Do You Have Bad Breath?

“Halitosis makes you unpopular.”

That 1920’s ad campaign skyrocketed revenue for Listerine from $115,000 to $8 million within seven years.

The campaign centered around Jane, a young woman who struggled to get married because of her bad breath.

Advertisers have been using fear to sell products ever since.

Having bad breath captured attention because it shined a light on a problem people didn’t want. The ad shocked people.

There’s a good lesson here.

You capture people’s attention with their emotions.

Example for an accounting firm:

Original
Get more money back.

Revision
How do you know you’re not overpaying property taxes and insurance premiums 6-8% ever year?

Example for Gravy:

Original
Recover money.

Revision.
How much revenue is your stripe account losing without you knowing it?

Example for Know Your Team:

Original
Attract top talent.

Revision
How are you lowering the risk of your best employees leaving?

Example for FleetCardsUSA:

Original
Enjoy Convenience. Fleet cards are accepted nationwide.

Revision
How are you identifying if drivers are skimming $100-$150 per transaction by using fuel cards to buy non-fuel items such as food, beverages, tobacco products, and even lottery tickets?

You capture attention with emotions.