The Power Of Truth

"The most powerful element in advertising is the truth." ~ William Bernbach

You can argue this. I often jokingly tell clients that the selling task gets infinitely easier when you are willing to suspend the requirement of telling the truth. This explains, for example, why people like Don Lapre and William McCorckle can be such huge successes with TV infomercials (until the gendarmes finally arrive). Or why a Richard Simmons weight loss infomercial outsells a Kathy Smith infomercial. I don't suggest the strategy of lying or even deliberately misleading by omission. But I'll acknowledge that a whole lot of advertising does it. And it sometimes DOES make (temporary) success easier. The flip side is that when truth works to your advantage, it is a spectacular, enormous, overwhelming advantage. Consumers have a 6th-sense for "authenticity" and very much desire something "real" (that also fulfills their desires). In cases like the "$4,000.00 A Day" business I developed with Jeff Paul, the Gold By The Inch client, my work with Whitehall Management and Linda Miles....these are situations where I've had the opportunity of selling 100% true stories and promises that were/are compelling. In your search for marketing leverage, look for the "core of truth" that you can magnify and put forth in minute detail.

~~~ from Dan Kennedy's 979 Power Points

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