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Freelance Copywriter Secrets: Build Your Brand From Scratch, Again
There is a famous ad by David Ogilvy, which illustrates the
importance of advertising. A stern-faced executive looks out across his
desk at the reader, and says:
I don't know who you are. I don't know your company. I don't know
your company's product. I don't know what your company stands for. I
don't know your company's customers. I don't know your company's
reputation. Now-what was it you wanted to sell me?
Better than any other message I know, this ad sums up what faces any
business that has not done any marketing BEFORE they come in contact
with a would-be customer.
Let's say you are starting from scratch and have the job of promoting a
new company, with no reputation, no established customer relationships
and no brand identity. (And by the way, even if you do have all these
things going for your company, may I suggest that this is still a
worthwhile exercise. The reason is all these things can fade away from
a customer's mind if you don't keep building them).
Promoting a company and its product or service is first a matter of
identifying the people with a problem you can solve. In a recent
article called, Freelance Copywriter Secrets: You're Really Just
Selling Aspirin, the point was made that people are more strongly
motivated to stop or avoid pain than they are to acquire something
valuable.
The second step is to build and promote a brand. Build your brand on
your product or service's most singular benefit (see, Freelance
Copywriter Secrets: It's the Brand, Stupid!). M&M candy could have
been promoted as a great tasting chocolate candy, but everyone else
promoted their candy's taste. Instead they promoted the hard candy
shell with the benefit of, "melts in your mouth, not in your hands."
Likewise, Dominos Pizza could have promoted the taste of its pizza, but
everyone else talked about how great their pizzas tasted. So they
promoted their fast delivery, with their 30 minute guarantee.
Persuasion is finding the most direct line between a problem and its
solution. The straighter that line, and the more uncluttered your
message, the more your brand identity gets through. And you won't have
to worry about that stern-faced executive who has never heard of you or
your reputation.
COPYRIGHT(C)2006, Charles Brown. All rights reserved.
Charles Brown is a Dallas, Texas based freelance copywriter who writes
web copy, advertisements, white papers and direct mail. Read his
"Freelance Copywriter Secrets" at dynamiccopywriting.blogspot.com or contact him at 817.715.3852 or **charbrow@gmail.com**.
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