1. ADVERTISING TECHNIQUES

2. MAKE A METAPHOR using two images or statements that are completely different, but when placed together create a new idea. You can use words. Or visuals. Or both. You can create a metaphor to represent a characteristic of the brand. Or a feature of the service. Or a benefit of the product. To create a metaphor, use one thing - a vivid statement or dramatic visual - to suggest another thing - your company, product or service.

3. MAKE A METAPHOR

4. PROMISE A BENEFIT A benefit is something of value to the target audience. Ask, “what can this product or service do for me?” And the answer is a benefit. The persuasive energy in a benefit ad comes from two characteristics. First is the importance of the benefit to the reader. Second is the specificity of the benefit. A good example, the headline, “Introducing a washer so gentle it can actually help your clothes last longer."

5. PROMISE A BENEFIT

6. Mention a problem Problems. Everyone has them. And some products solve them. A TV commercial opens with the kids screaming, “We’re hungry, mom!” A headline reads, “Do you have enough money for retirement?” This is a technique to grab attention, to engage people who have the problem. Or people who want to avoid getting the problem. Or those who are concerned about the problem for other reasons, like the guy whose wife has headaches every night.

7. Mention a problem

8. Get really real. This is a difficult ad technique to do well. Which is surprising, intuitively, because what could be easier than being "real"? VERY SUBJECTIVE To inject realism into your advertising you must understand people. Perhaps with your own insights into human nature. Or with qualitative research into the attitudes and behavior of the target audience. Be natural and realistic in the copy or dialog you write, in the characters you cast. "Real" people are not "beautiful" people.

9. Get really real.

10. Create a character Create a character that adds interest, story value or recognition to your campaign. Could be an actor playing a role. Or a cartoon character. Or a dead politician. He, she or they are all "created" characters because you define the role they play in the advertising. While a brand character must represent a characteristic or the personality of the brand. An invented character does not.

11. Create a character

12. Inject drama Create a campaign that uses drama to focus attention, to heighten interest in your message. The essence of drama is conflict. E.G.’S Mom vs. her children. Teenager vs. her conscience Dog vs. mailman.

13. Inject drama

14. Exaggerate to the extreme Take the basic idea you want to communicate, your concept, then exaggerate it. Take it to extremes. Push it beyond reason, beyond reality. In the copy. With visuals. Or both. Just make sure to exaggerate your exaggeration. Because a BIG exaggeration is interesting, and a powerful way to get communicate your concept. A small exaggeration is simply a misleading ad.

15. Exaggerate to the extreme

16. Eye candy Create a visual so luscious, unusual and striking that it leaps off the screen to grab attention. Frequently, the product is the hero in an eye candy ad. But visually rich advertisements can communicate brand characteristics as well. Including a sense of style, an appreciation for fine design, that readers or viewers can associate with. But usually the creative and persuasive energy lies in the look, the visual. Bang, it grabs and engages eyeballs.

17. Eye candy

18. SEX Using sexual innuendo to encourage you to buy their product Sometimes very overt!!

19. Testimonials consists of a written or spoken statement, from a public figure or a private citizen, extolling the virtue of some product.

20. Bandwagon Ads based on the observation that people often do and believe things because many other people do and believe the same things. “Do what is cool” The effect is called herding instinct.