Month: July 2020

Celebrity branding or celebrity endorsement is a form of advertising campaign or marketing strategy used by brands, companies, or a non-profit organization which involves celebrities or a well-known person using their social status or their fame to help promote a product, service or even raise awareness on environmental or social matters. Marketers use celebrity endorsers in hopes that the positive images of the celebrity endorser of the brand will also be passed on to the products or the brand image associated with the celebrities. Celebrity endorsement is usually commonly used by fashion or beauty brands, but a non-profit organization relies on celebrities as well, as celebrities have mass communication skills which can attract people’s attention and is helpful in reaching a wider audience to raise their awareness towards a certain organization or an issue, thus making celebrities effective fundraisers.

Infomercials are an advertisement technique that is usually produced and paid for by a company seeking to promote its products and services. The effect of infomercials, once they reach the target market, has been quite successful and so persuasive in most countries. Today most celebrities are keen on endorsing a product for which they are paid a high amount of money. Firms put loads of money in partnering their brands with qualities such as attractiveness, amiability, and dependability.

But why endorse a product which one has not even used yet? For starters, customers derive a certain fulfillment for products endorsed by their favorite celebrities. Some would just prefer to buy a product or utilize a service endorsed by a celebrity. It is for these reasons that most companies today believe and trust that the endorsement of their products by a well-known celebrity will help sell their goods and services.

Celebrity endorsements are used by countless businesses of all shapes and sizes as a marketing strategy. While some critics state that they have little positive impact on business sales, others assert that by using them, the benefits that a company can enjoy are countless.

Here is a few reason why you should employ celebrity endorsement as a marketing strategy for your products or services.

It enhances the credibility of a business

Companies enjoy enhanced credibility by choosing and endorsing the right celebrities for their products. Celebrities have their specialized niche which ranges from music and film, fitness, fashion, sports, etc. Therefore, as a business, you ought to take advantage of this and hire a celebrity whose specialization is in line with the product or service you seek to endorse. For example, a fitness trainer or author will work well at endorsing a health and fitness product or service.

So note that customers will take your business and product more seriously if the right celebrity endorses your product.

It boasts a business brand awareness

Without a doubt, celebrities are good at networking, and they also enjoy easy access to a broad network. These are persons that love to take pictures which are often spread across magazines, blogs, social media, etc. This, therefore, means that using a well-known celebrity will significantly boost your brand in your target market and beyond.

In this regard, choosing a celebrity to endorse your products could be great as this will give your product the ultimate exposure across the market. For example, if you design and sell a waist trainer and a celebrity is seen training with one of these, fitness enthusiast will want to know more about the waist trainer and the brand. Before you know it, prospective customers will be calling, tweeting and messaging asking to learn more about the product and how they can get it. Ultimately, this relates to increased brand awareness as well increased sales.

Great promotional tool

Last but not least, celebrity endorsements tend to add significant value to a company’s PR as it quickly attracts the attention of paparazzi and the media in general. As a business, the greatest tactic you can use to promote your product is by getting a celebrity to talk about it. When a celebrity does this, your product will receive media hype and lots of attention from the general public. Without all these, your company runs the risk of staying in the shadows and losing out on hugely profitable sales.

Marketing implications of Celebrity Endorsement

A celebrity endorsement provides an alternative to creative ads. Where creative ads are more prone towards logic or humour, celebrity endorsements mainly focus on the strengths of the celebrity and more often, it mainly tends to make the celebrity speak directly to the public “I use this brand, do you” and in essence the celebrity is speaking to his loyalists “I am using this brand and so should you”.

However, the marketer also has to take care about the reputation of the endorser and should prefer to stay with a celebrity which has a stable image and not that the image of the celebrity changes every few weeks. Michael jordan, Sachin Tendulkar and Michael Schumacher are celebrities whose images are stable and are hard to change. Thus for leading organizations, they are one of the most preferable endorsers.

Celebrity reach

Celebrity branding or celebrity endorsement of a company’s product is effective largely because celebrities have the potential to reach a large number of prospective consumers.

Reach can be loosely defined as the number of people that have seen and/or heard the brand’s intended message at least once (Belch & Belch, 2012). If a brand or company decides to use celebrity branding to market their product, it is highly probable that they are deciding to attempt to reach the largest assortment of potential consumers possible, rather than reaching a small number of consumers but more frequently which is described as frequency (Belch & Belch, 2012).

An example of the usefulness of a celebrity’s reach can be shown in statistics taken from telegraph.co.uk regarding the world’s most followed Instagram celebrities. The most followed Instagram celebrity is Cristiano Ronaldo, with each post that he makes being viewed by all or most of his 192 million followers. Selena Gomez is 2nd, with 164 million followers, and Ariana Grande is 3rd with 116 million followers. A direct brand endorsement from one of these celebrities would be significant were they to post a picture with the company’s product encouraging their followers to go out and purchase it, and this is on Instagram alone. Imagine the effect of a celebrity posting an endorsement across all of their social media, (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, etc.). The reach that an A-list celebrity has possesses the ability to reach millions of potential consumers, and as a result can be an incredibly effective way to boost sales, or at the very least get a brand’s name out there in a wider audience than before.

Advantages

• Celebrity endorsements can build brand equity. An example of this is Nike, prior to Michael Jordan Nike mostly sponsored tennis and track athletes and decided to expand their market, which increased sales to become a multibillion-dollar company.
• Celebrity endorsement is used as an advertising strategy, by using celebrity status and image, to promote a brand’s recognition, recall, and differentiation.
• It helps customers to remember advertisements when seeing a celebrity that has already got a brand of their own, it will bring customers to try or purchase the product.
• It also helps the brand to stand out over a brand that does not use celebrity branding.
• Increased attention to the product and the brand
• Polishing the image of the brand
• Introduction of the brand to new and wider market
• Repositioning of the brand
• Guarantee of successful advertising of the brand

Figuring out how to say something is often just as important as figuring out what to say in the first place. The “how” is known as the Creative Execution Style, and will vary greatly based on your message and your target audience. Think about which method is the most effective for the people you’re trying to reach. Below are eight different techniques to consider:

1. Straight Sell

This is the simplest and most common type of execution. You tell your customer what the product is, what attributes are most appealing, and provide the facts to back it up. This style of no-nonsense advertising is straightforward, but may not be enough to make your product or service stand out.

