MODULE III

THE ART OF COPY WRITING

COPY
A „Copy‟ means a written matter in any advertisement. It may consist only one word or many words. A copy
consist of headlines, subheads, captions etc. A copy is the heart of an advertisement. It shoulders the
responsibility for influencing the buyers.

Some of these guidelines for creative strategy in advertising are as follows:

1. Use of Present tense:

It makes the message more active and personal. It deals with"new" rather than "before" and such
messages are more impressive

2. Use of Active voice rather than passive voice for better reading :
As active verbs mean action, they communicate better as compared to passive voice.

3. Use of familiar words and phrases:

The audience prefer simple language

4. Respect your audience :

Audience is rational and logical, so the message should be straight forward, simple and specific

5. Facts based claims:

The claims made by the advertiser about the product or service offered should be supported by
laboratory tests or a testimonial by a credible witness to make it more effective.

HEADLINE
The headline is considered to be most crucial element of the entire message which carries almost 80% of the
weight of the message.

The style and content of headlines will vary with the nature of the product and purpose of use of the
product and it may be presented in any of the following ways

(a) Headlines promising benefit to the customer like .

(b) Headlines to arouse curiosity
(c) Headlines providing newsworthy announcements
(d) Headlines to draw attention of specific target.
 Body Copy and Text
The main copy is meant to explain the headline further in a narrative way to explain product features
and develop the benefit it promises. The copy may be long or short. The copy may be emotional or
rational approach.
According to Advertising Manager's Hand-book, a copy must do following seven things in order to
produce results.

❖ The headlines and entire body should make interesting reading.

❖ The main idea should be to inform readers maximum about the product in an interesting way.
❖ The advertisement should be more personal, involving the client and should make the reader
think that it is meant for him/her.
❖ The advertisement should not be a source of entertainment for the readers or source of
providing information.
❖ The advertisement copy must convince the reader about the truthfulness of the claims made
for their products in the advertisement. It should provide supporting information.
❖ Advertisement should be able to persuade the reader to buy the product.
❖ The aim of advertising is to create such awareness of a product in the readers

Close of the Copy

Advertisements close is second to its headline in importance. The close should urge some sort of immediate
favourable action,,

For example, "Visit your nearest dealer and ask for a demonstration" at the end of an advertisement for
washing machines and microwave ovens are often found in the close.

Illustrations
These consists of photographs , drawings, graphs, charts, paintings and other pictorial devices. Marketers
use illustrations to gain attentions , comprehensions, attitude change and behavior changes. Illustrations are
of vital value in conveying the theme of the message.

Advertisement Design and Layout

Layout refers to the form and design of the advertisement and is generally worked out by the art
director and not copy writer, The layout in general represents the arrangement of the
parts/elements, of the advertisement These various elements are headlines, sub-headlines,
copy/text and the close including an illustration or a photograph. There are certain principles which
guide an art director to achieve the desired coordination. These are as follows:
 ❖ Balance :
It refers to that part of the advertisement at which the readers eye is likely to focus first. It is also
known as optical center. The product type and the image of the company would determine the
extent of balance to be achieved.

❖ Eye Movement :
Once the balance of the advertisement is decided, the art director must ensure that the entire
advertisement is read by the reader. People are usually impatient and hence donot read the entire
message to the end. It is generally recognized that our eye movement is in a diagonal left right
downward direction. Art director should therefore use-certain techniques to keep the readers eye
moving and glazing.

❖ Proportion:
Assigning same weight and same space to all elements of advertisements will attract little attention.

❖ Contrast:
Contrast means variety and it gives life to the layout. An advertisement will stand out and get noticed
if it is made in contrast. Different colour contrasts can be developed to be used in advertisements to
make them more attractive and noticeable.

❖ Unity :
"Unity in diversity" principle is applicable to advertisement as well. Various elements presented in
the advertisement must complement each other so that the whole unit looks as one and not parts.

Developing USP (Unique Selling Propositions)

Rosser Reeves, an authority over advertisement has proposed that each product should develop its own
unique selling proposition (USP) and use whatever repetition is necessary to communicate the USP to the
audience.

He also proposed following three guidelines to the development of a USP:

(a) It should involve a specific product benefits ;

(b) It must be unique and that competing firms are not using, and
(C) It must be powerful enough to the consumers to influence their decision process.
Steps in Copy Development Process
1. Fact Finding Stage:
At the outset, the advertising agency must get answers to following questions:
• What central issue needs to be tackled ?
• What are overall communication objectives?
• What are specific communication objectives to be achieved ?
All relevant data and information about the product and the targeted consumers should be collected and
analysed to decide the course to be undertaken.

2. Idea Finding Stage :

During this stage, tentative ideas are developed. These ideas are then processed, developed and
screened.

