Frustration
Ads and videos written to this emotion: 112. 98 make the Say move, 0 make the Avoid mistake.
The Emotion Map's entry, written for B2B buyers.
What it is
Hitting a wall you can't move while still wanting what's past it. Blocked, but not out of hope.
Where it shows up
Monthly agency fees or ad spend, and nothing anyone can measure.
Sounds like
"We spend every month and can't say what it brings in."
Say
The mechanism: why the wall is there and which part of it moves. The buyer still has energy, so give it a direction.
Avoid
Sympathy without a route. Agreeing that it is hard wastes the energy they arrived with.
In consumer ads
Say: The mechanism: why the problem keeps coming back, and which part of it this product changes. The reader still has energy, so the ad gives it a direction.
Avoid: Sympathy without a route: agreeing that the stain, the ache or the wait is annoying, with no reason this time will be different.
Doing it right
Ads that make the Say move.
Case-study ad: 12 salesmen, 16 days, 2,780 new retail outlets
It names the wall, dealers refuse a second brand of a perishable cheese, then discloses what moved it, a selling idea built on the dealer's profit, and the count: 4,316 dealers seen, 2,780 sold.
British Institutes correspondence courses ad, al-Kawakib 1961
'Good news for Arab youth' names the wall that kept them out, courses taught only in English, and moves that part: the same courses by post in Arabic, ending in a diploma from England.
Slow Sales for Three Years, Oversold in Four Weeks case-study ad
It explains why three years of slow sales happened: the public never knew the Stanley bottle was steel, and one plain fact, that it will not break, oversold the factory in four weeks.
International Correspondence Schools courses ad, al-Kawakib 1934
Beside a clerk with a senior man standing over him, the copy names the part that moves, spare-time study by post that it says lifted thousands, and offers free advice and a booklet to start.
V. O. Schwab "Straws That Break the Stomach's Back" ad, 1918
It names the puzzle of eating good food yet feeling worse, then gives the cause, wrong combinations reacting like an explosion in a sealed retort, and lessons showing which combinations to change.
Kruschen Salts ad, al-Kawakib 1940
It names why the reader wakes tired, constipation leaving poisons in the blood, then gives a small fix: as much Kruschen as covers a two-piastre coin in tea, at 6 or 10 piastres.
Fleischmann's Yeast ad with Dr. Edmund Maliwa, Good Housekeeping
For readers tired of harsh cathartics, it explains why laxatives fail, they whip tired intestines, and what moves instead: three yeast cakes a day that strengthen them, with 'Not a cure-all' as the limit.
Carter's Little Liver Pills ad, al-Kawakib 1940
It explains why laxatives miss the cause: the liver releases about a litre of bile a day, digestion stalls when it is late, and the pill that wakes the bile works on that.
Ault & Wiborg printing ink poster
It says beautiful presswork is not so difficult 'provided you use the right sort of Ink', naming the part of the wall that moves, and the sheet itself is printed in Half-Tone Bronze No. 81.
Ovaltine malted drink ad, al-Lataif al-Musawwarah 1925
It explains why the tiredness persists: daily food lacks what gives energy, and eating more only brings indigestion, then names the part that moves, making Ovaltine the food and drink.
Apple-1 computer introductory ad, Interface Age, 1976
Subheads such as 'No More Switches, No More Lights' name the teletype and front-panel annoyances hobbyists already live with, then show the one board, at $666.66, that removes each.
Flit insecticide ad, al-Musawwar 1931
Under 'Haunted nights' it explains why the flea keeps winning, hiding from light in dirt and creeping out at night to rob sleep, then names where to strike: Flit in every crack and corner.
عيش التطور مع أحدث الأجهزة ولا تختبر صبرك !
It puts the wall in the old machine, not the tired worker, and explains which part moves with checkable numbers: SSD storage, start-up under 20 seconds, a 9-hour battery.
It names the exact wall, the pre-approval every patient waits on, and shows which part moves: at selected hospitals, listed in the app, outpatient services go ahead without it.
تطمن على صحتك مع #عيادة_بوبا_الرقمية 💙
It shows the wall, traffic, no parking, a lost slot, then names the part that moves: the consultation no longer needs the trip.
Traffic is the wall the man cannot move, and the ad shows the route around it: the consultation moves home, so the road no longer stands between him and the doctor.
It names the wall, slow speed, data running out and poor coverage, and shows which part moves: fibre in Muscat and fast home internet across the Sultanate.
It explains why the bills are high, voice, data and texts paid for separately, and offers the part that moves: one fixed monthly bundle with room to upgrade.
Doing it wrong
Ads that make the Avoid mistake.
No ad in the library does this yet.
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