Welcome to Copywriting!

A warm welcome to my new batch of Copywriting learners.

In this course we will learn from 6 of the greatest copywriters of all times: Helen Lansdowne-Resor, Claude Hopkins, Bruce Barton, Rosser Reeves, David Ogilvy & Leo Burnett. For some background reading read this article from Randall Rothenberg. It gives you a grand overview of advertising history.

We will look at their style of writing, their contributions to the ad industry; what makes them so outstanding. We will analyse their ads and comment about how they use language to communicate meaning, their layouts, font & typeface used and personalised styles.
We will also see how headlines are used to grab attention; they should have a usp or product benefit.

Please feel free to leave your comments here & ask any questions you may have as I enjoy feedback from my students. I hope by the end of this course each of you will appreciate looking at ads & know how to analyse them; critically and for its value.
Have fun looking, searching & learning through the links here!

All the information has been arranged under the copywriters' labels here. So just click on the writer's name for additional explanation and research. I will continue to post updates for you each week, usually on fridays or saturdays. Take care.

Man in the Hathaway Shirt Series of Ads

At virtually the last moment Ogilvy decided to photograph his male model wearing a Hathaway shirt - and an eyepatch. "The Man in the Hathaway Shirt" appeared for the first time in the New Yorker of September 22, 1951. It caused a sensation. The eyepatch somehow lent the shirt an air of quality and sophistication. That image was carefully reinforced in a follow-up campaign portraying the Hathaway man as an eyepatched man-about-town. Eventually Hathaway no longer needed to display its name in its advertisements. The "man with the eyepatch" was identification enough. Link: Monocular Culture on Facebook. Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/ogilvy-david#ixzz1Fc8MH2I6 This ad, with the mysterious character in the eye patch, instantly catapulted Hathaway as the #1 selling dress shirt in the world

The Man from Schweppes - Copy

The man from Schweppes is here (copy) Meet Commander Edward Whitehead, Schweppesman Extraordinary from London, England, where the house of Schweppes has been a great institution since 1794. Commander Whitehead has come to these United States to make sure that every drop of Schweppes Quinine Water bottled here has the original flavor which has long made Schweppes the only mixer for and authentic Gin-and-Tonic. He imports the original Schweppes elixir, and the secret of Schweppes unique carbonation is locked in his brief case. "Schweppervescence, " says the Commander, "lasts the whole drink through. " It took Schweppes almost a hundred years to bring the flavor of their Quinine Water to its present bittersweet perfection. But it will take you only thirty seconds to mix it with ice and gin in a high ball glass. Then, gentle reader, you will bless the day you read these words. P.S. If your favorite store or bardoesn1 yet have Schweppes, drop a card to us and we'll make the proper arrangements. Address Schweppes, 30 East 60th Street, New York City.

The Man from Schweppes is here

Anacin Print Ads

David Ogilvy: the most famous advertising man in the world

Background:-
Born in West Horsley, England in 1911. Ogilvy was tossed out of Oxford for not studying. He became a chef at the Hotel Majestic in Paris. He sold Aga cooking stoves (“the most expensive and best cooking stove”) door to door in Scotland, and was very successful doing so.

The advertising campaign Ogilvy created for the agency's first American customer quickly became a classic. The client was Hathaway (pix), a manufacturer of rather common quality clothing. Ogilvy decided Hathaway clothing would be advertisied as sophisticated and aristocratic. He featured a sophisticated 50'sh male model with graying hair and an eye patch. The patch was for impact only. That image turned the brand into a fine, expensive and up market product! The first "Man In The Hathaway Shirt" ad appeared in The New Yorker on September 22, 1951. The ad ran for almost 25 years.

Ogilvy's motto: 'A long term investment in the brand'

Ogilvy repeated the Hathaway success on his very next client, Schweppes Tonic. He also created a personality for the brand: Commander Whitehead's image conveyed a message of intrigue and sophistication: a great storytelling element. Clients like Shell, Sears, KLM, American Express, IBM, and Rolls-Royce were impressed and wanted Ogilvy to work his brand magic on their brands.
He took the concept of brand image from the academic world and injected it into the glamour of advertising. “Every advertisement should be thought of as a contribution to the complex symbol which is the brand image”

Ogilvy says 'Hire people better than you!'

