TO MAKE ADS COMMUNICATE, TAILOR CREATIVITY TO MEET GOALS
TO MAKE ADS COMMUNICATE, TAILOR CREATIVITY TO MEET GOALS
To illustrate the point, simply pick up any trade, industrial or business publication. Most of the ads look like pages out of the firm's catalog. Generally, they are deadpan repeats of specific product features. Or worse yet, a listing of specifications. The models in the ads look like they belong in store windows, because they aren't believable. The products--well, they also show a lack of imagination shown head-on against a plain background.
In short, most of the ads you see in the trade and business press fail to really communicate. In contrast, however, forceful, exciting ad copy leaves little to chance. It controls and manipulates the reader, attracts his or her attention with a provocative headline and graphics. It leaves the reader with an idea that is easily retained.
Psychologists will tell you that much of what we communicate in normal face-to-face contact is nonverbal “words.” Some people place the nonverbal content of the message as high as 80 percent.
If you curtail non-verbal communications, the result is suspicion on the part of the recipient. A person who talks in monotone, without gestures and facial expressions implies that they don't want to tell you anything about themselves. On the other hand, we automatically relax and trust a person who expresses him or herself. We know what kind of a person they are. And, we are more likely to accept what they say.
Unfortunately, this seems to get lost when people are preparing advertising. Mired in product specifications and features, people forget that they are trying to talk to people. They get caught in the bind of the "either/or" principle.
Either they do a consumer-type ad that is gimmicky and clever, or they do a straightforward trade ad that simply gets the facts across.
Fortunately, we don't have to polarize our thinking. The best trade ads have interest, readability, and dramatic presentation just as the consumer ads. In addition, they have a concise and forceful presentation of the facts.
Let's examine the basic consumer advertising techniques and how trade advertising can effectively use them.
Probably the greatest concern is to get the public's attention. It's a real problem. Consumers (keep in mind, we're all consumers) get bombarded with thousands of advertising messages, so getting them to even notice the ad is a job.
To survive in the consumer field, ad people use different type, dig for unusual product features, and use creative means to make the point. The same can be done in a trade ad.
Use a warm, believable model with your product, rather than the product sitting in the middle of the desert. Next, use a headline that creates a feeling or mood about the company and product. Don't use the easy way out of shooting the product and a headline that says "Four Reasons Why XYZ is the Best You Can Buy."
Some time back, we were working on an ad campaign for a firm and we needed to illustrate the fact that similar equipment is often down a lot (out of commission), which meant the serviceperson was always around.
We found a man who looked the right age of the manager we wanted to illustrate. Then we instructed him to look tired, dejected, and exasperated at always seeing the serviceman around.
The results were outstanding. He immediately fell into the role.
He looked just like you and me. He was believable. You could empathize with his problems and his feelings.
After looking at the illustration and reading the headline, you automatically believed the copy because there was a strong identity with the model.
Not all trade products lend themselves to demonstrations, but many do. A good demonstration can do several things. It creates reader interest. It allows the reader to experience the product in action. And, if a pertinent example is used, it can demonstrate the capabilities of the product better than any listing of features ever could.
By relating the unfamiliar with the commonplace, the reader can see the difference. It gives the reader a real point of comparison.
There are lots reasons why selling ideas works better that selling features. People tend to remember better in associational patterns. One idea recalls another, until you have followed through the entire thought.
Then you have a better chance of getting the information in your ads recalled. This means finding a concept that links all of the salient copy points. Stick to your basic point, and bring in other features only if they add substance to the central idea.
If there are additional features you want to mention, put them at the end of the ad and as briefly as possible. Remember that an ad is not supposed to be a spec sheet. An ad is engineered to sell an idea and get the reader to write or call for more information. When they do, you can then burden them with a hundred pounds of specifications.
Leaf through one or two of your favorite trade publications looking only at the ads. You'll discover that most of them have one thing in common. Visually, they just sit there.
They are generally visual captions to the headline rather that powerful visuals in their own right. The trend in the best consumer advertising is toward using pictures that are good enough to draw attention all by themselves. They add dimension and believability to the facts.
