I’ll admit it. I used to write and direct ads for car dealers. It was an educational process. I went into the job, convinced that I could create ads that would sell better than the really annoying ones you hear, were the pitchman screams at you, with an urgent “BUY NOW!” message. Turns out, that particular subset (some would say “subculture”) of the industry has a name for such ads. “Hype ads,” they’re called. It’s bizarre. Car dealers are absolutely convinced that if you scream loudly enough at your customers, they’ll buy. In reality, what’s happening here is that people pretty much tune out most car ads, until they are in the market for a car. When their “CAR-DAR” is active, they pay attention to car ads. In a way, it’s kind of like Modern Bride Magazine – you have a limited window (presumably between the time you’re engaged and the time you get married, unless you’re obsessed with being a bride) to pitch your wares to the bride-to-be. So you better make the most of that window of opportunity. Unfortunately, car dealers thing hype ads work. In fact, there are a lot more effective ways to rise above the noise level and grab the attention of a potential customer. Hype ads may work sometimes, but they are not a panacea, and can alienate as often as they can work. 

That got me to thinking about hype the other day. Not “hype ads” in particular, but the way marketers use hyperbole on a regular basis in advertising. Heard this lately:

• Operators are standing by!
• The first 100 callers will receive…
• Quantities are limited!
• But wait! You also get…
• NOW how much would you pay?
• As seen on TV!
• This is a limited time offer.
• Hurry!
• New!
• Don’t wait…call today!

I’m sure if you think about it a sec, you can add more to the list. So why are these phrases so popular with marketers? Here’s the dirty little secret of marketing: they work. No, they are not a “magic bullet” – nothing is. But when you deal with a populace that is largely disengaged and disinterested, these phrases do a solid job of grabbing viewer’s attention and motivating them to comply with the advertiser’s call to action.

Think about it. There are people out there in TV Land that actually believe  that if you are not one of the next 100 callers, you’ll miss out on the very special extra bonus offer. 

Great googly moogly. 

As long as this nonsense continues to hook the fish, fishermen will keep using the same tired old bait. (By the way, if you’ve ever wondered why spam is such a problem, it’s because a small number of pinheads respond to just enough of those come-ons to make it economically feasible to continue to annoy most of the online world.)

So what are we to make of this, especially regarding your marketing? Well, when you’re trying to build some urgency in your campaign, phrases such as those listed above actually do work, more or less. However, the price of using them is that you lower your marketing to the level of all the other TV hucksters. For me, I just don’t think it’s worth it (unless, of course, you’re going for some post-modern, tongue-in-cheek, self-parody of a hype spot). Your results may vary. Void where inhibited.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 1st, 2008 at 8:01 pm and is filed under advertising, marketing, media.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.