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Writing and Speaking > Copywriting > Copywriting Brain Surgery: How to Make Even Your Most Outrageous Claims 100% Believable
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Article rating : 0.00, 0 votes. Author : Ben Settle
One of the most fascinating things Eugene Schwartz
(arguably the single greatest copywriter who ever lived)
teaches in his book "Breakthrough Advertising" is the
concept of "Gradualization", which he describes as:
"the process of starting with facts your
prospect is already familiar with and is willing to accept, and
leading him logically and comfortably through a gradual
succession of more and more remote facts -- each of which
he has been prepared in turn to
accept"
And there is probably no better example of this than his
"Why Haven't TV Owners Been Told These Facts?"
ad. In this case, he was selling a book showing people
how to fix their tv sets. Only problem was, most people (at
the time) didn't believe they could fix their own tv set,
no matter how "easy" someone (or some ad) said it was.
Especially back then -- when tv sets were pretty much a
mystery as far as how they worked. It would sort of be like
seeing a headline today that says:
Would you be capable of believing that?
Me neither.
However, if you were properly "prepared" for the above
claim...before it was sprung on you...then maybe,
just maybe, you would be able to believe it.
Especially if the ad started out kind of like this:
Did you know your brain functions a lot like
the computer you are reading this message on? It's true.
Just like your computer, which responds to your commands
via an electrical pulse created each time you give it "orders",
your brain responds to and sends "commands" to the rest
of your body via a similar process of electrical
impulses...
And so on and so forth.
Okay, I know I'm "stretching" things here quite a bit with the
brain surgery analogy. But I think the point holds: When you
have a product with a really outrageous, and hard to believe
claim...you have a much better chance of the prospect
reading your ad if you begin with a statement quickly and
readily agreed with and then, as Schwartz puts it --
"leading him logically and comfortably through a gradual
succession of more and more remote facts -- each of which
he has been prepared in turn to accept"
If you want a true power education on how this is
done, then I'd suggest studying Schwartz's "Why Haven't
TV Owners Been Told These Facts?" ad in microscopic
detail. I promise you -- it'll be one of the most
fascinating studies in advertising you'll ever read.
You can download the ad free at: http://bensettle.com/TV.h
tml
Ben Settle is a seasoned freelance copywriter and
direct marketer. If you liked this article then check out
Ben's website at http://bensettle.com -- where you'll find
over 500 pages of advertising ideas, strategies and
tactics just like this one -- as well as rare swipe file ads
and hot marketing information not easily found
anywhere else.
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