In 1962 Ogilvy wrote his first book, "Confessions of an Advertising Man." Ogilvy did not expect much but the book sold 400,000 copies in its first five years, and more than a million copies in twenty years time. He made the ad business attractive and attracted bright people.

In 1965 Ogilvy retired from advertising.
“If you, my fellow copywriters or art directors, want to win the award, devote your genius to making the cash register ring. Hire people who are better than you,” he said, “and pay them more if necessary. That’s how we’ll build a great agency.”

Leo Burnett (1891-1971) & the Power of Imagery

Born in St. Johns, Michigan, Leo Burnett studied journalism at the University of Michigan, becoming editor of the school newspaper. He also worked as a police reporter for the Peoria Journal and as an advertising manager with the Cadillac Motor Company in 1919.

Leo Burnett was not the ideal adman but his genius lies in the countless types of visual imageries we see in advertising today (see pixs).

He was famed for creating such icons as the Jolly Green Giant. Burnett resurrected a pagan harvest god to monumentalize "the bounty of the good earth" — and to sell peas. Other icons include Kellogg’s Tony the Tiger, Virginia Slims cigarette, United Airlines, Charlie the Tuna, the Keebler Elves, Gleem toothpaste, the Maytag Repairman, Dewar’s Profiles and Oldsmobile…

Burnett & the Inherent Drama

Burnett developed a variety of advertising concepts, including the breakthrough idea of "searching for the inherent drama" of the product. "You have to be noticed," he once said, "but the art is getting noticed naturally, without screaming and without tricks."

He started his own agency in 1935, at the depths of the Depression. He nurtured it, built it and saw it grow into the fourth largest agency in the U.S. and the fifth largest in the world. People told him that the business wouldn't succeed and that he'd be selling apples at walkways instead. How wrong they were!

“When you reach for the stars, you may not quite get one, but you won't come up with a handful of mud either"

Burnett & the Marlboro Man

The Marlboro Ad campaign was created by Leo Burnett in 1954. The ads were designed as a solution to Marlboro's filtered cigarettes which were considered feminine by many. Burnett transformed the original cigarettes slogan, 'Mild as May' into a masculine Marlboro Cowboy/Man or Marlboro Country theme. The visuals were simple; it had a lone cowboy smoking a cigarette in the rugged outdoors (New Mexico). The ads were brilliant (top 10 icon of the century) because it created an inherent story appeal via a personality to an unpopular product and gave it a new lease of life within a short period.

Leo Burnett's 'Red on Red' (1945)

Highly unusual, even distasteful, to portray uncooked meat in advertisements. Enthusiastically breaking the code, Burnett said "but it was a natural thing to do. It just intensified the red concept and the virility. This was inherent drama in its purest form."

Client:American Meat Institute (1945)
The Inherent drama is the Meat. The selling idea is ‘red on red’

Rosser Reeves: Anacin & M&M's

His Ads
Reeves hated creative advertising. His ads typically featured simple repetition of a single theme like Anacin “Fast! Fast! Fast Relief!” (1952) hard sell approach. The premise was simple. Repeat a single theme again & again. Hammer it home, repeatedly! That was Anacin. The campaign was considered Reeves' most successful campaign.
The USP for M & M's tagline still echos in people's minds today; "M&M candies melts in your mouth and not in your hand". The other brands which employ the USP approach are Wonder Bread, Colgate, Viceroy.

'You must make the product interesting, not just make the ad different. And that's what too many of the copywriters in the U.S. today don't yet understand' Rosser Reeves

Rosser Reeves' USP

To me, this visual of a red rose amongst a background of black roses clearly identifies the USP concept. It means standing out, differentiating one's uniqueness and communicate this either verbally or visually.

Rosser Reeves (1910-1984)

Background
Rosser Reeves (1910-1984) was an early pioneer of television advertising.
He was born in Danville, Virginia the son of a Methodist preacher.
As a 10 year old boy, Rosser began writing poetry & fiction.

At the age of 19, he started his career during the Great Depression as a newspaper reporter. In 1940, he landed a job as a copywriter at Ted Bates & Co. He was committed to making ads that were simple, direct, and often annoying.

In 1961, Rosser wrote The Reality of Advertising, which details the famous USP: Unique Selling Proposition technique.

