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Redesign of a Ferrari product page. My first time writing Ad copy. I impressed myself. Thoughts?

ChrisV

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I actually like this a lot. It’s just a clever way to say “you’re buying an heirloom."
 
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ChrisV

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Hi Chris, If this is your first attempt at copy, you've got hidden talent. From what I've read it's important to know your target. As for the car, it's probably people like me who have some experience, education and bucks. I don't know about your generation, but ours likes stories. Tell a story. You actually cracked the shell a bit w/ the "...long goodbyes..." piece. It's human, it has emotion, we can all relate to that experience, either dumping or being..., you could weave more into the fabric of the story..."she'll understand, time flies when you're having fun..." That image/story you created is brilliant copy in my humble opinion. I hope you post another of your forays into copy. Greg

Thanks buddy! I really appreciate the compliment. I didn’t reply because I didn’t see your note until now.. thanks!
 

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I've read in a few places from the old advertising greats that selling products like Ferrari are an emotional purchase, so when you sell them you need to give them facts and such to help them justify the purchase logically.

Apples sales pages tend to do this.

Also I think some of you are confusing the ads with the sales copy. The ads get people to identify with and desire the product and brand, but when the person comes in to buy, such as insurance mentioned above or apples sales pages like I mentioned, I think you will find a lot of features, benefits and facts to try to convince you to buy or help justify an emotional purchase, whether thats a sales page or salesman.
 
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ChrisV

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On the topic of Showing > Telling, I think these are great:

lWAPoE1.jpg


3A0w6oA.jpg


or warnings:

DsAEIND.jpg


Or clever ways to show benefits:

KEDFlOa.jpg


I thought of a clever one for Volkswagen...

wXodjev.jpg


Maybe I have a career in advertising?

Edit, Actually wait.... it would have been better if i used top views:

n6telXK.png
 
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smark

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I've read in a few places from the old advertising greats that selling products like Ferrari are an emotional purchase, so when you sell them you need to give them facts and such to help them justify the purchase logically.

Apples sales pages tend to do this.

Also I think some of you are confusing the ads with the sales copy. The ads get people to identify with and desire the product and brand, but when the person comes in to buy, such as insurance mentioned above or apples sales pages like I mentioned, I think you will find a lot of features, benefits and facts to try to convince you to buy or help justify an emotional purchase, whether thats a sales page or salesman.

Couldn't agree more! Facts, benefits and features are always crucial for helping a prospective buyer rationalize their action of buying high-ticket items; after you've sold them the 'dream' surrounding your specific product/brand that is.

But so far, we (or at least I) have been talking purely about ads and not the sales copy found in landing pages such as those on Apple's website. Any landing page requires at least a minimal dose of copy to increase your chance of making a sale and adequately rationalize a purchase. But, not every ad requires copy to showcase the product's/brand's personality, make prospective buyers identify with it and inflict a sense of desire in their brains.

As far as landing pages go though, I like Aston Martin's a lot too. Hard to beat Apple's though.

P.S. Take a look at Rolex's Instagram here and you'll see that a lot of their posts are there to act as pre (or even post) purchase rationalizations through a myriad of facts and figures about their watches.
 

Merging Left

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With a brand such as Ferrari, you're really not selling the car itself as much as the image of owning a Ferrari. This thread pairs nicely with @smark's thread: The Luxury Strategy

I think that powerful images or even a strong video showing what it's like to own and drive a Ferrari is going to be more compelling than the story you would write. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, right?

Show the benefits. An example that comes to mind is the commercials for paper towels (I think Downy or Bounty?) that show the strength of the paper towel when wet. They could have written "More than three times stronger than the other brand" - or whatever sounds nicer - but showing the side-by-side images is much more powerful and leaves less for interpretation.

Your ad page looks fine. It's sleek for sure. Butttt I think it would be more effective if you were showing who the customer is. Like the Philippe Patek ad. Or a looping video/gif of the car rounding a sharp corner, etc.

I'm not going to be sold by you telling me that I work hard and don't settle for #2. I'll probably roll my eyes. If you want my money, you'll need to make me see myself in that car so clearly and viscerally that there is simply no alternative - and I don't think you do that with words.

Finally, I'm saying all of this to try to be constructive. I'm not knocking what you did at all, just trying to help with the process. Keep iterating!
 

smark

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With a brand such as Ferrari, you're really not selling the car itself as much as the image of owning a Ferrari. This thread pairs nicely with @smark's thread: The Luxury Strategy

Yes, indeed. And thank you for the mention @Merging Left. The "problem" I am trying to solve at the moment is how to build a reputation such as the one possessed by Ferrari; the solution of which will hopefully bring me financial abundance.

