate for your age and style.

Fred Perry offers customers benefits including product quality, cultural resonance and fashionability

‘Quality’ might appear in both lists, since its definition is so fluid. For example, it might apply to something as concrete as ‘build quality’ in engineering – the durability, tolerance and precision of the components used to make something. But in more subjective areas of judgement, such as graphic design, one person’s concept of ‘quality’ may be very far from another’s, and affected by a range of personal or cultural factors.

We might say, broadly, that ‘hard’ benefits are more important in business-to-business (B2B) marketing, while ‘soft’ benefits appeal to the consumer (B2C). But even if you’re marketing to a business, the buying decision will always be taken by a human. And that human has emotions. So if you know who they are (either as a specific individual, or in terms of their likely profile) you can appeal to those emotions. The need to feel that the right decision has been made is particularly strong in B2B buyers – hence the saying ‘no-one got fired for buying IBM’.

You may have heard of the marketing formula AIDA, which stands for ‘attention, interest, desire, action’. These are the four stages through which a piece of marketing should (supposedly) guide its audience en route to a sale. If we look at it again, we can see that benefits are behind every one. Simple, strong benefits in a headline or slogan attract attention, while interest is generated by adding more detail. Desire is aroused when benefits are made real in the reader’s mind, and action is elicited by giving a persuasive push to the promise of a benefit.

Whatever thought structure you use, the end result needs to be copywriting that speaks directly to your customers’ needs, desires and hopes by offering something of benefit to them. If it doesn’t, it won’t bring much benefit to you.

The other day I noticed that the cars used by BSM (a leading UK driving school) carry this slogan:

Learn to drive

That’s right – just those three words. It seems almost too simple to be true, but if we unpack it we can see that this little sentence accomplishes four very important functions:

• It clearly defines the product (driving tuition).
• It communicates a key benefit of the product (you’ll learn to drive).
• It sets out a strong call to action, commanding the reader to act (learn to drive!)
• Through its basic, generic phrasing, it confirms BSM’s market positioning – the market leader, default option or natural choice.

Notice how this slogan respects its readers. Nobly declining to spin or sugarcoat its message, it gives customers some credit as thinkers and choosers, setting out the stall and letting them decide. Its simple, solid language makes counterparts like ‘For the road ahead’ (AA’s corporate tagline) sound pretentious and patronising. (Most effective slogans are simple, but not all simple slogans are effective.)

That magisterial BSM slogan in full

But is it really copywriting? After all, it’s ‘just’ a simple, everyday phrase. There’s nothing really there – no technique, no clever choice of words, no sophisticated appeal to the emotions, no carefully judged tone of voice. Was it even deliberately created? Did, perhaps, the designer just insert it as a placeholder until the real slogan was created?

It doesn’t matter. Great ideas are where you find them. ‘Yesterday’ came to Paul McCartney in a dream. And if this phrase did come from a copywriter, it was an exceptionally intelligent, brave and independent one. Someone who wasn’t afraid to put forward the right solution – not the one that made them look clever, sophisticated or hardworking. For their part, BSM deserve praise for setting aside corporate pride and brand insecurity so they could communicate with customers in the most direct way possible.

Achieving this kind of simplicity isn’t simple – nor is it easy, quick or straightforward. Pablo Picasso said, ‘It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.’ Often, our first ideas are convoluted and confused as we try too hard to make something special, original or arresting. Then, over time and through many revisions, we discard what isn’t needed to arrive at the essential. When the answer comes, it can seem ridiculously simple. But that’s how we know it’s right.

A pitfall of writing ad copy is to try and grab attention. The idea is that once people are attracted or intrigued, they’ll read the rest of the message and buy the product.

Unfortunately, this just isn’t the case. If it was, we’d all be buying random goods against our will because we’d seen them advertised on buses or the internet, emerging later from our trance with yet another unwanted pair of shoes.

If we’re honest, we all know from our own experience that momentary distraction doesn’t translate into a purchase. But somehow, when it comes to writing our marketing materials, wishful thinking or delusion sets in and we fall into the trap of trying to get attention.

