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September 10, 2007

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derrith

One area where I don't see a focus of measurement is on marketing copy. Consumers are in control and are more influential to each other. Why? Perhaps they find word-of-mouth and user reviews so helpful because the marketing copy intended to influence them is laced with jargon, "happy talk" or a bulleted list of product specs. And not what prospective customers want to know like "what's different from this product and that one? Why should I pay more for that one? What things can't it do well? Will this do/make what I want it to? How hard will it be for me to learn how to use it?..." Marketing copy in most ads, packaging and in-store merchandising doesn't address these basic questions.

What if marketing copy had to go through a "BS detector" with the customers it was intended for? Do these prospective buyers find it credible? Helpful? Do they understand the words used? (no jargon) Does it make them want to learn more? Buy now? Tell their friends? Why can't a manufacturer's or retailer's copy say "not good for this use"? Why can't it highlight the key features people really want in the product and explain "why pay more"? And "why buy this brand"? Why can't it be more like what consumers say to each other through word-of-mouth and on web sites? Editorial product reviews are credible because they give pros and cons. Why aren't marketing leaders at companies striving to get their agencies to write copy that replicates what the customer would want to hear from a really helpful salesperson or their sister-in-law?

Why don't marketers turn over control of what copy gets into their marketing pieces to their customers and let them decide what's most effective? Why aren't customers involved in generating, editing, evaluating and improving copy? Why isn't more quant testing done on alternative copy to discern what works best for customers? And for different types of customers? That's what a good sales person would do -- tailor the copy to be most credible and helpful to the person they are talking to. Why aren't customers asked in quant testing to compare ads with editorials and user reviews so the baseline is higher than "better than these other ads"? What if marketers strove to develop marketing copy that was as effective as a user-generated review? That would be bold.

Maybe a picture is worth a thousand words because most marketing copy in ads, direct mail, packaging and in stores is so utterly unhelpful. Marketing will become more irrelevant and uncredible if we don't change our ways and engage the very customers we are aiming to serve in helping us to do a better job in giving them the information they want to make confident buying decisions.

Derrith Lambka
HP Printing & Imaging Marketing (yes, we're guilty of this and trying to change our ways!)

derrith.lambka@hp.com

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