Act now and you’ll also receive …
Act now and you’ll also receive … seems like everyday language to those of us in the Marketing field. But as far as catchphrases go, this ranks among one of the best. Everyone knows it and you hear it at least once a day. In today’s world catchphrases are gold and are either well thought out or completely accidental.
I was recently reading an article about the new Shins video in which they requested that all fans at an event in Austin take pictures and videos of the performance and upload them to the bands website. These photos and videos would be used in the creation of a music video. Such a great way to use social networks to get a message out. Every person that submitted something had at least a single frame included. But this is not really what this post is about - but I DO like the Shins a lot and look forward to seeing this video.
In this Shins article it mentions, in a notation, that a famous marketer passed away in August of 2006. Arthur Schiff. He was an infomercial genius and worked on many products that I remember (but alas, many of you may not) - the Ginsu Knife, Ambervision Glasses. With these products Arthur coined many catchphrases for infomercials that are still widely used today:
- But wait, there’s more!
- Act now and you’ll also receive…
- Isn’t that AMAZING!
- Isn’t that a Clever Cleaver!
Of course there are many more famous catchphrases that work their way into everyday conversations, but these from my childhood still rank amongst the best. It’s sad that Arthur is no longer with us.
There really wasn’t a point to this post other than to keep in mind how difficult or accidental coming up with a great, catchy tagline or catchphrase can be for your organization or product. If you sit in a room full of people trying to think of one, you may never make come up with one. It just has to happen.
Make sure you have pen and pencil with you at all times. Working on a marketing plan for an ordinary line of kitchen knives called ‘Quikut’ Arthur thought of their new name “GINSU” in the middle of the night and jotted the name down on a scrap of paper.
What is your favorite catchphrase or tagline?
