The Socrates of San Francisco (Part 2)

The technology of the Gossage Ad Platform is a precursor to what we now call content marketing.

Previously, we could get to know the TWA airline's „colorful and fragrant” print advertisement, which perfectly fits the advertising style of the ’60s. In contrast, the Qantas advertisement created by Gossage falls far short in visual appeal compared to TWA's painterly, color-rich advertisement, as it is black and white and does not contain a photo.

The schematic airplane drawing was already considered weak in 1950, the two-column layout and the cut-out coupon are not particularly thrilling either. However, the hidden strength of the advertisement lies not in the visual presentation, but in the text.

The praise of the competition

Gossage could not have known what content marketing is and how to write an effective blog post that attracts readers sentence by sentence, even word by word. He does not start with the offer, but with a call to attention, and the purpose of every sentence is to pique our interest in reading the next line.

Right from the first sentence, he invites the consumer to win a kangaroo. He adds that they should be the first in their block. The nature of the grand prize and the small stipulation are both so disruptive that they immediately astonish the unsuspecting reader.

It is an unwritten rule not to name the competition, lest their name be remembered by the reader instead of the advertiser. If Gossage had heard of this rule, he disregards it, as TWA's name appears in the first line, then appears three more times in the advertisement and once on the coupon. He is so confident in the power of his text that this is acceptable.

Gossage openly praises the competition, describing how TWA chose a super name for their planes. Unfortunately, they at Qantas were too clumsy to come up with a decent name, and in this, he asks for the readers' help.

The advertisement is essentially a promotional call. The best name submitted will win a live kangaroo as a gift. At the same time, the prize of the contest is not a classic valuable item that readers would want to acquire, but a quirky, exotic gift that needs to be talked about. A live kangaroo is not a common pet either in the fifties or today.

The idea is brilliant: the grand prize also promotes the airline, highlighting that it is Australian and that the kangaroo is one of the main attractions on this continent.

Gossage honestly states that they could easily steal TWA's name, but that would not be sportsmanlike, so they ask for the readers' help. He does not hide the fact that the interior of the planes is completely identical (he also names the designer, Henry Dreyfuss). In other words, he goes against the Rosser Reeves USP (Unique Sales Proposition) principle, which states that one should choose a product feature that the competition does not have and advertise it to the hilt.

Gossage's Ad Platform technique

As whimsical and casual as the wording may seem, the copywriter consciously uses it to present the brand's main messages:

Qantas acquires modern, faster planes
Flies to 26 countries across 5 continents
The 4 main destinations are presented textually
The brand name should be written without the "u". This does not generate direct sales, but increases the attachment to the brand.

„People read what interests them. It might just be an advertisement.”

Howard Gossage

Gossage was guided by the principle that a good advertisement must always stand out from the surrounding content - primarily by being more interesting and attention-grabbing than those. If it is a magazine, it must stand out among the magazine's articles; if it is a billboard, it must convey a message that is guaranteed to astonish passersby.

The focus in the first phase is not on sales, but on capturing attention. What you write is not simply interesting, but completely captivating. It does not persuade the reader to do something, but offers something so fantastically interesting that they want to participate in it. As a result, the advertisement does not push anything, does not invade the reader's space, but rather – the reader wants to get more of what they are currently reading. In response, the next advertisement appears, which further deepens brand awareness, then comes a third, and somewhere in the process, we reach the purchase as well. At this stage, the consumer is literally a fan of the brand and carries its message to acquaintances, thus the power of the campaign grows exponentially.

The secret of the method is that you must come up with irresistible text. This is, of course, not simple and not self-evident, but it is achievable. It is also certain that it demands sacrifices from the brand side, because it may not be possible to talk about the brand with the euphemism and pathos expected by marketers. But it is worth it, because consumers will latch on and become fans. And from then on, it all grows like a snowball and gathers publicity.

And what was ultimately the winning name? Sam, which was submitted by a little girl. For the announcement of the winner, Gossage created another advertisement in a similarly frenetic style. In it, he announces that not one, but three kangaroos were distributed – because they got so excited – and that one of them was received by the CEO of TWA.