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Secret #7: Sharpen the Knife 91

The 1991 ads for Isuzu automobiles are a perfect
example. The ads won awards for their humor and orig-
inality. But did they sell cars? No. Isuzu was often dead
last in terms of car sales.

Your focus should be on ads that work—on ads
that get the results you want. That happens when you
“sharpen the knife” of persuasion.

People usually ask themselves (unconsciously) three
basic questions when they look at ads: “Who cares? So
what? What’s in it for me?”

When I was working on a title for this book, I
thought I’d call it The Secrets of Bruce Barton. But people
would say, “Who cares?” because they wouldn’t recall
Barton.

Then I thought I’d try The Strategies of a Forgotten Ad
Man. But people would say, “What’s in it for me?”

I also thought I’d title the book Bruce Barton: A
Biography. But people would say, “So what?” since they
wouldn’t know who Barton was.

The current title speaks to what people want. By
sharpening the knife I was able to come up with a much
stronger title.

Bruce Barton once told this story about sharpening the
knife to make an advertisement more powerful:

“The human being from Adam’s day to the present has
been interested first of all and most of all in himself. My
firm once took over the advertising of a life insurance
company and has handled it now for many years. When
we took it over every insurance man would tell you that
the strongest appeal you could make in insurance would
be to show the picture of an attractive young widow with
a couple of pretty children at her knee and the photograph
of her deceased husband in her hand—with some headline