ch. 9

• The nonverbal aspect of an ad carries half the burden of communication.
• The nonverbal aspect helps position the product.
• The nonverbal aspect creates personality for the brand.
• The nonverbal aspect creates the mood of the ad, which flavors the verbal message, embodied in the copy.

Visuals in Print Advertising Goals

• Visuals in print advertising serve multiple purposes:
  • Capturing the reader's attention.
  • Clarifying claims made in the copy.
  • Identifying the brand.
  • Showing the product in use.
  • Qualifying readers by attracting legitimate prospects.
  • Convincing the reader of the truth of copy claims.
  • Arousing the reader's interest in the headline.
  • Emphasizing the product's unique features.
  • Creating a favorable impression of the product or advertiser.
  • Providing continuity for the campaign through a unified visual technique.

Layout

• A layout is an overall orderly arrangement of the parts of an ad:
  • Visuals
  • Headline
  • Subheads
  • Body copy
  • Slogan
  • Seal
  • Logo
  • Signature

Headline

• Headlines appear in the leading position of an advertisement.
• Headlines are positioned to be read first or to draw the most attention.
• A headline's role is to:
  • Attract attention.
  • Engage the audience.
  • Explain the visual.
  • Lead the audience into the body of the ad.
  • Present the key benefit or unique selling proposition.
  • Present product news.

Types of Headlines

• Benefit headlines make a direct promise through a simple statement of product benefits.
  • Should not be too clever.
  • Example: Gore-Tex Fabrics keep you warm and dry regardless of what falls out of the sky.
• News/information headlines include "how-to" headlines and announce news or promise information.
  • Example: "It's a girl."
  • The information must be believable.
  • Example: "Shaves 200% smoother" probably isn't.
• Provocative headlines provoke the reader’s curiosity, encouraging them to read the body copy to learn more.
  • Example: "Betcha can't eat just one (lays chips)."
  • Danger exists that the reader will not read on.
  • The creative team designs visuals to avoid this and clarify the message or provide some story appeal.
• Question headlines ask the reader a question.
  • Example: "What makes our tire customers smart and richer than others?"
  • A good question headline piques the reader's curiosity and imagination.
• Command headlines order the reader to do something.
  • Might seem negative but readers pay attention to those headlines.
  • Sprite ad targets youth with the hip headline “Obey your thirst".
  • "Please don't squeeze the Charmin."

Subheads

• Subheads are secondary headlines that may appear above or below the headline or in the text of the ads.

Body Copy

• Body copy (or text) tells the complete story and attempts to close the sale.
• It is a logical continuation of the headline and subheads.
• It is usually set in a smaller type size than headlines or subheads.
• Body copy covers the features, benefits, and utility of the product or service.

Body Copy Styles

• Straight sell body copy explains or develops the headline and visual in a straightforward way to sell the product.
  • It appeals to the prospect's intelligence.
  • Good for high-think involvement products or products that are difficult to use.
  • Very effective for direct-mail advertising and for industrial or high-text products.
• Institutional copy sells an idea or the merits of the organization or service rather than the specific features of a product.
  • Intends to lend warmth and credibility to the organizational image.
  • Banks, insurance companies, public corporations, and large manufacturing firms use institutional copy in both print and electronic media.
• Visual narrative body copy tells a story and creates a solution using the particular sales features of the product or service as the key to the solution.
  • Offers good opportunities for emotional appeals.
  • Ex. Tylenol tells a story through written text and visuals.
• Dialogue/monologue body copy features characters in the advertisement doing the selling in their own words.
  • Can be through a quasi-testimonial technique or through a comic strip panel.
  • The characters in the ad do the selling in their own words.
• Picture caption body copy tells the story through a series of illustrations and captions rather than through the use of a copy block alone.
• Device copy relies on wordplay, humor, poetry, rhymes, great exaggeration, gags, and other tricks or gimmicks.

Seal

• A seal is a type of certification mark offered by organizations like the Good Housekeeping Institute and Underwriters' Laboratories for products meeting their standards.
• Seals provide an independent, valued endorsement for the advertised product.

Logo or Logotype

• A logo is a special design of the advertiser's name (or product name) that appears in all advertisements.
• Also called a signature, it gives the advertiser individuality and provides quick recognition at the point of purchase.

Signature

• A product or company's primary graphic identity.
• A signature may be comprised of some combination of a graphic symbol, a logotype, and a slogan.

Slogans

• A slogan is a standard company statement (also called a tagline or a theme line) for advertisements, salespeople, and company employees.
  • Originate from successful headlines.
• Slogans have two basic purposes: to provide continuity for a campaign and to reduce a key theme or idea to a brief memorable positioning statement.
  • Example: "reach out and touch someone" AT&T

The Role of Art in Audio and Video Advertising Formats (Commercial Formats)

• Straight announcement: The oldest type of radio or television commercial in which an announcer delivers a sales message directly into the microphone or on-camera or does so off-screen while a slide or film is shown on-screen.
  • It is also the easiest to write.
• Integrated commercial: A straight radio announcement, usually delivered by one person, woven into a show or tailored to a given program to avoid any perceptible interruption.
  • (audio only)
• Presenter commercial: One person or character presents the product and sales message.
  • Some presenters are celebrities such as Brad Pitt for Calvin Klein.
  • Or they may be actors playing a role (Stephanie Courtbey as “Flo” in ads for Progressive).
  • Does not have to be a real person i.e honey nut cheerios bee or the gecko from geico.
• Testimonial: Uses satisfied customers and celebrities to endorse a product in advertising.
• Demonstration: Commercial in which the product is shown in use.
• Musical Commercials or jingles: Commercial that is sung with the sales message in the verse.
• Slice of life: Commercial consisting of a dramatization of a real-life situation in which the product is tried and becomes the solution to a problem.
  • It usually starts with just plain folks, played by professional actors discussion some problem or issue.
  • Often situation deals with a problem of a personal nature; i.e bad breath, loose dentures, body odor, and always conclude with a positive outcome.
    • A reliance or co workers drops the hint, the produce is tried and the next scene is happy person.
• Mnemonic devices: A gimmick used to dramatize the product benefit and make it memorable, i.e the Imperial Margarine crown or the Avon doorbell
  • A technique that help you remember something and can trigger instant recall.
• Lifestyle technique: The user is presented rather than the product, often used by clothing and soft drink advertisers to affiliate their brands with the trendy lifestyles of their consumers.
  • Beer and soft drinks advertisers target outdoorsy young people, focusing on who drinks the brand than on product advantages.
• Animation: The use of cartoons, puppet characters, or demonstrations of inanimate characters that come to life in television commercials, often used for communicating difficult messages or for reaching specialized markets, such as children.