What's New At High Profile

• On to September and there are the usual PR support requirements for clients, promotional campaigns to plan and associated design work to expedite. Typical fare at High Profile.

• The autumn / winter / spring international boat shows season has started: always a busy time for High Profile. Genoa in Italy will be of particular importance next month, with a High Profile client introducing more new products than at any time in its long and successful history. Planning is well underway.

• September's marcoms advice bite: Look for the drama. Let the excitement in business shine through your communications.

• Clients new and long-standing continue to benefit from a skilled mix of communications consultancy, public relations strategies, advertising and graphics production, media planning services, plus business news distribution – the main components of High Profile support across the world of enterprise.

• Want to know more about lifting the profile of your organisation? Then call or e-mail High Profile now.

• What's New At High Profile is updated at the start of every month, complete with the regular marketing communications guidance, analysis or comment (see below).

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Public Relations • Creative Design • Media Management • Press Office

How To Read A Banana
Monthly article by Alan Page
Number 20 : September 2008

ADVERTISING copy writing is no refuge for the gifted amateur. Every productive piece has been crafted with care and flair. Allow me to share with you some insider information about the creative words business, in this instance concentrating on printed forms of persuasion. There should be one kind of advertising: the one that has something to say. If it can tell the readers something they don't know, all the better.
   Researchers delve into every aspect of advertising. One of the findings of importance when preparing printed material is the way in which a majority of people look at the results. There is a definite route. When the reader skims through a magazine and turns the page to be confronted by your work, his or her eyes go to the picture first. Two-thirds of people think in pictures, by the way. Then, the headline is seen. Next, it is a glance at the bottom of the advert to make sure who is doing the selling. Generally speaking, that is as far as most readers will go. Analysts estimate that the average man or woman remembers the main messages from less than six per cent of adverts scanned. That's bad news for marketing budgets.
   If there has been success so far, in that the picture has caught the eye, the headline has been assimilated and the logo inspected, the reader is likely to move on to the picture caption, then any graphs, charts or other supporting illustrations. Finally, if attention has been maintained throughout this journey and there is a desire to know more, the reader will tackle the body text. Notwithstanding that the headline is the most important set of words by a distance, skilled copy writers also fret over the first paragraph – because the prospective customer may not proceed further.
   Returning to the picture, the more of the story it can relate, the more effective will be the message. It has to work hard for you. Moving on, a headline that says little or nothing extra than has been gleaned from the picture is a failure. If the headline does not communicate with added-value, the entire advert will fall, irrespective of how powerful the picture might seem. A great picture deserves an even better header to maximise its impact. They should be seen as an entity, relating the story quickly and with clarity. It must be honest, too, or the reader will become exasperated. It is vital to grab attention, but it must be done in a pertinent way. A statement proclaiming "How To Read A Banana" may well be noticed, but will be a harmful exasperation if a banana is irrelevant to whatever is being sold. A headline cannot be effective unless it has something effective to say.
   'Why' is an excellent headline word: "The Inch War. Why Ryvita helps you win." It can beef up the banner. "A million households choose Blank," is overshadowed by "Why a million households choose Blank." Use of 'Why' also allows the copy writer to proffer a reasoned argument and list the benefits of the wares to be promoted.
   'How' is another powerful adverb, particularly if the product to be pushed is complicated. The ways in which this word will work in advertising are ostensibly limitless. "How to select the perfect Blank," is an obvious take-up. The 'Where' technique relates to the location or setting selected to demonstrate the benefits of the item. Take a waterproof watch swirling in a washing machine: "If you get into hot water, will your watch give you the time of day?" The 'Who' factor used in adverts may relate to a celebrity or achiever, a fictional character, groups of people, children or animals. Personalities are used to give testimonials, more relevant to pictures, captions and body copy, but they can find their way into headlines as well. Note as an example, "Go on, be a Tiger" with champion golfer Tiger Woods extolling worldwide management consultancy Accenture.
   The next stop for the eye is the advertiser's sign-off, usually along the bottom. Logos help with communications, but the space might be used to wrap up the entire sales argument in a slogan – a tagline. Should such a phrase be included, it must be much more than a witty pun. Rather, it should be a mechanism for encouraging fuller consideration of the advert's call to action, as per "BMW. The ultimate driving machine," and "Kodak. Share moments, share life."
   If the main picture or supporting graphics are captioned, this can help channel prospects to the body copy. "Read below about more Blank for less money." Finally, if all goes to plan, readers reach the beginning of the text block. Principles that make good practice include going straight to the heart of the proposition and doing so in an upbeat manner; talking about hopes, desires and benefits (as opposed to features); portraying facts that are new to the audience, in an interesting or novel way; perhaps being clever but never crass; staying topical; doing so with short words, sentences and paragraphs; and at all cost avoiding unsubstantiated claims and hyperbole.
   Challenges, comparisons, tests and testimonials can be rewarding directions. Additionally, the unexpected may function splendidly as an attention-grabber: "Central heating for kids" as a thought provoking lead-in to a breakfast cereal, and the child-scribbled simplicity of "Wotalotigot" for tubed sweets. Key hit-words for writers include: bargain, breakthrough, direct, discount, first, free, guaranteed, introducing, less, more, new, offer, premium, proven, quality, save, secret, yes, you.
   It is paramount that the wordsmith understands the client, the essentials of the product or service, plus the nature of the market. He must know what makes the subject different from its competition, all about the benefits, what is most likely to interest people, what sells. And there must be absolute pride in the quality of the words selected and formulated. No, this is not an arena for gifted amateurs.

Previous articles from High Profile's Alan Page:
August 08 - Looking Out From Within; July 08 - Market Downturns Require Marketing Bravery (recession marketing); June 08 - Customers Can Take More (upselling); May 08 - Upwardly Mobile (mobile phone advertising); April 08 - User Generated, User Friendly (third-party web content); March 08 - No Loathing Lost (working with journalists); February 08 - What's In A Name? (choosing a business name); January 08 - Sponsorship Is A Qualitative Medium (growth of sponsorship); December 07 - Seasonal Greetings (public relations rudery); November 07 - Complaints Are Opportunities (dealing with difficult customers); October 07 - Putting The Cart Before The Horse (customer-centred marketing); September 07 - Will They Listen? (simplifying the message); August 07 - Leaving Luck To Chance (brands protection); July 07 - Was That An Elephant Waterskiing? (spontaneity and lateral thinking); June 07 - But I Could Write That (undervalued writing); May 07 - Growth Industry? No Such Thing (integrated marketing communications); April 07 - Advertising's Changing Face (promotions on-line); March 07 - Marketing's Atlantic Gulf (European and US differences); February 07 - Not Quite The Oldest Profession (brief history of advertising).
Copies are available on request. Mail to services@highprofile.co.uk.

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Public Relations • Creative Design • Media Management • Press Office