Overview

“But the object of advertising should be to achieve a specific purpose, with as many people as possible, as fast as possible, as economically as possible. Therefore, the creative person’s inclination to be ‘creative,’ to have writing fun, must be subordinated to the demand upon him to be ‘effective.’” — Clyde Bedell

“Good advertising must always be interesting enough to get itself read and persuasive enough to fulfill its selling function. Therefore, good advertising is a marriage of interesting style and strong selling technique. The problem or task of every good ad is a seven-fold problem: It is (1) to attract (2) and hold (3) the favorable attention (4) of the maximum economic number (5) of the right kind of people (prospects) (6) while a selling story is told, and (7) a desired action or reaction is induced.”

“Therefore, good advertising is invariably a marriage of interesting (writing) style, and of strong selling technique (principles of persuasion). I call this the Dual Theory of advertising that sells. Persuasion, uncoated with suitable devices of rhetoric, is not interesting. Interesting writing, without an armature of bone and gristle beneath it, is paper-doll writing. It can fulfill no purpose, afford no adventure.”

“Put yourself in the imagined condition of the person who’s going to read the ad. In brief, think the idea the customer is getting ready to think—but doesn’t yet consciously know that he’s ready to think it. Thinking tomorrow’s thoughts today is one form of Future Life—and probably the only kind of Future Life we’ll ever know about.”

“But your copy can’t be great copy unless you can persuade words to wave wands for you in the minds of your readers. It won’t be great copy unless the imaginative quality of your mind is rich and lively and possessed of a penchant for transplanting precise ideas.”

“The advertising you do should play its part in making accurate selections. In other words, selection of an audience should not be dependent upon a selection of media. Most media which have great circulations reach numerous overlapping markets. A medium may reach your proper prospects, but your copy may not appeal to them.”

“I shall talk later in this book of appeals to instincts and habit systems that lead people to buy. Emotion is an implementation of those habit systems. Self-preservation is one of the most important. Our body resources mobilize against threats to bodily welfare, and we have the emotion ‘fear.’ If our defense is frustrated, we become ‘angry.’ Meanwhile, as a result of the emotion, the mobilization of body resources better equips us to fight—adrenalin, the scientists say, being more actively secreted as it is needed for the test we face.”

“People buy constructive books they never read, correspondence courses they never complete, rules for exercises they never take, and diets they rarely observe. They buy such things because they dream of themselves rewarded with a fuller life, a more beautiful physique, a faultless digestion.”

“In attempting to estimate what volume might be produced by a retail newspaper ad, or what a prepared ad might cost against its three days’ sales, I have experimented with appraising five wide-swinging variables:

• Economic conditions
• Elasticity of demand for the item offered
• Appropriateness of timing
• Effectiveness of medium and of competition
• Creative quality of the ad”

This guide is built around achieving purpose-driven advertising. Every component, from research to final revisions, is structured to maximize effectiveness by reaching the target audience quickly, clearly, and with impact. Each step and technique is designed to ensure that creativity serves the ultimate goal: producing results.

Outline

1. Do the Necessary Research
   1. You must know your prospect—first, as a human being, who acts emotionally, and to a great extent thinks emotionally, and second, as a potential customer of your particular offering—that is, as a market; how she will be reached (media), and when (timing).
   2. You must know your product—the benefits it will deliver and all its selling points—the essentials of its pricing—and the circumstances under which it must be sold.
   3. Youu must know who makes and influences buying decisions.
   4. You must know what factors influence them in making those buying decisions.
   5. You must determine how those factors can be brought to focus effectively.
2. Marshal Your Materials
   1. List the APPEALS to your customer—the BENEFITS to be had from the purchase.
   2. List all the SELLING Points of significance.
   3. List all passive points and supplementary or miscellaneous elements that the ad must include (coupon, location of item in store, telephone orders, no C.O.D. orders, or similar data. In a national ad, type of stores that handle the product, and so on).
   4. Weave an outline of APPEALS and SELLING POINTS. List everything in logical sequence and mark items or ideas selected for emphasis.
   5. Devise your basic idea, a fresh approach, and an interesting selling close. If for a series of ads, outline the event philosophy and the major ideas for each ad.
   6. Determine on the SELLING STRATAGEMS you will use. It should be as many as possible, and except in very brief ads, it will be almost all of them. 1.
   7. Determine to follow the TOUCHSTONES OF AD WRITING, and check all of them you can observe. Mark those of particular importance to this ad.
3. Write
   1. Start writing with your headline. Nothing is more important. Work at it. Pack it with selling dynamite if you can, suggested by the SELLING STRATAGEMS.
   2. Then write your copy, following the outlined matter you marshaled for the purpose. Invoke word magic.
   3. Revise your headline if necessary to weld it into a selling unit with your copy.