Transcript 13-30 Prentice Hall, © 2009

Advertising Principles
and Practices
Copywriting
Questions We’ll Answer
• What basic style of writing is used for
advertising copy?
• Which copy elements are essential to a
print ad?
• How can we characterize the message
and tools of radio advertising?
• What is the best way to summarize the
major elements of television
commercials?
• How is Web advertising written?
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Milking Success
• Following on the heels of the
“does a body good” campaign,
“Got Milk” tried to make
drinking \milk cool.
• The campaign was created in
California in 1993 to turn
around a 15-year decline
Visit the
Site
in consumption.
• The campaign won
several awards and milk
sales rose from 740 to 755
million gallons in one year.
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Four Types of Ads Where
Words are Crucial
1. If the message is
complicated
2. In ads for highinvolvement products
3. Information that needs
definition and
explanation
4. If a message tries to
convey abstract
qualities
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The Copywriter
• Copywriter
– The person who shapes and
sculpts the words in an ad
– Marketing, English,
literature background
– They love words, have a
sense of “voice” and tone,
and are versatile
• Copy
– The text of an ad
– Words people say in a radio
or TV commercial
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Advertising Writing Style
• Copy should be as
simple as possible.
• Write the way your
target audience
thinks and talks,
using direct address.
Video Snippet
Dunkin’ Donuts’
accessible brand and
conversational ad copy
connects with consumers.
Principle:
Effective copy is succinct, single-minded, and
tightly focused.
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Writing Effective Copy
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Be succinct
Be single-minded
Be specific
Get personal
Keep a single focus
Be conversational
Be original
Use variety
Use imaginative description
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Advertising Writing Style
• Tone of Voice
– Write to the target audience, as if in conversation
with one person
• Grammar
– Sometimes use incorrect grammar for effect
• Adese
– Clichés, superlatives, stock phrases, and vague
generalities that violate the guidelines for
effective copy
– Brag and boast copy—“we” focused and
pompous
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Copywriting for Print
• Display copy
– Elements readers see in their initial
scanning
– Headlines, subheads, call-outs, taglines,
and slogans
• Body copy
– Elements that are designed to be read and
absorbed
– Text of the ad message, captions, call to
action
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How to Write Headlines
• They convey the main
message, get attention, and
communicate the concept
• They must also:
– Attract only prospects
– Work with the visual to stop
and grab readers’ attention
– Identify product and brand;
start the sale
– Lead readers into body copy
Principle:
Good headlines interrupt readers’ scanning and
get their attention.
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Two Categories of Headlines
1. Direct Action
(straightforward and
informative)
–
–
–
–
Assertion
Command
How-To Heads
News
Announcements
2. Indirect Action
(draw reader in, build
brand image)
– Puzzles
– Associations
– Also, “blind
headlines”
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How to Write Other
Display Copy
• Captions
– Second highest readership
– Provide information
• Subheads
– Lead reader into copy
– Larger than body copy
• Taglines
– Short, catchy, memorable
– Complete or wrap up creative idea
• Slogans
– Repeated from ad to ad
– Reinforce brand identity
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Test Yourself:
Identify the Company
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
Together we can prevail
Imagination at work
Communication without boundaries
A mind is a terrible thing to waste
Our challenge is life
Know How
A business of caring
Melts in your mouth, not in your hands
Always surprising
Inspire the next
When you care enough to send the very best
Where patients come first
Can you hear me now?
For successful living
Inspiration comes standard
When it absolutely, positively has to be there
overnight
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.
m.
n.
o.
p.
Merck
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Hallmark
Swatch
Avaya
Hitachi
Verizon*
Cigna
FedEx
Diesel
Canon
Chrysler
M&M’s
United Negro College Fund
Aventis
GE
Answers to Companies: 1:b. Bristol-Myers Squibb; 2:p. GE*; 3:e Avaya; 4:n. United Negro College Fund*; 5:o. Aventis; 6:k.
Canon; 7:h. Cigna; 8:m. M&M’s*; 9:d. Swatch; 10:f.Hitachi; 11:c. Hallmark*; 12:a. Merck; 13:g. Verizon*; 14:j. Diesel; 15:l.
Chrysler; 16:i. FedEx*.
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Advertising Week Winners
• Advertising Week winning slogans every year
and post them in their Walk of Fame.
Visit the
Site
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Techniques for Creating
Catchy Slogans
• Direct address: “Have it your way; “Think small.”
• A startling or unexpected phrase. The NYNEX campaign
used, “If it’s out there, it’s in here,” which is an example of a
twist on a common phrase that makes it unexpected.
• Rhyme, rhythm, alliteration. Uses repetition of sounds, as
in the Wall Street Journal’s slogan—“The daily dairy of the
American Dream. ”
• Parallel construction. Uses repetition of the structure of a
sentence or phrase; Morton Salt’s “When it rains, it pours.”
