Issue #1 — Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Posted by Denny Hatch
A Business Built on Four Weird Words
When you’re doing 70 on I-95, you have maybe 3 to 4
seconds to catch the above headline on a billboard—or on one of many such
Singer messages around Philadelphia.
You remember it. You ponder it.
What is it?
An angry ex-wife or girlfriend?
Forty years ago—pre-Internet—this ad would be
financial folly.
Today you can Google the Singer website and instantly
find his slightly ribald sales pitch.
Two years ago Peggy and I moved to 2BR apartment in
Center City across the street from Steven Singer’s jewelry store. It is the
largest store in the Jeweler’s Row block.
And the busiest.
At age
17, Singer took a summer job with a jeweler and in 1980 he opened a small jewelry shop
in Philly. After 10 years of so-so business, he started an advertising
relationship with notorious radio shock-jock Howard Stern. He never looked
back.
‘Steven
Singer, Philly’s celebrity jeweler,
prefers shock
over class’ — Inquirer Headline
Singer
discovered how to talk to young Sout’ Philly Eagles fans. There’s a lot more of
‘em than uppity Tiffany buyers across town.
Mayhem Over Eagles Super Bowl Win
With
three 24/7 all-sports radio stations—Philly is sports-crazy. When the Eagles
won the Super Bowl, schools closed and 700,000+ fans turned out for the parade.
Singer
cashed in. He borrowed and displayed an actual Lombardi trophy from a prior
Super Bowl. Lines were around the block waiting to see the real deal—and to be
photographed with it!
Takeaways to
Consider
• Avoid the “hard-to-grasp” headline—the headline that requires
thought and is not clear at first glance. —John Caples
• Some headlines are “blind.” They don’t say what the product is, or what it will do for you. They are about 20 per cent below average in recall. —David Ogilvy
• "I HATE STEVEN SINGER!" breaks these tried-and-true
rules.
• Singer's business—and his non-upmarket niche—evolved over years
of getting to know his customers and developing messages.
• "Start by knowing the rules and absolutely following all
the rules (except when they conflict... seemingly). Select the rule authored by
the person with the most success in the market you are serving. Don't violate
the rules without testing." —Anver Suleiman
• "Two roads to marketing success: (1) Know the rules
and follow them better than everyone else. (2) Break the rules better than
everyone else."
—Bob Hacker
—Bob Hacker
• Know your customers and talk to them in their language.
###
Word count: 400
You Are Invited to Join the Discussion!
