Copywriting and DesignPart 4: Effective Advertising Messages

Chapter 13 & 14

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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.

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Copywriting: The Language of Advertising

• Four types of ads in which words are crucial1. 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

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

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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

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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

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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

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Headlines Can be Grouped Into Two General Categories

Direct Action Indirect Action

Puzzles

Associations

AssertionAssertion

CommandCommand

How-toStatements

How-toStatements

NewsAnnouncements

NewsAnnouncements

Types of Headlines

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Principles of Effective Print Advertising

• Establishing an Objective

• Sell to the Objective

• Designing the Ad

• Evaluate the Ad

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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.

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Thumbnail SketchesPreliminary Sketches

Rough LayoutsAds Done to Size Without Attention to Looks

SemicompsLayout Drawn to Size, Used for Presentations

ComprehensivesArt is Finished, Designed to Impress Audience

MechanicalLargely Computer Based and Generated to Guide

Color Separations

Layout (Handout)The General Steps in a Layout Are:

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Frontier Photoboard