FEATURES, BENEFITS AND THE KAMIKAZE LANGUAGE OF CONCEPT: Where Kamikaze Copywriters put them, what Kamikaze Copywriters call them, how Kamikaze Copywriters make them impossible for the Prospect to ignore.

I’m beginning to see writing in the Kamikaze Language of Concept (LOC) is a more difficult assignment than I anticipated.  The problem in three parts:  first, using the Kamikaze Key Fact to find a concept your Prospect will resonate to.  Next, not knowing where to start, what the copy needs to say (again, lack of using the KCWP as your guide) and finally, discovering the right LOC – or even what an LOC is in the first place.

I can go over all that again in later posts (it was subject of post before this), but my task today must be to explain how the LOC is not counter to communicating features, benefits, content of any kind.  This all started as a Circus class assignment/discussion, beginning with an innocent remark.  “You know,” I assumed, “the difference between a feature and a benefit?”  No one spoke to the contrary, but the blank stares from half the room told me they needed reassurance.  Here it is:

·      A feature names something, lets you know what it’s called (seat belt, bleach, low deductible, changeable mop head, blah, blah, blah)

·      A feature is a descriptor, even a name.  Features can include how the thing works, what it looks like, where it goes

·      One more thing about features:  features are features.  It isn’t something like a seatbelt, it is a seatbelt.  A certain sunscreen doesn’t have something like SPF 50, it has SPF 50.  Never precede a feature with the word “like” unless your product does, indeed, have something similar to seatbelts, SPF, etc., rather than that particular feature itself

·      A benefit, real or perceived, is what that feature does for me (your Prospect)

·      Benefits are active, speak directly to the Prospect in terms he not only understands, but make him grok why this feature is so beneficial to him specifically, he must respond in the manner desired (Objective)

One is, one does.  Because they are generally named, features may be a bit harder to translate into the KLOC.  Because they are an active advantage to/for the Prospect, often stated competitively, benefits are a lot easier to work with, no matter how inventive your concept/language of concept.

Something about F&Bs I need to get off my chest.  They do not belong, as a shopping list, in the middle paragraph of a three paragraph ad.  Nor do they belong grouped together, an added thought behind wildly entertaining (or not) body copy.

Where do they belong?  Integrated throughout your body copy, integral to the Prospect, concept, product.  They are part of the story – heck, they ARE the story.  The concept, copy and KLOC are all just ways/excuses to feed them to the Prospect.

Here are some features turned to benefits for a SkiDoo (or any other water cycle)

Feature:  135 hp                                    Benefit:  70 mph max speed

The KLOC, a fast, frenzied emotional daydream of speed on water  “…135 sea horses, each straining in flight.  Seventy miles per hour into the sun, waves stand still…”

Another ad in the series, same feature; same benefit:

“…This is not gale-force-tree-bending-mind-tossing-one-hundred-thirty-five-horses of Tropical Anything.  Call it zero to fifty in five…”

Same feature, same benefit, same KLOC. 

What doesn’t it say?  There’s no third paragraph that says X Model SkiDoo has features you’re looking for like 135 horsepower, blah blah blah.

From our Ostrich insanity of last the post:

Feature:  Tender Red Meat like Beef            Benefit:  Two Thirds Less Fat than Beef

We’ve discussed this KLOC, but this feature/benefit turns up in my madness several ways:  “…Ostrich does not taste like chicken…Tender to taste and best served Medium to Medium Rare, Ostrich tastes enough like cow to moo…” and “…Now Rich White Guys can have their low fat and eat it, too…”  “…while you’re chewing the low fat…”

Same feature, same benefit, same original KLOC.

As with everything else in Kamikaze Creative Land, you must translate your features and benefits into the Language of Concept – that “voice” which best communicates your Concept (KKF) in a way your Prospect will want to read.  Spread your Features and Benefits throughout your copy, wherever it fits into the concept-conveying language and rhythm of the piece.  If you need to, write them as they are, then go back and translate them into the LOC, fine.  Just don't forget to translate them later.  The key is to keep them part of the story – not an afterthought or rigidly formatted middle paragraph. 

If the product’s your Prospect’s hero – tell them why it belongs as part of the story.  Easily digestible.  Unable to distinguish as “ad b.s.”  Not a clue “the sell is coming.”

