Vivid Imagery, Cultivated Story, Appeal To Opportunity and Status, Back with Proof -- University of the Night, ICS
  • Awareness/Sophistication = Unaware/Problem Aware / Stage 1 unsophisticated, simple appeal.
  • The ad targets the identity, particularly of men, who want to become well educated, with a sense of "knowledge is power" in the subtext. They paint clear images of men working hard to become as strong in their mind and knowledge as in their bodies.
  • This appeal is improved by showing/telling us that this can all be done at log-fire light, in the evenings when distractions are low. Making it accessible in the minds of these readers meets them where they're at in life and opens the door of opportunity = Dream Outcome, high percieved likelihood of achievement, Low effort/sacrifice = high value.
  • Strong use of Symbols and vivid imagery to help bridge Where the prospect is at, with where they want to be.
  • Emotional Storytelling: "In this world, I need to be smart, so I can create more opportunity for myself",
The University of the Night
"The young Lincoln, poring over borrowed school-books To far into the night-seeking in the dim light of his log fire the transforming light of knowledge - eager to grow, eager to do here is a picture that has touched the hearts of men in every country on the earth-here is an example which, for three score years, has inspired the man who strives against the odds of circumstance to make his place in the world.
  • Not exactly sure if this is referring to Abraham Lincoln, or just a character named Lincoln, but either way the association with Lincoln is very evident, giving us a clear mental image of a well-read Leader, a clear image of status and influence in the world
  • Appeals to the prospects "eagerness" to grow, directly stated.
  • A touch of credibility/authority "for three score years"
Tonight, in cities and towns and villages, on isolated farms and on the seven seas-thousands of men will drop their daily labors to fight, beneath the lamp, the battle that Lincoln fought to wring from the hours of the night the education of which circumstance deprived them in the days when they might have gone to school.
  • Connecting the prospects existing daily life with the future desired outcome, associating the symbol of "battle" with the symbol of "battling for knowledge" -- "beneath the lamp", where MINDS struggle to grasp opportunity.
  • Speaks to a certain prospect about creating the life for themselves that might not have existed prior = a higher order of magnitude of personal agency. "Something bigger than themselves".
Up from the mines, down from the masts of ships, from behind counters and plows, from chauffeurs seats and engine cabs, from factories and offices-from all the places where men work they will go home and take up their books because they yearn to grow, because they seek higher training, greater
skill, more responsibility, lives more profitable and work more satisfying.
  • Directly calling out the existing circumstances of the prospects in vivid detail, and associating it with the new possibility of opportunity.
  • An appeal to the adventurous and optimistic spirit of academia
Some of them are men who work in one field whereas their talents and desires are in another. Some, happy enough in their field of work, are halted in their progress because they do not understand the higher principles of their business or profession. Some of them left school in boy hood because poverty made it necessary; some left because they did not realize then as they do now the value of an education. And some have need of special training which they could not have anticipated, or which they could not have obtained in public schools.
  • identification of real-world experiences, framed as an exploration of "why"
  • attaching the financial element to this, grounds them in their current financial reality and cracks open the possibility of a great financial opportunity.
  • Some "its not your fault" copy in here -- sharing is caring, oxytocin, serotonin.
Fifty years ago these men, some of them married, all of them with a living to earn by day, would have had no place to turn for the courses of study and for the personal guidance that they need.
Thirty-two years ago there was founded a school to help them-a school created for their needs and circumstances a school that goes to them no matter where they are-a school whose courses are prepared by the foremost authorities, whose text books are written for study in the
home, whose instructors guide their students by personal correspondence.
  • a belief and value appeal to the greatness of evolution of society and knowledge, plus identification in the frame of education.
  • Associating the opportunity with their family lives, "I'll create something greater, for them." Bigger than me
  • Social status/hierarchy
Created in response to a need, the International Correspondence Schools have developed their scope and usefulness with the growth of that need. Beginning with a single course in coal mining, these schools have become to-day an institution with courses in 304 subjects, covering almost every technical field and practically every department of business.
  • this is basically how Amazon got started, with books, then expanding into every possible need. It's an appeal to trustworthy information with a bit of FOMO
  • "This CAN work for you." type-reasoning
  • Trust-building.
In the thirty-two years of their history the International Correspondence Schools have furnished instruction to more than two and a half million men. Many of them now occupy positions of leadership in their fields. Most of them have been helped to greater earning power, to higher skill or craftsmanship, to the added responsibility, character and good citizenship that come with increased knowledge.
  • Credibility facts, social proof - volume and intensity increased; trust building.
  • An early appeal to upskilling (before the internet where this is everywhere and people are completely jaded to the idea, this was a very novel and interesting appeal, to "those who heed the call").
For the most part, these Scranton Schools have served men who could have been served by no other type of educational medium. They have served a larger number, and in a greater number of fields, than any other educational institution.
  • "New Cause" = why this didn't work for you before/why this wouldn't work somewhere else. Cutting out competitors but also aligning with THIS specific offer.
  • Proof of authority.
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Jonny Ross
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Vivid Imagery, Cultivated Story, Appeal To Opportunity and Status, Back with Proof -- University of the Night, ICS
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