I think it would be more effective if you were showing who the customer is. Like the Philippe Patek ad. Or a looping video/gif of the car rounding a sharp corner, etc.

I'm not going to be sold by you telling me that I work hard and don't settle for #2.

The "hard" thing about including "potential customers" in ads (either in print or video) is that you can't be too specific because you never know who will end up buying your product(s).

Although Patek Philippe usually displays a father and son (or mother and daughter) in their print ads for example, it is the concept of family that they're pushing for (whatever that may mean for every one exposed to the ad) and not that only mothers and fathers are "eligible" to buy their products.
 
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ChrisR

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When talking about a luxury car giant like Ferrari people don't even need copy.

First time I've heard Ferrari referred to as a "luxury car giant".


For the OP, I'd suggest you look into VW's marketing campaign in the sixties and seventies. Their marketing department was killing it back then. Might give you some good ideas.
 

smark

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VW's marketing campaign in the sixties and seventies. Their marketing department was killing it back then. Might give you some good ideas.

You're right, their marketing was spot on back then.

However, you need to keep in mind that back then people didn't have tech, or the Internet and did not carry powerful handheld devices with them at all times. Posting a car ad like that on a newspaper/magazine today (however good it may be) will yield significantly different results.

Our (digital) age is visually driven. Why focus so much on copy that many might not even read, when you can have a stunning set of visuals do all (or most of) the work?

P.S. I'm a huge fan of the old VW ads myself; but I doubt the effectiveness of long-copy coupled with non-visually appealing photography nowadays.
 

ChrisV

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Everything we buy is for the feeling.

We buy food to alleviate the pain of hunger. We buy clothes to alleviate the cold and embarrassment of being naked. We buy NICE clothes so that we look good. We buy NICE cars for the same reason.

Everything humans do is to increase pleasure or alleviate pain. Logic just helps us figure out which actions will help us increase pleasure or alleviate pain.
 
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ChrisV

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For the OP, I'd suggest you look into VW's marketing campaign in the sixties and seventies. Their marketing department was killing it back then. Might give you some good ideas.
I’ll definitely check it out!
 

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Yes, indeed. And thank you for the mention @Merging Left. The "problem" I am trying to solve at the moment is how to build a reputation such as the one possessed by Ferrari; the solution of which will hopefully bring me financial abundance.

One of the first rules in Austin Kleon’s book - Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative is "You are an amalgamation of the art you consume, so choose wisely.” My suggestion is if you want to build a solid reputation as a luxury brand? You have to be a genuine consumer and lover of luxury products. Imagine a white collar corporate entity filled with banker wall street types opening a headshop geared toward hippies. Or imagine a pot-smoking hippie creating a supplement geared toward muscle-bound bodybuilders. Or hippie stoners opening a bank.

I love luxury products. I drive a Mercedes. And it honestly upsets me to the core whenever someone makes a comment implying that people only buy luxury cars as status symbols. I’m a lover of good design, and Mercede creates literal engineering masterpieces. There are so many small, clever details. For example there’s a tiny knob in the glovebox. It connects to the ventilation system. You turn that knob and diverts an AC vent to be blown into the glovebox. Why? To keep your sandwich or drinks cool on a hot day. It doubles as a refrigerator just because of that one clever tube. Another thing.. have you ever been driving on the highway during a windy day and gusts of wind blow you all over the place? Well the newer Mercedes have Crosswind stabilization that detect strong side-winds and compensate for those gusts of wind and keep you driving straight. The new S-Class has stereoscopic video cameras that create a freaking 3D image of the road ahead, detect bumps in the road and literally adjusts the height of the vehicle so that your insides aren’t jolted like you’re shaking a bottle of Snapple Iced Tea. Watch the video, it’s sick. The engineers at Mercedes go through so much work to create amazing products that it literally bothers my stomach when people act like luxury products are only luxury products because of clever marketing brainwashing.

The technology in a Ferrari is just as jaw dropping. But their technological efforts are devoted to making a car the best it can be on the race track or driving on curvy mountain roads. It’s devoted to speed and handling. Ferrari wanted to build the best street-legal racer in the world.

But point being.. I don’t think that Loius Vuitton used luxury as a strategy... he just wanted to create great luxury products, in the same way Apple doesn’t make their iPhones with a particular strategy, it’s just whatever their head designer (Jonny Ives) feels is beautiful at the time.

