The marketer who wrote in a recent print ad, “Hi-Performance: Rev up your productivity while conserving your energy and your dollars” sure had a lot to say in one sentence! But is it believable?
What does this really mean? That this piece of equipment could run a really long time (equals energy use and associated energy cost) and make you, the buyer, more productive (equals more inherent strength and power and therefore energy usage) so you will save energy and dollars. Not likely and not believable. This manufacturer would have to prove they can run their equipment without using energy or that somehow running their equipment creates energy. Either way it doesn’t add up.
Perhaps it means that the manufacturer has a piece of equipment that requires less energy to run. Why not say that in definable terms like, “XYZ Product runs 10% faster than all of our competition and therefore creates 10% energy savings!” At least with this message I can do the math and not have to rely upon some unseen credibility of marketing.
Here’s the thing. So many marketers have made so many unsupported claims for so long marketing is NOT believable until the potential buyer has checked everything out thoroughly. This holds up sales. I guess the old saying is as true today then when it was first penned: Say what you mean and mean what you say.
