The world’s worst blog post

There’s this place in Amsterdam that prides itself on being the world’s worst hotel.

It’s an interesting angle, but it sort of makes sense – you might as well be the best at something, even if it’s being the best at being the worst. (They’ve got some great writers too – the website’s a hoot.)

The campaign reminded me of that Avis campaign from the 1970s – ‘We try harder because we’re number two.’ And it got me thinking about unique selling points. The Hans Brinker Hotel has a unique selling point. It’s not the sort of thing that most hotels would strive for, but it makes them stand out.

The first lesson any copywriter gets taught is: find the product’s unique selling point – what’s different about it? If it’s a car is it safer? If it’s toilet roll is it softer? If it’s home insurance is it cheaper? Recently I’ve noticed just how many ads don’t have a unique selling point.

If you want to know how to write an ad, Dave Trott’s How to Get Your First Job in Advertising is a good place to start. About 20 years ago he got sick of telling people trying to get their first job in advertising what they were doing wrong. It was mostly the same old stuff. So he wrote it all down to save himself the bother. There’s some great stuff about thinking logically and letting a product sell itself (he destroys punning for the sake of it). Genuinely good advice.