Cleverness

This rule is about making sure that your product or
service is the only thing that is clever in your marketing.
The goal is to make your product or service the only
thing that is memorable about your marketing message.

The idea is to create a desire to buy, not to amuse.

It isn't that cleverness has no place in marketing,
it is just that it has the potential to do more harm
than good. Have you ever told a friend about a
'clever' commercial, but couldn't remember the
product that it was promoting? Cleverness is
justified only when it advances the sale.

If marketing isn't supposed to be clever, then what
are we left with? Levinson suggests that marketing IS
supposed to:
1. be surprising in its message
2. be clear about the prime benefit
3. involve the reader or viewer
4. challenge curiosity
5. command attention
6. let readers think
7. combine both words and pictures
into a single unit
8. be devoid of braggadocio
9. be well-executed and credible
10. motivate enough to lead to a sale

Note that none of Levinson's top10 involve cleverness.
The beauty of marketing is not found on its face,
but rather in your bottom line. The genius of marketing
involves making "the plain truth facinating."

The plain truth is about how your product or service
can benefit or solve the problems of your target audience.

That is because people buy solutions, not cleverness. You
still want your marketing to be startling, amazing and
riveting. You want your marketing to be wise, not clever.

The purpose of your marketing must be to create a
powerful desire to buy what you are selling -- not
to entertain, amuse, and win meaningless accolades.