The Devils in the Detail

Looking for an advantage

in your Creative

October 14, 2013

Herschell Gordon Lewis
Carol Worthington-Levy
2





Are you firing
blanks?

Words
Are our
Weapons.



Avoid these words in force-
communication messages:
quality
service
value
needs (as
noun)
Remember,
Whats more
Your partner
in
When it
comes to
4
Please, please:
Never again write blah
phrases such as
Act now.
See your Toyota dealer
today.
Southwest Airlines
means business.
5
What is the difference
between
3
and
three
?
6
Word use:
Replace with
must have to
among one of
utilize use
perhaps maybe
buy acquire
purchase own
spend allocate
receive get

7
Can you
see how
the phrase
you are
among
damages
the image
of
exclusivity
?

8
What is a more emotional
word or phrase than:

commence
utilize
omit
receive
we would like to
large
you incur no risk
circular
donate



purchase
fortunate
requested
I write
concerning
we shall
error
perhaps
however
humorous
9
What is the difference
between:
autumn and fall
at last and finally
sexy and sensual
nude and naked
made and
manufactured
manufactured by
and built by

right now and at once
reply and respond
insincere and not
sincere
eager and anxious
audience and viewers
died and passed away
10
Consider replacing
chance
availability
plan (as a noun)
prospect
possibility
likelihood
with
opportunity
WHY?
11
Consider replacing
Application Form
with
Acceptance Form
WHY?
12
Suppose you prefer
Acceptance Certificate
instead of
Acceptance Form
WHAT SHOULD YOU
CONSIDER BEFORE
MAKING A CHANGE?

13
Unsolicited email: Note the mismatch
between DEALS and APPLY NOW. Click:

14
What is that word Application
doing there? You contacted me.
15
A classic example of what not
to do. Goodbye.

16
A simple and easy-to-implement
rule for unsolicited email:
Grab
and shake
the reader,
fast and
dynamically.
17
Does this email grab and shake
the reader, fast and dynamically?

18
You dont have to be a bourbon drinker to see
problems with this copy. Suggestions?

19


Too little
copy
and too
much
copy.

Do you see
examples
of each?
20
If this
marketer
had asked
you to
create a
competing
email,
what
would you
have
suggested
?

21
What
would you
have said
instead of
Learn
More
as a click-
through?

22
What
would you
have said
instead of
Learn
More
as a click-
through?
23
Why should you avoid the word
LEARN?
Because it suggests your background or
education is defective. Suggested
replacement for marketing:
Get inside information about
or
See first-hand
or
[YOUR SUGGESTION]?



Editorial decision:

Illegal immigrant
or
undocumented alien
?
25
Your best prospects
are the individuals
or businesses most
targeted with
messages from your
competitors.
With that in mind
26
Decide how much strength
you want to project:
Pass this up and you




cost yourself some money.
might
may
can
Decide when you can generate
better impact by changing voice:
Pass this up and I





cost myself some money.

might
may
can
will


Consider the pros and
cons of an absolute
statement:
Pass this up and
Ill cost myself some
money

29
Add If
Have you made this
stronger or weaker?


If I pass this up,
will I cost myself
some money?
The difference one word
can make:

If I pass this up, will I
cost myself some money?
versus
If I pass this up, wont I
cost myself some money?
Two words that can make
a conditional statement
appear to be an absolute
statement:
What if
Two response-
suppressors
here:
Download,
which many
feel will affect
their hard
drive; and
Take the
Survey Now,
which
suggests using
much time.

33
A single word can have the
power to impel ongoing
readership in any medium:
Sunk
Ouch
Nuts
Hmmm

34
Opinion, please:
When is
an exclamation point
better and when worse than
a period?
Ouch.
Ouch!
Sunk.
Sunk!
35
Which of these, as envelope
copy or subject line, is more
likely to generate ongoing
readership?
Important
or
Important!
or
Important? You decide.
36
If you
want an
impulse-
greed
response,
less copy
can be
more.

37
Can you think of a more salesworthy
word than Learn?

38
Your opinion: Would
Private offer:
have had more verisimilitude than
A special offer just for you.?

39
Your opinion of the exclamation
point as opposed to a rubber stamp
with no punctuation
40
Best Buy email Can you think of a
better subject line than Guaranteed
to get it?
41
Headline is poor, could use the
stronger selling copy in the text.

42

Misleading?
Wont some
recipients
interpret
this subject
line to mean
an MRI or
CT scan is
free?
(And there is
that nasty
word learn.
43
In the contraindications
disclaimer for a pharmaceutical
product,
which word did the marketer
wisely use instead of
may be dangerous?
may be unsafe
Tip, based on multiple
test results:
Others pay more
brings more response than
You pay less.

