A copywriting lesson from Joe Sugarman

Many years ago, a prominent watch brand hired Joe Sugarman to write ads for them.

Mind you, this was the 70s and 80s and Joe was one of the most prolific copywriters in the US, right up there with Gary Halbert.

So if you couldn't get Gary to write your ads, then you better get Joe.

Now, this company made a proposition that at first thought no copywriter would ever agree to do…

…they asked Joe to write an ad promoting a single watch in 12 different colors.

To a non-copywriter, that makes sense.

After all, if you give the customers an opportunity to make more choices, then it'd be better for them.

But, that logic doesn't hold true in reality.

Anyway, I'm deviating, back to the story.

Joe, looked at the watch then told them, (I'm paraphrasing), “I'm gonna write this ad, but I have a request: I'll write this ad for a watch in only one color, then when they've bought the watch, we'll tell them more colors are available.”

This company, whose executives apparently knew more about sales than Joe disagreed.

“No, we want you to write the ad as we've instructed Joe.”

Knowing fully well that the ad would flop, Joe proposed a split test.

(For the uninitiated, a split test is basically running two ads, emails or VSLs concurrently and picking the one that performs better as the control.)

So in this split test, Joe was gonna write the ad according to the company's idea then write another ad according to his idea.

Same copy, same target audience, different offers.

A few months later, the company phoned Joe, “hey man, take down our ad ASAP, you win, we lose.”

(They didn't state it that way obviously, I'm only mocking them.)

Why did they do that? Well turns out good ol’ Joe's ad outpulled the New York snobs’ ad by 3x.

In other words, Joe's ad wiped the floor with their ad.

Now, how about some copywriting lessons from Papa Joe to boot???

As funny as this story might seem, anyone with a basic knowledge of psychology can see why Joe's ad worked.

Here's a hint if you don't know:

More people have failed from a lack of focus than would ever fail from a lack of talent…

…I'm pretty sure there's someone with 10x your focus and half your talent making 5x more than you…

Still lost?

How about that handsome dude who's surrounded by so many beautiful ladies that he can't seem to make a choice as to whom to settle down with… many years later, the handsome fella is still as single as ever, repeating the same old cycle over and over again.

The point?

Having choices paralyses the human mind.

You still doubt?

Try recalling when you had to pick between two balls that were only different in color.

Now, here's the paradox, when the difference is clear, the human mind finds it easy to make a choice.

But when the difference is blurred, case in point, just a case of color, we get confused.

And nowhere do I see this mistake than in Ecommerce.

Cuz in a bid to sell more products, most Ecom brands display their array of products –all similar and confusing for the customer.

So how about taking a cue from old Joe himself?

Sell just one product in one color.

Don't allow the customer to make a choice.

It makes them buy less.

“Hey, this is what we have on offer, here's why you should buy it” always works better than “Hey, this is what we have on offer, here's why you should buy it, pick among all the colors we have on hand before purchasing.”

Every. Single. Time.

JAI