EXCLUSIVE HOOKS:
So far we've discussed 3 types of hooks you can use to grab attention.
THE RALLYING CRY focuses customers on a common cause against a common enemy. Whether it's Orkin fighting fleas, Al Gore fighting global warming, or Rush Limbaugh fighting the liberals, The Rallying Cry rallies consumers around a common cause against a common enemy.
PAINT THE CLOWN makes your competitor look ridiculous. We love you for helping us laugh. Get us laughing at your competitors as well, and you get double the results. We want and choose more of you for making us laugh and less of your competitors for being so laughable.
THE KISS OF THIRST engages our envy and desire. It plays to our desire to be more attractive, more important, and more powerful. Beauty products like Maybelline and luxury items like Grey Goose Vodka are obvious examples. But The Kiss of thirst can also drive us to excellence. Nike and Under Armor, for instance, use it to hook us on exercise.
These are all 3 examples of 'Exclusive Hooks'. Notice how they're designed to polarize our opinions. Your products become good as the alternative becomes bad. Interestingly, The Kiss of Thirst is even capable of pitting us against ourselves. Once our thirst has been kissed, we buy beauty products and athletic gear in an attempt to overcome ourselves. But each of these 3 hooks is designed to criticize a potential problem in order to offer us help escaping that problem.
INCLUSIVE HOOKS:
Over the next few weeks we'll begin looking at 'Inclusive Hooks'. These are hooks designed to move all potential consumers equally and to draw us together into a single group. They don't require criticism because they are not depending on helping us escape our problems.
You know the power of a hook. You hear them everyday in our favorite songs and at our favorite stores. And whether you decide to save the world, help people laugh, or inspire another to excel, we can't wait to see how you choose to use them.