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1 Advertising Copywriting
JLS1123 Fundamental Media Writing
2 Chapter Objectives
 To explain the relationship between advertising and public
relations
 To identify the various types of advertising available
 To present steps in writing effective print and broadcast
advertisements
 To provide guidelines for effective copy for direct-mail appeal
letters
3 What is Advertising?
 Vehicles of advertising from television commercials to
roadway billboards, from pop-ups on the Internet to direct-
mail requests for political contributions.
 Advertising is an element of both marketing and public
relations, persuasive communication used by organizations
trying to promote a product or service, cause or idea.
 Relies heavily on research, not only marketing or consumer
research, but also public opinion and attitude research is
associating itself with interactive technology, vehicle of
communication: television, film, newspaper, magazine,
Internet and radio.
 Integrated marketing communication has led to the
coordinated interrelationship of various promotional and
communication vehicles advertising often is one component
involves publicity, direct mail, interpersonal contacts,
communication graphics and related vehicles.
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 Offers benefits not only to businesses and nonprofit
organizations but also to consumers and to society as a
whole serves as a conduit for information about innovations
and new technologies, and it has an influential role in
fostering trends in fashion, art and entertainment, as well as
politics, economics and social movements.
5 Defining Advertising
 Advertising is paid placement of non-personal messages,
often of a commercial nature and aimed toward informing and
influencing a particular audience, presented by an identified 1  
sponsor (both profit seeking and nonprofit entities), generally
through mass media or various other media with large and
usually anonymous audiences.
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 Offers benefits not only to businesses and nonprofit
organizations but also to consumers and to society as a
whole serves as a conduit for information about innovations 25/09/2011  
and new technologies, and it has an influential role in
fostering trends in fashion, art and entertainment, as well as
politics, economics and social movements.
5 Defining Advertising
 Advertising is paid placement of non-personal messages,
often of a commercial nature and aimed toward informing and
influencing a particular audience, presented by an identified
sponsor (both profit seeking and nonprofit entities), generally
through mass media or various other media with large and
usually anonymous audiences.
6 Ads Messages
 Advertising call for a clear focus on persuasive
communication, psychology and sociology to prepare
promotional messages encourage readers to buy, attend, join,
contribute, vote for, or otherwise support the product, service,
organization or cause being championed by the writer.
 Differs from public relations mainly in that it involves paid
communication
 Two general types of advertising are product advertising and
public relations advertising.
7 Product Advertising
 Most frequent use of advertising media is to promote the sale
of products or services. Product advertising can be of three
types:
 Local (Retail) Advertising: Consumer message that advertises
a sale or promotes merchandise or services, specific in that it
often includes dates, prices, locations, brands and models.
 General (Brand) Advertising: more general than retail
advertising. Its subjects are companies and brands,
advertising tells the consumer about the quality of paint,
promoting the paint on a national level and complementing
the retail advertising.
 Business-to-Business Advertising: companies place in trade,
industrial and professional publications for other business
people.
8 PR Advertising
 Public relations advertising takes on various forms, serves
many different purposes related to the image of an
organization and support for its messages, including
institutional advertising, advocacy advertising, political
advertising, and public-service advertising. 2  
 Institutional Advertising: also known as image advertising
highlights the organization, not the product.
 Advocacy Advertising: sometimes called issue advertising,
communicate about issues important to their mission.
 promoting the paint on a national level and complementing
the retail advertising.
 Business-to-Business Advertising: companies place in trade,
industrial and professional publications for other business
people. 25/09/2011  
8 PR Advertising
 Public relations advertising takes on various forms, serves
many different purposes related to the image of an
organization and support for its messages, including
institutional advertising, advocacy advertising, political
advertising, and public-service advertising.
 Institutional Advertising: also known as image advertising
highlights the organization, not the product.
 Advocacy Advertising: sometimes called issue advertising,
communicate about issues important to their mission.
 Political Advertising: advocacy advertising with a partisan is
used to advocate actions about a specific piece of legislation
or policy.
 Public-Service Advertising: promote a benefit or advocate a
cause such as health care, research, education or human
services. Sometimes the cost of this advertising is waived by
a magazine, TV or radio station, or billboard company.
9 Advertising Media
 Each type or purpose of advertising noted above can be each
offers different opportunities for advertising writers.
 Print media offer a variety of advertising opportunities.
 Newspaper advertising generally focuses on specific
products, newspapers also offer low-cost classified ads for
employment.
 General advertising is likely to be found in magazines,
advertising in directories usually promotes the venue where
products or services are available.
 Television includes both general advertising of product lines
and corporate image.
10 Other Ads Medium
 Outdoor advertising, feature corporate-identity advertising,
includes billboards, posters and wallscapes.
 Transit advertising is associated with buses and trains,
subways and airplanes.
 Includes vehicle wraps, truck sides and mobile billboards,
outdoor and transit advertising sometimes are linked under
the umbrella term out-of-home advertising.
 OOH (out of home/outdoor) includes venues such as movie-
theater screenings, inflatables, skywriting, trade-show
displays, point-of-sales displays, and table-top displays.
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 Direct-response includes media such as mail-order catalogs,

TV infomercials, and direct mail.
 Internet advertising, uses emerging digital opportunities that
10 Other Ads Medium
 Outdoor advertising, feature corporate-identity advertising,
includes billboards, posters and wallscapes.
 Transit advertising is associated with buses and trains,
subways and airplanes.
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 Includes vehicle wraps, truck sides and mobile billboards,
outdoor and transit advertising sometimes are linked under
the umbrella term out-of-home advertising.
 OOH (out of home/outdoor) includes venues such as movie-
theater screenings, inflatables, skywriting, trade-show
displays, point-of-sales displays, and table-top displays.
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 Direct-response includes media such as mail-order catalogs,