2. Scientific or Technical Evidence

It’s unfortunate that many people automatically assume your product is exaggerated or embellished in some way. To counteract this, you can use scientific studies to support your claims or endorsement from a scientific body. This works well with technical products or ones where the benefits aren’t immediately clear.

3. Demonstration

Slap Chop KH 8408A Eight Ways to Sell a Message Through Advertising

Sometimes the best way to prove that your product is credible and high quality is to show it in action. Think of late-night infomercials like ShamWow or Slap Chop. These products became so successful because they demonstrated their effectiveness to their audience.

4. Comparison

Moving one step further than demonstration is comparison. This is where you compare your product to your nearest competitor. You’ve seen the hundreds of ads about how one detergent or towel is so much better than the next leading competitor. The Pepsi ad above doesn’t actually mention Coke but they heavily imply it with the red and white soda can. Also note that the ad does not rely on using facts and figures to compare, but instead relies on simple imagery.

5. Testimonial

Trevor Linden 01 Main Eight Ways to Sell a Message Through Advertising

One of the most tried and true styles of advertising is a testimonial. A testimonial is when someone talks about his or her positive experiences with your product and how it affected their life. The more trustworthy the source, the more effective the testimonial. As such, many celebrities are well-sought after for their considerable influence.

6. Slice of Life

A slice-of-life style is one that dramatizes everyday life to show off how easy it would be to integrate your new product into their lives. This is usually done for food, beverage, and cleaning products. Slice-of-life ads are easy to do and don’t require a lot of money to film, but are one of the most overdone (and honestly, boring) styles. If you want to do something like this, you will need to find an interesting twist on it in order to get more attention.

7. Personality Symbol

Eight Ways to Sell a Message Through Advertising

This involves creating a personality or mascot that’s intricately tied to your brand and resonates with your viewers. Think Ronald McDonald, the Pillsbury Doughboy, the Energizer Bunny, and so on.

Creating a personality symbol that sticks may not be as easy as it appears. A poorly thought out mascot will end up being annoying and quickly forgotten. Make sure you do plenty of testing with focus groups and surveys to find something that is appealing to your target audience.

8. Dramatization

Similar to the slice-of-life example, but more focused on excitement and action. While dramatization is generally much more interesting to watch, there is a risk of viewers being so drawn in to the action that they’re missing out on the product being sold in the first place!

Which one should I use?

You don’t need to commit to any one of these techniques. Feel free to mix and match elements from different styles to match your campaign. You need to consider your product, your brand image, the channel, your audience, and what message you want to send to that audience.

Logo

The effect of using logos in ads in remarkable so it is difficult to get ad logo rights. The examples can be seen for the multinational renowned brands as McDonald’s, Subway. These brands are majorly identified with their brand logos. But still you can think why is the logo so important for advertising purpose, please continue reading the next to know:

Constructs Corporate Identity and Trustworthiness While your logo is already a recognized as the symbol of your brand, people already know and trust it, so advertising with it enhances the trust factor and builds the brand’s customer identity. Several big brands use their logo in the advertising efforts and get more benefit than the brands not using the logo. That is, improving the trustworthiness will lead more business and more revenue generation.

Heightens brand exposure Using logos in advertising is essential to improve the exposure of the business or brand on the global platform. Putting the brand mark on every advertising outlets will fortify the reach of your brand and enhance the exposure to more and more potential customers. This will make way to more profit to your business as you care already a respected brand name trough different campaigns of advertising.

Helps to connect with the customers From a personal level, implementing you brand mark in the advertisements helps the customers to associate with the product type and the brand reputation along with the trust factor. Using logos for reliability is one of the most powerful ways for you to evoke a positive response from the consumers. Showing your efforts will not be so effective as it will be if you use the logo. The simple logic is if the audience can relate, then they will buy more and the logo is the tool that intensifies the features and credibility of your business.

While in this competitive market advertisement is the way to reach the audience, a logo is the part that provides the distinctness. There are myriads of enterprises providing similar items and it is the specified brand mark that makes your business existence to the customers online and offline.

Company signature

Slogan

Advertising slogans are short phrases used in advertising campaigns to generate publicity and unify a company’s marketing strategy. The phrases may be used to attract attention to a distinctive product feature or reinforce a company’s brand.

Functional slogans

A marketing slogan can play a part in the interplay between rival companies. A functional slogan usually:

• States product benefits (or brand benefits) for users (or potential buyer)
• Implies a distinction between it and other firms’ products with constraints
• Makes a simple, concise, clearly defined, and appropriate statement
• Is either witty, or has distinct “personality”
• Gives a credible impression of a brand or product
• Makes the consumer experience an emotion; Or, creates a need or desire
• Is hard to forget it adheres to one’s memory

The business sloganeering process communicates the value of a product or service to customers, for the purpose of selling the product or service. It is a business function for attracting customers.

Tagline

In entertainment, a tagline alternatively spelled tag line is a short text which serves to clarify a thought for, or is designed with a form of, dramatic effect. Many tagline slogans are reiterated phrases associated with an individual, social group, or product. As a variant of a branding slogan, taglines can be used in marketing materials and advertising.

The idea behind the concept is to create a memorable dramatic phrase that will sum up the tone and premise of an audio/visual product, or to reinforce and strengthen the audience’s memory of a literary product. Some taglines are successful enough to warrant inclusion in popular culture. Consulting companies which specialize in creating taglines may be hired to create a tagline for a brand or product.

Headlines versus taglines

The tagline is sometimes confused with a headline because information is only presented with the one or the other. Essentially the headline is linked to the information; Once the information changes, the headline is abandoned in favor of a new one. The tagline is related to the entertainment piece and can, therefore, appear on all the information of that product or manufacturer. It is linked to the piece and not to the concept of a specific event. If the sentence is presented next to a logo, as an integral part, it is likely to be a tagline.