KAMIKAZE LANGUAGE OF CONCEPT: Not the easiest thing to explain to Kamikaze Copywriters or anyone else. Maybe this isn't the best example, just one I've used and the process that got me there.

I talk a lot about the Kamikaze Language of Concept.  It’s a special kind of writing, not really a concept in itself, but a style particular to each individual concept.  It carries the conceptual tone/”Big Idea” to the Prospect through the copy’s voice and springs not just from your concept.  As with everything in Kamikaze Creative, KLOC must – first and foremost (love throwing in a cliche every now and then) - be born in the minds hearts guts and vernacular of our Prospects.

How does this work, exactly?  Boy is this one hard to dissect itemize explain in any rational do-this-then-that way.  I can only try by exposing my inner insecurities and offering a personal example.  I chose this one because it's fun and easily recognized as atypical in the daily rush of ad writing we currently see, but not so weird it'll scare you off.  It also gives me a chance to throw in a little Object Based Kamikaze Strategic Thinking** and have fun with an antiquated ad style (unfortunately, I still see expensive seminars pushing this old old old school Direct style on the Internet).

I once gave a Creative Circus Teams (AD/CW) class a Long Copy assignment to promote Ostrich Meat.  I thought it offered some pretty fun possibilities – Big flightless Bird, low fat, toenails that can eviscerate a lion, almost driven to extinction for its feathers.  There seemed as many strategic possibilities as conceptual.    

As Ostrich meat, infinitely better for us than beef, never - like the bird itself - got off the ground, I decided to play with the assignment myself.  I do this with student assignments sometimes, usually when they think it’s a stinker and I disagree.  Here's the process I used and how its Kamikaze Language of Concept evolved.

I started (here it comes) with the Kamikaze Creative Work Plan*. I had to do a good deal of research, because other than having heard some hype about how good it is for you, I knew zip about Ostriches, Ostrich meat, the people who raise and/or eat them. 

I started in my favorite place when approaching products of this ilk, the Children’s Room at my local public library.  Why the Children’s Room?  More graphics, simpler, more amazing-but-true facts and less bias than upstairs with the Grown-ups.  Much more dependable and trustworthy than the web (publishers tend to use more fact checkers than 95.6%*** of what you see online).

I sat on the floor with the other kids, rummaged through every non-fiction book I could find about the bird, Ostrich farming and the benefits of its meat.   Took notes, kept a few books to check out, did the same in the kiddie fiction section.  Maybe there was some famous kid lit Ostrich (besides Big Bird, who’s the wrong color and would never advocate eating his brethren) I could hang it on.  A lot of fun, I didn’t find the bird I was looking for but went upstairs to the adult section loving the whole idea of Ostrich.

I looked into everything from USDA statistics and farm reports to the political and tax advantages of raising the birds.  What was going on in the world, in Congress, at the industry's advent.  The history and problems of marketing the meat in the US, what’d been tried, what hadn’t.  How much the meat cost, how it was processed, how much it cost per bird in purchase, processing and care over its lifetime.  P and Ls.  Socio-economic history, info on who ate it, who didn’t and enough real science for a very clear picture of who the real Prospect was. 

Not as much fun as researching downstairs on the tiny tot tables, I still discovered amazing facts that made me laugh out loud.  Others left me saddened by how many folks were duped by unscrupulous "O dealers."

All this information gave a clear picture of who I should market this stuff to, what kind of an integrated two-pronged approach could work.  Applying Objective Based Kamikaze Creative Strategy**, I decided whatever I did would have to be as self-sustaining and low budget as possible.  No one, it seems, was making money off Ostrich meat except those early snake (ostrich?) oil scammers.

I discovered two markets:  the largest, lower-to-upper middle class folks and retirees with heart problems (the meat is very low fat), a love of "red" meat, a need of retirement income, health nuts, foodies and/or those desiring the status of what we today call  “The Two Percent (or is it The One Percent?  Not me, so let the pundits decide).”  (Some sociologists call those last 98-99%ers “Strivers.”  I see prefer to see them as somewhat insecure.)

The smaller, secondary market was the One/Two Percenters themselves, who of course had more money – and therefore more reasons – to want to live longer.  Having gone home many college weekends with kids from Darien (CT) and other One/Two Percenter strongholds loaded with former debutantes and restricted ”top drawer” old school country clubs, I had a pretty good idea how this group thinks and who/what they admire.  

