by 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:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
