The struggle with creative marketing.

There is an old expression: ideas are cheap, execution is everything.

And when writing creative copy, the hardest part isn’t the ideation phase.

No, the hardest part is convincing non-creative folks why your nonsensical idea has any merit or makes even the slightest sense.

Because most, if not all, creative marketing makes zero sense.

And the outcomes are generally unquantifiable.

A recent project of mine was to give a new, high-ticket product an identity and to romanticize it.

The product uses Italian leather so, one thing leading to another, my brain voyaged to Italy, found inspiration and allowed to Michelangelo become my muse.

More specifically, The Statue of David.

Long story short: creatives loved it; execs, not so much.

Which doesn’t affect me in anyway because a.) they found a better name, and b.) I’m aware, without them telling me, their underlying reason for doing so.

If the launch fails—using boring branding—blame can be diverted to other factors like pricing, demand or timing.

In essence, nobody gets the blame solely, directly.

If the launch fails—using romantic, heart-stopping copy—blame falls directly on my shoulders.

I am the scapegoat for why this launch failed.

Within the discontent, people will certainly believe something like this:

“You see! It didn’t work because of this weird, unnecessary copy and branding. Michelangelo never even worked with leather, so why on earth would you make such a comparison? Because of you, this whole launch failed; if we could’ve just branded it normally, then it would’ve been a success!”

Proof of why my take is correct, from neurologist Donald Calne:

“The essential difference between emotion and reason is that emotions lead to action while reason leads to conclusion.”

High-ticket, non-essential items require a lengthier purchasing process, allowing them to slowly become comfortable with the money they’re about to spend.

And within that purchasing process, they’re doing one of two things: buying it to make them happy, or buying it to ridden pain.

Happiness and pain are things humans feel; only after do we rationalize the emotions.

Longer story short:

If you can’t give them an emotional reason to buy, 100% of the time, you’re simply going to sell less units.

Because this isn’t theory; it’s alchemy.

And alchemy is an art, not a science.

Theories only work in ideal, rational societies.

Humans are neither of those.

Anyway, I don’t have a solution on how to convince others of foolish concepts.

In my opinion, our best bet is to continue being romantic, poetic, funny, emotional and romantic; smart brands will come around to it.

With boring copy? You’re lucky if people remember you a week later.

— George