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.
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Copywriting: The Language of Advertising

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

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

Indirect Action

News Announcements
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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 audiences 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 stores personality Little space for explanations

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Print Media Requirements

Posters and Outdoor Primarily visual Words try to catch the consumers 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

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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

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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
Whats 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 Dont try to cram everything in Dont 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

Youre 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 doesnt mean your audience is

Dont 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 directors 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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Layout (Handout)
The General Steps in a Layout Are:
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
L
Largely Computer Based and Generated to Guide Color Separations 13 - 22

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 listeners 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 listeners 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 commercials 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

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