I knew I could reach and motivate trial in the Primary market, the larger one, with a roving self-perpetuating regional (one region’s success would pay for the next region’s campaign) combination Direct local specialty newspaper/co-op campaign, anchored by a coordinating website. 

The Secondary market, old money being notoriously cheap (if you don’t understand this, wait until you work on some disease-of-the-country-club-charity-ball pro bono), could be amused and interested by the regional direct newspaper/co-op, and would absolutely respond to the right Direct Mail. 

Both would hinge not only on media and concept, but on (ta-dah!) Kamikaze Language of Concept.

Besides all the flotsam and jetsam of taste, cooking, health and husbandry facts, I discovered the industry was actually born in an obscure Ronald Reagan era tax loophole that allowed hobby farmers big loss and agricultural land use tax write-offs.  EUREKA!  My Kamikaze Key Fact!

Hyped to the typically non-agricultural but income tax averse Secondary One/Two Percenter Market as both the Next Big Health Food and the Next Big Write-Off, early importers sold breeding pairs for up to $30,000/pair.  The Primary Market, Lower/Middle/Upper Middle class and retired buyers, were promised large profits from consumers, markets and restaurants already standing in line for a Healthy Alternative to Beef by early One/Two Percenter buyers. That, of course, and huge tax write-offs to offset all those "easy" backyard profits.

Birds sold up and down like hot cakes.  Unfortunately, processing plants and smart marketing plans did not.  Those who could afford the losses loved the tax write-offs and big bird amusement.  Those who couldn’t were left holding four-foot drumsticks and building twenty foot fences.

Thus was born The Rich White Guy Meat Company. 

To raise consumer awareness, promote trial and (hopefully) fuel demand, my co-op idea teamed  meat purveyors with each region’s most expensive, well-reviewed "society" restaurants.  The long copy print asked “Why eat crow when you can dine on big, juicy Republican WHAT?”  Declared “Why Rich White Guys love watching big ugly birds shake their big ugly Republican booties.”  Each offered either a free Ostrich entree at one of the aforementioned establishments or discounted “trial” meat packages direct from the Rich White Guy Meat Company. 

Visuals included Ronald Reagan grinning from an Ostrich egg, Ostrich mating dances (with schematics, if you wanted to join in) and other insane antics, all wrapped up in (what else?) Wall Street Journal layouts.

The campaign’s concept, admittedly risky but tons of (hopefully smart) silly, poked fun at the RWGs (as Rich White Guys supposedly liked to refer to themselves), the Reagan tax breaks, a shortage of  South African Ostrich Feathers in the apartheid era.  At the same time it extolled the taste and health benefits of Ostrich meat.  You could go online for participating restaurants' Ostrich cooking techniques and recipes.

The Kamikaze Language of Concept, satiric, as fun as factual, stilted but smart and (for those Google algorhymns) full of targeted, creative, relevant information, sans all the out-of-tone keywords.

Free entree coupons (available in the print and/or online) demanded “Serve that Funky Red Meat, Rich White Guy!”  For print and online mail order, “Order today!  Before the Big Bird Tax Break Runs out!”  Packaging stickers sincerely, “Thanks for making us your favorite Rich White Guys!”

Over-writing, bold type, title caps, italics and other font manipulation lampooned the expected Direct Style of the Ad Era (late 80s-early 90s).  Long copy, it was peppered with sub/cross heads - fun in themselves, the whole story in aggregate.  A few examples, not necessarily in order and not necessarily from the same ad:

“DOES IT MATTER WHICH Reagan Bureaucrat is To Blame?...

How could a Republican scheme to lighten the tax on Rich White Guy Real Estate descend so

quickly to Sex Between the Feathers?...these Big Ugly Birds turn…into Tender Red

Meat...As in Beef.  Only this red meat has Two Thirds Less Fat than Cow.

“Unlike every other Exotic Meat pretending to answer to Red Meat Lovers’ heartfelt prayers,

Ostrich does Not Taste Like Chicken, a lowly bird with twice his fat.

“Happily for their arteries, Rich White Guys had fallen for Ostrich Tax Relief.

“Of course the Rich Get Richer…So might everyone else.

