Issue #001

The Art of Advertising in the Modern Era

A city street filled with lots of tall buildings

Creative skillsets come in different shapes and forms. Some of us might be artistically creative, strategically creative, technically creative, or something else. Creativity is everywhere.

Advertising is an art—just like painting or poetry. The difference is, to be a great advertiser, you must acquire and refine multiple different skillsets.

Writing, design, and human psychology are the big three that every great advertiser must learn. But there’s a pressing issue in the modern era within the realm of advertising.

It has become flooded with general, cookie-cutter language and design that keeps brands looking the same, saying the same thing, and having zero uniqueness and specificity.

Every year that passes, more and more brands become caught in loop of trying to appeal to everyone. If you take anything from this excerpt, take this: specificity sells more than generality.

If you’re confused on how to be more specific and create a bigger separation from your competitors, you’re in luck, because I’m about to dive into the Art of Advertising.

Creating specificity in your ads

As we’ve already stated, specificity sells. So, here’s how to squeeze every ounce of specificity out of your brand to create memorable ads that sell.

1. Who needs your product

In marketing, we’re taught from the beginning of our careers to market to a “who”. And I don’t want to downplay the importance of this step, it is essential as a baseline for understanding your customer.

But it is not the most important thing to understand. Here’s what you need to know:

What is their demographic (age, gender, race, income)
Where are they located (country, city, region)
What are their interests

When you understand this, you have your baseline. Don’t overcomplicate it, the more important steps are coming up.

2. What do you sell

You know who you’re selling to. But do you know what you sell? Hint: it’s not a product or service.

When I ask, “What do you sell?” What I’m asking is, what is the emotion, experience, or outcome of your product or service.

Example: I don’t sell ads, I sell memorability. I create ads that make brands memorable so they can sell more, increase awareness, and grow.

This is essential to the following steps. Do not advertise without understanding this step.

3. Where are your customers

This step is simple. But if you get it wrong, nothing else you do will matter because you won’t be in the same sandbox as your customers.

Where do your customers swim? Where do they hangout? Why are they there?

For most of you, advertising on Facebook and Instagram are a goldmine. But for some, Google might be the answer. And for a few of you, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube, and others might be it.

Do your research, understand where your “who” hangs out, then pick your platform.

4. When do people need you

This is (in my opinion) the most important, action driving question to understand. Because this is where you can get specific. And as I’ve stated multiple times before, specificity sells.

When people need you is the moment, experience, or phase of life when people can use, will want, or will need your product or service.

For example, let’s say you’re a marketer at Apple and you’re tasked with advertising the company’s AirTag.

You know who you’re advertising to. You know where you’re reaching them. And you know what you sell (peace of mind).

Now you need to figure out your “when”. The best way to think about this is to make up a scenario in your head. Put yourself in your customers shoes.

So here’s your scenario: You’re a 28 year old male who is a consultant and travel for work a lot. You fly biweekly and always take a backpack and carry-on.

But before one of your flights, the front desk says you’ll have to check your carry-on because there’s no room on the plane. So, you oblige and handover your bag. Only to land and be told the airline has lost your bag and don’t know where it is anymore.

Frustrated and exhausted, you give them your contact info and head to your hotel. Fearful this will happen again when you travel, you decide to add a sense of security and buy an Apple AirTag.

This… is your peace of mind. Because even if the airline loses your bag, you’ll be able to locate your bag and help the airline get it back for you.

THAT is your “when”.

DO NOT advertise without knowing multiple “when’s” for your brand. This will give you a greater understanding of when people need you and let you be more specific in your ads.

5. Why do people need you

The final step you must understand is why people need you. This is a simple and straightforward step. To help you figure this out, let’s use another example.

Why do people need advertising? Well, they either have: