This advertisement on The Sunday Times caught my eye.
Yes, you guessed it! It's the 1-for-1 word that got my attention. As you know, it has become so difficult to get a reader's attention nowadays that every company is pulling all stops to get noticed. Of course, 1-for-1 has been used for many years by businesses in different industries with varying degree of success. In fact, it has become an expectation that there will be 1-for-1 promotion every day. So often to the extend that customers are immune to it. But what got me attracted to this ad is because the headline promised 1-for-1 mooncake treats. All the credit card promotions for mooncakes over the years offer a percentage discount. There was never a promotion for 1-for-1 mooncake. And when I saw this, I thought I was in for a real treat. As usual, I scanned through the ad looking for the 1-for-1 mooncake treats. But to my horror, none of the places listed are offering that. They are only offering a percentage discount off the retail prices. Guess what? The 1-for-1 treats that was referring to in the headline actually mean 1-for-1 mooncake BOX. There is a G-R-E-A-T, G-R-E-A-T difference between 1-for-1 mooncake treats and 1-for-1 mooncake BOX. Don't all mooncakes come in boxes when you purchase them? Why would I want to get an extra box unless it's limited edition made of special materials and useful to me? Maybe my mom saw it and commented how beautiful it is and buzzed me for one. Or using it during Chinese New Year or giving as gift. P.S. It was not mentioned the boxes are limited edition in the ad and other promotional brochures and website I found. The job of a headline is to get readers' attention and become interested to read on and ultimately to take action. But getting attention for the sake of getting attention is wrong. You have to know what go on in a reader's mind when they read your headline. Are you using the right word? Do readers have a different meaning for the words you use? Will readers misunderstand what you mean? Is what you think the readers will think really what they think? Getting readers' attention with the promise of something which is different from readers' expectation is going to hurt the effectiveness of your advertising. The bank promised 1-for-1 mooncake treats and got me scanning through the ad only to find out that they are only offering 1-for-1 mooncake box. I just turn the page and continue reading the papers, after taking a photo of it to show you. Fooled others? Fool yourself. Open sesame.
That's where the treasures are. Two persons were chatting over a buffet dinner at a hotel.
There was a bowl of yellowish liquid with a slice of lemon in it. If you are unaware, this bowl of liquid is for guests to wash their fingers after peeling seafood like prawns to get rid of the smell. It turns out one of the guy has attended a course on social etiquette. He posed a question to the other guy. "What would you do if you bring your business associates out for business lunch and he or she drank the bowl of water meant for washing fingers?" Don't laugh. This may very well happens. Especially if your guests have no idea about the dining culture in your country. If you've watched Julia Roberts in the movie Pretty Woman, you'll remember her accompanying Edward Lewis (played by Richard Gere) to a business dinner where she flung an escargot out of her hands. The other guy immediately said "Take yours and drink like he or she did." What will you do? Sometimes your reaction or response without P.S. The answer given in the course was to asked the waiter to quietly whisper to the guests that the water is not meant for drinking, without letting the others hear it. In the interest of your customers.
Even if you need to send them to your competitors. Where should I begin?
There's so much in the ad to talk about that I'm lost. Ok. Let's start with the product or service they are selling. It's Myshield health plan, a medical insurance. But the feature being emphasized here is Cashless hospital admissions. The scenario they have chosen is a sudden medical emergency in the middle of the night. Let's look at the headline. "It's a 2am medical emergency. Which is the first place you rush to?" There are two photos below the headline. One of an ATM machine and the other an ambulance. As you know, insurance is all about selling the intangibles and emotions. Yet the headline is asking a choice question. Of course, the whole intention is to gel with the copy which talks about the cashless hospital admissions, provided you read further. But asking a choice question based on logic just so that you can logically present your feature or benefit does nothing to help you. Notice also how you feel when reading the headline. Although not stated, it assumes either you or someone in your family has a case of medical emergency, most probably the latter. But do you feel like you are the one involved? Do you feel attached to it? Does it make you panic? Does it make you want to read further? Now to the copy. "Emergencies are no respecters of time. Or empty wallets." Although it rhymed, starting a sentence that is difficult to read and understand is suicidal. So if emergencies are no respecters of time, does it mean they waste time? Cos when you respect time, you don't waste time. "At Aviva we believe that in a crisis, people should be rushing to A&Es. Not ATMs." Noticed how fragmented the sentences are? Aren't they emphasizing rushing to A&Es and not ATMs? So why the two are broken into two sentences? In fact, I read these two sentences as one, until I looked more closely to find that there's a full stop in between A&Es and ATMs. There's also no need to emphasize that there are many A&Es and ATMs. "A little thing. But something we think you'll appreciate. If ever you had a midnight crisis." The word "If ever" gives the readers a feeling that it might never happens. And why use "had" which means something has passed. And the whole advertisement begins with "you" in the headline, then starts with "people" and ends with "you." It talks about you, then everybody and then back to you. There is no consistency. Reading the copy again, I realized they have made some assumptions as well: 1. The reader has no cash in wallet or not enough cash ("Or empty wallet"). 2. There's no other ways of making payment at the hospital except cash. 3. There's no ATM machines in hospitals. 4. Anyone who goes to A&E at night will end up getting admitted to hospital. The whole copy does not talk about how the feature Cashless hospital admissions benefits a reader, except not having to go to an ATM. And that's not a benefit. Now let's talk about the photos. It shows a picture of ATM and an ambulance. Since the headline asked "Which is the first place you rush to?", would it be more appropriate to use an A&E sign? And change the Cashless hospital admissions to Cashless hospital admission, without the "S" in admission. Little things do matter. P.S. Nobody likes to be admitted to hospital multiple times. P.P.S. Let me know if you spotted any other little things that matter. |
AuthorOutrageous Marketing Archives
May 2020
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