ADWEEK: What's Missing in Most Marketing Programs? Verbal Imagery

Two kinds of words: verbal words and visual words. The more abstract the idea, the more likely it is expressed with verbal words. The more specific the idea, the more likely it is expressed with visual words.

Big, conceptual ideas like high-quality products, state-of-the-art technology, customer-oriented sales force, world-class service and many other concepts are almost useless in marketing. Yet companies tend to use such lofty ideas in their slogans.

"Confidence in motion" is Subaru's long-running marketing slogan, an allusion to the brand's dominance in four-wheel-drive vehicles. But wouldn't it have been better to use Leader in four-wheel drive as a slogan?

Zappos could have used "Confidence in ordering" as its marketing slogan. Instead, the brand used Free shipping, both ways, an idea that could be instantly visualized. Read the full article.