Page 179 - 100 Great Copywriting Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

83 DIG DOWN TO
THE UNDERLYING
PROPOSITION

Think back to the last time you opened a magazine. There will
almost certainly have been a house ad promoting subscriptions to
that magazine. In 99 percent of the ads I see, the copy essentially
says, “Subscribe to Aardvark Monthly and save 75 percent.” Or “Get
this big bottle of Aardvark Scruffing Lotion for Men.” Lots of copy
about the offer, in other words, but very little about the magazine.

This offer-led approach is a valid one if you reinforce it with plenty
of marketing messages focusing on the underlying benefits to the
prospect. Without them, you attract people who just want to smell
like Aardvarks and who’ll desert you the moment someone else
offers them a juicier freebie.

The idea

From women’s glossy magazines
At the time of writing, there are two main copy platforms used to
promote subscriptions to women’s magazines in Britain. One, have
a bunch of cosmetics. Two, get a dozen issues for £1. They’re both
successful at gaining new customers, but frequently disastrous
for creating loyal customers. Incentivizing someone with a gift of
perfume to make repeat purchases of what was an impulse buy in
the first place seems doomed to failure. And, sure enough, many
publishers in this sector struggle with attrition or, to use publishing
jargon, renewal rates.

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