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the world's worst inventions. |
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fast food and speed cameras are among the most hated inventions of all time. |
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but what really gets you annoyed? |
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thousands of people voted and the results, published by the bbc science magazine, Focus, make for a surprising read. |
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americans are the ultimate fast food eaters, spending an estimated $142 billion on it in one year. |
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but it seems our days of carefree consumption of fatty, cholesterol-rich food may be limited. |
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as we gradually wake up to the health risks. |
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in 2002, some obese u.s. teenagers filed a lawsuit against McDonald's. |
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accusing the fast food chain of fattening them up. |
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a judge later threw out the lawsuit. |
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many of us are probably surprised by this one. |
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but it's actually reality TV that's the main offender with 3% of the total vote. |
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making its debut in 1948 with Candid Camera, in America. |
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reality television's popularity has risen in the 21st century. |
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in the USA there are two channels devoted to it. |
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why it's so popular is anyone's guess. |
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cancer-causing chemicals in cigarettes mean that men who smoke are twenty-two times, and women twelve times, more likely to develop lung cancer than those who don't. |
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smoking is also linked to other cancers and heart attacks. |
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pregnant smokers are at greater risk of giving birth to underweight babies. |
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The World Health Organisation says up to 29% of British men and 19% of women smoke. |
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car haters out-voted petrol users. |
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developed in the late 1880s, the modern car was initially the toy of the wealthy. |
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but falling prices have made it a key part of family life. |
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the motor industry is now booming - over 60 million cars and light trucks are produced globally in a year. |
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but a green fuel is unlikely to take over from petrol soon. |
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so the car continues to add to our growing carbon footprint. |
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nuclear accidents are rare but can have devastating effects. |
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nuclear power plants cost more to construct and operate than fossil fuel ones, and are supported by large subsidies from the taxpayer. |
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waste storage is also a concern but supporters promote nuclear power's green status as it produces no carbon dioxide directly. |
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a surprising silver medal for the gadget that's revolutionised communication. |
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mobiles have been available in the UK since 1985 and have been widely used since the late 1990s. |
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almost three-quarters of Britons now own one. |
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despite health scares linking mobile phone use to brain tumours. |
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most studies have found there is no increased risk. |
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maybe it's those annoying ring tones that have put mobile phones here. |
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bombs, guns, biological weapons, you name it - innovations that go bang or cause bodily harm were the most widely hated in our survey. |
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nuclear weapons were the worst offender, getting 11% of the total vote. |
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they've only been used twice - in 1945, the USA dropped the bomb 'Little Boy' on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. |
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followed three days later by 'Fat Man', which fell on Nagasaki. |
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online hotel reviews have a positive effect on travellers' experiences. |
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we are already having to adapt to extreme weather events. |
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e-learning coursed have enabled millions to access high-quality education. |
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the appearance of female journalists in the media has revolutionised their fight for equality. |
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coal and gas mining cause damage to the environment. |
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hosting a global sports event can do harm to a country's economy. |
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streaming services have transformed the way we listen to music. |
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it takes some people time to adjust to the change of seasons. |
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it's a well-known fact that electric light was invented by Thomas Edison, but is it really true? |
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Edison's light bulb, like many inventions, was the result of many scientists' work. |
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An English scientist had made a simple electric light seventy years earlier and Edison's further development of the idea wouldn't have been possible without the work of his colleagues. |
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Similarly, the Wright brothers are generally credited with inventing the first successful airplane at the beginning of the twentieth century. |
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Yet literally dozens of inventors and scientists before that time might claim to have taken key steps in developing sustained flight. |
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For instance, a Norwegian named Navrestad supposedly flew in a glider in 1825 and, in subsequent years, advances were made all over the world. |
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In fact, just before the Wright brothers' famous flight, an American named Langley flew over the Potomac River, a distance of about 800 metres. |
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It seems that the person who not only achieves a particular feat but also records it, protects it and publicises it will be credited with the discovery. |
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do you want to join those people who have made a million from a simple idea? |
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Then just follow these five tips. |
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Remember the saying 'necessity is the mother of invention'. |
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When people need things, sooner or later someone will come up with an idea to meet that need. It could be you! |
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Watch people and notice their habits. |
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How do they do everyday activities, such as answering the phone, handling money or credit cards, eating and drinking? |
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Is there a way that one of the activities could be made easier? |
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When you have an idea, write it down. |
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Draw a picture. Give it a name. |
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This will help your mind work on the idea further. |
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Don't talk to negative people about your ideas. |
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Motivation is important for creativity and negative people can kill it. |
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Talk to a friend about your ideas. |
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Some of the most successful ideas emerge through talking. |
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The jet pack was expected to be a major breakthrough for transport but in the trade-off between safety and efficiency, safety won. |
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The outlook for its future remains poor. |
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The wrist radio was expected to revolutionise communication but had a serious drawback. |
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It couldn't be used over a long range and communication breakdowns were common. |
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As glass bottles were replaced by cans, drinks manufacturers needed a replacement for the bottle cap. |
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And the outcome was the ring pull. |
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The downside of the move to cans was a huge increase in the amount of rubbish. |
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There's been a breakthrough. |
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It's a trade-off between cost and safety. |
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The long-term outlook is very good. |
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The downside is I get paid less. |
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There's only one drawback. |
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There's been a breakdown in communications. |
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What was the outcome of the meeting. |
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How do you make decisions about what you buy? |
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How much are you influenced by advertising? |
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What else influences you, e.g. people, brands, the internet? |
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What one thing hasn't changed about marketing? |
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What is the effect of giving people choice? |
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In what two ways does pricing affect people? |
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What are the two advantages of a viral video? |
