Old Books and New Ads: Crane Agency Was There
There’s a technique in copywriting that successful marketers know.
It’s called “the slippery slope.”
It means that the goal of the first sentence is to get you to read the second sentence.
And the goal of the second sentence is to get you to read the third.
Until you’ve “slid” into the copy—like you are now.
If there was ever a marketing skill to master, the art of the slippery slope is right there at the top of the list.
No one was better at this than Chiat\Day in the 80s. Or another legend, David Ogilivy.
Or perhaps the late, great George Lois.
They pioneered the technique, gave it new life, filled it with attitude, and sold millions of dollars worth of product for their clients.
They would have probably sold even more if they knew Sam Heaton.
But they would have never seen him coming.
See, Sam is Atomicdust’s Digital Marketing Director, a lacrosse coach and a huge fan of old school, long-form advertising. But he’s not a copywriter.
Or is he?
One afternoon, when talking about our amazing client, Crane Agency, we had an idea. A great idea actually.
See, Crane has been in the insurance business for over 100 years. They’ve served hundreds of businesses along the way.
But to say “We’ve been around for 100 years” is basic (even though it’s amazing), and it puts Crane as the hero—not their audience.
So Sam had an idea. Insurance can be seen as a commodity. And we know the best way to get out the commodity mindset is emotions and benefits and humor.
Especially in the insurance world. Jake, geckos, Mayhem, and whatever makes the Liberty song get stuck in my head.
Also, these brands have a mascot.
But can you do that for a B2B insurance brand? Can you do it in a professional way? Can you be memorable and fun without being ridiculous?
The man in the Hathaway Shirt
Do you know the story of The Man in the Hathaway Shirt? If you’re into advertising, you’re going to love it.
Basically, the Hathaway Shirt company made a line of men’s dress shirts. They were white. They had buttons. They tucked into pants. They were your basic men’s dress shirt.
The story goes, someone met famous ad man David Ogilvy at a cocktail party, and begged him to use his genius to make ads for the fledgeling shirt company.
They did not have a lot of budget and they said Ogilvy could do anything he liked in the ads.
The day of the photo shoot came, and Ogilvy asked the male model to put on the shirt like you’d expect—but to also put on an eye patch.
It was curious, but somehow sophisticated and he framed the ad with the headline “The man in the Hathaway shirt.” And the they were off to the races.
The long form ad copy and the image of the man in the eyepatch (and dress shirt) made it seem like the man was sophisticated, interesting and full of adventure. That if a man like that wore a Hathaway shirt, maybe you should too.
The ads ran for years, and later, although this is just my opinion, inspired the Modelo Beer “The Most Interesting Man in the World” campaign.
Crane was there
To have a 100+ year history of success means you’ve seen a lot in your time.
From everyday small businesses growing and flourishing, to world-changing events like the Moon Landing, Crane has seen it all.
We had the idea of “the Crane Agent,” a person dressed in a conservative suit, always in the background of people doing great things.
We could repeat it across world events, big and small, from business openings to historic achievements.
The idea was old, and new, and we loved it.
So we built out the first couple ads and called our client.
And unlike most modern ads, the print ads lean heavily on copy:
You might say to yourself, “Crane didn’t build the St. Louis Arch,” but you might not be thinking monumentally enough.
Crane was there. See, whenever people dare to build great things—and great businesses, we applaud them, cheer them on and carry their worry so they could go on and do great things.
Whenever people do great things, Crane will be there.
And like true advertising people, we printed large format versions of the ads, boarded them up, and met with the client. IN PERSON.
As the room filled with cigarette smoke and the smell of morning scotch (I’m totally kidding) we saw big smiles spread across our clients’ faces.
They loved the ads, and the idea, and started to riff on other events where we could use it.
It was a great day.
In a world of AI, there’s going to be a sea of sameness. But creativity will always break through commodities—especially when they are grounded on by the geniuses of generations ago.
Remember that creativity and big ideas will always be a slippery slope.
