Bookstores are a favorite hangout of mine,
and I especially like the ever-popular Borders /
Barnes & Noble approach: Drink coffee,
listen to music, read whatever you want,
and stay as long as you like Plus it's a
terrific place for a cheap date.

One the things I always like to do is grab
a few magazines about some unusual topic,
just to see what turns up. There are hundreds
of magazines, so it's easy to find something I
know little about. Nearly any magazine
represents a very narrowly focused interest
and audience, so it's always a window to an
interesting new microcosm.

Recent visits to the bookstore have
enlightened me to the worlds of others:
Asians living in the USA, connoisseurs
of romance novels, the punk rock
scene, writers from the deep south,
musicians who do ambitious multi-track
recording projects at home, Ferrari
owners and rifle collectors, to name a few.

Professionally I do a lot of work with
industry trade journals, and prior to that
I published articles for a hobby magazine,
written for guys who build stereo equipment.

And I've noticed something very consistently:

Generally the BEST advertising is found in
"enthusiast" magazines which center around
people's hobbies and personal interests.

Examples: The ads in "Guns & Ammo" consistently
convey passion for finely crafted firearms, the thrill
and challenge of chasing game in the wilderness.
Clearly written by guys who like to get in their
4X4 on the weekend in hot pursuit of game.

In "Electronic Musician" I saw a very well written
two page ad for a rather expensive Mackie 20 channel
mixing board. It had lots of pictures and captions,
each describing very specific features and benefits;
the ad was written in 8 or 9 point font, lots of text.
It was clearly attempting to tell as much of their story
as possible. I read most of the ad myself, even
though the chances of me purchasing such a product
anytime soon are less than zero.

Why? It was interesting. It educated me about
the finer points of such a product, why I should
care about seemingly unnecessary features like
"parametric EQ." It described these things with very
relevant, emotionally charged copy.

Buyers like to be educated. I know for a fact
that some people will read an ad like that from
beginning to end three of four times as
they receive multiple issues. They may
not make a purchase until two years later, but I promise
you they'll remember the ad that educates them and
impresses them with the manufacturer's philosophy
and thought process - much longer than they'll remember
the beautiful glossy ad with a big picture and logo
and a short paragraph that really says almost nothing.

Those enthusiast driven magazines have the best
writing, the best stories AND the best ads, because
they're driven by passion. I should mention that hobbyists
(ie home musicians) are usually pretty thrifty as well,
and spend their dollars very carefully. The competition
is tough, and advertisers can't afford to be sloppy
with their message.

The WORST advertising is found in professional,
business-to-business trade publications. Most of the
ads there are designed to impress, not educate. They
usually succeed in doing neither.

Actually in a trade journal, if you can inform and
educate in an interesting way, you don't have to
buy an ad at all. You can submit articles and
the editor will usually publish them, so long as
they don't blatantly "push" your product.

Next time you're reading a magazine about your
favorite 'thing' - whether it's golf, sports cars, heavy
metal music or stamp collecting - compare it to
some ho-hum trade magazine about database
management or plastic injection molding. The
difference is dramatic.

The point to be made is that the trade journal
people can learn a lot from consumer magazines.
You can easily improve your advertising and
your message just by emulating the guys that
are passionate about what they do - the guys
who do it on the weekend for fun.

And if you do something that's "ho hum" like
plastic injection molding -- in an enthusiastic
way -- you'll stand head and shoulders above
all the other Larry Lunchbox types who are
just peddling another product.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Sincerely,

Perry