Makepeace: Emotion + Rational = Sale

I’ve long been an advocate of writing marketing copy that uses both emotional and rational appeals.

Here’s a specific example: my all-time favorite of the hundreds of press releases I’ve written. I did it back in 1999 when a client hired me to write a press release for a new book on electronic privacy.

Most PR books would tell you to do a press release with a headlne like “Electronic Privacy Expert Releases New Book.” But I say they are wrong! Over 1000 books were released in the US alone every single day of 2007. There’s no news in that headline. So this is what I did instead.

Below is exactly what I produced, except that I’ve changed the author’s name/identifying data/book titles and removed contact info. (Note that had this been a more recent book, I would have brought identity theft into the mix.)

It’s 10 O’Clock—Do You Know Where Your Credit History Is?

ST. PAUL, MN: It’s 10 O’clock—Do you know where your credit history is? How about your employment records? Your confidential medical information?

How would you feel if you found out this sensitive and should-be-private material is “vacationing” in computer databanks around the world—accessible to corporate interests who can afford to track down and purchase it, but not necessarily open to your own inspection?

According to electronic privacy journalist and technology consultant Mortimer Gaines, this scenario is all-too-common. In a groundbreaking but highly readable new book, Information Attack: Privacy at Risk, Gaines explores the twin issues of privacy in an ever-more-wired world, and citizen access to crucial information that governments or corporate conglomerates might prefer to keep hidden.

Gaines, author of over 20 previous books including the acclaimed Internet Guide series (Windows Press, 1993-94), is not a rabid privacy nut. He recognizes that consumers often gain value by sharing personal information, in order to take advantage of express car rentals or frequent flier programs, for instance. But Gaines suggests the transaction should be voluntary, freely given in exchange for a clear benefit.

When, for example, America Online mines data from its customer records and combines it with outside market research to create—and sell—precise demographics with specific identifying information (p. 143), Gaines feels the transaction exploits the consumer, who sacrifices privacy and gets nothing in return. Gaines is equally cogent on issues of citizen access to government and corporate records.

Information Attack: Privacy at Risk, ISBN 0-00000-00-X, includes detailed references to specific websites, a comprehensive index, and a six-page bibliography. The 336-page 6×9″ trade paperback is available directly from the publisher for $25 plus shipping at (phone), https://www.domain.com, or at your favorite bookstore.

Journalists: to obtain a review copy and/or interview the author, please contact (e-mail and phone).

Notice how I started in the realm of emotion, then transitioned to credentials and facts.

In his blog today, master copywriter Clayton Makepeace credits his success to his ability to create precisely that union of right- and left-brained processing–that inexorably leads to action.

Clayton’s better at this than I am, and the post includes a fabulous example. Of course, Clayton also charges orders of magnitude more than I do. He does direct-mail copywriting and has made himself and his clients very wealthy. I suspect he’d not want to get involved with anything as humble and affordable as a press release. But he’s one of a very few copywriters who has a whole lot to teach me, and whose posts I read regularly. Because reading his stuff makes me a better copywriter–and could have the same effect on you.