…In No Way do we recommend earnest Unrich White or any Other Kind of Guys sell everything and take up harvesting ostrich eggs…No, we do not see a fantastic future for The Rest of You in ostrich feathers, ostrich oil, ostrich leather or even ostrich jerky.  For the Unrich White and Every Other Kind Of Guy, there is a better way.  Help Ostrich Poop Scooping RWGs get richer.

“Eat Ostrich.

Live longer so you can Eat More Ostrich.

While you’re chewing the Low Fat, Rich White Guys becoming Even Richer White Guys can bring the rest of us along with them.  You say it Sounds Too Easy?  You say you Don’t Trust The Rich to Do The Right Thing and Trickle Down the Economics?  You say you need a Show of Good Faith?

How does a Free Meal at one of Atlanta’s Finest Rich White Guy Restaurants sound?”

You get the drift.  Fabulously over-written, cheesy even, I didn't expect everyone to read every single word.  I was parodying a current ad style.  At the same time, using it so even if you just skimmed the page, you still got the benefits and the offer.

What about the Secondary Market Direct Mail?  What better RWG Spokesperson than (the then alive and always kicking) William F. Buckley!  I pored over his TV interviews, books and columns, practicing until you couldn’t tell my writing style (that's style - not content) from his:

“…An offer unprecedented on two fronts.  First and foremost, an intimate, personal letter from yours truly.  Then there is the meat.”  and “ My esteemed opinion is that you, too, might have some small motivation to live a longer, healthier life.”  My favorite, “I suggest you listen to the one Rich White Know-It-All who truly does.”

Vocabulary elevated.  Ego forward, tongue firmly in Bill’s cheek.  “Hand” signed simply “Bill” over his full name and “Representing Rich White Guys Everywhere.” Admittedly a bit broader than Buckley's more droll sense of humor, I was again lampooning, not trying to pass off the letters as the Real Bill.

The direct mail included product offerings, various Sampler Packs titled “You’re a Pain, Buckley, but I’ll Try Anything Once” and “He was Right about Clinton.  What if Buckley’s Right About THIS?”  The coupon, “O.K., Bill, I’ll Bite!”  Cheap shots - and words - sure.  Isn't that the point?

I’m not saying this is the best copy ever written.  It was a learning exercise to teach my students process.  It was fun to write and sure surprised the class, most of whom had work which merely extolled the low fat benefits of O Meat.  It also just might have worked. 

Judgements aside, what I’m trying to show is process.  How I get to the Kamikaze Language of Concept, how it relates Kamikaze Key Facts/Concept to Prospect.  The merits of this particular Concept, Language of Concept and Objective Based Strategies are unproven.  It’s merely what I did, how I did it.  Laid embarrassingly bare in hopes it’ll help you understand how Prospect, Kamikaze Key Fact/Concept and Kamikaze Language of Concept work together (without violating any real clients' Copyrights). 

You don’t have to do it exactly like I did.  Except for getting the Input, writing a smart, creative, targeted KCWP, executing it conceptually and verbally, you need to discover your own process.  Your own creative point of view.  The prospect’s voice.  The Kamikaze Language of Concept.  On this project, this was my process.  On your next project, what will your process be?

I’d love to have the right client/product let me run naked through the KCWP and give me the go-ahead on something like this.  Until that assignment comes in, I'll still use the same process.  The likelihood of that particular Kamikaze Language of Concept working for most assignments I get these days (I do live in Bankville, USA) is, I'm afraid, slim.  But when I do - providing I believe it's the best solution to the problem - I'll be the writer laughing uncontrollably over her keyboard.

*Kamikaze Creative Work Plan - see post 11/17/10
**Objective Based Kamikaze Creative Work Plan/Strategy - see posts 6/1/11, 7/30/ll, 12/13/11

***Don't quote me on this - this is the internet.  I made the number up.
****For those interested in how to construct random information into compelling readable arguments able to sway the way you/prospects think (which should be all of you), I highly recommend you study the essay/editorial collections of William F. Buckley.  While Bill and I rarely saw eye-to-eye, I cannot fault the logical, spontaneous beauty of his prose, the economy of his colorful if conservative and grammatically correct language, the logic/informational flow of his arguments.  It's not just his style - we rarely get assignments requiring Buckley's rhetoric - it's the way he puts his thoughts together. Do yourself a favor - read his work.  Your work will be better for it.