I feel like Ferrari didn’t try to build their reputation. They just had an idea. An idea of literally building a Formula 1 car that was street legal. All great brands did this. Walmart just wanted to bring great prices to everyone. Steve Jobs thought the idea of the Computer was amazing and wanted to make one that people could actually buy. Bill Gates took it a step further. He thought the Personal Computer Apple was making was incredible and gave Microsoft a clear mission. "A computer on every desk and in every home.” Amazon wanted to build an “Everything store.” Billionaires all have a common thread. They all had a strong desire to make this world a better place. I’ve never read a story about a billionaire (that I know of) who grew up saying “i want to be a billionaire.” They all had something they wanted to give, rather than something they wanted to attain. I may be wrong and there may be counter examples (possible Donald Trump?) but I’ve personally yet to ever read about a billionaire who’s goal was to make money. But back to my point... I think great design comes from the heart and a genuine desire to make beautiful products, moreso than a marketing strategy.
 
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ChrisV

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I love this quote by Coco Chanel:
5P6icZZ.jpg


Luxury isn’t a marketing gimmick. Luxury happens when every detail is pleasing to the senses. The product being purchased is beautiful and pleasing to the eye. The feel... it’s not made of cheap materials. It’s not made from plastic. It’s made of beautiful materials like pewter or silver or platinum. When you close the door on a Rolls Royce it feels solid and good. Imagine buying a Rolls Royce and closing the door and it having a hollow tin can sound like a Hyundai. Or taking off the license plates off your Mercedes-Maybach and seeing plastic screws. When you buy an Aston Martin the key i doesn’t say “Made in China,” and it’s made of cheap plastic. They’re made of glass. They feel nice. They’re heavy. They’re solid.

Just watch 20 seconds of this video real quick. Starting at 16:05 and Up to the part about the floor vents:

The 2018 Rolls-Royce Phantom Is a $550,000 Ultra-Luxury Car

Luxury products aren’t luxury becasue someone decided they were luxury. They’re luxury because every aspect of them are designed to elicit pleasure. That’s the difference between a 17K Japanese Transportation Appliance by Toyota and a 118K Mercedes S-Class Luxury Vehicle. The Mercedes S-Class elicit pleasure in every detail. The leather is supple and feels good to the skin. The contours of the vehicle are beautiful yet aggressive. The ride is comfortable. You don’t hear the annoying road noise. They spend extra time gradually sanding away every minor annoyance, so you’re more comfortable. People buy products that increase pleasure and decrease pain. In a sports car, it’s different. The focus is on creating an exhilarating driving experience rather than focusing on comfort. But the goal is the same: increase pleasure, decrease discomfort. And the more you can do that, the more people will pay. You can’t just slap a Rolls Royce logo on a Honda and think that’s the only reason people pony up 400K for the thing. I’m sorry but it’s just delusion.
 
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Carlitos

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Thats actually really awesome work!

Not sure why Ferrari went downhill after the 430 though, every car is ridiculous and Lamborghini is currently kicking they're a$$, really ugly cars now. oops bit off topic
Ferrari hasn't gone down hill, lol I have been following the market and it has almost double it share price. I could have made some money if I had invested in to it but the cannabis market blind me from going with the Ferrari stock. lol But is doing pretty well so far.
 

smark

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But is doing pretty well so far.
Yes, and I believe they're planning to increase their production volume to increase profits. I suppose @sparechange meant it from the standpoint of not liking the new designs. That's what happens though when you constantly innovate; some will love it and others will hate it.

My suggestion is if you want to build a solid reputation as a luxury brand? You have to be a genuine consumer and lover of luxury products.
This is actually why I was so hooked into this book from the start. Since as long as I can remember I was always mesmerized by luxury goods/services; whether that was a fancy restaurant, or a powerful and beautifully-designed sports car.

But point being.. I don’t think that Loius Vuitton used luxury as a strategy... he just wanted to create great luxury products, in the same way Apple doesn’t make their iPhones with a particular strategy, it’s just whatever their head designer (Jonny Ives) feels is beautiful at the time.
Louis Vuitton only started growing to the mega company that we now know it in the latter part of the 20th Century (long after the death of Louis Vuitton himself) and especially after one of the authors of the book "The Luxury Strategy" took over as CEO.

The book (referring to "The Luxury Strategy") was not meant to be some sort of outline of marketing tactics which one can employ in the hopes of their product/brand becoming luxury. Rather, what the authors did was to perform a series of case studies of all major luxury brands (including some outside the "traditional" luxury sectors such as Apple, MINI and Nespresso) and then compare those to fashion brands (self-explanatory; brands focusing on "fashionable" and not timeless goods), premium brands (great functional products; i.e. Lexus) as well as to your usual mass-consumer goods brands such as those managed by Procter&Gamble. Then, they outlined a set of rules, methods and strategies which apply to all parts of the value chain of a luxury goods/service business (both in B2C & B2B) and created a (VERY DETAILED) model of how to most efficiently create (& manage) a luxury brand.

A beautifully-designed, hedonistic product capable of delivering an ultra-comfortable experience is just one part of a luxury brand; albeit the most important one.

