Print Media and Graphic DesignHOLY COW, is all I have to say! Looking at that product that is so neat, crisp and professional, I am blown away! I hope you guys got an issue to see for yourselves. Wow!" -John Feulner, DPM, COFor our purposes here, to keep things simple, we are referring to advertising in newspapers, magazines, fliers, marketing pieces, yellow pages, even billboards, which are really outdoor media, and indoor billboards which you see in hotels, golf courses, health clubs, airports, and so on.Creating ads that attract attention, get your message across, create want and get people to ACT, requires a good deal of skill. (See our article on Advertising Tips.) It looks easy, but it takes training and experience to know what really works and to consistently create good ads. And even the great ad creators have bombs periodically. There's an old but true story about a man name Kennedy who, back in the thirties, had a note delivered to the 10th floor of a building where one of the better known ad writers had his office. The note said simply, "I know what advertising is." This tweaked the interest of the advertising man and he had Mr. Kennedy brought up to his office. (In the thirties, they were still trying to figure out what advertising really was. It was still a fairly new and evolving technology.) When asked what advertising was, Mr. Kennedy said, "advertising is salesmanship in print." The ad man was very impressed, because nobody had a definition for it at that time. It's been said that the best copywriters are people who have actually sold things. They know how to sell. In many companies, there are probably sales people who could come up with better ads for their company's services or products than many ad agencies. Perhaps not the layout, but what the ad should actually say to get someone interested enough to respond to the offering. Here's another truism: In advertising, WHAT you say is more important than HOW you say it. Yes, copywriting is a real skill. But if you have no message, it's hard to write good copy. We've probably all seen or heard of a successful ad at one time or another written by an earnest individual who really believed in what he was selling, but didn't have great literary skills. But the sales mounted up! On the other hand, there are lots of useless fluff pieces that look nice and pretty but don't sell anything. In fact, this is quite common. And there are lots of ads that look like tombstones: statements on paper that create no interest at all, because they are spouting features or labeling things instead of telling you what benefit or advantage you will get by buying whatever is being offered. In other words, they are not appealing to anyone's self interest and are just eating up the advertiser's budget. At Fast Forward, we are very good at designing the creative and writing copy for ads, brochures and other marketing materials and vehices that generate leads, sales or other desired responses... providing only that you have something to offer that someone somewhere could be interested in and want. Do you need some effective ads designed? Ones that can attract attention, create want and sell something? Do you need an effective advertising campaign? Contact Us! 727.442.9137 |