Functional taglines

A tagline is sometimes used as a supplementary expression in promoting a motion picture or television program. It is an explanatory subtitle, in addition to the actual title, on posters or the CD/DVD packaging of videos and music. Taglines can have an enticing effect and are therefore an important aspect in the marketing of films and television programs. Increasingly also found in the advertising world, taglines are a form of advertising slogan. A tagline for the movie series Star Wars, for example:

Tagline: “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…” :Star Wars[5]

Effect: It was a long time ago in a far, far away galaxy …

Jingles

Few things can drive an advertising message home like a catchy jingle. Whether your listeners love it or hate it, a good jingle will relate your brand name with a concept, idea, or promotion. Listeners who catch your radio commercial may not notice a jaunty techno beat in the background, but they will notice your snappy jingle. The next time a listener sees a sign or ad for your business, they will immediately associate your jingle with your advertising, creating a relationship that increases the likelihood they’ll choose you next time they need you.

Jingles Are Easy to Remember

A good jingle is unique, fun, and, most importantly, memorable. A radio or TV spot is a great way to advertise, but with the steady stream of information most of us see over a short period of time, it’s easy for your message to get lost in the crowd. A jingle with your phone number, company name, or other identifying features makes it much easier for listeners to remember you, and what makes your company unique. A good jingle is catchy and creative, boasting the information you want listeners to remember above all else.

Jingles Help Define What You Have to Offer

Like most effective advertising methods, a jingle should tell the world what you have to offer that your competitors do not. As a memorable and attention-grabbing song, the right kind of jingle will enhance what your company has to offer. A good jingle will get stuck in listeners’ heads, but will also make a statement about what makes your company unique. A good jingle will leave a lasting message that will stay with potential customers long after first hearing it.

Jingles Attract Customers

In addition to enhancing brand awareness, creating a message that will stick in a listener’s memory, jingles serve one other crucial purpose: attracting customers. A clever, unique, and memorable jingle can create a bond with a listener, making her feel an emotional connection to your brand, your products, and your services. When your jingle is pleasing to listen to and full of vital information listeners want to know, you can easily create a new customer base with a few simple lines of song.

As an advertising method that has stood the test of time, jingles offer many advantages to marketers willing to take the plunge. As a simple, classic method of advertising, jingles associate your brand with a source of information, providing a memorable way for your customers to learn more about what you have to offer. Whether your jingle is something short and sweet or a little longer and more informative, the right jingle can make a world of difference in your advertising strategy.

illustrations

Role of illustration in advertising campaign can never be overlooked. People in any way related to advertising industry know how much importance photography and illustrations hold to captivate and convince the prospects, Copies and concepts are vital but without the right images all other efforts are sure to go in vain.

Various campaigns owe their success of effective marketing to the strategic incorporation of appealing illustrations. You can also find many which failed bitterly due to faulty or unplanned use of graphics. The very first element that holds the potential to grab the eyeballs and generate impression in a prospective customer are visual images. This is imperative to make him stick to your material and read your product or service benefits. Only by making him go through the advertisement, you can convert him into a customer. Therefore illustration for advertising has to be done by experts who are well trained and professional.

Underlying certain importance of illustration in advertising that are unanimously recommended.

Accuracy in illustration usages

You use illustrations to get attention and thus promote your brand, service or product. So, it is crucial that the graphics fall in line with the theme of your campaign, It should not seem odd or something least fitting to the feel and nature. If it fails to blend properly with the overall aesthetics, the visuals can be counterproductive and repeal the audience away. Message will not be communicated and the purpose will fail. Graphic design companies are very particular about accuracy.

Target audience analysis

Whom you are targeting with a campaign matters a lot. Planning of the initiative and the usage of illustrations should be done only after studying the nature, inclination and expectations of the prospects. Factors like age, gender, geographic location, financial potential, intellectual level and all other significant details should be considered. With our artwork services, you can focus sharply on the target audience and make the design really effective by ensuring absolute precision and clarity.

Illustrations and text balancing

Images obviously communicate a lot more than text. But to get maximum impact, the advertising material should have an optimal balance between text and drawings. Too much of text or unreasonably higher drawings only confuses and frustrates the customers. You should make sure that the illustrations are attractive and syncing well with the text. Quantity as well as quality in the material should elevate the effectuality of the campaign. When it comes to text, it should be clear, creative and accurate to convey the message in a convincing and appealing manner. Most of the companies outsource product illustration services to professional graphic design companies as they have artists and copywriters who work together to deliver you amazing end product.

Response on feedback

You should stay adaptive to the response of others in your team and those related to your industry before actually taking the campaign to actual audience. After getting feedbacks, be unhesitantly ready to amend the advertisement as needed. This increases the effectiveness of campaign and help you eliminate any mistakes in text or visuals before the campaign goes live.

Visual Techniques

The conscious use of color is the first example. This technique is used every single time, in every kind of visual marketing.

The color psychology advertising technique is easy to misunderstand or get wrong. A slightly different tonality of any color could end up portraying the wrong emotion, not the one the design was aiming for.

Color is present in the background, photography, fonts, visual accents and branding elements. That’s why it’s important to think about the color palette every single time.

Consider the importance of each color and if it’s doing its job. Creative advertising relies on interesting color schemes to transmit a message without words. Simple choices like using a bold color for a call-to-action button can greatly increase the click-through rate.

Sometimes one color in a brand is so important that it becomes its own entity, like Coca-Cola Red or Tiffany Blue.

The advertisement below uses the Tiffany Blue brand color and a black and white photograph to complement. Note that the model is also giving the viewer a “direct gaze.” We’ll talk more about that later.

Focal Point

Pinpointing a focal point is just as important as the choice of colors and typography. The viewer needs to have a clear place to look at as they absorb the advertisement’s message.

Achieving a focal point can be done in a number of different ways. The rule of thirds and golden mean are actually two useful tools to help create a successful focal point.

