You wouldn't, or at least you shouldn't.
Increasingly, consumers aren't buying the traditional advertising/direct response shtick (unless the product is inexpensive or until it hits the junk bin at Wal-Mart). Sure, there's the occasional sham-wow success, but it's short-lived... a victim of the usual hit-and-run philosophy that dominates DR. Products come and go quickly because they are cheap and ineffective and few consumers buy more than once. So the old men of DR move on... start another company with a new chain of lies.
The old school DR guys think you're a schmuck. The bigger the lie, the more you'll buy (Billy Mays would be proud of that line). They think they're infinitely smarter than you. 'Only an idiot would believe that,' so why not put it in the ad?
Consumers are changing, thank God, and DR is suffering. Good! Maybe now the over-50 guys (like me) who still comprise most DR 'professionals' (an oxymoron, I know) will either change their ways or get out of the business.
But they won't change their ways. Those who work in DR are much like feng shui philosophers -- one trick ponies who keep doing the same thing, over and over and over again... all based on the belief of their superiority and your stupidity.
Consider today's infomercial.
Every ad is the same -- same scenes, same timeline (intro/problem, spokesperson, product/solution, meet the expert, etc., etc.) same ridiculous stories, same stupid voiceover... BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE... You're right... more lies.
There's the obligatory 'internationally famous' creator of the product (some doctor you've never heard of). LIE
The 'accidental' breakthrough. LIE
The Hollywood B-lister who 'discovered' the product and brings it to you because he or she wants to help. LIE
'It will change your life.' LIE
Gunthy-Renker and their stupid infomercials should be banned from TV FOREVER!
Ironically, it's the proliferation of these poorly written and badly produced ads that will drive the final stake into the heart of old school DR.
Ladies -- you cannot be gullible enough to believe the cosmetic ads from these guys... can you? The cosmetics industry is so full of lies and liars that even the sleepy FTC was finally forced to set some new standards -- which is why the ads now say "reduces the appearance of wrinkles' rather than the much stronger 'reduces wrinkles.'
'Rapid weight loss, incredible energy,' (that's my voice on those irritating diet pill commercials, by the way.) So how is that line not a lie? Well, since you can't define rapid (for at least one person out there, losing one pound a month is 'rapid') and you can't define incredible (if I lose an ounce that's 'incredible' to me), then you can't say it's a lie. How's that for a bit of sophistry?
Meanwhile, the need for honest marketing, for an ad that actually sells a product, has never been greater than in today's tight-fisted economy.
How about a true ad... one that tells a compelling story about a good product that does what it promises? Sounds simple, doesn't it?
Here's the rub. This approach requires a good product, which implies a costly product that takes time to develop. The DR industry, in particular, can't wait for success and never wants to spend even one cent on product development. It's easier, faster and cheaper to make up a story and try to sucker consumers. Happens everyday.
Stop being a schmuck! Stop marketing like a schmuck!
“Consumers want a new story... authenticity, not spin... participation, not propaganda.”