The PACT Principles of Copy Testing

In 1982, a coalition of 21 advertising agencies developed the following principles of copy testing called PACT
(Positioning Advertising Copy Testing):

❖ A good copy testing system provides measurements which are relevant to the objectives of the
advertising.
❖ A good copy testing system is one which requires agreement about how the results will be used in
advance of each specific test.
❖ A good copy testing system is based on a model of human response - the reception of a stimulus, the
comprehension of the stimulus and the response to the stimulus.
❖ A good copy testing system allows for consideration of whether the advertising stimulus should be
exposed more than once.
❖ A good copy-testing system provides controls to avoid the biasing effects of the exposure contest.
❖ A good copy-testing system is one which takes into consideration the basic requirements of sample
definition.
❖ A good copy-testing system is one that can demonstrate reliability and validity.

The DAR Test

One of the most widely used methods for testing TV commercials is the Day-After Recall technique,
commonly known as DAR test. In the 1950s a New York based advertising agency created a research
technique called the 24 hour recall. This was later adopted by Burke, USA. They standardised the technique
and termed it Day-After-Recall or DAR technique.
Advertising Planning And Programme
The major activities of advertising management are planning and decision making. A complete advertising
plan reflects the results of the planning and decision making process and the decisions that have been made
in a particular product-market situation

Marketing Strategy and Situation Analysis

Marketing Strategy :

It combines all of marketing goals to achieve maximum profit. In fact, the development of marketing
strategy should begin with situation analysis and a detailed examination and analysis of all important
internal and external factors operating in a particular situation. This is also called as "SWOT Analysis. It aims
at assessing the "Strengths"; "Weaknesses" ; "Opportunities" and "Threats" faced by the company in
question.

Situation analysis:

Consist of several methods of analysis look both macro and micro , it consist of 5C’s – Company ,
Competitors , Customers , Collaborators, climate. Invariably involves research of some kind. For advertising
planning and behaviour with respect to the product, service, idea or object to be advertised.

The Marketing Plan

Advertising planning and decision-making take place in the context of an overall marketing plan. The
marketing plan includes planning, implementation and control functions for the total firm or a product line
or a particular decision-making unit. It consist of 4 P's or Product, Price, Place and Promotion

Advertising Communication System

Advertising communication process involves a perception process and four elements n
The advertising message has following variety of effects upon the receiver :

(a) Create awareness of the product/brand.

(b) Informing about product attributes and benefits.

(c) Developing or altering image or personality.

(d) Associating a brand with emotions and feelings.

(e) Creating group norms

(f) Precipitate behaviour.

The Advertising Plan

The major internal and external factors involved in advertising planning and decision making

The Steps in Advertising Planning Process

1. In-depth study of 'macro' and 'micro' environmental factors like social, economical ethical, political
physical, technological etc and internal factors like corporate history, philosophy, culture,
opportunities and threats.
2. Setting up of organisational goals including long-term goals and the short term objectives and
strategies.
3. Identifying and defining the target market to concentrate for selling the product.
 4. Conducting Market Research to gather data about consumers, demand for the product and degree of
competition prevailing in the market.
5. Specifying marketing objectives within the broad framework of organizational goals.
6. Designing a marketing plan to achieve marketing goals.
7. Deciding the advertising strategy based on factors like moves of competitors, substitutability of
marketing inputs, productivity of marketing inputs, elasticity etc.
8. Determining advertising goals.
9. Preparation of Advertising Budget precedes media selection.
10. Testing the advertising plan.
11. Implementing/Executing the advertising plan.
12. Evaluating the advertising plan.

Horizontal co-operative primary demand advertising

Horizontal co-operative primary demand advertising occurs when a trade association and its members
decide to combine their marketing efforts in order to promote their product under a generic name.

Vertical Co-operative Advertising

It occurs when the manufacturer takes the assistance of a distributor or a dealer in the promotion of the
manufacturer's specific brand. Here manufacturer hopes that his distributors or dealers will carry and
display his brand of goods and to offer supplementary advertising at the local level where the item is
purchased.

FACTORS INFLUENCING SALES

Advertising Strategy
Strategy is an art of conducting skillful operations. Advertising strategy is defined as “ The formulation of an
advertising message that communicates the benefit or problem - solution characteristics of a product or
service to the market.”

There are some general guidelines that help to improve the advertising strategy to create more
favourable response

a) The market should first be segmented according to consumer needs and wants and then aim the
message to the chosen target market.
b) The message must clearly communicate that the product offered will satisfy that segments needs,
wants and desires.
c) The benefits offered to the consumer must be wanted by the consumers
d) Sales are made in the consumer heads. Therefore, the advertising message must communicate what
people have to believe about the product in order to give it outstanding preference over all others of
its kind.
e) The consumer benefit must be directly related to the specific features of the product.