Why This Ad Is Effective. How It Can Be Improved...
Today I’ll critique the ad above by Fisher Investments, in the print edition of the Wall Street Journal.
Overall it is an effective ad but could be improved. I've seen these folks running direct-response ads in the WSJ for years, along with Great Courses, Stauer and the Hong Kong tailors (Mr. Daswami) [link].
You can tell who understands direct-response marketing and is likely making money, vs. those doing "brand awareness" campaigns in the WSJ: Dell, Oracle, Salesforce, IBM, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia—Neom [1].
Nothing wrong with "brand awareness" as long as you are clear about your goal. Problem is, many startups copy what they see the big boys doing, and lose their shirts! In direct -response, you build brand as a residual effect of profitable sales!
Some elements that make this ad effective:
1. Catchy headline that promises a benefit. This seems obvious but it is surprising how often the principle is violated (usually by those who want to win “creativity” awards ,and instead write cute and clever headlines)
2. Prominent use of “FREE”
3. They single out people to whom it applies (those with $500k to invest). When present, a pre-headline should get the group you are targeting to raise their hand and say "yes, that applies to me"
4. Use an odd number “99” (vs. 100). Other campaigns that were successful doing this include Dove (99.4% purity) and Yanik Silver’s “33 Days to Online Profits”
5. Using teasers to highlight the book's contents. But most of the points are just okay. Only Tip #26 is half-decent.
Using true "fascinations" would give the ad more pulling power. Below are tip #40 and #18 re-written as a "fascinations" vs. a bland benefit statement:
Tip #40
Original: A way to manage taxes in retirement
Optimized v1: The 3 common mistakes to avoid when managing taxes (Alternative: Are you making these 3 tax mistakes?)
Optimized v2: A legal loophole you can exploit to reduce your tax bill
Tip #18
Original: Beware of annuities
Optimized v1: Annuities: 2 deceptive practices to be aware of (Alternative: Annuities: 2 gotchas to be aware of)
Fascinations are especially effective for selling books and courses.
[1] Some of the ads for Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Neom) are really bad and it is unlikely they even accomplish the brand awareness goal. It feels like the ad agency responsible is doing a ‘Picasso’ on the oil sheiks and kaffiyeh-clad royals 😊 i.e. After Pablo Picasso attained fame, he’d splash paint on a canvas randomly, spending no more than a few minutes on each piece. He’d then sell them as 'abstract art' to wealthy but unsophisticated buyers. And he’d laugh his rump off, when critics came up with all sorts of meanings about the paintings.
