Copywriting Weapon: The God Complex
September 10th, 2007 Dina at Wordfeeder.comLet’s talk about billion dollar industries. Healthcare. Insurance. Law. Technology. Politics. Oh, and since we’re calling this copywriting lesson the God Complex, we can’t leave out the world’s religious leaders.
How did the biggest revenue-generators of our time become that way?
Is it because they really do possess the ability to prolong our lives, erase our debt, free our souls and keep us safe from the evil and disaster that lurks around every corner?
Doubtful.
Communication is the secret weapon that burrows into our suggestible minds and works to brainwash the masses. Communication is how the Corporate Giants manage to keep on taking our money and feeding us half-truths that shape how we live our lives. Do you want to be the sheep, or the Shepherd? The shepherd calls the shots and makes the money. Being the Shepherd starts with how you communicate.
When it comes to mind games and manipulation in your copy, the Industry Giants of our time are the biggest offenders of all. They have to be. Why? Power comes with authority and authority is nothing more than an attitude.
This goes back to childhood, yours and mine. Who was the most popular kid in the schoolyard when you were growing up? Did that kid know more than the rest? Was he smarter? Wiser? Was he born with some kind of mystical power that commanded attention and demanded respect from the other children?
Well, yes. Yes, he was born with a mystical power - the power to influence others through words and actions. He knew how to communicate!
Just like that leader on your school playground, corporate dogs are big talkers. Convey authority in your marketing copy and you’re instantly in control.
Lawyers, doctors, psychologists, religious leaders and more recently, technology experts “play God” to their target audiences. They ignore or dispute common sense with their preposterous “solutions.” They reward the unquestioning follower. They lay down the law by the very tone of their voices!
It’s all just games, smoke and mirrors.
When you’re behind the scenes crafting the marketing message like I am, it becomes even more apparent that we’re all out here just weaving our yarns, trying to sound like we know what we’re talking about. But the mystery of life shall always remain just that: a mystery. And this is precisely the reason WHY the world’s authorities are able to wield power over the herd. We can’t prove them right… but we can’t prove them wrong, either. (Ever seen the movie Thank You for Not Smoking? This is the basic premise.)
Giving credit where it’s due: of course, doctors, lawyers, scientists, computer programmers, psychologists and religious leaders have each played a role to enhance our quality of living. And that’s because power, when coupled with intellectual progress, is a momentous thing.
But the reason why their advice is accepted as “expert” is this:
Powerful communicators are busy behind the scenes, working every minute to cultivate a brand, an attitude, a position, an impression. Without that, you have no majority vote. Without that, you’re just some loony spouting off preposterous ideas.
When you build up your Voice to the point that it begins drawing throngs of followers, that’s when real control happens. That’s when you become *God* to your customers. Likewise, major corporations define your relationship with them by the powerful words they communicate to you in ALL of their marketing and communication. These words leave an indelible impression in your mind and bind you to them for life.
Who are Your Companies? Who are you willing to bet your money on, literally? Pfizer? Procter and Gamble? Microsoft? Hewlett-Packard? Target? Prada? Don’t think this is an accident or coincidence. Big Company mentality and speaking manner is very purposeful indeed.
One of the most effective ways to keep readers groping in the dark while playing the role of Savior, Hand Holder, or God if you will, is to incorporate jargon into your copywritten materials. By jargon, I mean confusing language, buzzwords, or industry-exclusive terminology.
Let’s use the tech industry as an example. Now there’s a sketchy lot who’s always trying to confuse us!
How many technology experts allude to “highly complex processes” that impact your return on investment. A lot, right? Pretty much all of them. But then, when do these same marketers ever reveal how simple it actually is to use their technology methods?
Today’s technology is actually easy to use. And yet, the majority of computer users would rather stare like a deer in headlights at mesmerizing terminological terminology than resolve to break their technology down into a practical and manageable process, learn something and save themselves a lot of money.
Relating this to marketing: think about your run-of-the-mill technology copy and why it works so well to glorify the industry.
Everyone claims to offer “cutting-edge solutions” and the “innovative edge that will put you leagues ahead of your competition.” The real power behind these words is that they’re vague and pretentious-sounding, yet completely lacking in substantial proof.
Buzzwords have the effect of making the reader feel like he’s lost in an unfamiliar land where everyone speaks in secret code and no one’s letting him in on the joke. It’s an uneasy feeling to say the least. So when crafty marketers finally throw the unenlightened masses a bone, let’s say, it’s a tipoff about computer security or something, the snippet of info gets lapped up greedily in the quest for deeper understanding.
Jargon is such a delightfully tricky thing, it’s no wonder the most powerful people in the world use it so plentifully. Jargon does two jobs. It’s words that sounds important, yet remain in a state of utter vague meaninglessness. The meaninglessness serves a purpose of course: Make no concrete claims, and you have nothing to be held accountable for later.
Don’t believe me about jargon? Take a look at the latest sales letter published by your favorite web marker and scan the copy for real promises of tangible, quantifiable results. Search for a definitive statement like this:
“I promise you will make at LEAST $10,000 in seven days, or I’ll refund your money, no questions asked.”
Sorry, but no marketer in his right mind would EVER put such a quantifiable statement in writing!
As if being vague didn’t already do the job, web copywriters insert confusing legal disclaimers for good measure. Refer to the sales letter from the last paragraph; scroll to the bottom, what’s it say in the fine print? Examine the words closely. Understand their purpose. What is the point, can you venture a guess?
The sole purpose of the legal copy in any ad (think of the legal mumbo jumbo they spew at the end of every drug commercial), is to shoot down each one of the implied advertising statements made in the original ad copy. Is it me, or is that just one big joke on the public?
As the consumer, how would you ever be able to prove that a company didn’t live up to its promises without going through major painstaking detail rehashing and spending millions on lawyers (who, incidentally, would win the court case using the same exact strategies that the copywriters use to sell the product in the first place)? You wouldn’t! The cleverly crafted, jargon-rich copy makes sure of that. It’s all part of the very mysterious, non-specific, self-righteous way that people talk when playing God in their advertising.
The God Complex in your copywriting: use it or lose it!
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December 4th, 2007 at 9:03 pm
Very nice, down to earth approach you have. You GO girl…:-)
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