Comments on: The Anatomy of a Good Ad: 6 Elements to Include

By: Nicki Krawczyk

Nicki Krawczyk — Fri, 02 May 2014 15:25:18 +0000

Hi Tom,

Absolutely! As you get into the nitty gritty of the actual ad format the first and, arguably, most important element is a great headline. (After all, without a great headline people probably won’t read the rest of it, right?)

Thanks for commenting!
Nicki

By: Tom McCauley

Tom McCauley — Fri, 02 May 2014 12:44:05 +0000

Remember AIDA?

You need a good headline to get people’s attention so that they will stop to read your ad. A headline that presses one of the buttons, fear, greed, lust, pride, ambition, envy etc.

By: Nicki

Nicki — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 16:17:29 +0000

In reply to Oliver.

Hi Oliver,

I think that the tricky thing about leaving something to be understood is that you’re banking on having caught the target audience’s interest enough that they will actually want to figure out that final piece of the puzzle and that can be (depending on the campaign, medium, brand positioning, audience, etc.) a risky tactic to take.

But I do agree that “less is more” often applies to copy; many newer copywriters try to pack in much more copy than they need to. Less is more—as long as it’s enough!

Thanks for commenting!
Nicki & the Filthy Rich Writer team

By: Nicki

Nicki — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 16:10:18 +0000

In reply to Kevin Katzenberg.

Hi Kevin,

That’s a great story — thanks for sharing! Even the most memorable ads don’t work if they don’t resonate with the target audience, right? And you’re right — much as we don’t like to admit it, it’s really the conversion and/or revenue numbers (depending on the goals, of course) that determine if an ad was effective.

Thanks for commenting!

Nicki & the Filthy Rich Writer team

By: Oliver

Oliver — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 09:40:30 +0000

Another great post!

Regarding leaving something to be ‘understood’, I think this is fine. I’ve worked on some print ads where the reader is left without the final piece of the puzzle. Once they figure the meaning out for themselves they feel very clever and the ad/brand/message is cemented in their mind.

Advertising is often criticised for SHOUTING! Whereas if one subtly dangles the carrot, the audience are led to their own conclusion, that magical “Ooohhhh, I get it.” moment.

Obviously there is no hard and fast method for creating a successful ad, and we’re all supposed to break rules/ground, but I think the ‘less is more’ approach can be very powerful.

What do you think?

By: Kevin Katzenberg

Kevin Katzenberg — Tue, 26 Nov 2013 02:37:45 +0000

Nice article.
Sometimes, I think determining a great ad, from a dud, to a complete looser, is pretty difficult.
I heard a story about the ‘Where’s the Beef?’ Wendy’s Restaurant ad campaign from the 80’s was a complete flop. If I remember right those ads became part of pop culture. People were saying ‘where’s the beef?’ everywhere you turned.
Memorable?
Yes!
Something that resonated with the audience?
Appeared to.
I then heard that it wasn’t until Wendy’s brought Dave Thomas back as part of their new ad campaign, that the ads started working again.
More people resonated with the integrity and honesty Dave relayed in the ads.
Dave brought a credibility to the ads. He’s likable and has integrity.
Winning ads are tough to spot sometimes without going behind the curtain to see the actual numbers.
I really like reading your articles.
Thanks,
Kevin