Wednesday, January 11, 2017

A Simply Perfect Piece of Marketing Magic

I was flipping through an issue of Architectural Digest last night and came across this stunning ad for JW Marriott--a simply perfect piece of marketing magic.

The intention of this delightful spread is to communicate something exceptional to look for on your next stay at a JW, confident that the sophisticated Architectural Digest-reading customer will indeed be staying at a JW again sometime soon. In doing this, JW Marriott is keeping their brand top-of-mind. And that's all they need to do.

JW Marriott's reputation has already been established, and everyone knows what the JW brand stands for. So they don't need to explain that in an ad. But they do need to show why they should be the hotel of choice; they need to show what makes them different, interesting, … better.

Sometimes our most effective advertisements don't blatantly advertise what we're trying to sell. Of course, JW Marriott put this ad out to book more reservations. But they don't outright solicit bookings. They're not advertising a deal, a special, or a gimmick. Rather, they're simply appealing to the target reader--in this case, design aficionados--with a sleek, clean layout. Featuring the ad in a publication full of color, they've chosen a black and white picture highlighting beautiful architectural columns to grab the reader's eye paired with spot-on soft pink and elegant, clean text to keep the reader engaged until the simple message is received. It's exquisite.

Ads are not the place to tell your customers every little detail about every little service that you provide. And unless you're selling medication and legally required to do so, ads generally are not the place for long disclaimers. Ads are simply a method to grab someone's attention and give them a little tease as to why they should do business with you instead of someone else. Ads keep your business top-of-mind.

Kudos, JW Marriott. This ad is a winner!

#JWMarriott #ArchitecturalDigest #AMBC4ME #AskUncleMarty


Also published on the AMBC blog on January 11, 2017.