Imagine – Helmsley’s Hotel Ad Is Too Modest

There’s no reason why this ad can’t say more and do more without sacrificing elegance and brand image

The new New Thing in advertising is building brand image while maximizing response. Actually, it’s not so new.

Harry Scherman was doing it with the Book-of-the-Month Club advertising style he developed well over half a century ago.

And in the 1960s, Wunderman (excuse me, its latest name is Impiric…I hope I’m spelling it right) created a powerful quality image for one of today’s leading coffee brands, Gevalia, with gorgeously written and designed direct sale ads that were an instant financial success.

Which leads me to the subject of this month’s makeover, the recent Helmsley Park Lane Hotel ad shown here.

Your first reaction might be that it’s not a direct response ad. But they want readers to respond by calling and making a reservation, right? Otherwise why include the phone numbers, as they’ve done?

Of course, I’m 99.99% sure the hotel makes no effort to determine which phone reservations come from readers of any particular ad. This means they probably have no means of determining which advertising appeals and which media are most effective, leaving the door wide open for the kind of soft-edge creative cuteness that’s always been too common in unmeasured advertising.

The kind of advertising I’m talking about is so intent on the feeble joke it’s trying to make that it neglects what it’s trying to say.

Let’s start at the top. What does the headline, “The View of Central Park From My Water Bowl Is Terrific,” really mean? Well, we have to read further to find out that it’s an ad for a hotel. And the one who’s saying those headline words is that little toy poodle sitting on a hotel chair.

Down below, the dog is identified as Trouble, “the Helmsley’s favorite four-legged guest.” Hmm. Does that mean the hotel accepts dogs? If true, that would be important information either way. Dog-owning guests might be delighted. Others might hate the excited barking in the hallway.

And I hate to be picky-picky, but unless the guest rooms have ceiling-to-floor windows, which I doubt, or Trouble’s water bowl were lifted up onto the chair beside him, the dog wouldn’t have a view from the water bowl of anything but the baseboard. And since the building has rather narrow frontage, I can’t help suspecting that there are many rooms down the hall that don’t have a view of anything at all.

Another ad in the series uses the identical layout, but this time the doggie is saying in the headline, “I’m shampooed, groomed and manicured every morning at 10 a.m. If I’m pampered this much, imagine how the guests are treated.” What are they saying? Does the hotel really have a dog grooming shop in the building? And does a dog need a shampoo and manicure every day?

I can see the point of choosing a pampered poodle as a brand-image symbol of wealth and indulgence. But does the accompanying copy have to be so silly? So I’ve kept the dog for its symbolic value, and added an appropriate slogan to go with it.

But these are minor concerns. My main one is that the hotel has much more that it could be telling prospective guests, but isn’t. And those additional facts and sales points might well increase the number of responses and reservations without detracting from the brand image the ad seeks to create.

Where did I get the additional information I’ve included in my makeover? Why, by logging onto Helmsley Hotels’ Web site at the URL provided. But is there any reason why some of this information can’t be stated up front for those readers who may not go on the site?

>From the information given at the site, I’ve developed two selling themes >- Location, Location, Location and Perfection, Perfection, Perfection. >There’s a point to this makeover which I think is hugely important and has >broad application to both direct response inquiry and dot-com advertising. >That is, the more persuasive information you can include without crowding >the ad, the more you’ll encourage some readers to respond by calling or >logging on. You’ll also have greater influence on the thinking and share >of mind of those who don’t respond.

Write that down!