Greased Pig Marketing, the Sweeney Todd Way: If advertising is dead, why won’t it go away?

Sonia Simone asks a good question as guest author over on Copyblogger: If advertising is dead, why won’t it go away? Here’s an excerpt of her excellent post including one of the best metaphors for old style, in-your-face marketing I’ve read in a long time:

"The old advertising model included two major pieces — attraction and conversion. Effective ads attracted attention, then converted that attention into action.

But that conversion doesn’t happen by sliding customers down a greased chute like a pig being rolled into the slaughterhouse. (If that’s your model, remember that Sweeney Todd’s return and referral business was pretty lousy.)

Those two still matter, but they’re overshadowed by two new pieces — referral and conversation."

I just love a good metaphor. The idea of sliding readers down a long sales letter to slaughter and the comparison to Sweeney Todd’s "return and referral business" is hysterical. Bravo.

The point is a good one. Read the post for a good overview of the way new marketing with content is evolving. Your business needs to keep this in mind.