By way of contrast, have you ever wondered what it would be like to take those stilted people in trade ads and put them in front of a paying audience? The audience would walk out!
People who write trade ads often treat the reader in the same manner...as though they were information-processing machines. Too bad. They are making a major mistake.
Readers are people. And their reading habits are subject to human, not machine-like responses.
People shy away from long sentences. The most interesting copy is well paced and reads like people talk. Use one-word sentences. Sentences without verbs.
One-line paragraphs snap the eye awake.
Good advertising copy feeds ideas to the reader in spoonfuls, not in large lumps that are hard to swallow and digest. Any ad or marketing manager who uses early style guides will sacrifice readability for correctness. This is not to condone poor grammar, but to avoid those correct sentences that sound unnatural to the ear.
The same rule applies to layouts.
There's the layout that lines up all the copy, has no windows, has everything balanced and squared off like some paintings. This kind of layout may please us aesthetically, but it doesn't draw us in.
The truth is, we are drawn to irregularity. We are more interested in the unresolved. We are susceptible to the same psychological devices in an ad that a salesman uses in making a good personal demonstration.
A creative message can have as much impact as current news. Since you can't always come up with new information about a product, create excitement by showing the reader an old product in a new way or a new product in a startling way.
A creative ad--one with surprise--can have the impact of three or four mundane ads. This should be attractive to the firm that doesn't have an unlimited budget, or the company that wants a lot of mileage from its ad dollars.
To avoid the pitfalls of trade-ad writers and managers, keep in touch with consumer and all types of advertising. Watch your reactions to ads, how you respond, and what you respond to. Become sensitive to yourself as a reader. The use the same communication devices and techniques that professional communicators use to motivate people.
Finally, throw away the term "industrial" or "trade advertising." We get so hung up on semantics that we forget that what we're really doing is communicating ideas from one person to another. The recipient is a consumer...it just so happens he's an engineering or industrial consumer.
###
TO MAKE ADS COMMUNICATE TAILOR CREATIVITY TO MEET GOALS - To learn more about this author, visit Andy Marken's Website.
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In leafing through the trade and consumer press, I often wonder why there's such a vacuum of creativity and imagination when it comes to trade advertising. Based on personal experience, there can't be that many built-in blocks between clients and writers that discourage inventiveness and creativity.
To illustrate the point, simply pick up any trade, industrial or business publication. Most of the ads look like pages out of the firm's catalog. Generally, they are deadpan repeats of specific product features. Or worse yet, a listing of specifications. The models in the ads look like they belong in store windows, because they aren't believable. The products--well, they also show a lack of imagination shown head-on against a plain background.
In short, most of the ads you see in the trade and business press fail to really communicate. In contrast, however, forceful, exciting ad copy leaves little to chance. It controls and manipulates the reader, attracts his or her attention with a provocative headline and graphics. It leaves the reader with an idea that is easily retained.
Psychologists will tell you that much of what we communicate in normal face-to-face contact is nonverbal “words.” Some people place the nonverbal content of the message as high as 80 percent.
If you curtail non-verbal communications, the result is suspicion on the part of the recipient. A person who talks in monotone, without gestures and facial expressions implies that they don't want to tell you anything about themselves. On the other hand, we automatically relax and trust a person who expresses him or herself. We know what kind of a person they are. And, we are more likely to accept what they say.
Unfortunately, this seems to get lost when people are preparing advertising. Mired in product specifications and features, people forget that they are trying to talk to people. They get caught in the bind of the "either/or" principle.
Either they do a consumer-type ad that is gimmicky and clever, or they do a straightforward trade ad that simply gets the facts across.
Fortunately, we don't have to polarize our thinking. The best trade ads have interest, readability, and dramatic presentation just as the consumer ads. In addition, they have a concise and forceful presentation of the facts.
Let's examine the basic consumer advertising techniques and how trade advertising can effectively use them.
Probably the greatest concern is to get the public's attention. It's a real problem. Consumers (keep in mind, we're all consumers) get bombarded with thousands of advertising messages, so getting them to even notice the ad is a job.
To survive in the consumer field, ad people use different type, dig for unusual product features, and use creative means to make the point. The same can be done in a trade ad.
