The Creative Process

MUGGED BY THE WRITTEN WORD

They're thieves!

Wishing to be invisible, they try to hide until the last moment.

And then, when you least expect it, they pounce and take something valuable from you.

But you won't find these nasty muggers lurking in darkened alley ways, hiding behind bushes and trees, or following you down the street.

No, these bad guys usually find cover at the bottom of letters, on the last page of brochures, and at the end of self-mailers. On occasion a gang of them actually have their own hideout...the entire back of a letter or – worse yet – a separate insert.

SAY HELLO TO THE DREADED DISCLOSURE COPY

Three marketing truths...

1. Good news never appears in disclosure copy!

2. The more disclosure copy, the greater the amount of bad news!

3. There’s little worse than encountering an asterisk while reading marketing copy!

“The large print giveth and the small print taketh away.”
— Tom Waits, singer-songwriter from his 1976 album Small Change

It took Tom Waits to speak the truth about dreaded disclosure copy.

Disclosure copy is like the 5,000 pound elephant in the room. Everybody sees it but nobody wants to talk about it...especially lawyers and marketing people.

The only exceptions are creative directors and copywriters. But their attempts to put these criminals out of business are seldom successful.

And good luck finding any reference to disclosure copy or legal copy in the many marketing and copywriting books available. In fact, your editor could find only one quote on the subject from a veteran freelance copywriter:

“Never use an asterisk in direct-response copy.”
— Herschell Gordon Lewis, veteran free-lance copywriter and author

That’s it! Great advice...simply avoid using asterisks, as though this will make the problem go away. If only it were that simple.

Why is disclosure copy universally HATED by everyone…except, perhaps, lawyers?

Because disclosure copy delivers the BAD NEWS in any marketing campaign. Like a common mugger or pickpocket, it robs you of something you'd rather have.

Another expert writer weighs in on the outcome of disclosure copy...

“Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.”
— Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), Scottish novelist, poet, historian, and biographer

THE GUILTY SELF-MAILER

One of the most egregious examples of practicing to deceive was discovered by an ACTON Marketing creative employee who, in December 2007, received the self-mailer shown in the sidebar.

A joint-effort by MasterCard® and JC Penney, the entire mailer is devoted to a special, limited-time offer of $10 off a single purchase of $10 or more WHEN you use your MasterCard® card.

Nice...who wouldn’t want another $10 off the price of any item inside JC Penney?

Measuring 5 ½” x 8” folded, the open self-mailer measures 8" x 13 ¾", including the perforated $10 off Savings Certificate at the bottom.

Scanning the self-mailer, our employee was excited. Imagining all the products at JC Penney, saving $10 would be easy. Quickly glancing at the copy on the outside panels, the only disclosure copy read “See details on Savings Certificate.”

At this point, he thought, “Okay, it’ll be the standard legal mumbo-jumbo like 'coupon cannot be combined with any other discount offer' and 'cannot be used on sale items.' I can live with that.”

Opening the self-mailer, our employee was greeted by a giant, red, $10 off sale tag and the back-side of the actual $10 Savings Certificate.  

Glancing down at the Savings Certificate, there it was…the dreaded copy thief.

But this was not your run-of-the-mill mugger. This guy was huge. In fact, so huge that he was unable to find a suitable hiding place to conceal his presence…a place where he could be ignored until the last moment.

As you might expect, our employee’s enthusiasm was quickly dampened by the sight of the tiny disclosure copy…all 199 words of it.

While most consumers wouldn’t take the time to look for a magnifying glass and a bright light by which to read the legal copy, being a marketing professional, our employee decided reading it was mandatory. And what he discovered what shocking.

A REAL MUGGING

In effect, the only product category NOT EXCLUDED were some lines of clothing.

Among the listed EXCLUSIONS were:

Value Right

"2 or more" prices

Cosmetics & Fragrances

Cookware

Cutlery & Gadgets

Jewelry Bonus Buys

Floor Care

Furniture & Mattresses

Personal Care & Fitness products

Small appliances and Electronics

Clarks (whatever this is)

Columbia Sportswear Co.

Easy Spirit

Hunter Douglas

Levi’s

Webkinz

After school promotional items

jpc.com/catalog and Outlet Stores

Services

Salon Service & Service Contracts

Gift Card/e-Gift Cards

WORKING THE REGISTER DURING CHRISTMAS

Imagine, for a moment, being a sales or counter person at JC Penney from December 10 through Christmas Eve. It's the busiest two weeks of the year and you find yourself facing a hoard of $10 off coupon carriers who are about to learn they've been mugged.

Having spent several hours fighting hoards of shoppers to find the right gift item – and another 30 minutes in line – at your register they learn their precious coupon is only valid on a few clothing items and, perhaps, some stale merchandise Penney’s is hoping to move during the last-minute shopping rush.

Imagine you're the shopper in line!

It's not a pretty image…in fact, it's downright scary.

Fortunately, our ACTON Marketing creative employee read the full disclosure copy upon opening his self-mailer and quickly made the decision to pass on the $10 offer.

At this point, perhaps we should all be reminded of the Golden Rule:

"Treat others as you would like to be treated."

The take-away message from this month’s newsletter is the negative impact mice-type disclosure copy can have on your offer and your customers’ satisfaction levels with your company, your products, your marketing, and your employees.

Avoid disclosure copy to the extent possible. And if you must use it, keep it to a bare minimum and print it in as large a type size as possible.

Better yet, see if you can work it into the regular sales copy.

You don't like being mugged by disclosure copy on offers you receive in the mail…nor do your customers and prospects.

Treat it like the villain it is.

Try and banish it from your copy and creative!