Other techniques to settle on a focal point are:

• Selective Focus: Keep the focal point focused and background blurry or vice versa.
• Exposure: Manipulate dark and light areas in an image to make the focal point pop.
• Light Source: Illuminate the focal point exclusively.

When there are two focal points, you can apply Gestalt principles to achieve a good balance. The simple ads below have strong focal points where the letters are rubbed out.

Writing script

1. Represent Your Brand Clearly

Using both verbal and visual cues, your brand’s name, logo and perhaps even the product itself should be conveyed throughout the commercial. Don’t be secretive and wait until the end of the ad to show your brand’s face. But do be tasteful about it.

2. Create a Storyline

The best commercials don’t just sell a product or service; they tell a story. Whether it is a heartfelt story, or a dose of humor or satire, create a storyline to which your audience can relate and connect.

3. Develop a Signature Character or Theme

Each of the example commercials listed above aren’t simply one-off ads. Instead, they are a series of ads that carry the same them or characters throughout. These characters or theme will fortify the audience’s connection with your brand.

4. Keep it Simple

You only have 30 to 60 seconds to get your message across and form a connection with your audience. Keep the overall concept and storyline of your commercial simple.

5. Don’t Cut Corners

Quality is an essential element of an effective TV ad. Quality doesn’t necessarily mean you have to empty your pockets on the production of one ad. But do utilize a professional film production team to ensure the quality of your commercial.

Developing storyboard

Storyboarding is a planning convention used in television, film, cartoons and even advertising. It is the part of the pre-production process in which artists draw comic book-like representations of what the advertisement will look like — a series of panels that represent the planned shots that will eventually be filmed. In advertising, storyboarding is not always a necessary step, but it may prove useful when you finally reach the production stage of filming.

Sequential Outline

A storyboard functions similarly to an outline of a story; it is a shorthand version of the final product that you can use to plan ahead. Commercials, for example, work with limited time frames that are often no longer than 30 seconds. When you review the storyboard, you are able to estimate how much time you have to convey your information. The storyboard breaks down the commercial shot by shot, so you can determine how much time you can spend on each shot to keep the commercial within its time constraints.

Visual Guide

Storyboards also are used as a visual reference guide throughout the filming process. Since each frame of the storyboard represents a shot in the advertisement, you can refer to the storyboard to ensure two things. The first is that you get each shot that you need for the commercial without accidentally leaving anything out. The second is that you frame and shoot each shot in the manner you had planned. You are able to determine ahead of time how you will frame the subject, capture any movement and move the camera, and then simply do so according to your own instructions on the storyboard.

Time to Review

The storyboard serves as your final opportunity to review your concept and make any changes before production happens. Think of it as your last line of defense. After the storyboard is approved, you can always make changes, but doing so during the filming process may cause delays. With your storyboard, you can ensure that you have everything you need, like props, set dressings and on-screen talent, as well as ensuring that the advertisements message comes across strongly through your visual storytelling. It is your way of visualizing the final product before going through the motions of actual production.

Not Necessarily Required

Despite their common use, storyboards are not always required for a project, particularly an advertisement. For example, an extended infomercial — particularly one that is filmed before a live audience — does not necessarily lend itself to being extensively planned ahead of time. Even when you do storyboard, there are no set rules regarding your methods or how elaborate it is. Your storyboard may be as simple as a few simple stick figures and arrows. As long as it gives you the information you need, you can prepare your storyboard in any way you see fit.

Music, Soundtrack

Music in advertising refers to music integrated into (mass) electronic media advertisements to enhance its success. Music in advertising affects the way viewers perceive the brand by different means and on different levels, and “can significantly affect the emotional response to television commercials.” It also affects the musicians whose music is featured in advertisements.

Here are 5 elements that music offers to enhance commercials.

1. Evokes Emotion

One of the reasons commercials love to use music is because music has the ability to evoke a range of emotions.

2. Creates a Story

A commercial’s success often relies on its ability to tell a story.

Stories are a relatable element between the audience and the brand. That’s why music plays such a crucial role in the storytelling process. Think about the last time you saw a TV show or a movie.

Whether the audience is paying attention or not, music offers cues to them that this moment is in the storyline is important, whether dramatically or subtly.

3. Sparks Action

Music has always been a source of inspiration.

Take a listen to any national anthem and how it fiercely inspires people to stand for a nation. Like mentioned before, music’s ability to evoke emotion and inspiration is a strong one. From motivating you to do better, or taking a stand against something, music is a catalyst for change and action.

That’s why commercials that want to promote, advocate, or a take a stand on a subject use music to help propel their message. With the brand’s intent, coupled with inspirational music, people can be moved to take action and inadvertently begin to talk about the brand.

4. Reinforces the Sale

Whether sparking action or creating a story, music is the undeniable factor to help push the brand.

Brands align themselves with an audience they want to represent.

In turn, the music they use for commercials has to fall in-line with their message. That’s why you hear gritty, electronic music in commercials geared towards a younger audience and more traditional, pleasant music for more mature audiences.

5. Meshes with the Brand

Ultimately, a brand wants to have a uniform image and consistency in order to properly sell to its audience. That’s why it’s imperative that every detail of their image has to be precise, including their music.

As mentioned before, the music a brand chooses for it’s commercial reinforces a sale and creates emotion.

It has to be a symbol of the brand; synonymous with it. The brand’s music choice has to be embedded into its target market’s culture. That’s why music has to mesh with the brand; they are mutually exclusive.

An ‘advertising copy’ is the means by which an advertiser expresses his ideas in the form of a message to the readers. If refers to all the reading matters of an advertisement, whether short or long, and includes the headline, sub-headlines, text or body, and the name or the initial of an advertiser. An advertising copy is sometimes referred to as ‘advertising message’.

Characteristics of Advertising Copy:

The format of advertising copy must be so designed that it possesses the characteristics, or features like:

(1) Arresting pictures,

(2) Arresting headlines,

(3) Novelty and contrast of the product,

(4) Dis­tinctiveness,

(5) Message size and position (how long, how short, how it is put, etc.),

(6) Colour,

(7) Shape, and

(8) Movement.