TV infomercials, and direct mail.
 Internet advertising, uses emerging digital opportunities that
include search-engine marketing, electronic mail, advertising-
supported software, banner ads, and Internet-equipped cell
phones, pop-ups interstitial ads.
12 Writing Advertising Copy
 Creative side of advertising offers many opportunities for
wordsmiths. Advertising agencies call this the creative
department.
 The folks who work with verbal and visual messages, who
create the storyline that accompanies a strategy to gain
attention, foster interest, build consumer desire for a product
or service, and ultimately generate audience action.
13 AIDA Model
 AIDA model attention, interest, desire, action, creative
department is the home of advertising copywriters, the people
who write the slogans, develop the headlines, prepare the
copy for print ads, and write the scripts for broadcast ads.
14 Writing for Print
 Advertising messages can be primarily visual, primarily
textual, or a combination of both.
 Advertorials are an example of ads that are primarily textual
with little or no artwork.
 Most advertising in magazines combines art and text. The art
may be photographs and sketches
 Advertising copywriters generally consider headlines as part
of the visual message.
 Principles of advertising copywriting match brief, clear and
easy to understand.
 Write about things that interest readers, and focus on benefits
copy includes specific references and details.
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 Make the writing believable and relevant to your audience.
 1. Use one thought per ad. focus on a single idea, the copy
should promote just one idea.
 2. Make it memorable. words to stick in the reader‘s mind,
  Advertorials are an example of ads that are primarily textual
with little or no artwork.
 Most advertising in magazines combines art and text. The art
may be photographs and sketches
 Advertising copywriters generally consider headlines as part
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of the visual message.
 Principles of advertising copywriting match brief, clear and
easy to understand.
 Write about things that interest readers, and focus on benefits
copy includes specific references and details.
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 Make the writing believable and relevant to your audience.

 1. Use one thought per ad. focus on a single idea, the copy
should promote just one idea.
 2. Make it memorable. words to stick in the reader‘s mind,
often create several drafts of an ad. Working over language
until they create just the right combination of word.
 3. Use strong narration.
 4. Avoid generalizations. provable facts are needed to
convince a reader.
16 Writing for Broadcast
 Copy for broadcast commercials should be conversational.
 Scripts for broadcast commercials include two sound tracks:
the main track dialogue or narration, and the secondary track
background music and sound effects.
 Small budgets, often rely on personal testimonials or celebrity
endorsements to present their messages without spending a
lot of money on production.
 Another money-saving technique is to use symbols.
 Most basic broadcast ad is a straight-out sales pitch, voiced
by an announcer.
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 Testimonials pitches by people who use the product or
service.
 Celebrity endorsements famous people to pitch the product,
service or cause.
 Demonstrations put the product or service to the test.
 Drama one of the most effective approaches to advertising.
Problem-solution ads confront the audience with a problem
and quickly resolve it. Fantasy ad relies on make-believe
characters or real persons in unreal situations. Animation can
be used for children and adults. Humor is another effective
type of advertising, though it has a shorter run time than other
types.
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 Reflective or mood pieces and more on an emotional mood
setter, music, visuals and imagery.
 Symbolization a powerful approach to advertising.
 Sound Jingles and snippets of songs can be powerful ways to
  Celebrity endorsements famous people to pitch the product,
service or cause.
 Demonstrations put the product or service to the test.
 Drama one of the most effective approaches to advertising.
Problem-solution ads confront the audience with a problem 25/09/2011  
and quickly resolve it. Fantasy ad relies on make-believe
characters or real persons in unreal situations. Animation can
be used for children and adults. Humor is another effective
type of advertising, though it has a shorter run time than other
types.
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 Reflective or mood pieces and more on an emotional mood
setter, music, visuals and imagery.
 Symbolization a powerful approach to advertising.
 Sound Jingles and snippets of songs can be powerful ways to
connect a product with a brand.
19 Sample of a Copy Platform
 Subject: Communication Department, Upstate University
 Problem/Opportunity: Department has enrollment slightly
below capacity, presenting an opportunity for expansion.
 Client Characteristics:
*Public-college tuition
*Only public program in the state recognized by the
Accrediting Council for Education in Journalism and Mass
Communications (ACEJMC)
*Strong reputation among media professionals
*Long-standing record of career success among graduates
 Advertising Objective: To recruit 15 percent more incoming
freshmen and 10 percent more transfer students than last
year.
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 Target Market:
*High school juniors and seniors interested in a career in
journalism, public relations, broadcasting, or related
profession
*Students in other colleges interested in profession-based
career-oriented program
*Parents, guidance counselors and others who might
influence education choices

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 Competition:
*Community College X: Technology-based program with only
limited career potential
*College Y: Small private church-related college with high 6  
tuition and general communication program
*University Z: Large public institution with general
communication program not rooted in professional practice
and not focused on career development
 profession
*Students in other colleges interested in profession-based
career-oriented program
*Parents, guidance counselors and others who might
influence education choices 25/09/2011  

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 Competition:
*Community College X: Technology-based program with only
limited career potential
*College Y: Small private church-related college with high
tuition and general communication program
*University Z: Large public institution with general
communication program not rooted in professional practice
and not focused on career development
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 Benefit Statement: The Communication Department at

Upstate University offers the most affordable, most reputable
and most career-focused communication program in the
entire upstate area.
 Creative Theme: Your best choice to a professional career in
communication.
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 Selling Points:
*Low cost of state tuition
*Unique professional focus among alternative schools in
upstate region
*Higher-than-average job placement record
*Demonstrable success of graduates
*Recognition by ACEJMC

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