By: Sergey Mamayev
The first principle is to shock a public. You must bring everything to a stop and attract an audience. It is very important, because they are your prospective customers. ‘No customers’ mean ‘no sales’. Usually the American style of advertising holds out a different bait for a public than the European.
I will narrate a story about my first acquaintance with American advertising. I was going on foot along a main street nearby a GMC dealership and spotted on some car a tag ‘Discount $3,000’. Then I saw on the next car a small billboard saying ‘Discount $5,000’. After that I caught sight of a big poster which said ‘Discount $8,000’. It stunned me to see so huge a rebate. I got into the GMC dealership. A salesperson explained to me that every car is brand new, not corrupted and waiting for me. I answered that I do not plan to buy a car, because I arrived in America only one month ago and do not have anything: a driver’s license, money, job, a credit history. I would figure out why you award so big a grant. “It is a good fortune for you and a very special offer; hurry,’’ he said, but did not clarify why. He gave me catalogs; we drank coffee and parted like true friends. It was my first pleasant contact with real American advertising.
That is the American style. It is based on the price of a product. Its slogan is “Buy something and save money.” The motto is a logical contradiction, a fallacy, because you spend money if you buy something. This works well in America. Why? One of the fundamental principles in America worldly is to be thrifty. This is taught to Americans from the cradle. Immigrants can read these postulates in INS brochures. An old man in the Wal-Mart asked me, “Son, how much did you save today?” I did not explain to him that a price balances a supply and a demand so I probably paid a real price. A price is an agreement between a seller and buyer. I said “A lot!” - “Good, very good!” he answered.
In Europe I had never seen sales like “50-75% off” and so big variations of prices. The European style of advertising is based on characteristics of product. Its slogan is “My goods are the best.” This slogan also has some contradictions and self-confidences because some people prefer particular goods and it does not mean that a green grape is better than a red grape. A price is not a critical importance for European people. A quality of product is more important. Many times I heard the aphorism “I am not so rich therefore I do not buy cheap things.” Europeans are fully confident that an inexpensive product might be durable and visa versa. My friend is captivated by German cars. He presents his BMW like genuine design and quality. But Americans have an opposite opinion. “I do not have any idea why we should pay extra money for a German or other European car!” said my salesperson from the GMC dealership.
will be continued . . .
About the Author: Sergey Mamaev is a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Expert, Internet Programmer and Webmaster/Designer; AzNet LLC Founder and CEO.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment