Apple’s Copywriting Voodoo

A while back during the iPhone 6s launch, Apple announced a feature that promised to do away with those grainy, poorly lit selfies.

They called it:

Front-Facing True-Tone Retina Flash

At the time the front camera on my iPhone 5 was a real sore spot me, so my first thought when I heard the news was "Sweet!"

Then I thought about it for another second, and started to laugh...

Because I realized I'd fallen for an old copywriting ploy.

Want to guess what "Front-Facing True-Tone Retina Flash" REALLY meant?

It means your screen flashes beige when you snap a photo.

There's a great marketing lesson here:

You can make your features seem more exclusive and valuable by giving them a proprietary-sounding name.

Master copywriter John Carlton does this ALL the time.

His ads sing the praises of the "Triple Coil Spring" golf swing. Or the "Drop and Pop" technique that'll have you hitting monster tee shots. Or the "devastating 'pop up' push" fighting move.

Apple actually did this not once, but 3 times in naming their new flash feature:

"True-Tone" means using yellow light so pasty white guys like me don't look like a cadaver.

"Retina" means high-resolution screen.

And then they combine all three in a grand flourish.

It works!

And this isn't limited to products with physical features.

If you're a service business, you can bundle up common jobs and name the bundles.

If you're a coach or a consultant, formalize your intake process and label it—you might even be able to charge for it...

Go forth and name things!

Josh

P.S. Bonus lesson:

That flash idea wasn't even new.

There was an app in the App Store that I could use to do the same thing with my old cruddy iPhone 5.

And I'm sure it had been standard in Android apps for 4+ years...

Apple is *never* first with anything.

They just repackage and rename what other people are doing, and then sit back and collect heaps of praise for their "innovation."