1. Part 4: Effective Advertising Messages Chapter 13
Copywriting
Part 4: Effective Advertising Messages
Chapter 13

2. Chapter Outline Chapter Key Points
Copywriting: The Language of Advertising
Copywriting for Print
How to Write Radio Copy
How to Write Television Copy
Writing for the Web
Copywriting in a Global Environment

3. Key Points Explain the basic style used for advertising copy
Describe the various elements of a print ad
Explain the message characteristics and tools of radio advertising
Discuss the major elements of television commercials
Discuss how Web advertising is written

4. Copywriting: The Language of Advertising
Four types of ads in which words are crucial
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
Copywriter
The person who shapes and sculpts the words in an ad

5. 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

6. Advertising Writing Style
Tone of voice
To develop the right tone of voice, copywriters write to the target audience as if they were in a conversation
Grammar
Copywriters must know the rules of grammar, syntax, and spelling, though they will play with a word or phrase to create an effect
Adese
Formulaic advertising copy
Brag-and-boast copy

7. Copywriting for Print Display copy Body copy The Headline
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

8. 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

9. 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

10. How to Write Other Display Copy
Slogans
Repeated from ad to ad as part of a campaign or long-term brand identity effort
Can also be used as taglines
Slogan Techniques
Direct address
A startling or unexpected phrase
Rhyme, rhythm, alliteration
Parallel construction
Cue for the product
Music

11. How to Write Body Copy Body copy Lead paragraph Closing paragraph
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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. How to Write Radio Copy Voice Music Sound effects Radio Guidelines
Keep it personal
Speak to listener’s interests
Wake up the inattentive
Make it memorable
Include call to action
Create image transfer

17. 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

18. 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

19. Planning the TV Commercial
What’s the Big Idea
What’s the benefit
How can you turn that benefit into a visual element
Gain the viewer’s interest
Focus on a key visual
Be single minded
Observe rules of good editing
Try to show the product

20. Planning the TV Commercial
Copywriters must plan
Length of the commercial
Shots in each scene
Key visual
Where and how to shoot the commercial
Scenes
Segments of action that occur in a single location
Key frames
The visual that sticks in one’s mind

21. Scripts and Storyboards
The written version of the commercial’s plan
Prepared by the copywriter
Storyboard
The visual plan or layout of the commercial
Prepared by the art director

22. Writing for the Web More interactive than any other mass medium
Copywriter challenged to attract people to the site and manage a dialogue-based communication experience
Banners
Most common form of online advertising

23. Writing for the Web Web ads Other Web formats
Create awareness and interest in a product and build a brand image
Focus on maintaining interest
Other Web formats
Games
Pop-up windows
Daughter windows
Side frames

24. Copywriting in a Global Environment
Language affects the creation of the advertising
Standardizing copy content by translating the appeal into the language of the foreign market is dangerous
Use bilingual copywriters who can capture the essence of the message in the second language
Back translation