How to Let Your Customer See You 3D

Michael participates in our monthly Wizard of Ads LIVE webinar. Last week, Michael asked for a method that would let him create fewer leads, but better leads.

I responded by telling Michael that broad targeting can be done

geographically by zip code,

financially by income,

demographically by age and gender, or

psychographically by targeting specific “personas” derived from affinity groups and previous purchase histories.

Anyone who knows anything about targeting already knows those things. But then I told Michael what few people know:

“The key is to make sure that your leads are coming to you for the right reason. You want them to be coming to you for that thing you KNOW you can deliver better than anyone else. If they’re coming for any other reason, it’s a lower quality lead. The key is to target through ad copy. The key is to use brandable chunks.”

We’ve spoken about brandable chunks before but I didn’t give you a clear explanation.

Ray Smith asked, “How is a brandable chunk different from a slogan, a tagline, or a positioning statement?”

I said, “Slogans and taglines are usually white noise, adspeak, something you wish people that would believe even though they probably won’t. But a good positioning statement differentiates you from your competitors in a meaningful way. The problem is that positioning statements are usually about the BIG picture. They tend to be all-encompassing, relating the totality of your company to the totality of your competition. A brandable chunk is a memorable, micro-positioning statement about JUST ONE ASPECT of your business. Consequently, you can easily have a dozen or more meaningful, brandable ‘chunks’ of highly memorable message.”

Brandable chunks are memorable, micro-differentiators. They are refined from average advertising in the same way that hi-octane gas is refined from crude oil.

Brandable Chunks:

1. create vivid mental images.

2. employ unusual word combinations.

3. communicate features and benefits succinctly

4. have meter (rhythm) so they tumble off the tongue.

If you have the discipline to repurpose your brandable chunks in your web copy and through your face-to-face and voice-to-voice communications, your brandable chunks will bring your advertising, your web presence and your customer experience into perfect alignment. Your brand identity will be strengthened and your close rate will rise. Your customer will finally see you in 3D.

We’re now going to lift some brandable chunks from a couple of better-than-average radio ads that I’m told are working quite well for a business in Michigan:

TIME… IT’S THE MOST PRECIOUS THING YOU CAN GIVE SOMEONE. SPENDING TIME WITHOUT CELL PHONES, VIDEO GAMES OR ELECTRONIC DEVICES IS EVEN MORE PRICELESS. GRAND RIVER BAIT AND TACKLE WANTS TO KNOW IF YOU’VE BEEN FISHING YET…AND… WHO TAUGHT YOU HOW TO FISH? IT’S AN EXCELLENT WAY TO SPEND TIME WITH SOMEONE. STOP IN TO GRAND RIVER BAIT AND TACKLE AND BE READY TO FISH. THEN, GO OUT TO THE WATER AND LEAVE DISTRACTIONS BEHIND. YOUR MEMORIES START AT GRAND RIVER BAIT AND TACKLE IN OLD TOWN… LIKE ‘EM ON FACEBOOK. GRAND RIVER BAIT AND TACKLE… REEL EM IN!

Here’s the shorter, tighter ad we refined from it:

Time…it’s the most precious thing you can give someone.

Especially if you make sure it’s uninterrupted.

No cell phones. No video games. No electronic devices.

Just a tackle box and a couple of fishing poles. And time.

Grand River Bait and Tackle believes there’s no time like the present, and no present like time. Step through their door and you’ll feel time stand still.

It may look like they sell bait and tackle, but what they really sell is the perfect day. Grand River Bait and Tackle in Old Town. Just add water.

Here’s a second, original ad from that same campaign:

WHETHER YOU’RE A CATCH AND RELEASE EXPERT OR JUST OUT TO CATCH DINNER… THE EASIEST WAY TO HOOK EM IS WITH FRESH LIVE BAIT! GRAND RIVER BAIT AND TACKLE HAS THE FRESHEST LIVE BAIT IN TOWN… THEY GET 2 SHIPMENTS A WEEK!!! (REEL FX) YA GOTTA BE CONFIDENT WHEN YOU FISH…MAYBE YOU HAVE A FAVORITE ROD AND REEL… IS IT READY TO HANDLE ALL THE FISH YOU’RE GONNA CATCH THIS YEAR? GRAND RIVER BAIT AND TACKLE CAN MAKE IT “CATCH-A-WHOLE-LOTTA-FISH-READY”. STOP IN TO GRAND RIVER BAIT AND TACKLE IN OLD TOWN AND GET READY TO FISH. LIKE ‘EM ON FACEBOOK TOO. GRAND RIVER BAIT AND TACKLE… REEL EM IN!

Here’s the ad we refined from that one. We used only 85 words compared to the original 114 so that we can have a relaxed, easy-going delivery:

Fresh, live fish prefer fresh, live bait.

And the really BIG fish prefer that you get it

from Grand River Bait and Tackle in Old Town.

Your luck will change the moment you step through that door.

You can actually feel it happening.

Time slows down, your neck muscles relax and the radio plays better music.

It may look like they sell bait and tackle, but what they really sell is the perfect day.

Grand River Bait and Tackle in Old Town.

Just add water.

Now let’s look at the memorable, brandable chunks we’ve created that could easily be repurposed in web copy and face-to-face with your customer:

1. Fresh, live fish prefer fresh, live bait.

2. Grand River Bait and Tackle believes there’s no time like the present, and no present like time.

3. No cell phones. No video games. No electronic devices. Just a tackle box and a couple of fishing poles.

4. Your luck will change the moment you step through that door.

(The face-to-face variation would be, “Your luck changed the moment you stepped through our door.”)

5. It may look like they (we) sell bait and tackle, but what they (we) really sell is the perfect day.

6. Grand River Bait and Tackle in Old Town.

7. Just add water.

Look at those 7 chunks.

Imagine each of them as a headline on a web page.

Now imagine each as a way to answer the telephone.

Look the customer in the eye as you hand them their sales receipt and smile as you say another brandable chunk. This is the key to aligning your ads with your web presence with your store experience. People tend to do what they hear themselves say. You need to make sure your people are saying exactly the right things.

Unlike a slogan or a tagline or a positioning statement, brandable chunks are never predictable because you have so many from which to choose.

Brandable chunks are opening statements, closing statements and simple explanations of benefit to the customer. They are carefully worded pieces of a bigger corporate message. They communicate your values and beliefs. They show where your treasure is hidden. A company’s brandable chunks are the anthem of its tribe.

Would you like some help crafting yours?

Brandable chunks are an invention of the Wizard of Ads partners.

Perhaps you should get to know us.

Roy H. Williams