Jeff Sexton Writes

A Graduation Encore

Jeff — Tue, 15 May 2012 21:32:53 +0000

In a salute to all the new graduates this spring, I’m replaying one of my favorite posts, about the most gifted book a graduate is likely to receive… Saying What Your Customers Can’t If I told you one particular book sells almost 300,000 copies every single year, what would you guess actually drives those phenomenal yearly [...]

A Graduation Encore is a post from: Jeff Sexton Writes

Animate Your Business

Jeff — Tue, 08 May 2012 22:54:22 +0000

Not only is it possible to animate your advertising with the proven cartooning principles of squish and squash, but it works even better when you apply some of that same strategic animation to your business itself. But to do that, we have to understand how Squish and Squash is related to exaggeration and visual impact. Here’s [...]

Animate Your Business is a post from: Jeff Sexton Writes

Animate Your Marketing

Jeff — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:01:50 +0000

When animators, and often times writers, wish to show an internal, emotional state, they’re forced to look for and use “objective correlatives.” In other words, they have to use the outward cues and signs that correspond to the emotion. And just as importantly, they then have to “animate” those cues and signs through a form [...]

Animate Your Marketing is a post from: Jeff Sexton Writes

The “Ethos” Problem that Plagues Most Copywriters

Jeff — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:58:46 +0000

Aristotle tells us that persuasive appeals rely on logos, pathos, and ethos, aka logic, emotion, and character. Unfortunately, most textbooks and teachers act as if they are three separate and exclusive appeals, as if you must choose one over the others, or as if they are essentially unrelated to each other. This is totally and [...]

The “Ethos” Problem that Plagues Most Copywriters is a post from: Jeff Sexton Writes

How Do They Remember the Experience?

Jeff — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:02:41 +0000

We like to think our memories are both accurate and unchanging, but the truth is they’re far from either. Research by Elizabeth Loftus has shown memories to be extraordinary malleable and capable of being falsified. And pioneering research in social psychology has shown the mind-bending power of cognitive dissonance to alter our memories. So what [...]

How Do They Remember the Experience? is a post from: Jeff Sexton Writes

Mimetic Desire — I Want It Because You Want It

Jeff — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 23:10:00 +0000

The Sneetches, by Dr. Seuss “Now, the Star-Bell Sneetches had bellies with stars. The Plain-Belly Sneetches had none upon thars. Those stars weren’t so big. They were really so small. You might think such a thing wouldn’t matter at all. But, because they had stars, all the Star-Belly Sneetches Would brag, “We’re the best kind [...]

Mimetic Desire — I Want It Because You Want It is a post from: Jeff Sexton Writes