This powerpoint was part of a presentation called "15 Ways To Improve Your Advertising In 15 Minutes". It was presented to business leaders at a conference in Charlottetown, PEI in October 2011.

1. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE
YOUR ADVERTISING
In 15 Minutes
By Steve Jones

2. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
1. Accept that nobody cares about you.

3. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
1. Accept that nobody cares about you.
That’s the harsh reality. People’s lives are busy and they have a lot to
think about. Very little mental real estate is dedicated to whatever
product you have to sell. It matters to you, but it doesn’t matter to
anyone else until you make it matter to them. Start your advertising
with the realization that nobody cares. Go from there.

4. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
1. Accept that nobody cares about you.
2. Products don’t matter. Experiences do.

5. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
1. Accept that nobody cares about you.
2. Products don’t matter. Experiences do.
People don’t buy toothpaste. They buy fresh breath, healthy teeth, and
social acceptance. Sell people an experience instead of a product. In
other words, talk about the benefit of your product, not the product
itself or it’s various attributes.

6. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
1. Accept that nobody cares about you.
2. Products don’t matter. Experiences do
3. Nothing happens until you get my attention.

7. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
1. Accept that nobody cares about you.
2. Products don’t matter. Experiences do
3. Nothing happens until you get my attention.
Every ad starts the same, sounds the same, and disappears into the
clutter. Be brave. Get my attention. Throw out words and phrases that
force my mind to engage. Your opening line better rock, because if it
doesn’t grab me you are just wasting your money.

8. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
1. Accept that nobody cares about you.
2. Products don’t matter. Experiences do
3. Nothing happens until you get my attention.
4. Kill the cliché.

9. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
1. Accept that nobody cares about you.
2. Products don’t matter. Experiences do
3. Nothing happens until you get my attention.
4. Kill the cliché.
The world is full of them. We tune them out. They are garbage words
and you should eliminate them from every piece of advertising.

10. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
1. Accept that nobody cares about you.
2. Products don’t matter. Experiences do
3. Nothing happens until you get my attention.
4. Kill the cliché.
5. Find your unique voice.

11. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
1. Accept that nobody cares about you.
2. Products don’t matter. Experiences do
3. Nothing happens until you get my attention.
4. Kill the cliché.
5. Find your unique voice.
Your commercials should sound different than your competitors, not
similar. Use different voices. Find your unique voice. It doesn’t have to be
perfect, it just needs to be uniquely yours.

12. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
1. Accept that nobody cares about you.
2. Products don’t matter. Experiences do
3. Nothing happens until you get my attention.
4. Kill the cliché.
5. Find your unique voice.
6. One topic per ad.

13. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
1. Accept that nobody cares about you.
2. Products don’t matter. Experiences do
3. Nothing happens until you get my attention.
4. Kill the cliché.
5. Find your unique voice.
6. One topic per ad.
If you try to say everything about your business in one ad, you’ll end up saying
nothing. Focus on one attribute per ad. Run multiple ads for multiple attributes. But
remember… the fewer attributes the better! Focus!

14. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
1. Accept that nobody cares about you.
2. Products don’t matter. Experiences do
3. Nothing happens until you get my attention.
4. Kill the cliché.
5. Find your unique voice.
6. One topic per ad.
7. Develop your style guide.

15. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
1. Accept that nobody cares about you.
2. Products don’t matter. Experiences do
3. Nothing happens until you get my attention.
4. Kill the cliché.
5. Find your unique voice.
6. One topic per ad.
7. Develop your style guide.
Use unique voices, music selections, and audio logos to create a consistent style guide
across all of your advertising. Change how you tell the story, but not the story itself.

16. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
8. Don’t forget your brand.

17. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
8. Don’t forget your brand.
Don’t be fooled by the amount of in-store traffic generated by
transactional customers looking for the best price. Successful brands
attract relational customers who don’t bicker and don’t shop
elsewhere. Establish a solid brand. Too much advertising today
focuses on specials and discounts and events, not on branding.

18. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
8. Don’t forget your brand.
9. Motivate someone to take action!

19. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
8. Don’t forget your brand.
9. Motivate someone to take action!
Your award-winning creative concept doesn’t matter unless it forces a
customer to take action. Unless it moves someone to take action, it
fails.

20. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
8. Don’t forget your brand.
9. Motivate someone to take action!
10. Understand the effect/cause relationship.

21. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
8. Don’t forget your brand.
9. Motivate someone to take action!
10. Understand the effect/cause relationship.
Forget about the old phrase “cause and effect”. In advertising, put the
effect first. Start with the impact on the customer. What matters to
them? The details can wait.

22. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
8. Don’t forget your brand.
9. Motivate someone to take action!
10. Understand the effect/cause relationship.
11. Dominate something.

23. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
8. Don’t forget your brand.
9. Motivate someone to take action!
10. Understand the effect/cause relationship.
11. Dominate something.
Great advertising captures share of voice, which leads to share of
mind, which leads to share of market. Buy up all day Sunday. Run ads
every hour from 6pm to 6am. Dominate something, even if it is an off-
prime time of day. You’ll have less competition for share of voice.

24. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
8. Don’t forget your brand.
9. Motivate someone to take action!
10. Understand the effect/cause relationship.
11. Dominate something.
12. Advertise in slow season.

25. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
8. Don’t forget your brand.
9. Motivate someone to take action!
10. Understand the effect/cause relationship.
11. Dominate something.
12. Advertise in slow season.
Everyone advertises when high season comes around, but purchasing decisions are
often made (subconsciously) long before that point. Be top of mind by advertising
in slow season, when your competitors aren’t. You’ll capture more share of mind
(see point #11 above).

26. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
8. Don’t forget your brand.
9. Motivate someone to take action!
10. Understand the effect/cause relationship.
11. Dominate something.
12. Advertise in slow season.
13. Market your niche.

27. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
8. Don’t forget your brand.
9. Motivate someone to take action!
10. Understand the effect/cause relationship.
11. Dominate something.
12. Advertise in slow season.
13. Market your niche.
Business want to legitimize by promoting what makes them similar. It apparently
builds credibility. Forget it! Promote what makes your business different. Seek out a
niche and focus your advertising on your unique difference.

28. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
8. Don’t forget your brand.
9. Motivate someone to take action!
10. Understand the effect/cause relationship.
11. Dominate something.
12. Advertise in slow season.
13. Market your niche.
14. Remember the curse of knowledge!

29. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
8. Don’t forget your brand.
9. Motivate someone to take action!
10. Understand the effect/cause relationship.
11. Dominate something.
12. Advertise in slow season.
13. Market your niche.
14. Remember the curse of knowledge!
You know too much about your business. You are therefore uniquely unqualified to write your
own commercials. Talk to people who don’t know about your industry or field. Avoid the nasty
curse of knowledge and put your business into words that everyday people can understand.

30. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
15. A real-time experiment…
Creating the world’s worst radio commercial!

31. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
ADVERTISING
15. A real-time experiment…
Creating the world’s worst radio commercial!
Simply choose A, B, or C from each of the following slides to write your own tired and cliché-
ridden commercial.
WARNING: This will frighten you… because you hear commercials just like it every single day!
Credit: http://www.danoday.com
Dan used to have a similar “bad commercial generator” on his website although it appears to have been taken down.

32. THE BAD BEGINNING
A. “Hey (product) enthusiasts!”
B. “Say, do you need (product or service)?”
C. “Attention (city or town)!”

33. THE BAD QUESTION
“Are you...”
A. “looking for a great deal?”
B. “interested in quality (product) at discount prices?”
C. “tired of being ripped off?”

34. THE BAD DEADLINE
“At (business), you can save because…”
A. “it’s inventory time, and we’d rather sell it than count it.”
B. “the boss is away.”
C. “the new models/stock are about to arrive”

35. THE BAD SLOGAN
“What’s the (business) advantage?
A. “Our people make the difference.”
B. “Drive a little, save a lot.”
C. “We’ve been in business 46 years.”

36. THE BAD DESCRIPTION
“Plus, at (business), you’ll find…”
A. “Friendly knowledgeable staff.”
B. “Everyday savings throughout the store” / “Everyday storewide savings.”
C. “Service second to none.”

37. THE BAD PROMISE
“At (business)….”
A. “The customer comes first.”
B. “It’s all about you.”
C. “You’re already approved for credit.”

38. THE BAD TIMELINE
“Right now, it’s…”
A. “Midsummer/midwinter/midnight madness.”
B. “Inventory clearance time again.”
C. “Once in a lifetime savings.”

39. THE BAD “BELIEVE”
“You won’t believe…
A. “our savings.”
B. “our selection and great variety.”
C. “our service.”

40. THE BAD CLOSE
“Don’t forget… that’s (business)…
A. “For all your (service or product) needs.”
B. “Your one-stop shop for everything (product or service).”
C. “Call 628-4175 or visit us at 29046 University Avenue Suite 137 and
mention this ad to receive 10% off any regularly priced item.”

41. 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE
YOUR ADVERTISING
In 15 Minutes