Structure of an Advertisement Copy

Advertising Message Structure

• Advertising communication effectiveness depends on the message content as well its structure.
• The important aspects of message structure are:

1.Drawing conclusions

2.Repetition

3.One–versus–two–sided arguments

4.The order of presentation

 Drawing conclusions

• There are two way to handle this:

A. Conclusions should be drawn for the audience in the ad for quick understanding

B. Conclusion should be left to the audience

• In case of drawn conclusion the consumer may think that the message is over-aggressive and an attempt at forcefully influencing their choice.
• When the issue is highly personal, the audience may resent the communicator’s interference in drawing a conclusion. Example selling eggs under a new name “Veggs” in Gujarat.
• Conclusion drawing is favored where the product is a complex or specialized one. In the ad of Farex a long body copy goes on to explain that Farex is ideal baby solid food.
• The Farex baby food ad, starting with a headline: “ Your baby is born with a 3- month gift of iron. After 3 months, milk alone cannot give him the iron he needs.” The ad closes with the conclusion: “Doctors recommend Farex. Baby’s ideal solid food for rapid all- round growth.”

Repetition

• Repeating an ad creates a continuity of impression in the minds of the target audience. A repeated message increases awareness and knowledge on the part of the prospect. Audience retention improves with repetition.

  One–versus–two–sided arguments

• The most common approach in sales and advertising is a one-sided approach, that only praises the product.
• A two-sided communication produces the greatest attitude change when people are opposed to the point of view presented.

  Comparative Advertising

• Here a product is directly or indirectly compared with a competitive product. Most prominent among these have been the Pepsi, Savlon, Captain Cook Salt, Pepsodent and Colgate campaigns.

Order of Presentation

• Strongest argument can be put in first or in last. It is a part of copywriting strategy.
• In a one-sided argument, it is advisable to present the strongest point first, as it will result in better attention and interest.
• In a two-sided communication, it is better, to start with the other side’s argument and slowly conclude the message with the strongest argument.

Copy of Ads in Print

• The most Important Copy Element is the Headline Idea
• The ad copy may be a word-message, or it may have pictures with a short message or a slogan. The words and pictures should be complementary to each other.
• A dramatic or provocative picture or photograph can effectively create an
  emotional or tragic scene, and thus become a good grabber of
  the prospects’ attention.
• After the Headline Come the Sub-heads. Sub-heads further carry the idea and help readers to have more knowledge of the product and services.
• After the Sub-head Comes the Body Copy. It systematically develops the benefits and promise offered by the product, explains logically or emotionally, product attributes, features and product values, and gives convincing arguments in favor of, and evidence in support of, the claims made about the superiority of the advertised product.
• In the body copy, both emotional and rational reasons are put forward to persuade consumers to buy a particular brand. Emotional appeals are generally useful with consumer goods, while rational appeal are more useful of industrial goods.
• There are varying types of closing an idea “call to action,” “buy now,” “visit today our dealer/ stockist,” “announcement of festival discount,” “send enquiries immediately to,” etc.
  Long Copy versus Short Copy
• In a long copy more details can be presented to the reader.
• However, readers may not often like, or have the time to read, the lengthy body copy of an ad unless the headline is so attractive and persuasive that they automatically begin to read it.
• Ideally the length of the body copy should be just enough to say all that has been promised in the headline.