Eva Green Will See You Now
So says the latest cover of GQ. Personally I prefer Esquire. I can’t imagine ever reading the likes of Nuts and Zoo, but someone must.
Back to GQ, the front cover headlines reads:
Beyond Bond
Eva Green
Will see you now
20 + pages
of
Red-Hot
New
Looks
for
Spring/
Summer
Standoff
in the
Triangle
of Death
How Long Can
Iraq’s Fragile
Peace Endure?
Box Fresh
Why Mad Men
Is The Most
Stylish
Show on TV
2009’s Hottest Girls – Rebbecca Hall – Odette Yustman – Isla Fisher
There we have it, all the headlines on the front page.
They reflect the culture and interests of the targeted reader. The headlines are aspirational, the subtext being, “buy this and announce that you want an Eva Green type as your girlfriend”.
Sophisticated sexuality for the man who never has to try too hard.
Before we go any further, are you thinking of how to create headlines with similar effectiveness, I hope so.
GQ is for the metrosexual, and so includes 20 pages of fashion tips to help men become more pretty. It’s interesting as it’s hard to read these headlines whilst being completely objective, which we must be for the sake of good analysis. But these headlines are crafted to be emotional, to make it impossible not to have an opinion.
The “Iraq”, headline for example, the wording is framed to present a specific viewpoint, even though it’s in a question. It presumes the Iraqi peace is fragile or at least the reader believes it to be and that’s the point. Those with similar opinions are attracted to the magazine by association.
By making it into a question it allows those of differing views to join into the discussion, or to be part of the conversation.
As we well know, social media is all about the conversation.
There is that awful phrase, “conversation marketing”. It’s nothing new, my Grandmother’s butcher used to use it when she popped in for half a pound of scrag end.
But lets keep it on social media.
Don’t sell the product, start the conversation.
Easy for me, as I love to talk, often too much.
Here is the point of this post for those who have yet to get it.
Popular magazines are masters at starting the conversation.
Think of these headlines as Twitter posts, or headlines on digg. Some work, some do not. But, look at your social media efforts and consider creating more conversation starters than mere announcements.
You never know, you may end up with Eva Green.