Day 26- What Makes Advertising Good?
Todays lesson will draw heavily from the Famous book “Ogilvy On Advertising,” by David Ogilvy. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough. I’ve learnt more about advertising from reading it than I did from two full semester marketing units at University.
So What Makes an Advertisement Good?
The most effective advertisements are often the ones that don’t look like advertisements. Instead, they look like an editorial/ article. One of Ogilys’s most effective and famous ads was one for Rolls- Royce. You can see a snapshot of it here.
Notice how it has a very clean and simple layout, a intriguing headline, and looks more like a news article than an ad.
The first thing your eyes notice is the picture. Then the headline. Then the sub-headline. And then the copy, which consists of a series of numbered points. Finally when you get to the end, there’s the call to action …. “If you would like the rewarding experience of driving a Rolls-Royce or Bentley, write or telephone to one of the dealers ….”
If you compare this to most ads, especially in the Home Business industry, the contrast is startling. Most Home Business ads scream out that they are ads.
“Make more in a month than you currently make in a year”
“Make a doctors salary working from home”
Many people will look at these, especially in Australia where skepticism can run high, and assume that they are BS, or just another scam. There’s the old saying that’s ingrained in so many peoples minds…”If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.”