1. Advertising Principles
and Practices
Copywriting

2. 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?

3. 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 in consumption.
The campaign won several awards and milk sales rose from 740 to 755 million gallons in one year. \
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4. Four Types of Ads Where Words are Crucial
If the message is complicated
In ads for high-involvement products
Information that needs definition and explanation
If a message tries to convey abstract qualities

5. The Copywriter Copywriter Copy
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

6. 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.

7. 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

8. 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

9. Copywriting for Print Display copy Body 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

10. Good headlines interrupt readers’ scanning and
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.

11. Two Categories of Headlines
Direct Action
(straightforward and informative)
Assertion
Command
How-To Heads
News Announcements
Indirect Action
(draw reader in, build brand image)
Puzzles
Associations
Also, “blind headlines”

12. 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

13. Test Yourself: Identify the Company
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
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*.

14. Advertising Week Winners
Advertising Week winning slogans every year and post them in their Walk of Fame.
Visit the Site

15. 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.

16. How to Write Body Copy Body copy Writing Styles
Maintain interest of reader
Persuasive heart of message
Sales message, argument, proof, explanation
Writing Styles
Straightforward
Narrative
Dialogue
Explanation
Translation

17. How to Write Body Copy Lead paragraph Closing 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”

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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.

22. Guidelines for Writing Radio
Keep it personal
Speak to listener’s interests
Wake up the inattentive
Make it memorable
Include call to action
Create image transfer

23. The Radio Advertising Bureau
The RAB is the sales and marketing arm of the radio industry.
Visit the Site

24. 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.

25. 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.

26. TV Advertising Techniques
Action: When you watch television, you are watching a walking, talking, moving world that gives the illusion of being three-dimensional.
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.
Message Design
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.
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.

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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?

30. Scripts, Storyboards, and Photoboards
SCRIPT The written version of the commercial Prepared by the copywriter
STORYBOARD The visual plan or layout of the commercial Prepared by the art director
PHOTOBOARD Uses photos instead of art for images

31. Doritos: Checkout Girl :30 Seconds Video Doritos: Checkout Girl
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:
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.
Now she’s super frisky! Scans another!!!!
CUT TO:
EXPLODING DORITOS BAG!
CUT BACK TO:
INTERIOR GROCERY STORE AT CHECKOUT REGISTER
Sound of MICROPHONE FEEDBACK as the Checkout Girl grabs the microphone at the register. She looks like she’s been through the ringer.-
Doritos: Checkout Girl
:30 Seconds
Audio
CHECKOUT GIRL: Paper or plastic?
GUY: Paper’s fine
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.
CHECKOUT GIRL: Blazin’ Buffalo and Ranch!! Giddy up!
SFX: MICROPHONE FEEDBACK
CHECKOUT GIRL I’m gonna need a clean up on register six.
SFX: She chomps into a Doritos chip—crunch.

32. Writing for the Web Principle:
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.

33. Banner Ads
Ways copywriters make ads stand out amidst the clutter and grab attention.
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.

34. 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.

35. 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

36. Discussion Questions

37. 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.

38. 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.

39. 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?

40. 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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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America.
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc.  
Publishing as Prentice Hall