Remember the great line from Denzel Washington in the movie Philadelphia? His character, Attorney Joe Miller, while trying to understand the situation from his potential client, Andrew Beckett (played by Tom Hanks), says, “Now, explain it to me like I’m a Four-Year-Old.”
The same concept needs to be applied to copywriting for radio and tv.
Don’t lose your potential customer in a lot senseless industry jargon. That’s what I hate so much about co-op ads -- especially from car dealers. We get so caught up in getting all the “legal” mumbo-jumbo in the ad, that there’s not much time left to try and draw in the customer. I just heard an ad for an Insurance Agent recenly that spent about :15 seconds of the :30 second ad running down his accreditations. It didn't mean anything to me -- just a lot of acronyms!
Let’s take buying a car for example. Granted, sometimes you have to educate your consumer. But, there are other times that you just have to let the emotion do the work for you.
You’re not going to logically explain to someone why they need a flashy, red convertible sports car. In that case, you have to “explain it to them like they’re a four-year-old” and they will respond.
There’s no need to try and use logic to sell a sports car. Talk about the “wind in their hair” and how it will make them more appealing to the pretty girls as they drive down the street.
Explain it to them like you’d explain that you just made a batch of chocolate chip cookies to a four-year-old and they’ll come running. Heck, a 44-year-old or 84-year-old will come running if you make a batch of cookies.
The classic “hooks” that work when we’re four, still work at 44, 64, 84, 104 .....
So, explain it to them like your audience is a group of four-year-olds and watch ‘em run!
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