Theme Creative Copy
7-Up is not a cola. “The Un-Cola.”
Let us drive you in our bus instead “Take the bus, and leave the
of driving your car. driving to us.”
Shop by turning the pages of the “Let your fingers do the walking.”
telephone directory.
We don’t rent as many cars, so we “We try harder.”
have to do more for our customers.
Red Roof Inns offer inexpensive “Sleep cheap at Red Roof
lodging. Inns.”Creativity is especially required for headlines. There are six basic types of head-
lines:news(“New Boom and More Inflation Ahead... and What You Can Do About
It”);question(“Have You Had It Lately?”);narrative(“They Laughed When I Sat Down
at the Piano, but Then I Started to Play!”);command(“Don’t Buy Until You Try All
Three”);1-2-3 ways(“12 Ways to Save on Your Income Tax”); and how-what-why(“Why
They Can’t Stop Buying”).
Formatelements such as ad size, color, and illustration will affect an ad’s impact
as well as its cost. A minor rearrangement of mechanical elements can improve at-
tention-getting power. Larger-size ads gain more attention, though not necessarily by
as much as their difference in cost. Four-color illustrations increase ad effectiveness
and ad cost. By planning the relative dominance of different elements, better deliv-
ery can be achieved. New electronic eye movement studies show that consumers can
be led through an ad by strategic placement of dominant elements.
A number of researchers into print advertisements report that the picture, headline,
andcopyare important, in that order. The reader first notices the picture, and it must
be strong enough to draw attention. Then the headline must propel the person to
read the copy. The copy itself must be well composed. Even then, a really outstand-584