Marketing our entertainment is not about wandering or pulling. It’s about serving. We have the chance to serve with every single thing that we do. Here are two headlines. One serves. One sucks.
- What’s the Circus Delirious difference?
- Circus Delirious is the most outlandish fire show in England!
Don’t Waste Time
Tell me what’s up! I have other stuff to do. If my time isn’t respected in a headline, it’s probably not going to be respected with the other things the company does.
Readers Will Quit
If a reader (viewer, listener, etc) isn’t served, they will quit taking in what we’re saying. We gotta give them something before they go – a gift that they can remember us by.
The Question is there
If we get afraid that we are not being compelling without a question, we can make a compelling statement. Make it compelling!
When we give audiences something, and make it interesting, they want to see what the next thing is because they assume we will give them something else. When the headline, or the lead-in is a question, there is no guarantee there’s an answer anywhere.
Make bold, dense statements.
We are commitment chunking thru positive reinforcement. It’s the same when we’re creating entertainment for consumption.
- We set down a treat at the end of a hallway.
- They take the treat and see the light around the corner.
- They turn the corner and see another treat.
We don’t hold back the treats behind questions. We don’t put up a sign that says “Treat around the corner”…. or worse “Is there a treat around the corner?”
Got Milk? sucks for us
So many companies have tried to duplicate the “Got Milk?” campaign. It doesn’t work.
- People know exactly what milk is. There was no new offering, so nothing new to communicate
- The milk folks have billions to spend on advertising
- The commercials were funny and the phrase was improper English. Both of these things were novel in advertising at the time