Creating marketing copy based on substance, not spin

A year ago in the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s ‘Marketer’ magazine, David Taylor wrote an excellent article about the need for telling ‘compelling brand stories based on substance’.

He was especially referring to the need for marketers to stay on the right side of the ‘Consumer protection from unfair trading regulations 2007’, which came into force in May 2008 and specifically prohibit misleading consumers.

David cited some examples of brands that have relied on spin over substance and others have come to light since then. In April for example, a campaign by Australian parents targeted ‘Cereal Offenders’: producers of children’s breakfast cereals using marketing spin that allegedly conflicted with nutritional facts.

(Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain cereal was top of the list, with its claim to ‘help fuel growing boys’ said to be at odds with its ‘low fibre content and high levels of sugar and sodium’.)

Closer to home, earlier this month EDF Energy faced a backlash from consumers and competitors when it ran its ‘Green Britain Day’: the company was accused of spinning its green credentials.

So how can you avoiding relying on spin – or just falling back on the same old tired claims about your product’s benefits – when creating your marketing materials? The answer is surely to really understand the product, and to do that you have to find the right people.

I like meeting marketing people in my clients’ companies but I often find that they are focused on the ‘promotion’ bit of the marketing mix. Even though they usually have a good understanding of the product, there are sometimes others who know more.

So I want to talk to the people who designed the product, the people who made it, the people who sell it and, ideally, the people who use it. When I do, I almost always uncover some genuinely positive information about what the product does and how well it does it.

If you can get a detailed understanding of the product there’s usually no need to bamboozle customers with spin or flowery marketing-speak.

Sure, well-crafted words are important. But it’s the meat that matters, and although getting to the meat requires effort and passion about what you are doing, it is always the best foundation for writing compelling marketing messages.

So who are the product experts in your organisation? Building relationships with them is essential for anyone who wants to become an effective marketer or copywriter.