I just ran across one of the most startling proof elements ever devised.
It hails from a company called LifeLock.
The ad starts off:
My name is Todd Davis
My social security number is 457-55-5462
I’m Todd Davis, CEO of LifeLock, and yes, that’s my real social security number*. Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in America, victimizing over 10 million people a year and costing billions of dollars. So why publish my social security number? Because I’m absolutely confident LifeLock is protecting my good name and personal information, just like it will yours. And we guarantee our service up to $1 million dollars.”
It’s doubtful Claude Hopkins could come up with a more arresting headline and opening paragraph. But Claude never lived in a time when concerns over data protection cause sleepless nights.
No doubt, a very adept marketer came up with this. Even the product name, LifeLock, is superlative.
Whether the hubristic USP (and service) can stand up to Eastern European hackers and our own homegrown highwaymen is another question.
Well it didn’t work and it’s been all over the mainstream media and the net since May that his own product didn’t protect him.
The double edged sword has now swung the other way and his company has been the object of a lot of ridicule for the past couple of months.
It’s lousy marketing if you make the big promise and then can’t keep it.
The concept did backfire on him. Someone used his SS# to get a check-cashing loan of $500, and Experian sued him.
But the marketing IS working. The sales are there to prove it. And in marketing, your returns determine success or not.
“In January, the firm [LifeLock] announced it had raised $25.5 million in funding orchestrated by Goldman Sachs Group. The advertising has apparently paid off: LifeLock has 700,000 customers, each paying about $10 per month for the service.” (Sullivan, B. “Experian Sues LifeLock, Alleges Fraud.” The Red Tape Chronicles! http://www.redtape.msnbc.com February 2005.)
It’s still working years after the bad press. (No, I don’t work for LifeLock).
You can read more in my blog at http://www.thatsmycopyblog.blogspot.com.
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