Factors Affecting Advertising Copy:

An advertising copy must be based on the following factors:

(i) Is advertising believable?

(ii) Is advertising reliable?

(iii) Does it appeal to the consumers’ needs and wants?

(iv) Does it explain the benefits of a product realistically?

(v) Is it based on creativity? etc.

An advertising copy or message has to be designed by identifying the target audience. What are the audience needs? attitudes? preferences? It is very difficult to pinpoint various factors in detail, because much depend on the perception, attitude and social status of the audience.

The aim of advertising copy is that it shall be seen, read, the messages conveyed, and then acted upon. It is necessary that an advertisement copy creates curiosity in the mind of the prospect, invites his attention, pro­duces an impression on his memory and turns his impressions into convictions.

Essentials of a Good Advertising Copy:

Advertising copy contains the message of the advertisement. For advertising in newspa­pers, magazines and other publications, such message is conveyed through reading material in written words and pictures; for radio advertising, the message is communicated through talking material in spoken words; and for film and television advertising, the message is embodied in both reading and talking material.

According to the differing nature of advertising media, the copy of advertising may represent some reading, talking, or combined reading and talking material.

Irrespective of its nature, advertising copy in all cases is to be drawn up in conformity with certain cardinal principles as follows:

1. Advertising copy being meant for conveying information, it must provide such information through as simple, clear, concise and complete a copy as possible. A simple and clear copy requires the use of known words and familiar phrases rather than the introduction of rare words and high- flown phrases.

Conciseness or brevity is the art of copy writing and lends much in gaining public reception for a product. A complete copy is what gives full information relating to the source and time of availability of the advertised products or services along with their costs.

2. The copy should be drawn up with a specific objective in view rather than the general one of increasing sales. As sales are circumscribed by a number of barriers like feeling of high prices, existence of rival brands, lack of quality confidence or knowledge of poor performance, the message of the copy should be directed to dispel the wrong impression or to overcame the consumer resistance.
3. The copy should be designed with an eye to enlist the support of prospective consumers. A general appeal to all falls into deaf ears and fails to draw the attention of any particular group or section of the community. Accompanied by a proper layout with suitable headings and illus­trations, an effective copy carries the message to those people who are likely to use the advertised products or services.
4. The message of the advertisement is of no avail unless it can create consumers’ interest in the product. In the absence of faith or confi­dence in a business and its products, no interest can be expected on the part of consumers. For this purpose, the copy must be grounded in a tone of sincerity and believability. The message must be capable of inspiring confidence in prospective consumers and of winning their acceptance.
5. The copy should stimulate a deep-seated human desire through making an appeal to the inner yearnings of the consumer. That is to say, the copy is to be based upon a central theme of appeal.

Component Parts or Elements of Advertising Copy:

The make-up or component parts of the copy of advertising can be viewed from two aspects:

1. Advertising theme and
2. Advertising layout.

(A) Advertising Theme:

A theme represents a particular view-point or a central idea with which the message is conveyed to the consuming public. The theme involves a rational appeal based upon human emotions, desires or sentiments. Such well-thought-out and specific appeals became effective in arousing desire and in initiating action on the part of consumers.

The following are the common themes used in advertising:

1. The theme of beauty:

The sales appeal for cosmetics, perfumeries and toilet products are usually based upon the theme of beauty. Accordingly, the message of the advertisement contains expressions like “For romantic or charming appearance, use product A”, “Product B ensures alluring or exquisite complexion”, or “Care your hair with product C for glossy glimpse and luxuriant growth.”

2. The theme of pride:

The sales message in the case of jewelleries, radios, costly clothes, motor cars and others is laid upon the theme of pride, since the acquisition of such products is deemed as proud possessions on the part of buyers. For example, “Prestige car means A”, “Radio B adds decency to any home”, “Discerning people prefer fabric C”, or “X’s Jewellery adorns fashionable ladies.”

3. The theme of health:

Food products and drugs are advertised through reliance upon the theme of health. To take some examples, “Product A supplies boundless energy and vigour”, “Health brings happiness—and the key to health is held by product B”, “Product C keeps you free from disease”, or “Eminent physicians prescribe D for cold and cough.”

4. The theme of comfort:

Products which aid in giving comfort to the people at work or at home are advertised through the theme of comfort. Elec­trical fans, air-conditioning plants, refrigerators and the likes belong to the group of products meant for providing comfort.

5. The theme of economy:

This is a common appeal used in many cases for making bargaining purchase, for saving money or far protecting costly things from decay and destruction.

6. The theme of fear:

The theme of fear is utilized by insurance companies and safety-vault operators in expanding the demand for their services. Possible dangers and their consequences are presented in the copy of advertising for initiating action on the part of their customers.

7. The theme of emulation:

The desire for imitation is strongly implanted in human nature. By giving illustrations and factual information as to what some distinguished persons do, the message of the advertisement may call for imitation on the part of others. To take one case, “The succ­essful men all over the globe use Blade A.”

8. The theme of distinction:

The desire for individual recognition, distinct social status and superior community standing is inherent in human beings. As an outward mark of that distinction, selected products of very expensive nature are acquired by a class of people who may be high-borns or aristocrats.

9. The theme of affection:

Baby foods, toys and other playthings are advertised on the basis of this theme. By directing appeal towards parental love, the copy of advertising becomes effective in securing action on the part of buyers.

10. The theme of patriotism:

The appeal for products of national origin is sometimes based upon national sentiments. For the prosperity of a nation and its citizens, the theme of patriotism makes out a case for using national products in preference to goods of foreign origin.

(B) Advertising Layout:

Layout is the logical arrangement of compo­nents of an advertisement in the copy and deals with systematic presentation of the message. The pattern of layout varies according to the medium to be used.

For newspapers and magazines, the presentation of the message is visible in written words and pictures; in radio the presentation is audible in spoken words and sound effects; and in television, both audio and visual presentations are practicable. In all cases, balance and symmetry are of prime importance in presenting the message within the allotted space or time.