Use a warm, believable model with your product, rather than the product sitting in the middle of the desert. Next, use a headline that creates a feeling or mood about the company and product. Don't use the easy way out of shooting the product and a headline that says "Four Reasons Why XYZ is the Best You Can Buy."
Some time back, we were working on an ad campaign for a firm and we needed to illustrate the fact that similar equipment is often down a lot (out of commission), which meant the serviceperson was always around.
We found a man who looked the right age of the manager we wanted to illustrate. Then we instructed him to look tired, dejected, and exasperated at always seeing the serviceman around.
The results were outstanding. He immediately fell into the role.
He looked just like you and me. He was believable. You could empathize with his problems and his feelings.
After looking at the illustration and reading the headline, you automatically believed the copy because there was a strong identity with the model.
Not all trade products lend themselves to demonstrations, but many do. A good demonstration can do several things. It creates reader interest. It allows the reader to experience the product in action. And, if a pertinent example is used, it can demonstrate the capabilities of the product better than any listing of features ever could.
By relating the unfamiliar with the commonplace, the reader can see the difference. It gives the reader a real point of comparison.
There are lots reasons why selling ideas works better that selling features. People tend to remember better in associational patterns. One idea recalls another, until you have followed through the entire thought.
Then you have a better chance of getting the information in your ads recalled. This means finding a concept that links all of the salient copy points. Stick to your basic point, and bring in other features only if they add substance to the central idea.
If there are additional features you want to mention, put them at the end of the ad and as briefly as possible. Remember that an ad is not supposed to be a spec sheet. An ad is engineered to sell an idea and get the reader to write or call for more information. When they do, you can then burden them with a hundred pounds of specifications.
Leaf through one or two of your favorite trade publications looking only at the ads. You'll discover that most of them have one thing in common. Visually, they just sit there.
They are generally visual captions to the headline rather that powerful visuals in their own right. The trend in the best consumer advertising is toward using pictures that are good enough to draw attention all by themselves. They add dimension and believability to the facts.
By way of contrast, have you ever wondered what it would be like to take those stilted people in trade ads and put them in front of a paying audience? The audience would walk out!
People who write trade ads often treat the reader in the same manner...as though they were information-processing machines. Too bad. They are making a major mistake.
Readers are people. And their reading habits are subject to human, not machine-like responses.
People shy away from long sentences. The most interesting copy is well paced and reads like people talk. Use one-word sentences. Sentences without verbs.
One-line paragraphs snap the eye awake.
Good advertising copy feeds ideas to the reader in spoonfuls, not in large lumps that are hard to swallow and digest. Any ad or marketing manager who uses early style guides will sacrifice readability for correctness. This is not to condone poor grammar, but to avoid those correct sentences that sound unnatural to the ear.
The same rule applies to layouts.
There's the layout that lines up all the copy, has no windows, has everything balanced and squared off like some paintings. This kind of layout may please us aesthetically, but it doesn't draw us in.
The truth is, we are drawn to irregularity. We are more interested in the unresolved. We are susceptible to the same psychological devices in an ad that a salesman uses in making a good personal demonstration.
A creative message can have as much impact as current news. Since you can't always come up with new information about a product, create excitement by showing the reader an old product in a new way or a new product in a startling way.
A creative ad--one with surprise--can have the impact of three or four mundane ads. This should be attractive to the firm that doesn't have an unlimited budget, or the company that wants a lot of mileage from its ad dollars.
To avoid the pitfalls of trade-ad writers and managers, keep in touch with consumer and all types of advertising. Watch your reactions to ads, how you respond, and what you respond to. Become sensitive to yourself as a reader. The use the same communication devices and techniques that professional communicators use to motivate people.
Finally, throw away the term "industrial" or "trade advertising." We get so hung up on semantics that we forget that what we're really doing is communicating ideas from one person to another. The recipient is a consumer...it just so happens he's an engineering or industrial consumer.
###
TO MAKE ADS COMMUNICATE TAILOR CREATIVITY TO MEET GOALS - To learn more about this author, visit Andy Marken's Website.
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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