I’m in love with Don Draper!
Don Draper is a liar, a cheat and a con man; not probably the best type of man to be attracted to! But, my goodness me, he has a way with words.
For those of you who are wondering who on earth I’m getting all excited about, Don Draper is the Creative Director and Partner at a successful advertising agency in Manhattan. He’s the star of the drama series, Mad Men.
Don has an amazing talent. He tells stories. He evokes deep emotions and encourages us to use our imaginations. He uses these highly honed skills when pitching for business. He sells a dream.
Take a look at this pitch to Kodak. They want to sell the ‘sausage’. Don sells them the ‘sizzle’.
So what can we learn from Don Draper? Well apart from the merits of being a loyal and law abiding citizen, when we’re thinking about our marketing messages we should be conjuring up the dream we are selling; creating an image and painting a picture of the better place our clients will be in once we’ve helped them and truly made a difference.
Sell the Sizzle, not the Sausage! What’s your story?
A client recently asked me to cast my eye over a digital advert they were creating for an on-line magazine. Admittedly there wasn’t a lot of room but the advert included 1) their logo 2) the name of their health programme and 3) venue, date and time.
What they’d included in this advert was the ‘Sausage’ i.e. the product, the service, the features. People don’t buy features, they buy benefits.
What was missing here was the ‘Sizzle’. So I asked them to think about the benefits they deliver and the dreams and aspirations they help their clients achieve.
By adding an extra line to the advert such as ‘Prepare for a longer life’ or ‘Live life longer, fitter’ they will connect with and attract people who want to improve their all round wellbeing and long term quality of life.
So next time you write a blog, create content or write a presentation ask yourself ‘what’s my story; what’s their dream?’