Of course, all this doesn't mean shit if your product/service does not meet the "criteria" of luxury, OR if you (and therefore your brand) are not driven by an idea or belief you have regarding the current state of the world and which your "offer" effectively communicates through whatever it is you're selling - as @ChrisV had mentioned earlier regarding billion-dollar company founders being driven by ideas.
 

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360/430 were the best looking cars ever created, everything after looks like a cheap scion.
 
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smark

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360/430 were the best looking cars ever created, everything after looks like a cheap scion.
Maybe so.

But that shouldn't stop Ferrari, or any other company out there (specifically luxury ones) from doing their best to up their creative efforts and release newer, bolder designs.

For example, though I am a fan of the iconic 1956 Mercedes 300SL shown below, does that mean that Mercedes shouldn't had done their best to improve on this existing design by releasing the new SLS AMG models? In the end, both look absolutely stunning IMO. But, many classical car lovers may disagree.

mercedes-300-sl-gull-wing-coupe-1956.jpg
2013-mercedes-benz-sls-amg-coupe-black-seriesjpg.jpg


The thing is that when it comes to product design you cannot stay in one place for too long. You can base your design off of something pre-existing and mantain much of the original design features, but eventually you need to move forward - hopefully for the better, although sometimes it is for the worst.

Even Chanel makes slight adjustments to their No.5 perfume every decade or so.

"Stagnation is for the dead."
 

Carlitos

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In the car industry you will never satisfy everyone, but I do agree some stay more satisfy with old school looking cars due to it design being a lot different than the newer cars. Some tend to follow the old school design and make slight differences, even then people still complain why they didn't make more changes if they are paying a higher premium price lol is a hate and love relationship when it comes to cars.
 

sparechange

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Considering F-cars still have the battery problems on brand new cars I'd say thats not a good thing if you are paying 400-500k+ on a car.

Making new designs is great, BMW, Mercedes (new sls amg) and Porsche pulled it off aswell as Lamborghini, but Ferrari's have been getting worse and worse.

Unbiased opinion from a F fan (dream car is a F-430 infact)

ferrarif430pur2wo2.jpg

Look at this ugly beast

wtf.JPG
 
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ChrisV

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Yes, and I believe they're planning to increase their production volume to increase profits. I suppose @sparechange meant it from the standpoint of not liking the new designs. That's what happens though when you constantly innovate; some will love it and others will hate it.


This is actually why I was so hooked into this book from the start. Since as long as I can remember I was always mesmerized by luxury goods/services; whether that was a fancy restaurant, or a powerful and beautifully-designed sports car.


Louis Vuitton only started growing to the mega company that we now know it in the latter part of the 20th Century (long after the death of Louis Vuitton himself) and especially after one of the authors of the book "The Luxury Strategy" took over as CEO.

The book (referring to "The Luxury Strategy") was not meant to be some sort of outline of marketing tactics which one can employ in the hopes of their product/brand becoming luxury. Rather, what the authors did was to perform a series of case studies of all major luxury brands (including some outside the "traditional" luxury sectors such as Apple, MINI and Nespresso) and then compare those to fashion brands (self-explanatory; brands focusing on "fashionable" and not timeless goods), premium brands (great functional products; i.e. Lexus) as well as to your usual mass-consumer goods brands such as those managed by Procter&Gamble. Then, they outlined a set of rules, methods and strategies which apply to all parts of the value chain of a luxury goods/service business (both in B2C & B2B) and created a (VERY DETAILED) model of how to most efficiently create (& manage) a luxury brand.

A beautifully-designed, hedonistic product capable of delivering an ultra-comfortable experience is just one part of a luxury brand; albeit the most important one.

Of course, all this doesn't mean sh*t if your product/service does not meet the "criteria" of luxury, OR if you (and therefore your brand) are not driven by an idea or belief you have regarding the current state of the world and which your "offer" effectively communicates through whatever it is you're selling - as @ChrisV had mentioned earlier regarding billion-dollar company founders being driven by ideas.
Okay, I’m sold. This is definitely a book I’d be interested in. Definitely adding it to my list.

I’m a total lover of luxury products as well. I love the relaxation they elicit. There’s something about the design of a Mercedes-Benz that’s just…. calming.



When I read the title “Luxury Strategy” that’s kind of what I thought. “How companies can use a strategy to appear luxury” To me it would almost be like saying “The impressionist strategy” in Art or “The Urban Strategy” in Hip Hop. Biggie didn’t analyze the market and do research into what types of lyrics would sell. He just wrote something that was true to himself and his standards and people who were like him ate it up. And if he had done that ‘market research’ I don’t think he would have been as successful. Although you could argue that pop artists and boy-bands are perfectly crafted to sell, so maybe that started
 

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