• Cue for the product: Folgers’ “Good to the last drop;” John
Deere’s “Nothing runs like a Deere,” Wheaties’ “Breakfast
of Champions”
• Music: “In the valley of the Jolly, ho-ho-ho, Green Giant.”
• Combination (rhyme, rhythm, parallel): “It’s your land,
lend a hand,” slogan for Take Pride in America.
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How to Write Body Copy
• Body copy
– Maintain interest of reader
– Persuasive heart of message
– Sales message, argument,
proof, explanation
• Writing Styles
–
–
–
–
–
Straightforward
Narrative
Dialogue
Explanation
Translation
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How to Write Body Copy
• Lead paragraph
– First paragraph of body copy
– Catches the reader’s attention
• Closing paragraph
– Last paragraph of body copy
– Refers back to creative
concept
– Wraps up the Big Idea
– Includes a “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
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Print Media Requirements
• Newspapers
– Less intrusive medium
– Ads more straightforward and informative
• Magazines
– Better ad production
– More informative, longer copy
• Directories
– Focus on service or store personality
– Little space for explanation; keep it simple
• Posters and outdoor advertising
– Creative concept marries words and visual
• Product literature
– Detailed copy about a product, company, or event
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Writing for Radio
• Short: 10, 15, 30, or 60 seconds
• Simple enough for consumers to
grasp; intriguing enough to prevent
switching
• Creativity is key to breaking through
clutter
• Theater of the mind
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Tools for Radio Copywriting
• Voice
– Announcer or character
• Music
– Creates a mood, establishes a setting
– Jingles are catchy, “hummable”
• Sound effects (sfx)
– “libraries,” CDs, online
Principle:
Radio copywriters try to match the
conversational style of the target audience.
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Guidelines for Writing Radio
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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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The Radio Advertising Bureau
• The RAB is the sales and marketing arm of the
radio industry.
Visit the
Site
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Planning the Radio
Commercial: Scripts
• The script contains the words, dialogue, lyrics,
sound effects, instructions, and descriptions to
help the producer create the commercial as the
copywriter imagined.
• Sources of audio are on the left.
• Words, dialogue, description of sound effects
and music are on the right.
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How to Write Television Copy
• Moving images makes TV more engaging
than print
• The challenge is to fuse the images with
the words to tell a story
Principle:
In great television commercials, words
and pictures work together seamlessly to
deliver the creative concept through sight,
sound, and motion.
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TV Advertising Techniques
Technique
Message Design
Action: When you watch television, you are
watching a walking, talking, moving world
that gives the illusion of being threedimensional.
Good television advertising uses the effect of
action. Torture tests, steps, and procedures are all
actions that are easier to present on TV than in
print.
Demonstration: Seeing is believing.
Believability and credibility—the essence of
persuasion—are high because we believe
what we see with our own eyes.
Storytelling: Most of the programming on
television is narrative so commercials use
storytelling to take advantage of the
medium’s strengths.
Emotion: The ability to touch the feelings of
the viewer makes television commercials
entertaining, diverting, amusing, and
absorbing. Real-life situations with all their
humor, anger, fear, pride, jealousy, and love
come alive on the screen. Humor, in
particular, works well on television.
If you have a strong sales message that lends itself
to demonstration, such as “how-to” messages, then
television is the ideal medium for that message.
TV is our society’s master storyteller because of its
ability to present a plot and the action that leads to
a conclusion in which the product plays a major
role. TV can dramatize the situation in which a
product is used and the type of people using it.
Stories can be riveting if they are well told, but
they must be imaginative to hold their own against
the programming that surrounds them.
Emotional appeals are found in natural situations
that everyone can identify with. Hallmark has
produced some tear-jerking commercials about the
times of our lives that we remember by the cards
we receive and save. Kodak and Polaroid have
used a similar strategy for precious moments that
are remembered in photographs.
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Tools of TV Copywriting
• Video
– A key frame summarizes the
main idea
• Audio
– Music, voices, sound effects
– Voice-over
– Off camera
• Other TV Tools
– Setting, casting, costumer,
props
• Talent
– Announcers, spokespersons,
character types or celebrities
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Planning the TV Commercial
• Copywriters plan
– :10, :15, :20, :30, :60
– Number of scenes;
shots in each scene
– Key visual: the image
that sticks in the mind
– Where/how to shoot
• How much product
info?
• Pace: fast or slow?
• Level of controversy
and intrusiveness
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Planning the TV Commercial
• What’s the Big Idea?
• What’s the benefit and who benefits?
• How can you turn that benefit into a visual
element?
• How can you gain the viewer’s interest in
the first three seconds?
• How can you focus on a key visual?
• Is the commercial single-minded?
• Observe rules of good editing
• Is the product identified and shown in
close-up at the end?