Key Contributions
His ads were focused around what he called the unique selling proposition, the one reason ‘why’ the product needed to be bought or was better than its competitors.
Rosser says, ‘The proposition must be one that the competition either cannot, or does not, offer. It must be unique-either a uniqueness of the brand or a claim not otherwise made in that particular field of advertising’

The proposition simply states 'Buy this product and you will get this specific benefit.'The proposition must be so strong that it can move the mass millions. He believes that the consumer tends to remember just one thing from advertising-one strong claim, or one strong concept.

Claude Hopkins (1866-1932)

In the early 1900s, a young man named Albert Lasker (right) made a keen observation. He saw the incredible potential of creating and selling what was inside the ad space: i.e. sell the advertising concept!

At that time, ad agencies were merely ‘agents’; they sold advertising space (in newspapers, journals, magazines etc) to clients for a commission. Advertising was not only that he said, it was ‘Salesmanship in print’. Together with Claude Hopkins (left), a copywriter at Lord & Thomas (now FCB) they redefined that idea. Claude Hopkins was described as the first great salesman in the hard sell of advertising.

In his book, Scientific Advertising he challenges copywriters to develop this important attitude, "Don’t think of people in the mass. That gives you a blurred view. Think of a typical individual, man or woman, who is likely to want what you sell…"

What a profound yet simple truth. Personalise the message. Talk to a person, one at a time.

Drink An Orange

Using the 4A’s of advertising, take a look at this 1916 Sunkist Ad written by Claude Hopkins. The target audience would primarily be housewives, aged between 16-25 years old. It was the early 1910s, young women married early.

Attention: Visual of an orange being squeezed for its juice in a lovely limited edition juice extractor. The headline introduces a completely new idea of "drink an orange". It was new because at that time, people ate oranges. They didn't drink the juice.

Awareness: We can drink an orange, not only eat it! Sunkist oranges are seedless, healthy, helps in digestion. Even physicians encourage drinking the all-natural liquid. Should be served at every meal because of its natural flavour and food value.

Attitude (Convince): Simple premise, anyone can drink an orange for health. It’s less messy than eating it! So why not drink it from Sunkist’s germ-proof package? Add orange juice to your diet!

Action: Buy it now and get a specially designed juice extractor for only 10 cents.

How To Post A Comment

Step 1: Go to 'Labels'. Select the copywriter you want to comment on. Click on the writer's name. Read and understand the materials/comments or hyperlinks there. Scroll all the way down. Select any point/s you find interesting. Formulate your own opinions; do you agree/disagree? Give examples. Draft your writing.

Step 2: Click 'Comments'. Post your comments into the box. Reread what you have written. Check for grammar, content accuracy and spelling. Revise until you are happy with what you have written.

Step 3: In choosing your identity, you click 'Other', NOT 'Anonymous'. A column for 'Name' appears. Write your name there and leave the 'Your web page' blank if you don't have a web page. If you do have a web page and want to share, then share!

Step 4: Click 'Preview' and once you're satisfied with the layout then Click 'Publish your comment'.

Thank you for your comments!

Emphasizing the Negative (2)

Smith Bros. A Cough Is A Social Blunder (1919). Dramatize the problem: People who cough in public 'lack consideration of others', they are a 'public menace'. Give a solution to the problem: Smith Bros cough drops keep a cough from developing into a sore throat or a cold so it's good to always have a box with you. Coughs have no place in social settings. Let the brand own the solution: One cough drop at bedtime will clear the cough.

Emphasizing the Negative (1)

The Listerine Ad-Often A Bridesmaid But Never The Bride. Dramatize the Problem: The needing heart of a 1930's woman on her quest to marry. She was one who 'possessed grace, charm & loveliness' but had unpleasant breath (halitosis). Give a Solution to the Problem: Use Listerine to get rid of bad breath, stop spinsterhood & get married (!?). Let the Brand Own the Solution.

Emphasizing the Positive

Cadillac - The Penalty of Leadership (1915)
Advertising was referred to as the handmaiden of business.
We were to write as if we have respect & sincerity for our readers in a high minded & positive manner.

