by Al Wahnon
I’ve spent my entire business career as an editor and half with the additional responsibility of publisher. I’ve learned a lot through the years and I’m always astonished when a new bit of information alights and debunks a myth or discredits a widely held platitude. For example, I grew up in publishing knowing advertising was the lifeblood of a publication. Without that revenue stream a publication could not exist. I always believed that we provided the community a product or service and the vendor supplied the message. Simple. And I believed the more convincing the message, the more effective the advertisement and the more product sold.
In time, I realized all advertising is not created equal. Some is effective and some is pathetically inept. I then deduced that it is the full responsibility of the copywriter to breathe life into an ad, to make the reader respond without reservation and with unquestioned confidence. I now know a skilled copywriter can make a consumer do anything: switch loyalty, try something new, stop using a product that was used for years, surrender a tradition. That’s something I just learned. I used to think advertising had its limitations, that certain things are sacred to the consumer and cannot be altered. Not so. The consumer will do anything a copywriter or lobbyist or politician or a Ponzi schemer would like.
I now realize that good advertising can not only get people to buy things or do things, but it can get them to want what is not good for them. I can understand being moved to do something that will benefit you, but to do something that is harmful, that takes the persuasion of a diabolical copywriter, an advertising Svengali.
I began thinking about the power of advertising in the past few months when the President’s health care bill dominated the news. Never mind the political aspect of the question; let’s just ponder the response of the consumer. The polls showed those without health insurance were overwhelmingly opposed to the bill, which would cover them if passed. I couldn’t believe it. What a great selling job was done. A good copywriter and a strong ad can get people to vote against themselves. I didn’t believe it at first, but I do now.
The person who creates the ad has the power to mold the consumer and alter his buying habits. If an ad doesn’t “pull,” it isn’t because the consumer isn’t buying; it’s because the ad is ineffective. You would be amazed at what one can get the public to do. One group collected $20,000 for the widow of the unknown soldier. Another group raised $18,000 to help anonymous authors get published. The woods are full of conniving jackals with a ready story and countless ways to separate people from their wealth.
So, it’s not the reader’s reluctance or indifference to the appeal of an ad; it’s how earnestly the copy moves him to act. The skilled copywriter will get the consumer to forsake his own interests and buy a product because the product is worthy and deserves to be bought. The competent ad writer can make you feel guilty for not buying the product as some pharmaceutical writers are wont to do. I watch the ads on television and every drug boldly announces various side effects, from internal bleeding to dizziness to death. That’s right, take the pills and you could die. And they take the pills. That’s classic selling. That’s copywriting at its best.
As I said, don’t underestimate the power of advertising. Advertise effectively even in tough times and you will get your share of the business.
I’ve spent my entire business career as an editor and half with the additional responsibility of publisher. I’ve learned a lot through the years and I’m always astonished when a new bit of information alights and debunks a myth or discredits a widely held platitude. For example, I grew up in publishing knowing advertising was the lifeblood of a publication. Without that revenue stream a publication could not exist. I always believed that we provided the community a product or service and the vendor supplied the message. Simple. And I believed the more convincing the message, the more effective the advertisement and the more product sold.
In time, I realized all advertising is not created equal. Some is effective and some is pathetically inept. I then deduced that it is the full responsibility of the copywriter to breathe life into an ad, to make the reader respond without reservation and with unquestioned confidence. I now know a skilled copywriter can make a consumer do anything: switch loyalty, try something new, stop using a product that was used for years, surrender a tradition. That’s something I just learned. I used to think advertising had its limitations, that certain things are sacred to the consumer and cannot be altered. Not so. The consumer will do anything a copywriter or lobbyist or politician or a Ponzi schemer would like.
I now realize that good advertising can not only get people to buy things or do things, but it can get them to want what is not good for them. I can understand being moved to do something that will benefit you, but to do something that is harmful, that takes the persuasion of a diabolical copywriter, an advertising Svengali.
I began thinking about the power of advertising in the past few months when the President’s health care bill dominated the news. Never mind the political aspect of the question; let’s just ponder the response of the consumer. The polls showed those without health insurance were overwhelmingly opposed to the bill, which would cover them if passed. I couldn’t believe it. What a great selling job was done. A good copywriter and a strong ad can get people to vote against themselves. I didn’t believe it at first, but I do now.
The person who creates the ad has the power to mold the consumer and alter his buying habits. If an ad doesn’t “pull,” it isn’t because the consumer isn’t buying; it’s because the ad is ineffective. You would be amazed at what one can get the public to do. One group collected $20,000 for the widow of the unknown soldier. Another group raised $18,000 to help anonymous authors get published. The woods are full of conniving jackals with a ready story and countless ways to separate people from their wealth.
So, it’s not the reader’s reluctance or indifference to the appeal of an ad; it’s how earnestly the copy moves him to act. The skilled copywriter will get the consumer to forsake his own interests and buy a product because the product is worthy and deserves to be bought. The competent ad writer can make you feel guilty for not buying the product as some pharmaceutical writers are wont to do. I watch the ads on television and every drug boldly announces various side effects, from internal bleeding to dizziness to death. That’s right, take the pills and you could die. And they take the pills. That’s classic selling. That’s copywriting at its best.
As I said, don’t underestimate the power of advertising. Advertise effectively even in tough times and you will get your share of the business.