Writing good advertising copy (Part 6)

This is the senary article in this series, and the last on copywriting.

Take an honest look and appraisal of your last few campaigns. Are you writing about yourself or your consumer? Be honest. How much of your advertising simply lists what YOU want to say about your product or service. Are you certain that you're selling the concept that will enrich the lives of your potential customers?

How much benefit are you selling? How much of your copy is simply wasting space with trivia?

How much sizzle are you selling and how little sausage?

Many years ago, there was a campaign on British TV about Hot Drinking Chocolate. The last thing they tried to sell was the flavour of the drink (I'm guessing the manufacturer would have thought this to be extremely important). What they did sell was security, warmth and comfort. So you saw people walking outside in freezing weather and thinking about getting warm. When they reached home they sat in front of a log fire, put on their slippers and sipped from steaming mugs of hot chocolate. That sold the product. The advertising said that if you drink this brand your life will be cosy and safe – exactly what the consumer wanted to hear.

And imagine a photograph of a luxury carpet. Boring, isn't it? But put a fluffy Persian kitten or a cute puppy in the picture and suddenly you're selling a very attractive idea.

Cats selling carpets. © Nailia Schwarz – 123RF.com

When people enquire about any of the Brewer's Databases we could say a lot about how accurate it is, how we maintain higher standards and conform to legislation, the wide structure of our information – but what we concentrate on is the product's promise – it will save you TIME, it will make your life EASIER, it will open more doors for you than you can imagine – and it's all in REAL TIME on the internet. Ahem, that's why we're the most popular.

Like the man said, sell the benefit and the product will sell itself.

A famous chap was well known for his dinner parties and one night he realised he was out of fresh coffee. So he took a coffee bean and placed it on the stove hot-plate, went back into the dining room and waited until the smell of roasting bean reached his guests. Then excusing himself, went back to the kitchen, threw away the bean and made several cups of instant coffee. Of course, everyone assumed it was freshly-ground. That's how the human mind works.

In much the same way, and I expect you've discovered yourself already, how much better a single malt or a fine port tastes when served in crystal glasses.

It's all about presentation and packaging.

And there's always a better way to say it.

When a copywriter gets a brief he will, if he's good, find a creative way of amplifying the positives and negating the negatives. He'll search for an idea that sells the benefits.

Here are a couple of examples from years ago (which just goes to prove that it's hard to forget a great piece of writing).

1) The brief says that a motor car has good acceleration and can do 0 to 100 kph in 8 seconds. There are dozens of cars that can do this – but our hero writes a headline that says:

0 TO 100 IN ONE DEEP BREATH.

Beat that, Porsche! It's great copy.

2) The brief says that this refrigerator is nothing special but it makes its own ice (somewhat slower than its competitors). Ho hum. What can we do? Our hero comes to the rescue and writes another scorcher that says:

MAKE ICE AT THE RATE OF 60
GIN AND TONICS AN HOUR!

Now, is that brilliant or not?

Creative writing like that makes the whole effort worthwhile. It's better than poetry!

So, off you go, drink a few gins and race off into the sunset.

Read my blog (brewersdroop.co.za) or see what other amazing things we do at brewers.co.za

*Note that Bizcommunity staff and management do not necessarily share the views of its contributors - the opinions and statements expressed herein are solely those of the author.*