Claim to Fame Is your product or service claim as provocative as it could be? Find out how to make yours unforgettable.
By Jerry Fisher
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
When you have a strong claim to make in advertising, the impulseis to offer a chest-pounding declaration for all to see and hear.But the world is a cacophony of chest-pounding claims. So how doyou make your voice heard above the rest? One effective device isto shape the claim in the form of a question, essentially asking ifthe claim is true. This can provoke extra curiosity and, with it,readership.
That's what's going on in the Nature Made vitamin adshown here. The heading could have simply said, "Reduce theeffects of stress with Super Vitamin B-Complex" or other wordsto that effect. Instead, the company's ad agency,Williams-Labadie in Chicago, posed it as a question, partly toeducate the reader. The ad asks, provocatively, "Can a vitaminreally reduce the effects of stress?" It's a question thatattracts people dubious about the benefits of taking vitamins aswell as those who assume prescription drugs are the only solution.And of course, inside the question is the claim that vitamins doreduce the effects of stress.
Of course, Nature Made has another large challengein this ad: differentiating its Vitamin B from that of othercredible vitamin makers. That's hard. Every maker hypesguaranteed potency as its ace. But by providing a bit of educationon stress and Vitamin B, which the copy does, Nature Made appearsto be an expert on the subject and, by extension, a good source forthe product.
As you consider whether your own product or service claim wouldbenefit from a questioning headline, there's another benefit tothis approach. Let's say you believe your product to be betterthan others, but you can't offer proof positive. By asking in aheadline "Is our air-conditioning system really the mostefficient in the world?" you infer that it is, but thequestion ensures that you won't be censured for overstating.You can, however, argue your case in the body copy and thenconclude by answering the headline: "Compare and decide foryourself." It's a way to plant the notion of superiorityin your prospect's head-but without backlash for falseclaims.
More examples of so-called questioning claims: "Can youreally get half-off on all patio furniture this weekend?""Is it true our database software is twice as fast astheirs?" You get the idea. Make a claim you can argue, butpose it as a question to ratchet up curiosity and readership.
Jerry Fisher (www.jerry-fisher.com) is a freelance advertisingcopywriter and author of Creating Successful Small BusinessAdvertising.
