Copywriting and Design Part 4: Effective Advertising Messages Chapter 13 & 14

The Writer as an Advertiser "I have learned that it is far easier to write a speech about good advertising than it is to write a good ad." –Leo Burnett, quoted in 100 LEO's, Chicago, IL: Leo Burnett Company, p. 27. "If you are writing about baloney, don't try to make it Cornish hen, because that is the worst kind of baloney there is. Just make it darned good baloney." –Leo Burnett, quoted in 100 LEO's, Chicago, IL: Leo Burnett Company, p. 23. "I have discovered the most exciting, the most arduous literary form of all, the most difficult to master, the most pregnant in curious possibilities. I mean the advertisement.... It is far easier to write ten passably effective Sonnets, good enough to take in the not too inquiring critic, than one effective advertisement that will take in a few thousand of the uncritical buying public." –Aldous Huxley (1923), British author, quoted in Robert Andrews, The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations, 1993, New York, NY: Columbia University Press, p. 18. "The trouble with us in America isn't that the poetry of life has turned to prose, but that it has turned to advertising copy." –Louis Kronenberger (1954), quoted in Rhodas Thomas Tripp, The International Thesaurus of Quotations, 1970, New York, NY: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, p. 18.

Copywriting: The Language of Advertising Four types of ads in which words are crucial 1.If the message is complicated 2.If the ad is for a high-involvement product 3.Information that needs definition and explanation 4.If a message tries to convey abstract qualities Copywriter –The person who shapes and sculpts the words in an ad

This Norwegian ad is somewhat copy intensive, but uses copy for artistic purposes

Advertising Writing Style Copy should be as simple as possible Should have a clear focus and try to convey only one selling point Every word counts; space and time are expensive Practical Tips Be succinct Be single-minded Be specific Get personal Keep a single focus Be controversial Be original Use variety Use imaginative description

Copywriting for Print Display copy –Elements readers see in their initial scanning Body copy –Elements that are designed to be read and absorbed The Headline Key element in print advertising Conveys the main message Works with the visual to get attention and communicate creative concept

How to Write Headlines A good headline will attract those who are prospects The headline must work in combination with the visual to stop and grab the reader’s attention The headline must identify the product and brand, and start the sale The headline should lead readers into the body copy –Direct-action headlines –Indirect-action headlines

Headlines Can be Grouped Into Two General Categories Direct ActionIndirect Action Puzzles Associations Assertion Command How-to Statements How-to Statements News Announcements News Announcements Types of Headlines

How to Write Other Display Copy Captions –Have the second-highest readership and serve an information function Subheads –Sectional headlines used to break up a large block of copy Taglines –Short, catchy, memorable phrases used at the end of an ad to complete the creative idea Slogans –Repeated from ad to ad as part of a campaign or long-term brand identity effort

How to Write Body Copy Body copy –The text of the ad –Primary role is to maintain the interest of the reader Lead paragraph –The first paragraph of the body copy –Where people test the message and see if they want to read it Closing paragraph –Refers back to the creative concept and wraps up the Big Idea –Call to action

Print Media Requirements All media in the print category all use the same copy elements The way these elements are used varies with the objective for using the medium Newspapers Copy does not have to work as hard to catch audience’s attention Straightforward and informative Writing is brief

Print Media Requirements Magazines Better quality ad production Ads can be more informative and carry longer copy Directories Use a headline that focuses on the service or store’s personality Little space for explanations

Print Media Requirements Posters and Outdoor Primarily visual Words try to catch the consumer’s attention and lock in ideas An effective poster marries words with visuals Product Literature Also called collateral Used in support of an ad campaign Typically a heavy copy format

Principles of Effective Print Advertising By Steve Blom

Principles of Effective Print Advertising Establishing an Objective Sell to the Objective Designing the Ad Evaluate the Ad

Establishing the Objective Main selling idea should be aimed at the objective; resist the temptation to add more Support the main selling idea with all elements of the ad –Headlines –Visuals –Copy

Sell to the Objective Sell the merits of the Product or Service –What’s in it for me? Emphasize benefits, not facts –Fact: Birdie Drivers are made of solid unobtanium with a unique plasticized hydroid alloy core –Benefit: Birdie Drivers are lighter, faster, harder, and cheaper than our competitor Bogie Drivers, and they consistently hit longer, straighter shots

Designing the Ad Design for Easy Reading –KISS –Solve a problem –Call to action –Don’t try to cram everything in –Don’t overfancify your design –Avoid: Dark backgrounds Small headlines Difficult to read fonts Unrelated images Atypical layouts

Designing the Ad Illustrate your product in use –Show what the product can do for the reader –Avoid static graphics showing whole lines of products Avoid Humor and Shock value –You’re probably not as funny as you think you are –Humor or shock almost never works toward your objective

Evaluate the Ad Repeat a Successful Ad; Drop an Unsuccessful One –Repetition is good, to a point –Good ads wear out a lot slower than you think –Because you are tired of it doesn’t mean your audience is Don’t Blame Ad Placement for Poor Performance –Design has far more to do with the success than getting it on cover 4. L

Designing for Print First responsibility of the art director is to choose visual elements used in ad or commercial to produce a layout. –Plan that imposes an orderly arrangement that is aesthetically pleasing. –Map, the art director’s blueprint. –Communication tool for others so that the idea can be discussed and revised. –Many ways to lay out an ad; different ways create different feelings about the product.

Thumbnail Sketches Preliminary Sketches Rough Layouts Ads Done to Size Without Attention to Looks Semicomps Layout Drawn to Size, Used for Presentations Comprehensives Art is Finished, Designed to Impress Audience Mechanical Largely Computer Based and Generated to Guide Color Separations Layout (Handout) The General Steps in a Layout Are: L

How to Write Radio Copy Must be simple enough for consumers to grasp, but intriguing enough to prevent them from switching the station Ability of the listener to remember facts is difficult Theater of the mind –The story is visualized in the listener’s imagination

How to Write Radio Copy Voice Music Sound effects See radio script in handout packet Radio Guidelines Keep it personal Speak to listener’s interests Wake up the inattentive Make it memorable Include call to action Create image transfer

How to Write Television Copy Moving action makes television so much more engaging than print The challenge is to fuse the images with the words to present a creative concept and a story Storytelling is one way copywriters can present action in a television commercial more powerfully than in other media

Tools of Television Copywriting Video Audio Voice-over Off camera Other TV Tools The copywriter must describe all of these in the TV script Talent Announcers Spokespersons Character types Celebrities

Scripts and Storyboards Script –The written version of the commercial’s plan –Prepared by the copywriter –See handouts Storyboard –The visual plan or layout of the commercial –Prepared by the art director –See handouts

Frontier Photoboard