- Lauren Warner

Save now. Save more. Save today. Savings you can count on. Savings you can savor. Save for a rainy day. It’s raining savings. (It’s raining men—why not?)

As a marketing copywriter, I have quite likely co-opted the word “saved” more than an evangelical preacher. Can you blame me? In this “economic climate” (psst—it’s what you say instead of “recession”) saving money is Topic No. 1. Bolded, underlined, italicized, punctuated with an exclamation mark (or three!), we boast savings to “budget-minded consumers” who are looking for more ways to “save on the things they love the most.”

Too bad it’s seldom enough to get them to open our e-mails. Or our direct mail, for that matter. No matter—we yell louder. We add more words to “plus up” the sentences and more details to “add value.” We woo them with focus-group clichés. We beg. We plead. And at times, we even bully. So just imagine our shattered feelings when, after all this, the folks out there still don’t respond. Why aren’t we branding communications experts getting through?

I’ll tell you why. The one thing consumers want most happens to be the thing we’re not giving them: honesty. After years of writing for countless big retailers across a slew of notable ad agencies, I live with the age-old copywriter’s plight: Brands look to me to be captivating, and I look to them to give me something relevant to say about what they’re making. And, between the two of us, we’re saying more about less than ever before.

Hence, I’ve been giving a great deal of thought lately about how we marketing professionals ought to be connecting to consumers—you know, those people who spend two seconds glancing at something it took us two months to create. And I’d like to propose some radical ideas here, if you’ll humor me. It’s not a how-to, so much as a sort of wish list.

First, consider the merits of observing whitespace—the blank matter that separates your beautiful verbiage. It allows people to breathe, to focus on what’s important. Nervous about failing to grab readers, advertisers are always angling to insert just one more adjective. But the truth is, the more words you put on a page, the less likely the consumer is to read any of them. Even the most elegant writer can’t create a compelling, simple message if the brand doesn’t offer a compelling, simple offer. The recipe goes like this: 1 call to action + 1 message to communicate = 1 effective piece of creative. Like any relationship, courtship is often the most important part of engaging consumers with a brand. If you don’t have them at hello, you’ll never have them at all. So listen up, brands: The more you cut that ad copy, the more you’ll watch consumer engagement grow.

Now for another radical idea: Talk like a normal person. Here’s why: As things stand now, customers don’t believe you. You’re a corporation, remember? And in this age of double-digit unemployment, squandered TARP funds and bloated CEO bonus packages, the average American happens to hold a rather low opinion of corporations. That’s why it’s essential for you to be as frank, straightforward and transparent as possible. If you talk like a marketer, consumers will ignore you.

There’s a troubling duality that’s been at work for some time now. While every brand is touting savings savings savings, those same brands are wondering why they can’t differentiate themselves. So if you want to stand out, quit shouting “savings!” and start talking to people in a refreshing way. Surprise them with honesty. Endear them with candidness. It’s possible to be clever without sinking into schmoozy speak.

Next, I’d like to suggest that brands think outside the brief. As marketers, we have a tendency to get tangled in the layers of our own profession. I’ve lost count of how many times a brand manager has dictated copy that sounds eerily like a strategy plan (perhaps, I suspect, because it is a strategy plan). No matter how many focus groups you pay for, those buzzwords (“Save now!” and all its boring, tedious sisters) are meaningless to consumers. They’re meaningless because people have heard those words too many times, to say nothing of the fact that shoppers are  bombarded with more than 3,000 advertisements a day. And even if you don’t have anything different to say—if savings really is all you can talk about—you can still say it differently.

A final bit of advice for brands: Believe in your customers. It sounds sentimental, but think about it: If you want people to believe in your brand, you have to believe in them. This means realizing that they’re smart; they get it. You don’t have to treat them like children.
The biggest challenge facing marketers today is learning to communicate in a compelling but concise way, and then letting go. As in any successful relationship, one must learn a lot of letting go—of old ideals, definitions and habits, including the penchant to yell “savings!” every time you talk to consumers. Yes, savings is indeed a major driving force in retail today. But as marketers, we should also think about saving the public from ourselves—before we have nobody left who’s listening.


Lauren Warner is an advertising copywriter and commentator. You can reach her at LaurenSWarner@gmail.com