Visual layout in any publication can be divided into the following three parts:

(a) Headlines:

Headlines are used in bold letters for drawing atten­tion of the consuming public. The size and length of the headline must be appropriate to the general format and page size of the publication; it must also be in keeping with the theme of advertising and with the entire make-up of the copy.

Usually, short headlines are given stressing some facts, suggestions, prepositions or convictions. In magazines and trade journals, colour printing is adopted for headlines to make than more promi­nent and conspicuous in character.

(b) Illustrations:

Illustrations are given by way of pictures, symbols or photographs for drawing attention, creating interest as well as for arousing desire. Significant illustrations may be worth a thousand words in securing public reception for the product.

But limits of decency must not be exceeded in presenting pictures or photographs which should always be in good taste. Obscene and objectionable pictures do more harm than good to the cause of advertisement.

(c) Texts:

Texts provide the heart of the message of advertisements, and they are to be woven around an advertising theme. For an individual copy, one theme is desirable; a multiplicity of themes creates confusion and weakens the strength of appeal. For presenting the text, different practices are followed in the business world.

In some cases, the text is prefaced by a statement of problem to the reader and followed by a solution thereof. In other cases, reading materials are presented in an analytical manner with pertinent facts and data. Furthermore, the text may be presented by the use of type face in one copy or of hard lettering in another copy.

Advertising copy must arrest, inform, impress and impel the reader.

A well defined advertising copy must perform the following functions:

(a) Attract Attention

(b) Command Interest

(c) Create Desire

(d) Inspire Conviction

(e) Provoke Action.

An advertising copy may be classified as under:

Educational Copy:

It aims at educating the public, regarding the use of a product. Such an advertisement copy depicts the specialties of the product, in contrast to the existing ones. People keep certain habits which cannot be easily changed. Demand can be created when such habits are changed. This type of copy introduces new habits and attracts people towards the product.

Competitive Copy:

It aims at putting forth the special features of a product. It promotes to differ one brand from competitors’ brands. It meets the challenge of the competitors.

Institutional Copy:

It sells not the products of the institution but the name of the institution. Also known as PRESTIGE or CORPORATE advertising, this is the type of advertisement used to present the company’s image. When a pharmaceutical firm takes space it describes its research skills, its contribution to society etc. The copy aims to develop and maintain a good-will for the product that the product comes from a reputed house.

Example:

MISSIONARY COPY aims at propaganda for the product.

PIONEERING COPY aims at educating the public.

GOODWILL COPY is one which does not try to sell a product but aims to sell the public some idea on the firm in general, on the quality of its product, its utility, etc.

SELLING COPY is used by the mail-order house to effect a sale by mail, or by the manufacturer who sells through retailers, to persuade the buyer to call for his brand at the retail store. It is used by the retailer to make an immediate sales of the goods, which he may have to stock.

REASON WHY COPY itself is clear as to its meaning. It explains the reasons to readers- why the advertised product is to be purchased. It aims at answering the questions raised about a product as to why, how and when the product is to be purchased.

HUMAN INTEREST COPY makes its appeal to the emotions and the senses, rather than to the intellect and judgement. It may be of many forms: Fear Copy, Humorous Copy, Story Copy etc. The examples and statements of these copies are funny and readers smile or laugh. It affects the heart rather than the mind.

SUGGESTIVE COPY directly or indirectly conveys the message, which leads to sales.

EXPOSITORY COPY is not to conceal but to expose the facts as they are clear and concise ideas are given. It explains the construction, uses, merits, operation and superiority of advertised articles.

DESCRIPTIVE COPY conveys the ideas in words or pictures so as to impress the readers’ mind and thus act upon it.

ARGUMENTATIVE COPY is a message supported by facts. 

Qualities of a Good Advertisement Copy:

An effective advertisement copy must have certain qualities which make it the best one. They are:

1. It Must Be Simple:

It must be simple and easy to understand. A copy writer must use short, simple, understandable words and sentences. The words or sentences used must be remembered by intelligent persons and non-intelligent persons. It must make people to see it, i.e., it should arrest their attention.

2. It Must Be Informative:

The copy must give the information which the reader wants to know about the products, in order to buy. Hence it must give the real fact. The information must be natural and straightforward. It must make people read it, i.e., people should be informed.

3. It Must Be Concise and Complete:

The copy must be complete and brief. If it is incomplete, it fails. Brevity is essential (condensation). Completeness should never be sacrificed for brevity. It must make people to understand it.

4. It Must Be Enthusiastic:

Salesman’s talk in the written form is the copy. The copy must tell the reader what the product or merchandise will do for him.

5. It Must Be Honest:

It must be honest and truthful towards the public. If the copy is untrue, then the confidence and the value of publicity go down. The public should not be cheated. The public, who are the final users of the products, are the witness of the product quality.

If inferior products are sold through false advertising, they have a short life. If the firm is hiding the facts, not exposing the real position, the product tells its own weakness to the users. If the advertisement is not honest, then the products will disappear from market and the firm will be closed down within a short span of time.

6. It Creates An Urge:

It must reveal unknown or unseen features of the products. The public should be informed about the product’s use and merits by the advertiser. It must create a goodwill in the minds of the public. Its aim must be to trust the firm and its products. It should have an effective salesmanship in absentia.

A Good Advertisement Copy:

1. It must make people to see it.
2. It must make people to read it.
3. It must make people to understand it.
4. It must make people to believe it.
5. It must make people to buy the product.

Elements of an Advertisement Copy:

There are certain principles, which an advertisement should have. That is it must aim to arrest, inform, impress and urge the readers to act on the advertisement.

The elements are known as values and they are:

1. Attention Value:

People are busy. They find time rarely. Almost all the people, who are able to make a purchase, do not have enough time. Under such situations, the advertisement must be able to attract the attention of readers, at a glance. There must be some specialty in the advertisement.

To make it more attractive, we may adopt the following devices:

(a) Pictures and drawings should have a direct bearing on the product.

(b) The headline must be good with a proper border.

