Daily Rounds

Let’s have a round table discussion about healthy breakfast choices: Navel Oranges. Sweet, juicy Navels are just what th_edoctor ordered. There’s nothing artificial about these golden sections of a 100 percent natural fruit. They’re high i_nnutritious vitamin C. But low in calories. Full of refreshment. And they’ll fill you full of energy.

Headline: Daily Rounds

Lead-In:

Let’s have a round table discussion about healthy breakfast choices:

Navel Oranges.

Transition:

Sweet, juicy Navels are just what the doctor ordered.

Story:

They’re high in nutritious vitamin C. But low in calories. Full of refreshment. And they’ll fill you full of energy. Pick up a dozen.

Transition:

(Pick up a dozen)* if you know what’s good for you.

Wrap-up:

What a “well”-rounded way to start the day!

*”Pick up a dozen” overlaps, as both a story call-to-action, and a transition.

Pick up a dozen, if you know what’s good for you. What a “well”-rounded way to start the day!

It’s taken just 73 words to craft a health-oriented advertisement for navel oranges. Are there any words you can cut to tighten the copy? You might omit sentence three: There’s nothing artificial about these golden sections of 100 percent natural fruit; although that copy functions to reinforce the natural goodness of the product. That reduces the word count to 61.

Notice how hardworking the copy is. In putting together the advertisement, no mention was made of two copy elements: the transition from lead-in to story, and the transition from story to wrap-up. That’s because theyalready exist in the story. Sweet, juicy Navel Oranges are just what the doctorordered not only sets up thehealth story; it’s also the bridge that leads from round table discussion to _nutritious vitamin C. And Pick up a dozen, if you know what’s good for you not only completes the story by asking for the order, it also connects what’s good for you with being well-rounded.

One last observation: read the copy aloud. Does it flow smoothly? Sound natural? Remember, an ad should sound like a conversation on paper. Make sure it is constructed in short or uncomplicated sentences, using unstilted language [Example, stilted: "We at (company name) ..." Unstilted: "At (company name), we ..."]. If you wouldn’t speak that way, don’t write that way.

What’s missing? Perhaps it’s the spontaneity, enthusiasm and fun of using Creative Aerobics. Here’s a creatively radical thought: What if you didn’t start at the beginning, but in the middle?

When you think about it, the most important part of an ad is the story or “sell.” What is it about the product that will persuade a potential customer to buy it? What kind of a story should be written? What would sell the reader on Navel Oranges? In order to write the story, you will need to collect facts. A starting point is the facts list compiled in Creative Advertsing.

A fact by itself is nothing more than information; it has no powers of persuasion. The first step, then, is to examine the facts and determine what it is about each fact that could make it important to someone reading the ad.

Review your facts. Which ones would you select for your story or sell?

Suppose you decide you’d like to tell a health story. Select the facts that relate to health: a Navel Orange contains vitamin C, meaning it supplies you with nutrition; it’s a low-calorie snack, meaning you can enjoy it without worrying about gaining weight; it’s healthy, which means it’s good for you. Not on the list, but health-related: an orange is a 100 percent natural, meaning there are no additives, nothing artificial; it gives you energy, meaning it fuels your activities; and it’s a fruit, which puts it at the top of the food pyramid.

Is that enough to work with? Also include secondary facts that could be persuasive to the reader: a Navel Orange fills your mouth with sweetness, meaning it satisfies your sweet tooth; it’s juicy, meaning it provides refreshment and quenches thirst; it tastes good, meaning it’s enjoyable to eat.

Since you’ve chosen a health story, it might be helpful to make a list of phrases containing reference to good health:

Just what the doctor ordered

If you know what’s good for you

The picture of health

Drink to your health; here’s to your health

In sickness and in health

Healthy choices

Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise

Medical opinion

Clean bill of health

Combining the two creates a health story:

Sweet, juicy Navel Oranges are just what the doctor ordered. There’s nothing artificial about these golden sections of a 100 percent natural fruit. They’re high in nutritious vitamin C. But low in calories. Full of refreshment. And they’ll fill you full of energy. Pick up a dozen, if you know what’s good for you.

Let’s analyze how this story is constructed. Sentence one identifies the product—Navel Oranges. But it does more than that. It pairs the fruit with its taste—”sweet, juicy”— from the secondary facts list. The taste is underscored by a literary tool—alliteration—which repeats the “s” sound— sweet, juicy—increasing the sense of sweetness. There’s more: since this story centers on health, the sentence is completed with a health reference—”just what the doctor ordered“—from the list of health phrases, which sets up what is to follow.

Sentence two probes the health relationship: Navel Oranges are a 100 percent natural fruit. There is nothing artificial about them—no artificial coloring, no artificial flavoring, no chemical additives. Sentence two also dissects them, dividing them into “golden sections,” appealing to the reader’s sense of sight.

Sentences three and four, and sentence fragments one and two flesh out the health story (vitamins … refreshment … energy), employing additional literary tools: opposites (high …, low …); and parallel construction (high in vitamin C, low in calories).

Sentence five makes the sale. It asks for the order: “Pick up a dozen ….” And it gives a reason to believe that summarizes the health story: “if you know what’s good for you.”

You may be asked to create a seventh element: a slogan or positioning line. For now, just execute the six elements listed above.

1. The headline. Limit the type of headlines you write to choices from two of your Creative lists: from rule 2—new names; or rule 4—new definitions for existing phrases. For now, your headlines will contain a minimal number of words—just the essence of the idea.
2. The lead-in. This is the first sentence in the ad. Generally, it is a restatement of the headline. Try using rule 4 to construct it.
3. The transition. It bridges the distance between the lead-in and the story. It may be a word, a sentence, a paragraph. It is followed by:
4. The story or “sell.” This is the most important part of the ad. It is where you bring your product or service to life; where you persuade your reader of the benefits of purchasing the product; and where you make the sale.
5. The transition out of the story. This leads the reader to:
6. The wrap-up. This summarizes the ad and ties it all together.

Note that the elements of an ad with an asterisk—the headline, lead-in and wrap-up—give you an opportunity to apply what you learned in rule 4. Since you have already exercised this Aerobic before you ever started putting together the copy for an ad, you already have nearly one-half of your work completed.

Prior to putting an ad together, some questions may come to mind.

Question: how many words are there in an ad?

Answer: as many as it takes to sell your product. Try limiting the number to a 100 or less and make every word count. Edit relentlessly.

Question: what pronoun form should be used? First person? Second person? Third person?

Answer: “You” is probably the most important word you’ll put on paper.

Question: are there any “rules” for writing ads?

Answer: a few. Since advertising is all about breaking the rules, however, you’ll probably find reasons to break these down the road. But let’s follow a few rules for now.