Paul Bunyan vs. Mr. Clean And The Easter Bunny
Dear Friend,
Throughout history, there have been a lot of "bogus" traditions -- even cultural ones -- that have just been thrown out to the public and readily accepted.
For example, Kwanzaa is now known as the African-American celebration of the first fruits of harvest. And yet, if you went to Africa 40 years ago, no one had ever heard of Kwanzaa.
Hard to believe, isn't it?
That's because it was invented in 1966, by a college professor from Long Beach, California. Today, Kwanzaa is sincerely celebrated by almost 20 million people in the United States, Africa, Canada and in other parts of the world.
Here's another bogus cultural tradition. A lot of people (myself included) "learned" in school, that the Puritans were a very strict and prudish culture. In fact, in a book called "The General History Of Connecticut", which was written back in 1829, Richard Peters said that the Puritans actually had laws that FORBID them from kissing their children on Sundays... from playing any musical instrument other than drums, trumpets, or Jew's harps... and from doing many many other innocent activities.
In reality, these laws NEVER existed.
And how about the legendary ax-man, Paul Bunyan. Paul Bunyan was a heroic lumberjack whose feats of strength were passed down from generation to generation. However, according to Richard Shenkman in his book, "Legends, Lies, and Cherished Myths", Paul was no more real than the Jolly Green Giant or the Easter Bunny.
Bunyan was created by an advertising man named W.B. Laughead (odd name, no?) in the early 1920's as part of an ad campaign for the Red River Lumber Company. Kind of like the Marlboro Man, or Mr. Clean. Realistic... but not real.
Why is it then, that we are all so ready to accept fables and tales like this? Don't you think the masses -- myself included -- need more than simple folklore to take something as "golden"?
The answer is clearly a resounding "No."
The reason why you accept things like this so easily is because in each of these cases, the story has pushed one or more of your emotional "buy-buttons". Whether it's the optimistic vein of "hope" that's mined -- giving you a reason to look for a brighter future and a better tomorrow... or the belief there are men who really ARE larger than life to lead us... or an unusual thirsting curiosity that needs to be accounted for and resonved -- in all these cases, the stories touched you emotionally.
And these are the keys to building trust and believability -- touching your prospects emotionally. Miss this in your marketing -- regardless of WHAT you are selling, and you have no sale. Or at least no consnstent selling system, anyway.
And this is the foundation of The Seductive Selling System, a trademarked way of selling I created- http://www.kingofcopy.com/seductive - Inside there are 47 ways to push the emotional buy-buttons of your prospects -- lock, stock, and barrel. Each one of them has at LEAST either 3 different marketing campaigns you can build around the emotion, OR 3 different examples of actual sales copy you can use, and the particular situation you'd want to use them in.
Plus, you also get a total breakdown and anlysis of 20 different classic ads, and how they are pushing your emotional buy-buttons, on 4 1/2 hours of DVD's and Audio CD's.
Look, t he one single truth of marketing -- good marketing that is, anyway -- is that unless you "hook" your prospect EMOTIONALLY... there will be NO trust... and no sale. This of course, precludes the few buyers you'll find who just happen to be STARVING for what you've got to offer.
But that has more to do with being in the right time in the right place. And I don't know about you, but I wouldn't bank my next car payment... on serendipity.
Now go sell something,
Craig Garber
Any comments?
Send them to me by scooting over to the contact form on my "Here's How To Contact Craig" page, and maybe I'll publish them -- I appreciate your feedback!
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