(c) It must have a pleasing colourful presentation.

(d) It should not be congested i.e., there must be enough inter-space.

(e) The slogans must be lively.

(f) The coupons must be part of the advertisement.

By filling the coupons the needy customer must be able to get full information and thereby it becomes repeated advertisement to the seller.

2. Suggestive Value:

The message advertised should have some suggestive and useful value to those who go through the advertisement. The words or pictures in the advertisement should have commanding power on the readers. Repetition has good effect. When one comes across the advertisement every time, he begins to consider the product.

3. Conviction Value:

To be more effective, the statements in the advertisement must be genuine and accurate. Misrepresentation or exaggerative words must be avoided. Simple and plain facts have more effect on the readers to convince them than colourful or flattering wordings.

4. Sentimental Value:

The sentimental feelings or the prejudiced attitude of the reader should not be affected by the advertiser; but rather, they must be respected. The likes and dislikes, habits and customs etc., of the readers may be highly considered. It must appear that the advertiser is doing it for the readers.

5. Educative Value:

When products are manufactured for the first time, it is the duty of the producer, through advertisements, to draw the attention of the people and to tell them the use, merits, ingredients, special features etc., of the products. All people are alike, but their behaviour is different.

When the advertisement is able to change their habits and mould the tendency to use the products, the market for the products increases. People must have a feeling to see the advertisement through bearing eyes. It gives new information, suggestion and knowledge to people and directs them to go for the product.

6. Memorizing Value:

Advertisement must create a good impression on the reader’s mind. Slogan, if it is good to read and charming to hear, has good memorizing value. Repeating the advertisement often, through attractive brand name and catchy wordy slogans, may have a memorizing value in the minds of the readers.

7. Instinctive Value:

The advertiser must have a well-thought out plan to make a copy to be advertised. The matter or message must be arranged in such a way that the reader is able to understand and act on the message. The presentation is brief with questions tempting or compelling the people to act on. We can come across, an inducement, an aroused feeling, a temptation, an inclination etc., in such advertisements.

A live commercial is spoken by the presenter, station announcer, or newscaster.

Here the presenter reads your script. Or they can discuss your service or product during the spoken segments of their shows.

On the other hand:

Prerecorded commercials have undergone prior production including recording, editing, mixing, adding sound effects, etc.

This can be done in-house by the station’s staff or outsourced to an agency.

Currently, most of the radio ads are 30 or 60 seconds long. But some radio spots are 15s, 10s or 5s long.

So how many words are in a 30-second ad? Easy, just refer to this table:

No of words	Seconds
25	10
35	15
40-75	30
125-140	60

Sounds, Music for Radio commercial

Without visuals to rely on, the music, background sounds (e.g. Foley) or special effects you select all need to work together to convey the mood and setting of your commercial. This careful attention to detail can mean the difference between catching a listener’s attention, or fading into background noise.

For instance, if you’re a company that sells vacation packages, imagine how your target audience might be captured by the grating sound of an ice scraper on a car windshield especially when juxtaposed with the sound of ice cubes clinking together in a fresh cold drink, as waves crash in the background.

Your Audio Ad Voice Over Forms an Emotional Connection

Often, casting directors will say that as they’re listening through auditions, when they find the right voice, they “just know.”

While this might seem like an oversimplification of the casting process, when you consider how important emotional connection is to capturing attention, it makes sense. When it comes to our emotions, we’re often moved by what we hear simply by hearing it. We don’t need to think over ‘why’ we’ve reacted, all we know is that the performance connected on a visceral level.

Chances are, if the voice over has caused you to pause and take notice, it will do the same for your audience.

Tips to Creating Effective Audio Ads

Keep Your Audio Ad Simple

If your listener remembered just one key message from your ad, what would you want it to be?

Choose one important message, and focus your effort on driving it home.

When listeners are hearing your audio ad, it’s likely that they’re multi-tasking whether they’re driving, washing the dishes, or out for a run their attention is already divided. So make your ad memorable by cutting back on the information that the listener has to remember. You only have around 30 seconds or less for a typical Spotify or Pandora audio spot, so your message has to be crystal clear.

Cut to Your Audio Ad’s Value Proposition as Early as Possible

Always lead with the most important information.

This goes right back to the point above on honing in on your key message. Now that you know what you want listeners to remember, cut to the chase and spend the rest of the time you have reinforcing that message.

Even if you feel like you’re repeating yourself, your listener is more likely to retain your message if they hear it more than once!

Appreciate the Difference between Audio Ads and Radio

Even though some fundamentals, such as script writing and great voice over casting, are essential to both audio ads and radio commercials, some elements are different.

For instance, the listener isn’t likely in your geographic region, so you’ll have to consider a broader audience.

Further, the listener is much more mobile. Traditional radio tends to reach people in the car, at home, or at work. However, when it comes to online radio, listeners could be anywhere, as long as they have a connected device.

Conversational Tone in Your Audio Ad Voice over Can Be Powerful

As Dale Carnegie aptly pointed out in his classic book, ‘How To Win Friends and Influence People,’ people like listening to friendly people, who speak clearly and in a conversational manner. This has never been truer in modern times, when the relatable voice over reads are dominating the advertising space.

When you post your voice over job for your audio ad, you can provide artistic direction to auditioning voice over actors that includes a read that’s conversational and friendly.

Slower Voice over Delivery Forms a Connection with the Listener

When you’re writing a voice over script, it can be easy to lose sight of the fact that the voice over talent only have a limited amount of time to deliver the whole read. You don’t want your audio ad to sound like the rapid chatter associated with disclaimer statements, such as those that appear at the end of a prescription drug commercial!

When you want your ad to be conversational, it pays to be sparing with the copy. By nature, conversations are much slower than ads you hear on television or on the radio.

Give time for the listener to mentally absorb what they’ve just heard and take action.

Loud Background Music is Distracting

You don’t necessarily need to eliminate background music, but rather, consider the volume level of the background music in comparison to the voice over, which should be heard front and center.

On the topic of background music, license a track from a music provider.

