"Advertising is the literature of desire"

What is your customer's tomorrow?

I will never write anything as smart as 👆 that subject line 👆 so I’ll steal it to impress you.

"Advertising is the literature of desire"

It’s lifted from the wonderfully written and wonderfully rare ‘Breakthrough Advertising’ by Gene Schwartz. It’s the one book ever present on my otherwise well-organised desk.

And not just because the book goes for $125 new ( https://breakthroughadvertisingbook.com/) and my early edition is worth a lot more…

Anyhow, I digress.

Schwartz goes on to explain ‘a copywriter’s first qualifications are imagination and enthusiasm. You are literally the script writer for your prospect’s dreams. You are the chronicler of his future. Your job is to show him in minute detail all the tomorrows that your product makes possible for him.’

This book was written in 1966.

So, your job, as the marketer, the email writer, the copywriter, is to create that desire for the product you sell. What are the tomorrows that your product makes possible for your potential customer? You can so easily get all wrapped up in the product descriptions that you lose sight of what your product will allow somebody to achieve that they can’t already do. This is the literature of desire. I don’t care what you sell. Your job IS to sell. You’ll make that job far easier for yourself by taking on the role of the chronicler.

Advertising doesn’t stop on the Facebook feed. It continues right the way through to your order confirmation page. You’re advertising the possibilities your product provides. You're advertising the philosophy your brand is built upon.

Taking on the role of the chronicler makes the job a little more creative, a little more fun too when you shift away from the Analytics graphs and the number crunching. Words are the marketer’s best friends. Well, you know what I’m trying to say. I’m no Gene Schwartz.

I'm just...

Ian