Not really anything to do with clothes

A few months ago I walked past a clothes shop, outside which was a model skeleton sitting at a table and a sign saying ‘clothes to die for’. It raises a smile, which is nice, but would it actually make you want to buy clothes? The slogan links the skeleton and the clothes, but only through a play on words; there is no real connection. So it functions as an attention-grabber, but nothing more.

What really draws the reader in? In a word, benefits: the good things that will happen as a result of buying what you’re selling. Even something as lame as ‘look hot this summer’ would be better than the skeleton, because it communicates a benefit, however generic.

A product as sensually rich as clothes will sell itself – the product should have been out on the street in place of the skeleton. But it’s tougher when your subject can’t be touched or even seen – because it’s a service, for example. Many print ads for B2B services get stuck at this point. Feeling that they should include some kind of visual content, the advertisers lose the plot completely, opting for jokey, obscure or downright irrelevant picture/headline combinations that say nothing about what’s being sold.

It would be far better for them to choose a headline that communicates a key benefit and use images purely as illustration or decoration – if at all. A strong benefit, simply expressed, will always sell better than an attention-grabbing stunt. It might not be arresting, but it will attract the right kind of readers – those who are interested in buying. 

It may also be worth considering a simple positioning statement – ‘IT support services’ or ‘Facilities management’ at the top/beginning of the ad. This orients the reader and tells them what the ad’s about, while freeing you up from having to use such clunky language in your main headline.

Rather than trying to ‘convert’ readers, remember you can only sell to people who are interested. There’s no point grabbing irrelevant attention that can’t be converted into sales. If you believe that willing customers are out there, your task is simply to reach them with the right message.

It’s important to focus on benefits in copywriting – the good things that will happen for customers as a result of using the product or service in question. Another way to think about this is in terms of where the copy is focused: on the company, the product, or the customer.

Imagine a conversation between the company and the customer. They are talking over a table, and on the table is the product being sold. It’s a fairly one-sided conversation – the company is doing the talking, and the customer is listening. When the company has finished talking, the customer will decide whether or not to buy. This is what happens when customer encounters marketing copy.

Now imagine a line stretching from the company through the product and on to the customer. This is shown below (apologies for the terrible, terrible icons):

The self-sell continuum, from company to customer

• Purely selfish copy is all about the company: how long it’s been trading, who runs it, where it’s located, its principles and vision. Unless these points can be translated into benefits (a particular location, for example, could help customers access the product) they’ve got no place in marketing copy. This is the stuff that goes in ‘About us’ on websites, so people can easily avoid it. Some company facts do constitute indirect reasons to buy – being a market leader, for example, is compelling – but most don’t.
• Slightly less selfish is stuff on the business/product boundary – how a product was developed, the thinking behind it and so on. This might add some value, but it’s background at best.
• Material on the product itself is good, but remember that a straightforward factual description will only sell to those who are already very clear about what they want and why. However, this content is ready to be re-expressed as customer benefits in order to sell harder.
• Copy about the interface between product and customer concerns how the product can be bought, how and when it’s used, what it does and so on. This is where customer benefits begin to enter the picture, particularly if the text explains why the various attribute are good.
• Finally, and most powerfully, we come to copy that focuses purely on the customer. This content starts with customer concerns and goes on to explain how the product will help them, in words they’ll understand. Effective copywriting spends most of its time here.

Companies who produce their own copy often start with themselves and the product. That’s perfectly understandable for people who are closely involved, but it highlights the importance of getting a fresh perspective on the text. As a newcomer and an outsider, the copywriter’s job is to move the emphasis to the customer by (politely) asking questions such as:

• How does that help me as a customer?
• How does that affect my decision to buy, or not to buy?
• As a potential customer, why should I be interested?

Any points that are too company- or product-focused should be recast in terms of things the customer wants, or failing that deleted. The end result should be text that talks directly to the customer’s own priorities, linking them clearly to the product. To confirm that this is so, compare the number of times you’ve said ‘you’ as opposed to ‘we’ or ‘us’. There should be at least twice as many mentions of the customer as of the company.

Marketing may be a one-way communication, but as with any other conversation, acknowledging the other person’s point of view is more likely to get positive results.