There are literally thousands of tracks to choose from online and you’ll be sure to find one that represents your brand and matches the performance style of the voice talent.

Create a Smooth Transition for the Listener

An audio ad isn’t listened to in isolation. Ads are inserted between songs, interviews and other audio content, so you’ll need to have a clean start and finish to your ad.

Avoid long pauses at the beginning of your ad, as it will give the impression that there’s dead air. On the tail end of your ad, avoid long fade-outs for the same reason.

Get creative! This is a savvy audience.

Make Your Call to Action Specific

When you embed a call-to-action (CTA), it’s important that it be as specific as possible. Drive traffic to your website or social media site by instructing listeners how and where they can learn more about your offering. Reference the exact next steps that you want your audience to take. You can even take it one step further by assigning a special landing page, URL, or code to offers that you promote in podcasts (e.g. Use promo code “PodcastListener” in the checkout cart!). That way, you’ll be able to track just how effective your audio ad is.

Record Your Audio Ad

Once you have your script completed, you need to now record the audio ad. Read our article on how to record an audio ad before you go any further in the process!

Pandora and Spotify Ad Examples

So now you have a framework to build an awesome online audio ad. However, you might want some real examples to sink your teeth into. Here are some of the best ad examples on Pandora and Spotify:

Write in the Active voice

When writing web copy, you want to come across with a strong and direct tone that makes what you say crystal clear the last thing you need is for your readers to be rearranging sentences in their minds!

By using the active voice (and avoiding the passive voice), you will be ensuring your writing will be clearly understood.

Craft Headlines that are Captivating & Concise

First impressions count, doubly so online.

When it comes to making great first impressions on your website, that responsibility lies solely on your headlines.

In fact, tests conducted by Upworthy has concluded that traffic can vary by up to a whopping 500% depending just on the headline itself!

So how do we ensure our headlines are infused with the right stuff to capture attention and entice those eyeballs to read through the rest of our copy?

Simple! Focus on crafting a headline that delivers the benefit fast, is concise and hits on the key terms that resonate with your ideal reader.

The copy on Proposify’s hero banner utilizes a powerful headline that delivers on making it crystal clear about what they do and how the user will benefit.

Use Language They Know

Convincing your reader with logic is good, but connecting with their emotions gets them to relate with you, forming a strong connection with your brand!

So how do we leverage this superpower for our website copy? By speaking their language while using a tone of voice that is personality-filled, allowing your reader to easily relate to you.

Frontload Your Best Stuff

Writing web copy isn’t the same as crafting a Harry Potter novel where you start out with a slow beginning and leave the exciting best for the last, it’s the direct opposite!

You need to hook em fast within 3 seconds!

As people’s attention span become shorter than a goldfish’s, it is vital that you frontload your best information right at the start to immediately capture their attention and create a feeling of ‘I need to read more and learn more!’

Here are the top 5 to put up front and center:

1. Your unique selling point (What makes you different from your competitors)
2. Any special or seasonal offers that are going on
3. The greatest benefit your product will bring
4. Information To pre-empt your customer’s biggest worry
5. Powerful social proof (such as reviews and testimonials)

Leverage Social Proof Smartly 

The best websites that enjoy higher conversions are the ones that strategically utilize social proof elements in their website copy.

When making a purchase online, your visitor will take cues from other people who have bought from your business and it’s no surprise people rely heavily on online reviews when making purchasing decisions.

While there are many formats and types of social proof you can gather such as:

• Customer testimonials
• Media features and mentions
• Influencer endorsements
• Brand Logos
• Number of products sold etc

Utilize Headings & Brief Descriptions 

Remember when we mentioned keeping the headline concise?

Well, you will need to do the same for virtually the rest of your web copy – no long paragraphs telling a story, but brief descriptions placed neatly under a short and punchy heading!

The reason? Keep things simple and allow your reader to scan comfortably through your website.

Take Sumo, for example, they keep their product features descriptions highly scannable with headings that immediately get to the point.

Simplicity: The key in radio is to build around one central idea. Avoid confusing the listener with too many copy points. Use known words, short phrases, simple sentences structure. Keep in mind that the copy needs to be conversational. Clarity: Keep the train of thought on one straight track. Avoid side issues. Use the active voice in simple sentences. Avoid adverbs, cliches, and ambiguous phrases. Delete unnecessary words. (Test: Would the commercial be hurt if the words were deleted?

If not, take them out). Write from draft to drafi until your script becomes unmistakably clear and concise.

Coherence: Be certain that your sales message flows in logical sequence from first word to last, using smooth transitional words and phrases for easier listening.

Rapport: Remember, as far as your listeners are concerned, you are speaking only to them. Try to use a warm, personal tone, as if you were talking to one or two people.

Make frequent use of the word ‘you’. Address the listeners in terms they would use themselves.

Pleasantness: It is not necessary to entertain simply for the sake of it, but there is no

And Music point in being dull or obnoxiotls. Strike a happy medium; talk as one friend to another about the product or service.

Believability: Every product has its good points, tell the truth about them. Avoid overstatements and obvious exaggerations; they are quickly spotted and defeat the whole purpose of the commercial. Be straightforward; convey the feeling of being a trusted friend.

Interest: Nothing makes listeners indifferent faster than a boring commercial. Products and services are not fascinating in themselves; it is the way you look at them that makes them interesting. Try to give your customer some useful information as a reward for listening.

Distinctiveness: Sound different firm other commercials and set your product apart from others. Use every technique a fresh approach, a musical phrase, a particular voice quality or sound effect, to give your commercial its own character.

Compulsion: Inject your commercial with a feeling of urgency. The first few seconds are crucial; this is when you capture or lose the listener’s attention. Direct every word towards moving the prospect close; to wanting the product. During the last ten seconds, repeat. Your promise of benefit; register the name of your product. And don’t forget to urge the listener to act without delay. It is surprising how many commercials don’t do this.

Let us now examine the various types of commercials. Commercials on radio can be broadly classified under two type’s spots and sponsored programmes. It combines announcement of exact time as well as broadcast of the commercial message.