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What four things are important if you want a video to go viral? |
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Jake, you've been in advertising for what - thirty-five years? |
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How have things changed over the time? |
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Well, there have been huge changes in where and how we advertise. |
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but many of the basic principles of marketing are the same, for example, how consumers choose brands. |
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Can you give me an example? |
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Yes, let's imagine a coffee shop in a town centre somewhere, anywhere, and it sells a thousand cups of coffee a day. |
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Now, if another coffee shop opened next door. |
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The first owner would be furious. |
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Don't be so sure. How many cups of coffee would each shop sell? |
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I don't know. Five hundred? |
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Logical, but no. They'd sell at least a thousand cups each. |
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Incredible. Why's that? |
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Choice makes people want things more. |
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With one coffee shop, the question is, 'Shall i get a coffee or not?' but with two, the question becomes 'Which coffee shall i get?' |
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Fascinating. So what else hasn't changed? |
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Pricing is still important. People still like a bargain. |
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But they also like to treat themselves. |
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What do you mean? |
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Well, supposing you wanted to sell a new brand of chocolate and your competitor's price was $2, what price would you set? |
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Mmm, I'd reduce the price. Maybe 1.80? |
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Because consumers want to save money. |
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True, to a certain extent. But experience shows that if the price is higher, people think your product is better. |
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So 2.50 would be better? Indeed. |
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How about advertising a product? |
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It's all video now, isn't it? |
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Well, not completely, but much more. |
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One thing hasn't changed though, which is the way we respond to colour. |
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Oh, you mean like red means danger? |
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Yes, that kind of thing. We have built-in associations for every colour. |
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Red is associated with energy, so it's good for energy drinks, cars sports equipment and things like that. |
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Green suggests safety, so it's often used for medical products. |
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Apparently, yellow and orange stimulate the appetite, it's linked more to intellect and precision, so it's used to promote high-tech products. |
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And this... information is used in video adverts as well? |
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Sure. If a video adverts goes viral, it'll get millions of views. |
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And compared with TV, it's basically free. |
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Your brand name will travel around the world provided the video goes viral. |
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And how can you ensure that? |
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You can't, but there are certain things that can help. |
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Such as? |
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Well about 25 percent of viewers will click off the video in the first 10 seconds. |
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So you need to grab the viewer in the first 5 seconds. |
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Uh huh. |
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And you need to make the video memorable. |
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I'll show you what I mean. I'll describe a video. |
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You tell me the product. |
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Babies on roller skates dancing to hip-hop music. Mineral water. |
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A gorilla playing drums to a famous pop-song. |
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Chocolate. OK. I see your point. They were all quite bizarre. |
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Exactly, and memorable. People will click off unless the video is memorable. |
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And millions of people shared them. |
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And that didn't cost the advertiser anything. |
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It's a great way to enter the market if you're a small business. |
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Yeah, I see. Any other guidelines? |
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Well, make it short. 15 - 60 seconds is good. |
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And it matters which day you post it. |
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If you release the video at the weekend, you're dead. |
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But surely that's when people are free? |
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No, the best time is Monday and Tuesday, between eleven and one. |
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Back at work, at their desks, bored. |
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Right. And what about the content? |
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Tell a story. Engage the viewer. |
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Mobile phone access is possible almost everywhere but the downside is the increasing number of ugly antennas. |
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One positive outcome of the availability of electronic media is a decrease of paper used. |
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The transistor was a major breakthrough in the development of electronic devices. |
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In the early days of mobile phones, there was a tade-off between battery size and compactness. |
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The biggest drawback of the development of electronic communication has been that people see less of each other in person. |
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After the development of atomic weapons, the outlook for human warfare became depressing and frightening. |
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The use of automated telephone response systems often leads to a communication breakdown between customers and providers. |
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Everyone likes to get sth for nothing, but the word 'free' has become a big no-no. |
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as it's sure to make people think of a product as second-rate. |
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What are the words that are guaranteed to get a result? |
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And what words should advertisers avoid using? |
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Check out the five power words in advertising, and fiver others that advertisers should delete from their lexicons. |
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Everybody wants it, everybody needs it and it's so hard to get. |
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Just the mention of it catches people's attention and makes them want the product that seems to promise to deliver. |
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There's a bit of the explorer in all of us and while most people are armchair explorers, the sense that they're going to experience sth new is irresistible. |
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This has always been important to consumers, but we've seen a clear trend since the 1980s to put physical and mental well-being at the forefront. |
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Most people are too busy or too lazy to pay attention to their own and that's all the more reason to make them buy some via your product. |
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Just a mild suggestion that a product will keep the consumer's family out of danger - particularly if the advertiser can associate the product with protecting children - and most consumers will dig deeper into their pockets to pay out. |
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One advertising psychologist has said that the power of this word is in the association consumers make with their childhood and school. |
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Getting good grades was the goal then, and this word makes them think of that. |
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And yes, they still want good ones. |
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Most people will go to great lengths to pay less for a product, but this is probably the worst word to communicate that that's what you offer. |
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When it refers to price, it makes the product sound second-rate; unluckily, the word can also refer to quality. |
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Sure, it's OK to talk about the customer using this word, but consumers don't like to be referred to in such a technical, business orientated-way. |
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Similar to 'cheap', this word has associations with tricky used-car salesman and products that aren't in fact worth spending money on. |
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Only one product can really be described with this word and every one says theirs is, then who should the consumer believe? |
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Another word that was once very much in fashion, bur overuse has made consumers numb to its meaning. |
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And who would say their product doesn't have it? |
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