Metaphor: the new approach to increasing response ratesI’ve been writing for a while about the fact that in recent years successful advertising has become more gentle, more like a friendly conversation, and less like a shouting match.

Now it seems that there’s an extra twist that you can add to good written copy: the good metaphor.

My point overall is that advertising is not what one does with the product on offer: it is the product.  How we write about the product is part of what the product is.

And the way to manage this notion is through metaphor.

The point about metaphor is that is allows us access to the unconscious and if you can get inside your readership’s mind and make them think about your product even when you are not pushing an advert at them, then you are probably home and dry.

Let me give an example.  When George Osborne said that he would tackle Britain’s “addiction to debt” he not only got a lot of mentions on the media he also gave us an image of ourselves.  That image stays much longer in the mind than would anything more literal.  If he had said, “I want us to reduce our debt” nothing would have been remembered.  Accusing citizens of the UK of being addicted to something which it is by and large impossible to be addicted to, is memorable.

Try this one: “Email is the motorway of marketing”.   Not the greatest metaphor of all time, but I quite like it.  Motorways can be fast, and can deliver you from a to b.  But they can be clogged up so you don’t get there – and that means you need to be clever.  With a motorway an intelligent smart nav system will warn you of problems ahead and get you where you want to go.  With email, the way you write gets you around the fact that there are billions of other email ads doing the rounds at the same time as yours.

But metaphors have to be used carefully – because they can quickly become tedious.  I wouldn’t ratchet anything up at the moment, nor would I talk to much about a surge in sales.

If you are not convinced, let me try one more thing.  The Office of Incisive Analysis in the US (and yes it is real, not a joke) is running computer programs that analyse the metaphors used in emails, because they give a real insight into the writer’s frame of mind.  Which takes us back to the subconscious.  The American military really do see the metaphor as a signpost to the mind.  So do I as well as being a way to enliven text and be remembered by the readership.

With metaphors you can have fun, as in “If we can hit that bull’s-eye then the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards… Checkmate.”  Or you can be more serious, as with my email example above.

Either way they remind us that advertising is not just a bowl of cherries.

If you would like to explore new ways of direct advertising please do get in touch.  Hamilton House Mailings.  01536 399 000.    And there’s more thoughts on www.goodad.co.uk

Tony Attwood

 

 

Hamilton House Mailings Ltd reg number 2444392 VAT 354907535GB.  Phone 01536 399 000.