The ad was written in response to defects discovered in the new cadillac. The copy states that 'in every field, a man's work becomes a standard for the whole world, it also becomes a target of criticisms of the envious few'. If his/her work be mediocre, he will be left alone but if he creates a 'masterpiece' then others may seek to appreciate or depreciate. This is nothing new. The leader must remain a leader and live on continuing the 'stamp of genius'.

This ad was a huge success despite critics saying that it was mostly 'fluff'. Cadillac salespeople requested copies for themselves as well as their customers. According to Advertising Age (1998), this campaign is ranked 49th out of the top 100 ad campaigns of all times.

Bruce Barton (1886-1967)

Background
In 1919 with George Batten, Roy Durstine and Alex Osborn, he founded the Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn agency (BBDO) which soon became one of the leading advertising agencies in the world.

Bruce Barton was an outstanding copywriter, and many of his phrases and advertisements became classics. Barton were all of these: celebrity in the 1930s, confidant to presidents & congressmen, a philanthropist, master copywriter & bestselling author of The Man Nobody Knows (1920s); a book about Jesus Christ representing the son of God as a cheerful, inspiring and popular man.

Helen Lansdowne Resor:1886-1964(Part 1)

Brilliant Feminine Mind
Helen Lansdowne Resor (1886-1964)

Background
Also known as the greatest copywriter of her generation, Helen Lansdowne learnt early in life from lessons of feminism, independence, and self-sufficiency after the death of her father at age 4 and living in dire poverty.

These influences lead her to focus on a career of self-improvement, and aspiration of the habits of richer people.

In 1903, Helen Lansdowne, 17, graduated as class valedictorian from a high school in Covington, Kentucky. She met Stanley Resor in 1904, a young Yale graduate and soon to be president of the J. Walter Thompson (JWT) ad agency where Helen’s copywriting career took prominence. They married in 1917.

Stanley Resor was the first man who brought business sense and professionalism to advertising through his philosophy of scientific research

In the 1920's, under Stanley Resor's direction, JWT took the first place in total agency billings and stayed there for the next five decades.

Key Contributions
Helen scored many ‘firsts’ for women in her lifetime; the first woman in writing & planning national advertising (1920s), the first woman to present an advertising campaign to Procter & Gamble’s board of directors.

She was instrumental in organising suffragette (right for women to vote) parades in New York and helped to aspiring artists, homeless women while contributing to family based community work. She was also among the first to use photography in her ads.

Helen Lansdowne Resor (Part 2)

Her Ads & Style

She focused on women as her target; studying their buying habits and what worked for them. With this brilliance, Resor led JWT to No. 1 status by 1927.

“A Skin You Love to Touch” (1910)
The ad which established Resor’s style expresses softness, romance and poetry. This may have been the first triumph for sex in advertising although in a muted way.

The Woodbury facial soap, which had been marketed for years for its medicinal properties, turned its attention on the user. The ads offered free product samples in addition to a host of skin care regimen tips for the housewife to the high society lady. Sales increased by 1,000 percent in 8 years!

Helen Lansdowne Understood the Power of Testimonials and Celebrity Endorsement.

Helen’s innovative style was also celebrated by being different from all the other advertising at that time. She developed the ‘editorial style’ of advertising that imitated the layouts of the Ladies’ Home Journals & Evening Posts. It had the newsworthy look which projected good reputation and credibility; good attributes to build for any brand.

A typical Helen Lansdowne ad would look like this: pretty painting, gentle selling copy, solid arguments for buying and an offer for a free product sample. These were powerful combinations of ‘reason why’ & ‘free gift’ few consumers could resist.

The Power of Testimonials

Helen & Stanley upgraded the concept of testimonials to obtain endorsements from famous personalities. For Lux, the use of screen stars made a bar of soap glamourous and luxurious. Lux sold fame, glamour, luxury and…sex appeal.

In 1961, the JWT Company's billing was $370 million and it became the first American advertising agency with branches out to worldwide dimensions, with 55 offices and 6,225 people employed.

Helen Resor : Woodbury's Soap Print Ads

Here are some of Helen's print ads which appeared in the Ladies' Home Journals & Saturday Night Evening Post in the 1920s.

Helen's Pond & Cutex Ads

Please note the 'editorial style' of advertising which she adapted from the success of the Woodbury's Facial Soap ad.