45
Tip, based on multiple
test results:
You can apply for
is a deadly response
killer.
46
Tip, based on multiple
test results:
Buy one, get one free
brings more response than
50% off
or
Two for the price of one.

47
For direct mail
The Cardinal Rule of Envelope
Copy:
The carrier envelope has a
singular purpose (other than
keeping the contents from
falling out onto the street):
TO GET ITSELF
OPENED.
48
Potent envelope copy.
(Your opinion of the rubber stamp?

49
ONE MORE HOPE:
We are communicators,
supposedly literate.
Do we know the difference
between
lie (intransitive)
and
lay (transitive)
?
50
51
?????????????????????????????
?????????????????????????????
?????????????????????????????
?????????????????
Questions
?????????????????????????????
?????????????????????????????
?????????????????????????????
?????????????????
52
Design Details that
bedevil response
53
Sometimes designers forget, or
dont understand
With mail or email, were invited guests into
peoples homes
Or if were presenting a website, were
promising them a good experience
If your mails not working, it probably is too
hard to read, uninteresting or off-concept
54
The death of Common Sense Design
Why do we mail/email efforts that are
impossible to read?
Why, if were directing designers, do we not
question the fact that its illegible?
Why do we choose images that are so wrong
or out of context, they dont get it?
The customer is not stupid we are to blame
if they cant understand our efforts to them!
55
The 4 Cs: design details that
improve response
High Contrast +
Smart Color +
Thoughtful Concept = Comprehension

If youre missing the details in any of these,
youre losing leads and sales big time

56
Color and Contrast: a detail that
makes a huge difference
You can capture response or chase it away,
by how you use color and contrast
This is true in print, online, in ads, emails
everything
This is all based on human physiology: how
the rods and cones of the eyes function
Affects how messages are read and
comprehended
57
Contrast
The human eye is 1500x more sensitive to
value than it is to color
When you have something that is colorful,
versus something that has higher contrast,
people will look at the high contrast one first
Its human physiology, the rods and cones of
the eye at work, sending signals to the brain.
58
Low contrast = bad comprehension
Black reads well on the yellow
White type on lime green has low contrast
The hairline thin type for the headline makes it worse
The message in green is literally ignored by prospects

59
Contrast is a science, not just a creative choice
Color value: how dark or light something is
This black and white guide is just one tool designers
(should) use to ensure the typography in their efforts is
legible.
Setting type on a background that has less than 8 value
steps between them will make the type less easy to read
Every color has value and even at level 10 is too light
Customers ignore messaging that is not easy to read
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
60
Contrast examples
The arty choice is to set type in subtle color contrast
but nobody reads it!
The practical and responsive way to set type and use
images is high contrast
Even if its just a brand piece, its a complete waste of
effort if its too hard to read, or confusing to look at
61
Contrast in action
Here it is with
typography in
black and white
Which one is the
hardest to read?
Which is easiest
to read?
62
Contrast in action
Here how contrast
affects photography
Which one shows off
this product the
best?
The lower-contrast
you make an image,
the less likely
someone will be
engaged by it.
63
Contrast examples
The arty choice cant
compete for your
customers time or
attention
White type against
gray makes customers
ignore a good deal
64
Color and
response
Another guide your
designer (should)
have: the color wheel
Think about value for
these colors
Yellow, at full
strength, has a value
of 2; purple (violet)
has a value of 9.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Color and
Contrast
Here it is with
typography in
color
Which one is
the hardest to
read?
Easiest to read?
66
Contrast and color
Actual sample: Yellow
type on white or white
type on yellow is
ignored by customers
I glanced at this an
ignored it. Too bad for me,
and for them!
Although sometimes they
get mad that its so hard
to read.
Do you really want to piss
your customers off?
67
Does your design
include white type?
Reversing type out of a color,
black, or a photo will reduce
readership by up to 90%
(readership = response)
Proven in extensive studies
This is common sense: if
theres a picture, we work to
try to make out what it is. We
dont read the type thats
interfering with it
68
Reversed type: who would want to
read this, even if they requested it?
When this
catalog, for
The Highlander
TV show and
films, was
launched, all
body copy and
headlines were
white on dark
backgrounds
69
Design for easy reading and reap the
rewards of an awesome campaign
When catalog
was redone
with black type
on light back-
grounds, sales
jumped 300%+
among
prospects AND
existing
customers
70
Color in action
Note how
complementary colors
jiggle or shimmer
against each other
Customers avoid
reading type like that
Notice how type in the
same color family (red
on pink) is too hard to
read
Can anyone read this?
NOTE: this is a VERY
common mistake!
Complementary colors on color wheel same
value makes this too hard to read
71
Typesetting in colors
Typography in black provides the best comprehension
Typography in colors reduces contrast does poorly when tested for
comprehension and response
Even if strong value, the eye tires of reading color type faster than black

Compare:
Do you feel anxious in a yellow room? Does the color blue make you feel
calm and relaxed? Artists and interior designers have long understood how
color can dramatically affect moods, feelings and emotions.

