Anxious anticipation, nervous trepidation, heart palpitation and a tingling sensation are the smells and bells of adventure.
Purchases made by shoppers are often a form of adventure.
Much of what we buy is bought to remind ourselves - and tell the world around us - who we are.
But other times the purchase is less about the item and more about the hunt. Every collector understands this adventure of the hunt.
A student at Wizard Academy recently turned in a 60-second radio ad for me to edit. The client was one of those dreary “close-out” liquidators who will buy a truckload of leftover anything if they can get it cheap enough. This is the :60 I was given. I felt it was pretty good.
Spring and summer are the seasons when all your home improvement plans stop being ideas and start becoming a reality. Liquidation Warehouse is 17 thousand square feet of home improvement reality. On average, our customers save twenty-four percent on everything from granite to kitchen sinks. We’re able to save our customers so much because we buy in bulk. When we buy items in bulk we save money so you save money on everything like marble, travertine, ceramic and porcelain tile, slate, hardwood, toilets, vessel sinks, tools, automotive products, home décor and furniture to name a few. We have higher end products at mindbendingly reduced prices. Any and everything you need to improve and upgrade your home and it’s all in stock. Seventeen thousand square feet of home improvement. Pallets and pallets and pallets of savings. Liquidation Warehouse. 105 112th Street South. Online at liquidation warehouse wa.com. Or call us at 583-9670
These are the notes I returned to the student.
A. “17,000 square feet” doesn’t conjure as big an image in the mind as “Warehouse” when the word is said with authority. Bark “Warehouse!”
B. “We buy in bulk” is a weak claim. All stores buy in bulk. The word “Liquidation” is all the support you need to back up your claim of discounted prices.
C. Lose the phone number. If we can say “Liquidation Warehouse” with authority and repeat it often, the listener can easily obtain the phone number. Close the ad by naming the website. The website should have the store location and phone number on the home page.
D. Clarity is the new creativity. Fewer words hit harder.
Here’s the breathless :30 I made from your :60.
SARAH: Liquidation Warehouse.
Roy: You’ll save at least 24 percent on the cost of home improvement materials.
SARAH: Liquidation Warehouse.
Roy: Save even more on high-end, luxury materials.
SARAH: BIG discounts.
JACOB: Travertine,
DEVIN: Marble,
JACOB: Ceramic tile,
DEVIN: Porcelain tile,
Roy: Slate,
JACOB: Hardwood floors,
DEVIN: Vessel sinks,
JACOB: Toi-LETS, [accent the 2nd syllable strongly and this becomes a word flag that will be repeated by dozens of customers when they walk into the store.]
DEVIN: Tools,
JACOB: Home décor,
SARAH: and Furniture.
Roy: We even have things for your car.
SARAH: Liquidation Warehouse.
Roy: Fine quality items at BIG discounts.
SARAH: Liquidation Warehouse. 105 112th Street South.
JACOB: It’s a treasure hunt.
SARAH: It’s an adventure.
Roy: Online, at liquidation warehouse wa.com.
Notice how this ad appeals to the shopper’s sense of adventure.
We’re whispering to them between the lines, “You never know what you’re going to find.”
By Roy H. Williams, The Wizard of Ads at MondayMorningMemo.com
(Access the inner training of Roy H. Williams. Sign up for Wizard of Ads Live.)
(Edited by Wizard Partner, Craig Arthur, from the original article “The Adventure of Selling”)