“Our role is not to be controversial or even edgy. We want to be noticed — and there’s a difference,” Jeff Leslie, vice president of sales and marketing at Hacienda, told the South Bend Tribune in an interview. “We have a responsibility to (advertise) with care, and that’s why we’re pulling this ad. We made a mistake and don’t want to have a negative image in the community.”

Responsibility to advertise starts with concept approval, Mr. Leslie. There are many more ways to capture your target market’s attention than by creating, implementing and placing ads that refer to the 1978 Jonestown cult massacre in which more than 900 people died. First Kenneth Cole, then Groupon and now Hacienda? Marketing departments at these companies are really dropping the ball.

It was late June and the streets were buzzing with excitement about the new iPhone 4.

Two of the guys at work were flipping out and blabbing like chatty Kathy’s about the cool features they had on their new phones and how long the line was to get one.

About twenty minutes went by when I began noticing that folks online were already complaining. Among the top of these complaints was a reception issue which was later found to be due to a faulty antenna.

The complaints continued to pour in and Apple just sat defensively silent.

Since then the Apple corporation has done very little to calm the worries of their patrons.

They have even managed to scare off potential clients. What we’re now witnessing is a PR nightmare.

Had they managed their response better they could have avoided their falling stock prices and collapsing client base.

However I do believe they’ll be ok in the long run for two reasons: They still make good products, and people can be forgiving if you make it up to them (especially when it comes to technology). And per Apple’s most recent press conference (see the video below) they hope to have “made it up” to their customers.

Apple forgot that the cardinal rule when dealing with a mob of angry customers is; SHOW THEM YOU CARE.

Instead of avoiding responsibility and trying to keep things quiet, Apple should have stopped everything right away, recalled the units and made a loud and heart felt public apology.

People want to feel as though they are dealing with companies that care. When you deny something or try to keep things quiet people feel betrayed. Making a bad product once can get you in trouble, but betraying people will make them hate and fear you.

Unfortunately I think this is a lesson Apple is learning the hard way….

But tell us what you think.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Advertising Mistake #1- No Call to Action

It’s been proven time and time again that if you don’t ask people to buy what you’re offering, chances are they‘ll go to someone who does. But we must look deeper than that.

Does your call to action truly evoke desire in the mind of your target audience? Is there urgency? How honest is it?

It may not be possible to have all of these elements in every ad but the closer you get the stronger the ad will be.

Advertising Mistake #2- The Use of Superlatives

Believability and honesty are the two things people expect from companies they buy from. The use of superlatives distracts them from your main selling points and brings up a debate in the mind of your target consumer.

Words like: best, greatest, perfect, etc. make the human mind go around and around trying to decide whether or not the claim being made is true.

In most cases superlatives make statements un-provable and cause the target audience to distrust the company who made the statement.

Remember, honesty is your friend and if you can find a creative and honest way to make your product shine your target consumer will not only applaud your honesty but they’ll buy from you before they do with anyone else.

Advertising Mistake #3- Over-complicated Promotions

When you come up with a promotional motivator make sure it is easy to understand and extremely creative. “Buy one, get one free,” has become cliché but the concept is still nice and simple.

When people don’t understand a promotion it can actually scare them out of participating.

Advertising Mistake #4- Failure to Make a Logical Connection with the Target Audience.

This one is obvious but frequently overlooked. If you aren’t making it clear why your product is beneficial no one will want to buy it. No matter how creative your advertising is unless, of course, you are already a brand people are familiar with.

Let your audience know why your product is superior or necessary by connecting it to something in their day to day lives, or to a feeling they would cherish.

If creativity isn’t your strong suit, find people who can help. It can mean the difference between ads that get lost in the shuffle and ads that work.

Advertising Mistake #5- Failure to Make an Emotional Connection with the Target Audience.

People only spend time on things that they can connect with. If you can make an honest emotional connection with your target client they’ll not only take the time watch the ad but they’ll also buy the product.

Simple features and benefits are not enough to connect with the audience you’re selling to. You must evoke a feeling that makes your consumer connect with the advertisement.

Be as shocking or inspiring as you want but don’t forget to maintain honesty. Both your product and your target market must live up to the ideas in the ad.

Finding the right concept, the right words and so on, takes imagination and a willingness to go through a million ideas that don’t work to find the one that does. Its hard work but the results are worth their weight in sales.

If you can’t do it yourself find, people who can. You won’t regret it.

The human mind, especially in the fast paced 21st century, isn’t stimulated by anything short of amazing.

If you fail to stimulate the mind, you may as well be invisible.

Click on the image of the silly ad to see the full blog post at Ask a Copywriter blog!

The first one is a myspace ad with typos and a free or stolen image that was used which still had the original owner’s watermark! Horrible!

This next one is a McDonalds billboard that reads “My Ass” opens at 6am!!

Regarding the banner ad for myspace above: The way the copy is written you get the jist of their message, but it is confusing to read. Even the bullet points are somewhat vague and fail to create value or have a call to action. The headline is ok and it makes you want to read on, but there is no follow through. Why should anyone care to read the ad? Compare that ad’s copy to the way one of our copy writers would have done it:

Headline:
You Won’t Pay Too Much for Health Insurance Again.

Body:
At Premium Insurance Quotes we are serious about saving you money.
We compare the qualified brokers in your area and find the best brokers with the best deals.
People just like you are saving up to 47% on their insurance bills everyday.
It’s easy to stop paying over-priced premiums!

Base line:
Just call or click here now to get more information and a free quote!

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