Title: Powerlines
Author: Steve Cone
Published by: Epsilon
Reviewed by: Chris Lapham, Touch DDB
‘Wow, a book about overhead electricity cabling’ was my first response when told I was to review Powerlines by Steve Cone. ‘Excellent, this should be a short read then’.
On receipt of the actual book I realised the powerlines in question are in fact ‘words that sell brands, grip fans and sometimes change history’.
Shame.
The concept of ‘powerlines’ is, of course, an American invention, which also explains why the whole book is dedicated to everything American – from classic TV catchphrases to slogans promoting all the governing states.
As an Englishman I assumed this would all have little relevance. But as I got deeper into the book I started to find it quite interesting. Okay, at times it read like a short history of America, but I still found myself captivated. I liked the fact that it wasn’t showing me dozens of old VW ads that I’ve seen a million times before, or trying to bamboozle me with made-up marketing jargon. Instead, it offered inspired choices of words from places I least expected. As Cone says, “Powerlines can come from anywhere: literature, politics, military leaders, religion and philosophy, theatre, stand-up comics, advertising copywriters, even the neighbour next door.”
What this book does well is not just demonstrate the power of the right words in the right place at the right time, it also shows how people (mainly advertisers) have got it so wrong. If more clients read this, we might hopefully start seeing more campaigns like Marmite’s ‘You’ll either love it or hate it’ and Nestle’s ‘Have a break. Have a KitKat’ and fewer like British Rail’s ‘We’re getting there’.
Ultimately, we all want to create something that’s remembered long after we’ve hung up our pens and become art collectors married to cooks. Something that will stop our mums asking us what it is we do again. After reading this book it might just happen. Then again, I might just start writing slogans for American states, maybe something like ‘California – it’s where the Beckhams live’.
