Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Go Back in Time to Find Something New

Recently, I borrowed a couple of books about business writing from the library. I had hoped to find some good examples of moving sales letters and the like. But as I browsed them, I was quite disappointed. The letters weren't special; they were the kind of business letters we see every day.

They were a far cry from the letters in a two-volume set I came across a few years ago. The letters in this set, written in the 1920s or 30s, were creative and moving. To my 21st Century eyes, they were powerful and exciting.

Chances are they were typical business letters for their era, and had I perused the books when they were new I probably would have thought they were not anything special. But these days, they seemed refreshing.

A few weeks ago I was browsing radio station sites on the Internet, and came across one that was reusing a tag line from the early 70s. Back then, San Francisco top-40 station KYA was billing itself as playing "Music for the People." But in 2010, it was a news-talk formatted station that was using it. Their version was simply, "... for the people."

How appropriate that line seemed to be for a news-talk station today. "Of the people, by the people, for the people." I get it.

So all this got me thinking about some of the great ad campaigns of the past and how they might be adapted for use today.

For example, iconic 60s artist Peter Max once licensed his art to 72 corporations for use in their marketing. Though Peter is still going strong, his work isn't as ubiquitous as it once was. But it's still powerful. A campaign based on a similar, psychedelic style would seem refreshing today.

What about the anti-drug propaganda movie "Reefer Madness." The crazed, totally out of control drug users it portrays seem laughable to us today, but the producers were absolutely serious at the time. So what if an advertiser, let's say one who sells soap, were to spoof Reefer Madness: "This could happen to you if you don't use Cleano!" Or if you don't drink Red Bull. Or sleep between cotton sheets.

A great idea then is a great idea now. Find one, update it and make it your own. You'll have success.


For more great advertising ideas, come to Brown Cow Studios of Boston. Our full creative services and professional production bring in the sales. Drop a note to Fred Pagano and learn more!

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