Advertising as truth
The best way to sell a product is to tell a lie.
Lie about what it can give. Exaggerate its claims, window-dress its promise, doll up its benefits.
Do all these, and you raise the frustration level of the user.
Not having experienced the good things you said, they’ll swear never to buy your product again.
To lie is the fastest way to go out of business.
But to tell a truth about a product—and tell it well—and you get tons of it off shelves.
Tell the truth about a brand. In 1958, advertising legend Bill Bernbach was tasked to sell Volkswagen, a little auto, to Americans, lover of big cars. How did he promote it? He said, “Think small,” and he filled Route 66 with beetles in no time.
Tell the truth about society. Our agency GIGIL handles Grab, and they wanted to promote their service on Mother’s Day, that it can deliver instant Mother’s Day gifts.
In our society, what can be truer than newlyweds being hounded by their moms for grandkids? To the rescue, we offered the idea: Some gifts take time. For instant Mother’s Day gifts, order from Grab. Deliveries rose by 55%.
“As another advertising great John Hegarty reminds us, whether on film, TikTok, or AI, ‘If you want to make your ads better, make them truthful.’”
Tell the truth about people. GIGIL handles RC Cola as well, and they asked us to advertise their Mega Litro, the bottle moms can bring home to their families because it’s good for five.
We observed that Filipino moms pack food at parties, even if they haven’t even started. And so we told a story of one mom who brought RC Cola Litro and an entire children’s party home, the Megastar singing, “Balutin mo ako…” in the background. It was music to client’s ears. Sales volume achieved double-digit growth.
As another advertising great John Hegarty reminds us, whether on film, TikTok, or AI, “If you want to make your ads better, make them truthful.”
The best way to sell is to tell the truth.
