ADVERTISEMENTS (_continued_)
"Discretion of speech is more than eloquence; and to speak
agreeably to him with whom we deal is more than to speak in good
words or in good order."--FRANCIS BACON.
I. Assignment I
Clip from current newspapers or magazines five advertisements which in
your opinion have effective attention lines. Pick out five
advertisements which in your opinion have ineffective attention lines.
Give your reasons for your choice.
II. Assignment II
(a) Taking the attention arguments selected in the preceding
chapter, set down all the questions that you might ask as a
possible customer if you had been attracted by the attention
line.
(b) In the five examples of effective advertising selected from
newspapers or magazines, set down the questions that are
answered in the matter following the attention lines.
III. Coherence in Advertising
An effective advertisement must be a logically developed argument
leading from the attraction of attention to the point where the reader
is convinced that he wants your goods, and beyond that to the point
where he will take some definite physical action to get them.
The steps intervening between attention and action may be sketched in
the briefest terms, may in some exceptional cases be omitted entirely
from the final form of the advertisement, but must be carefully worked
out in the mind of the writer, no step being omitted that is essential
in the chain of reasoning that the ordinary mind must follow.
Obviously the chain of reasoning must start from the attention line. If
you have attracted your reader by saying "Prices Cut," you must tell him
how much the reduction is and why you have made the reduction. If, on
the other hand, you have attracted the attention by saying "Our Goods
are the Best," you must explain the reasons why they are the best. That
the mind of the reader may be held to the line of the argument from
attention to action, all material that has no bearing upon this line of
argument must be excluded.
IV. Exercise
Answer the questions about the various articles set down in
Assignment I, being careful to follow the logical order in which they
would occur and to exclude all material that does not relate directly to
the argument you have selected.
V. Clinching Results
When you have attracted the attention of your reader and carried him
along through a logical argument to the conviction that he wants your
goods, one thing more remains. He must be induced to act upon his
conviction. Up to this point his part has been passive; he has been
asked merely to sit in his easy chair and read what you have to say. Now
he must be aroused to activity; he must be brought to the point of
putting on his hat and coat and going out to buy your goods. The
strongest language form at our command is required here, the direct
urgent imperative. Involuntarily people tend to obey orders that are
given them. The appeal must, of course, be courteous, so as not to
offend; but it must be strong enough to induce action. Compare the
strength of "Sign here for free booklet" with "If you will sign on this
line, we will send you our free booklet."
When your reader has been aroused to action, his way should be made as
easy as possible. Every direction that he may need should be plainly
before him, every convenience that will reduce his action to a minimum.
He should be told clearly how and where he can get the goods that you
have convinced him he wants, your name, your address, your telephone
number, and everything else that will enable him to reach you promptly
and certainly.
VI. Assignment III
Write a compelling sentence for each of the advertisements constructed
in Assignment II (a), adding the necessary conclusion.
Construct a series of five advertisements, each dealing with a single
attractive feature of one of the articles selected in the preceding
work. Each advertisement should carry its argument through from
attention to action.
VII. Suggested Reading
James Parton's _Captains of Industry_.
VIII. Memorize
THE PULLEY
When God at first made man,
Having a glass of blessing standing by;
Let us (said he) pour on him all we can:
Let the world's riches which dispersed lie
Contract into a span.
So strength first made a way;
Then beauty flow'd, then wisdom, honour, pleasure;
When almost all was out, God made a stay,
Perceiving that alone, of all his treasure,
Rest in the bottom lay.
For if I should (said he)
Bestow this jewel also on my creature,
He would adore my gifts instead of me,
And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature;
So both should losers be.
Yet let him keep the rest,
But keep them with repining restlessness:
Let him be rich and weary, that at least,
If goodness lead him not, yet weariness
May toss him to my breast.
GEORGE HERBERT.