I have written a number of times in the past few months that advertising has changed and that adverts in the old style of a few years ago no longer work so well. Only the people adopting the new approach are really getting the message across and making the sales.

I was therefore interested to hear an interview on Radio 5 yesterday afternoon, while driving, in which a man who used to be a journalist but now trains politicians to be able to talk effectively on radio and TV, argued much the same – but for the political world.

His view was that in the past 2 years politics has changed so radically that the old refusal to answer a question and just blame the other party approach, which has dominated political interviewing for years, is no longer tolerated by the public.

It struck me as an interesting parallel. What the speaker was saying was that people now want real conversations with real questions and answers. What they still get is the old yhaaboo politics.

In advertising I am arguing that the recipient of email and direct mail no longer wants to be shouted at with BUY NOW!!! and ONLY FOUR DAYS LEFT!!! and 50% discount!!! – they actually want to be treated like adults and have products and services explained, with the benefits set out, and a clear analysis of the situation.

The proof that this approach has value comes from the fact that three years ago it was hard to rent an email list (i.e. a list of potentially interested people, but not a lists of your customers) and get much over 0.3% response rate in terms of sales. (You could get more with give aways, and of course the number of people going to a web site could be higher, but directly attributable sales have often been around that level).

Now it is possible to get 10 times that level of response rates with carefully crafted text that is conversation based.

If you would like to discuss this, or indeed if you would like me to review an advert of yours without any cost or obligation, do get in touch – Tony@hamilton-house.com or 01536 399 013.