Copywriting tip #21: What's the benefit of the benefit 2.0?

If you've been in the ad business for more than 3 hours, you'll be familiar with this question but it's a good one to revisit even if your name rhymes with Bavid Bogilvy.

So if this is new to you, great. And if this is old to you, also great.

Keep asking, “What’s the benefit of the benefit?” to get to the more unexpected and interesting creative territories. 

When you're buying a playhouse it's fun for your kids but what you're really buying is a break from your kids.

I rely on this question throughout the entire creative process. I'll ask it as soon as I get briefed and if ever I'm feeling stuck, which of course rarely happens for us creative types.

Here's a quick example of how I might use this on a project:

Let's say the benefit of the internet service you’re promoting is speed, what are 10 benefits of having a super-fast internet connection?

• You're basically adding time to your life. What will you do with that extra time? (You'll have minutes more life to enjoy than the next guy)
• You'll never see the spinning beach ball ever again. (could be a visual campaign)
• You’ll be first in line for online dating.
• You’ll consume more information and faster than other people. You’ll be seconds ahead of culture and trends.
• You’ll see viral videos before they’re viral. Be the first to share them, a real trendsetter.
• You won’t have to spend time waiting for streaming shows to load.
• You’ll be first in line for online shopping deals.
• You won’t get frozen face when you video conference. (could be a visual campaign here)
• No more Wi-Fi rage.
• You’ll need a ridiculously secure Wi-Fi password as other people will want to steal yours. (fun Wi-Fi passwords could lead to a solid campaign)

These were 10 quick ones I just spit out. I could easily get to 40 or 50 (if someone was paying me to write this). Most of them won't lead to anything but some will, and all you need is a few to stick. And some products have multiple benefits so ask this question for every single one.

From this one question you could end up with a hundred ideas. If you're writing headlines, you'll have a schwhack of little headline writing springboards to work from instead of having to face the dreaded blank page.

If you're an over-achiever, reframe the question and get even more ideas. 

So instead of “what’s the benefit of the benefit?” ask:

What’s an... 

unexpected / obvious / helpful / interesting / funny / convenient / comforting / amazing / wild / beautiful / exciting / weird 

benefit of the benefit?

A slight change to the problem you’re trying to solve will lead you to slightly different solutions.

Finally (I'm almost done), another thing you can do with this question is to ask, "What's a benefit of the downside of this product?"

The downside of owning a Porsche is that it's too small for your kids to fit in it. A benefit of that downside is that it's too small for your kids to fit in it. (See adxample below)

To do this, just list all of the potential downsides and then spin them into positives.

You'll have so many ideas you'll be giving them away.

That's it for this week.

Thanks for reading, Bavid.

Hi! I'm Dan. Follow me or send an invite to connect for a new tip every week. I guarantee you the tips will be better or worse than this one.

(The benefit of the benefit is that you’ll get more attention. Agency: Publicis)

(Another way of wording “What is the benefit of the benefit?” is “What are you REALLY selling? Or, “What is the customer REALLY buying?” Ask this question of every brief until you come up with something true, but unexpected. Agency: MartinWilliams, Minneapolis.)

(Agency: Carmichael Lynch, Minneapolis)