1 post tagged “video vampire”
Anyone remember the first time we met the 'GoDaddy Girl'? She made quite a splash back in '05. Created a lot of buzz, garnered a fair amount of praise.
But was it effective?
As much fun as it is for me to sit down and rattle off old tales of copywriting lore, we should never forget the point. The reason we're here. The reason we practice copywriting.
To make money!
Here's a little secret about those ads. After the first one ran, everybody seemed to know about GoDaddy. Now, I have to take Dan Kennedy's word for it, but subsequent surveys revealed that despite the commercial's notoriety, it had failed to communicate what GoDaddy did.
The GoDaddy Girl was... a Video Vampire!
Here's another copywriting Blast from the Past: Rosser Reeves. This is the man who coined the phrase 'Unique Selling Proposition', or USP. (Also the author of "melts in your mouth, not in your hands", but that's a story for another time.)
The GoDaddy Girl, instead of anchoring the GoDaddy product, only drew attention to herself. This phenomenon was documented by Rosser Reeves, who noted this occurrence in early television commercials. So he contemptuously coined the term 'Video Vampire', and would surely have applied it to these GoDaddy commercials of today. Similarly, consider the Energizer Bunny. Again, Dan Kennedy reports that less than half (I believe it was 47%) correctly associated the Bunny with Energizer. So much for 'Branding'.
The point, that is. the point where we make you some money, is this: the product should be front and center in your ad. Which means, as we savvy copywriters know, that your sales letter strategically conveys your big promise, your underlying message. Tactically, you may want to make the prospect the hero, the star of your ad. But if she can't remember what she's supposed to buy... forget it. Your ad, no matter how popular, how many awards it's won, is a failure.
Before I sign off, I should add that I don't mean to throw rocks at GoDaddy's marketing, which is done in house. Their brand, as near as I can guess, is something along the lines of 'racy'. So in that sense, the GoDaddy girl, along with Danica Patrick, the Indy racer, is good for the brand. But unless you have a multi-million dollar advertising budget, stick with advertising you can measure.
Concentrate on that one great promise your product can offer. That powerful claim that satiates a mass desire. Your tactics, branding efforts, everything in your tool belt, all should aim to one point. To make the sale.
To your Copywriting Mastery,
P.S. Would it be helpful to look at another sales letter? A little analysis to sharpen your swipe skills?
