Know-How Exchange : Taglines/Names

Perhaps I'm too much of a traditionalist, but I think the image is the wrong one. It depicts a problem, not a solution. And people are going to remember what you depict.

I'm not sure who came up with the strategy, but I would suggest that you re-think it, or get some outside expertise to help you with this. This being your first ad campaign you want to get it right. Your target audience will notice what you do and it will position you in their minds for quite a while. (It's hard to shake the first impression.)

Identify the unique BENEFIT you offer, and communicate that benefit clearly in your advertising.

Following on from Mr. Goodman's comment "And for that reason I'm predicting that your advertising will basically fall flat in its current format." - it will certainly be more expensive than communicating the benefit of the things you offer.

Now there is one big problem for you. People don't see white walls. We'll be painting my partner's flat soon and the contract says "white" which means white. When I think of all the pretty colors I could paint it - traditional earthy colors that are truly sumptuous - painting it all white seems a tragedy. Yet people expect nothing more. Why? Because they have never seen the kinds of colors I offered as an interior decorator!! When they saw them, there was no tearing them away from my color swatches.

Which in a way parallels your problem. People expect large expanses of white walls - some, incredibly, even like large expanses of nothingness. Quite how this limited ability to imagine things comes about is really what you need to dig into. After all, people came to me wanting white walls, and all I needed do was unroll my swatches (which were 3/4 x 1 yard in size) and they were all eating out of my hand. Biting it off would be a better description.

Now you have a business. I need to know **what it is that makes your passer by into a buyer**. What is the one thing they all say made them realize that a work of art was not just for the gallery. (oh, and you can ask them too! Because this is your clue as to where to start properly rather than just having a stab with "a good idea" that may (or may not) be).

Oh, and I do have a collection of my own. Some modern.

Did you think of the "Got Walls?" idea from the famous 'Got Milk?" ad campaign?

The "Got Milk?" (problem) campaign was successful because it ..

1) closely implied the solution ... getting milk.
2) effectively used humor as entertainment (very difficult to pull off).
3) had sufficient production budgets for ads and commercials.
4) had big media budgets for a national campaign.

It's not that headlines stating problems as questions will not work in ads .. "Where's The Beef?". It's that they rarely work, and usually only when created by the best pros in ad business.

I agree with mgoodman, you're better off stating a benefit, even if it's something as simple as "Get Art" with the right image and supporting copy. I wouldn't tackle this project without the guidance of a creative brief.

If you're committed to your strategy, and are simply looking for a headline that could work, here's my thinking:

- "The incredible world of original art is within walking distance" says that there's art nearby, but not that it's for sale, or is vibrant, or would build community with other like-minded art-fans, etc. It's not a strong call-to-action statement.

- Your four headlines (Now what? / Blah? / Start here / got walls?) don't really move the reader into action either. As a minimum, focus on the problem (Condo too sterile? Is Your Condo Your Castle? What do your walls say about you?).

- Since you're trying to teach people about buying original art, then make that clear (We specialize in helping 1st time buyers...). Perhaps offer free regular art appreciation classes, with an artist there to describe the process of creating their art. Always interesting to understand how others think/share.

Your link doesn't appear to be an active link.

Before you create your press ad you may want to consider that its success will depend on its longevity, on how many people see it, and on the number of people who have seen it then taking action by walking into your gallery and buying something.

If this is a daily newspaper, and not having had access to your link above, I suspect you're about to publish an expensive ad that—unless it's part of a series to be deployed over time, a series that connects together and that establishes a dialogue that people come to anticipate—will cost you a lot of money upfront and that will result in zero sales.

As much as I'm sure you'd like it to, I'm afraid that one ad probably won't do it. Your advertising dollars may be better invested by working with real estate agents so that your targeted message is received by new condo buyers DURING their search for a new home, and AFTER their move has happened.

Change your Art not your address.