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Scripts, Storyboards, and
Photoboards
SCRIPT
STORYBOARD
The written
version of the
commercial
The visual plan
or layout of the
commercial
Prepared by the
copywriter
Prepared by the
art director
PHOTOBOARD
Uses photos instead of art for images
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Doritos: Checkout Girl
Doritos: Checkout Girl
:30 Seconds
:30 Seconds
Video
Audio
INTERIOR GROCERY STORE AT CHECK OUT REGISTER
A REGULAR GUY CUSTOMER at the check out register buys
bags and bags of Doritos. The odd, off-beat Checkout Girl asks in
a monotone voice:
CHECKOUT GIRL: Paper or plastic?
GUY: Paper’s fine
Action starts mellow, then builds.
She scans the first bag of Doritos
She scans another bag.
He smiles, thinks she’s kind of nuts. She scans another.
She composes herself. He’s weirdly turned on now. She scans
another.
Flirting, he growls back to her.
CHECKOUT GIRL: I like these
CHECKOUT GIRL (CONT’D): Oh, Nacho cheese.
(chest bang) Old school.
CHECKOUT GIRL (CONT’D): Fiery Habanero.
(passionately yells) Yeah! Those are hot!
CHECKOUT GIRL (CONT’D): Oh, Salsa Verrrrrrde.
Arrgh! (tiger sound)
GUY: Arrrrrrrrrr.
Now she’s super frisky! Scans another!!!!
CUT TO:
EXPLODING DORITOS BAG!
CUT BACK TO:
INTERIOR GROCERY STORE AT CHECKOUT REGISTER
CHECKOUT GIRL: Blazin’ Buffalo and Ranch!! Giddy up!
Sound of MICROPHONE FEEDBACK as the Checkout Girl grabs
the microphone at the register. She looks like she’s been through
SFX: MICROPHONE FEEDBACK
the ringer.-
CHECKOUT GIRL I’m gonna need a clean up on register six.
SFX: She chomps into a Doritos chip—crunch.
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Writing for the Web
• More interactive than any other mass medium—
more like two-way communication.
• The copywriter’s challenge: to attract people to
the site and manage dialogue-based
communication.
• The advertiser’s challenge: to understand the
user’s situation and design messages that fit the
user’s needs.
Principle:
To write great copy for the Web, copywriters must think of
it as an interactive medium and open up opportunities for
interaction with the consumer.
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Banner Ads
• Ways copywriters make ads stand out amidst the
clutter and grab attention.
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–
–
–
–
Offering a deal like a discount or a freebie.
Using an involvement device like a challenge or contest.
Changing the offer frequently, even daily.
Keeping the writing succinct for surfers short attention
Focusing surfers’ attention by asking questions or
offering knowledge they can use.
– Use the ad to solicit information and opinions.
• Banner ads can remind or invite viewers to click.
• The product or brand should be immediately clear.
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Web Ads
• They create awareness and interest in a product
and build a brand image.
• Good copywriting works well in any medium,
including the internet.
• Other Web ad formats include games, pop-up
windows, daughter windows, and side frames.
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Global Copywriting Challenges
• Language affects the creation of
the advertising.
• Standardizing copy by translating
for a foreign market is dangerous.
• Solution—use bilingual
copywriters
– Use back translation
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Discussion Questions
Discussion Question 1
• Creative directors say the copy and art
must work together to create a concept.
• Consider all the ads in this chapter and
the preceding chapter and identify one
that you believe demonstrates that
principle?
• Explain what the words contribute and
how they work with the visual.
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Discussion Question 2
• One principle of print copywriting is
that the headline catches the reader’s
eye, but the body copy wins the
reader’s heart and mind.
• Find an ad that demonstrates that
principle and explain how it works.
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Discussion Question 3
• A principle of TV message design is that
television is primarily a visual medium.
• However, very few television commercials
are designed without a vocal element (actors
or announcers).
• Even the many commercials that visually
demonstrate products in action use an off
screen voice to provide information.
• Why is there a need to use a voice in a
television commercial?
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Discussion Question 4
• Three-minute debate: Professor Strong has set up a debate
between the advertising sales director of the campus newspaper
and the manager of the campus radio station, which is a
commercial operation.
• During the discussion, the newspaper representative says that
most radio commercials sound like newspaper ads, but are harder
to follow. The radio manager responds by claiming that radio
creativity works with “the theater of the mind” and is more
engaging than newspaper ads.
• In class, organize into small teams with pairs of teams taking one
side or the other. Set up a series of three-minute debates with
each side having half the time to explain what these media
selling points mean. In other words, make the case for either
newspaper or radio advertising in a local market. Every team of
debaters must present new points not covered in the previous
teams’ presentations until there are no arguments left to present.
Then the class votes as a group on the winning point of view.
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