Do you feel anxious in a yellow room? Does the color blue make you feel
calm and relaxed? Artists and interior designers have long understood how
color can dramatically affect moods, feelings and emotions.

Do you feel anxious in a yellow room? Does the color blue make you feel
calm and relaxed? Artists and interior designers have long understood how
color can dramatically affect moods, feelings and emotions.
72
Fonts: another detail that affects response

The fonts you choose will draw in your customer or
send them packing!
Serif fonts are documented to provide highest
readership, documented in legibility and
comprehension studies
Sans serif fonts in typography will reduce readership
and response by up to 60% - and more if its a
condensed sans serif font
ALL CAPS TYPE REDUCES COMPREHENSION BECAUSE
NOBODY WANTS TO READ IT. See why?

73
The font treatments can ALSO send
them packing!
Initial Caps Distract The Reader and Reduce Comprehension
Set type flush left, rag right. Ideally, with indent at start of
each paragraph to give the eye another way to scan
Justified type reduces comprehension, legibility and
response
Hyphenated words reduce comprehension, too.
Research supports ALL of this: see Colin Whieldons book.
Type & Layout (link at the end of this presentation) and
many other studies
Also proven in exhaustive studies by Dr. Siegfried Vogele of
the Direct Marketing Institute in Germany
74
Layout: reader gravity is real
Headline must be bigger and
bolder than the body copy so the
readers eyes gravitate to it
The eye finds the picture first
then reads the copy
Set copy to the RIGHT or BELOW
the image, to allow for their
natural progression
NOTE: setting in 3 columns
increases readership and response
because its EASY to read; type
wider than 70 characters is
ignored!

David Ogilvy was right!

75
Concept: the Devils here too!
When developing concepts for brand, advertising, mail
and more
Dont forget that your CUSTOMER needs to be
impressed by this not your agency compatriots
Your efforts are wasted if its an inside joke, an ego
project, or a chest-beating exercise (People look to
us because were great; Its our anniversary; Our
award winning blah blah is what you need, etc.)
In fact, the more impressed your buddies are by your
concept, the less it will probably work
76
Overworked concept/design
If it looks
weird and
gross, your
customer
will be
turned off
77
Same product;
Common sense concept/design
Answers customer concerns
Too bad its so hard to read!
78
Under-thought concept
provides ham-handed
historical perspective
Xtime creates automated
systems for customer service,
used by Auto Dealerships.
They believe that body copy
on an ad is too much and
they just KNOW that nobody
reads it
Does this ad tell the reader
anything meaningful?
Does the picture really tell the
story? (How often this week
have you seen this image?!)
79
Concept that
answers the most-
important question:
What problem will
Xtime take care of
for me?
Do your homework: This
idea came from walking
around auto dealerships
Myth vs reality best
creative is not produced if
theres no time to do it
right
This brought in scores of
highly qualified leads
80
Humor can work
if it emphasizes a
point clearly
Read your prospects
mind and answer
their concerns
Media buyers laugh
when they see this
but it tells them this is
irresistible media, and
they remember it and
check it out!
Adweek award winner
for highest retention
81
Theres lots of thoughtless
design out there.
Dont let this happen to you.
Orange headline
Light gray body type
Light, sans serif fonts
Orange and gray logo
The great deal is reversed out
of orange banners
Concept??? Please
The cost of this creative and
media buy was probably
$60,000 wasted
82
P.S.: Your designers not reading the copy!
Oops!
a line of
type covered
up by the block
of green
Final Advice:
hire a
proofreader!
83
Learn more:
http://www.amazon.com/Type-Layout-
Communicating-Making-
Pretty/dp/1875750223/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&i
e=UTF8&qid=1343175004&sr=1-
1&keywords=are+you+communicating+or+jus
t+making+pretty+shapes
http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Of-
Direct-Mail-
Communication/dp/0132087456/ref=wl_mb_
hu_c_1_dp
84
Well devil you into creating more effective work!
Herschell Gordon Lewis
HGLewis1@aol.com

Carol Worthington-Levy
CWL@Worthington-Levy.com