“All my experience says that for a great many products, long copy sells more than short…” Those are the words of David Ogilvy, in Ogilvy on Advertising. He was a pretty experienced guy when it came to copywriting… Did a few good things, apparently. Interestingly, Ogilvy went on to suggest one of the reasons behind this idea is “advertisements with long copy convey the impression that you have something important to say, whether people read the copy…
At the end of the 80s there was really only one widely recognised skateboarding company: Powell Peralta. Started by two of the biggest names in skateboarding – particularly Stacey Peralta – the company was very successful. Indeed, it was pretty much the team to ride for. Its elite skating team – the Bones Brigade – included a young Tony Hawk. Nowadays, he’s perhaps the only universally recognised name in skateboarding. Another famous rider who you might…
I was recently in the hot seat for a monthly live Twitter event organised by ProCopywriters called #ProCopyChat. It’s basically an hour where the guest fields questions about copy. It was pretty intense with chatter flying all over the shop, but it was also a lot of fun. In case you didn’t get to catch the event live, or wanted to review my answers all in one place, I thought it would be a good…
Before we get into this piece… A thank you. Thank you to all those readers who took part in my live webinar last Thursday (30th August). It was great to chat to you and from the feedback I’ve had, people found it really useful. That’s great. If you were unable to attend but you did pre-order the book, you should have received an email from me with the recording. Plus…you should have received a link…
“Er…it’s actually fruit infusion for me.” What? I’d just asked fellow copywriter, André Spiteri, if he prefers putting the milk in before the tea bag or after the water. I live a pretty controversial life myself by putting the milk in first… And in Earl Grey no less, an already-too-weak-tea in most people’s eyes. But blimey… This Spiteri chap blows my blasphemy out of the water. “Yeah,” he goes on, “I’m not a tea drinker…
David Ogilvy or David Lynch? I ask. “As a copywriter,” Gareth replies, “I’ve got to go with Ogilvy. He’s the main man on Main Street. The don. I did enjoy Twin Peaks as a kid, though.” Charles Bukowski or Charles Saatchi? I continue. “Tough one that. Saatchi has done loads in copywriting and in art, but I’m giving Bukowski the nod. I like that downtrodden, underdog realism stuff. He championed the marginalised brilliantly. A good…
You ever get the fear? I do. All the time. That feeling when you’re staring at a blank page and just don’t know where to begin. How in the holy chicken nugget are you going to spew forth 40-50 pages of a sales letter from nothing? You start sweating…pacing the room…eating more biscuits than any one person should. You start imagining yourself in other careers…train driver…estate agent…children’s entertainer…who wants to be a copywriter anyway…it’s a…
If you work in copywriting, there’s probably a copy of The Copywriter’s Handbook somewhere near you… Maybe it’s in that drawer you’ve not checked for a while… or hidden on the shelf between the Ogilvy, Hopkins and Schwartz… heck, it might be right next to you, acting as a coaster. Point is: this book is everywhere. And so it should be. You see, its author Robert W. Bly – or Bob, as he’s better known – is one of the most respected copywriters…
“Sell, or else,” pronounced legendary ad man, David Ogilvy many a decade ago. And, ever since, this unflinching commandment has been passed down from copywriter to copywriter. It’s the great leveller; the simple reminder that whatever the media, your aim remains the same: you sell, my boy, you sell if it’s the last thing you do. But is it the right aim? Or rather, is it the right message? Is the perceived wisdom of ‘a…
Reassurance isn’t a term that’s widely used in copywriting. Have a quick scan through the index pages of Cialdini’s Influence, Daniel H. Pink’s To Sell is Human or even Ogilvy’s On Advertising and you won’t find any special preference given to the word. Does that make it redundant? Does the fact that late greats and modern thinkers alike haven’t targeted the concept of ‘reassurance’ mean that it isn’t something to think about? No way. I…
