So what have we here this issue? Advertising by committee strikes again!
The committee in my imagination, in this case, is that of Hewlett-Packard Co. or its advertising agency.
Prior to the meeting, all the committee members have read a thick research report (printed out in color, of course) on the state of the computer printer market.
In this matter, they have a big advantage over me. They have information on the marketing situation which I as an outsider don't have and couldn't easily get. So I'll have to do a little guesswork.
Let's start off with the obvious. The computer printer division is selling to two markets, in both of which they face fierce competition: businesses and consumers.
But, let's guess, they are losing ground in the business market to competing monochrome laser printers, which print faster in black and white than b/w-color inkjets and have come way down in price. The latter printers might be making some headway among small and medium-sized businesses that are saying to themselves, “Hey, why would we need more color printers when so much of our daily output, like letters, memos and reports, are in black and white, which is cheaper and faster?”
In that hypothetical research report studied by my hypothetical committee it may give reasons, which I don't have, why this isn't advantageous to HP. Maybe because profit margins in color refill cartridges are higher? Maybe because HP is a stronger competitor in the color inkjet field than in monochrome?
But for whatever reason, the committee apparently labored and came forth with a big idea:
“Hey, why don't we run an ad in business publications selling small and medium-sized businesses on the value and importance of printing business communications in color? But we'll save our best argument for our Web site and use the ad to direct them there.”
Never mind that color printing is not exactly a novelty anymore. Even sixth-graders are using $49 color printers to print out gaudy multicolored homework.
And so an ad is born extolling the virtues of color printing in business.
The ad shows the HP Business Inkjet 2280 with colored polka dots and strips shooting outward and upward from the printer like fireworks. At the top of the page is a big plus sign followed by the letters “hp.” And the tiny-type copy below, floating this time in a sea of gray rather than in the usual white or tinted block, reads:
If black & white is so engaging, then why don't they make highlighters in gray?
Black and white blends in — color gets you noticed. It's a simple, colorful fact. So it just stands to reason that if you use HP color in your business documents, key points will draw attention to themselves. People take notice of your work, which in turn highlights how clever you are.
To find out more about the HP Business Inkjet 2280 or learn other ways HP color can make you shine, visit hp.com/go/trycolor.
Hmm. HP color will “draw attention” but other brands of color printer won't?
The ad is so bland, so blah, it's hard to believe that anyone on the committee had any real conviction about it. Just another ad rolling off the assembly line. It's as if Eastman Kodak would run an ad saying, “Take more pictures. Everybody loves snapshots.”
In my makeover, I sought to accomplish four aims:
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To build the HP printer brand as a “serious” business supplier, setting it apart from flash mass-consumer printer makers.
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To address the concerns of small and medium-sized business readers about monochrome vs. b/w-color by saying, in effect, “Why should you settle for monochrome when we can give you both monochrome and color as well as more price, cost and speed advantage than you expected?”
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To position the featured printer, the Business Inkjet 2280, as a “serious” printer worth the considerably higher price than the $49 “cheapies” on the market. Its long list of specifications aids the buying decision and helps establish it as a serious, versatile, heavy-duty printer than can handle hefty business assignments either in black-and-white or color, with sufficient speed and at reasonable cost. (These specs also should help make online sales of the printer.)
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To advance the argument, continued on the Web site, that color is often more effective in business communications than black-and-white and that a good printer like the one shown in the advertisement can cut down on expensive outsourcing of color printing without sacrificing quality.
It also presents other advantages of in-house color printing: “You can make changes at a moment's notice and virtually eliminate waste and storage costs. Best of all, you'll have more control over the entire printing process.”
In the interest of full disclosure, I should point out that most of my copy is not my own brilliant invention but a patchwork of sensible sentences lying around on the HP Web site. As is so often the case, the company keeps its best arguments hidden from all except the most determinedly interested.
And before I get the usual letters from readers complaining that my makeover is too “copy heavy” because “nobody reads anymore,” I will ask once again:
“If nobody reads anymore, why has the advertiser put five or 10 times more words on its Web site than I have in my ad?”
THOMAS L. COLLINS was co-founder and first creative director of Rapp & Collins and is co-author with Stan Rapp of four books on marketing. He is currently an independent marketing consultant and copywriter based in Manhattan.
If you see a direct response ad that you think is crying out for a makeover, clip it out and send it (unfolded, if possible) to me at 250 E. 40th St., #40B, New York, NY 10016. To e-mail comments and opinions: thomas.l.collins@verizon.net.
