Seducing Strangers: How to Get People to Buy What You’re Selling (The Little Black Book of Advertising Secrets)

193 Pages·2015·3.85 MB·English

by  Josh Weltman

Seducing Strangers

Seducing
Strangers
How to Get People to Buy
What You’re Selling
{The Little Black Book of Advertising Secrets}
Josh Weltman
Workman Publishing
New York
For Angela
Copyright © 2015 by Josh Weltman
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be
reproduced—mechanically, electronically, or by any
other means, including photocopying—without written
permission of the publisher. Published simultaneously in
Canada by Thomas Allen & Son Limited.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
is available.
ISBNs 978-0-7611-8175-0 (pb); 978-0-7611-8495-9 (hc)
Design by Jean-Marc Troadec
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WORKMAN PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC.
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Printed in the United States of America
First printing March 2015
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Foreword by Jon Hamm .......................... ix
Introduction: The Job That Was Once Called
Advertising .....................................1
Part One
The Secret Purpose of Advertising ...................5
The Job of Advertising Is to Make People Happy ...7
Does Advertising Work? .......................9
The Truth About Liars .......................12
You’re Brought In to Back Off ..................17
Do You Want to Sell or Seduce? ................22
Throwing Speedballs .........................25
Brands Aren’t Magic—They’re Math ............31
One Question, Four Answers ..................37
Dissecting a Frog Is Easy; Making One Is Hard ...41
Part Two
Four Secret Ways Out of the Box ...................45
The Four Fundamental Questions ..............47
What Is It? Introductory Ads ..................51
The Curious Case of Soviet Jeans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
Why Do I Need It Now? Limited-Time Offers .....55
What Makes It Different?
Differentiating Ads. ..........................60
A Shade Different—Belle Jolie .................67
Who Else Thinks It’s Good?
Mutual-Love-and-Respect Ads .................71
It’s Not About Me—It’s About You ..............75
Going Negative in a Zero-Sum Game ............81
Surviving When Outgunned and Surrounded .....87
How Low Can You Go? .......................91
What the Hell Do We Do if Something
Goes Right? ................................94
Part Three
Secret Motives, Agendas, Traps, and Techniques .......99
Choose, Align, Anticipate ....................101
Bottom Line or Top Line? ....................103
What’s My Motivation? ......................106
Big Ideas, Killer Ideas, and Big Idea Killers .....109
Advertising Is a Toolbox: Pick a Tool ...........113
The Sizzle Sucks. The Steak Rocks. ............115
No More Content for Me—I’ve Had Enough .....117
Three Reasons to Take a Job; Pick Two .........122
Great Idea! Now Sell It! .....................125
Making You Work for You ....................128
Show How the Idea Will Rock Their World ......130
The Upside of Downside .....................133
They Didn’t Come to See the Props ............135
You Are the Solution—Not the Problem;
Act Like It ................................137
What Have They Got to Lose? .................139
Be Willing to Walk Away a Winner .............141
Final Thoughts on Presenting ................143
Part Four
The Secret Story of Online Seduction ..............145
A Medium Message .........................147
Building Babel One Bit at a Time .............149
The Mission of Mini Media Moguls ............154
Metcalfe’s Law .............................157
Techno Trekkers: Four Stories of One Hero ......159
Excuse Me, Would You Please Get Out
of My Movie? ..............................164
Going Viral Is the Internet Applauding
a New Possibility ...........................167
Captains of Empathy .......................169
A Trout, a Swiss Army Knife, an iPad,
and YouTube ..............................171
Acknowledgments .............................177
About the Author ..............................179

Foreword by Jon Hamm
Josh Weltman is the unsung hero of Mad Men.
Beyond the clothes, the women, the booze
and cigarettes, Josh provides our world with a
credible foundation in an industry that exists,
almost by definition, in an incredible, or at least
hyperbolic, state.
Don Draper is actually good at his job because Josh is
actually good at his. Josh’s former career and wealth
of experience as an actual creative director making actual
campaigns to sell actual things has brought authenticity,
depth, and resonance to this character who thinks and
creates for a living. This contribution has been invaluable
to the whole of the character and to the story.
People often ask me questions or ask my opinions on
or about the world of advertising. My stock response is
“You know I play a fictional advertising executive, right?”
That’s usually used to cover the ignorance or stupidity of
whatever I am about to say next. In the future, I will sim-
ply refer them to Josh.
ix