The New Magic

of the Wizard of AdsTen years ago I taught you how to create relational ads that target the right hemisphere of the customer’s brain. Advertisers who learned this technique made a lot of money.Five years ago I taught you that 2008 would be the final year in a series of 40-year cycles and that the position and direction of society’s pendulum meant 2009 would likely be 1929 all over again. If you haven’t been a little freaked out by the accuracy of that prediction, then you haven’t been paying attention.Today I’m offering you another chunk of glittering gold:A high percentage of relational customershave shifted to a transactional frame of mind.In other words, the rules of marketing are changing.What I teach about writing ads today is quite different from what I taught as recently as 1 year ago. Today, in addition to giving your customer a feeling of connectedness, you must infuse your ads with facts, details, logic and information.NOTE TO THE COGNOSCENTIOF THE MAGICAL WORLDSCOMMUNICATIONS WORKSHOP:The buying mode and mood of the general public has moved from Intuitive and Feeling (NF, right brain/right brain, pattern recognition) to Sensing and Thinking (ST, left brain/left brain, sequential reasoning.) Frosted Frank, not Monet, will win the heart today. Abandon fuzzy angles of approach. Be direct, clear, concise. Clarity is more important than creativity. But it’s also more difficult to achieve.ConsiderThe Economy,accelerated byAccess to Information (Google,)moving in unison withThe Direction of Society’s Pendulumand you’ll understand why consumers have begun buying with their heads instead of their hearts.The irrational right-brain remains powerful, but the logical left is winning the tug-of-war more often than ever before. Impulse purchases are becoming more restrained. We crave romance but we do not trust it.Ad writers, you’re going to have to work harder than ever but so are your clients.Money is tight.Unemployment is rising.People aren't shopping.Traffic is King.To drive traffic,select – in unison with your client – an exciting item or service at apopular price point. Selecting the right item is critical.feature that product or service with a vivid ad full of details and benefits.Q: How is a “featured product” ad different from the price-and-item ads of yesteryear?A: Price-and-item advertising was about offering the lowest price on a common commodity. Featured product ads require new and surprising information. A featured product is an exciting, uncommon item at a popular price point. The ads cannot be hype. Many businesses will resort to Sale! Sale! Sale! Resist the temptation of this cocaine. Featured product ads must contain new information your customer will be glad to know. The selection of what to feature is critical. This is where the business owner is going to need help from the ad writer. Use logic, details, facts to entice the customer to “come and take a look.”We live in exciting times.Wizard Academy awaits.Roy H. Williams