Building an Image.... or making an Immediate Sale. Which to choose in your advertising?

There's a saying....

"If you don't stand for something,
you'll fall for anything."

A lot of companies seem to have grown big, partly by building up an image.... By "standing for something." For example, Coca Cola would fit into this category. And they spend big bucks to keep that image in your mind every year.... Remember the slogans of their ads over the years? "It's the Real Thing"... "Coke Adds Life"... "Coke Is It"... "Always Coca Cola."

All these Coke ads are to build up an image in your mind.... They're not explicitly about benefits (except maybe in an indirect way).

In the direct marketing industry, image building ads like this are often dismissed as a waste of money. But is it really a waste? It seems to be a big success - and a continuing one - for many companies....

I've recently been re-reading the book "Marketing Outrageously" by Jon Spoelstra. (I recommend it - it's a great book.) He's had direct marketing success - I think he was one of those who was directly trained by Joe Sugarman, at his famous workshops he used to hold in his home.

What Jon Spoelstra says is don't choose whether to build an image, or push people to "buy it now" - do both! In the case of Coca Cola, while the Coca Cola company is building the image, others are pushing you to "buy it now" - the retailers. So in reality, they're doing both.

The same goes for cars.... Ford, GM, Chrysler, Nissan, Toyota, BMW, etc. - they're busy trying to build an image in your mind. At the same time, the car salesmen are trying to get you to "buy it now" - so in reality, they're doing both too. They just have different companies performing the different functions.

So, Jon Spoelstra says, in your ads, try to both build an image, AND to get people to buy it NOW. It seems like a wise approach to me! I don't think I've read about this elsewhere.... (Most books on direct marketing stress the "buy it now" aspects, and de-emphasize the image-building aspect....)

It also fits in well with the book "Positioning" by Al Ries and Jack Trout. Image building is really "positioning" your product in the mind of the prospect, by building a particular image. By "7 Up" calling itself the "Uncola" - it put itself in the minds of people as a choice when people thought of Coke or Pepsi... They could drink these colas - or 7 Up, the "Uncola"....

What do you think of this? I'd be grateful for any thoughts you might have to share.... :)

- Dien Rice


Coca Cola slogans over the years...