Advertising techniques are tools. The tools you use to attract attention, engage minds, trigger emotions, and change what people think.
Promise a BenefitA benefit is something of value to the target audience. Ask, "what can this product or service do for me?" And the answer is a benefit.
The persuasive energy in a benefit ad comes from two characteristics. First is the importance of the benefit to the reader. Second is the specificity of the benefit.
A good example, the headline, "Introducing a washer so gentle it can actually help your clothes last longer."
Ambiguous or abstract words such as "professional" or "beautiful" or "unique" are not specific enough to mean much, if anything, to the reader. Avoid them and their relatives.
A benefit may or may not be a competitive advantage. It could be, for example, that many brands of car batteries come with a lifetime guarantee. But if no one else is making the claim, go ahead and stake out the territory.
Clients will sometimes say, "Our competitors could say the same thing." But that may not matter to the consumer. Especially if you are the first to advertise the benefit, the consumer response could be, "That sounds good, I'll give it a try."
Even if consumers may be aware that several products that offer the same benefit, the ad that brings that benefit to mind can trigger a sale.
Features or benefits.
A feature is a characteristic of the product. "This computer has a 500 gigabyte hard drive." The benefit, what it can do for the reader is, "This hard drive stores a lot of data, like my family videos."
But sometimes, as in the above example, a benefit can be inherent in the feature. Most people know immediately the benefit of a 500 gig hard drive. So if the vast majority of readers understand the benefit inherent in the feature, there is no need to explain the benefit. Just say the feature.
Create a character that adds interest or story value to your campaign.
Could be an actor playing a role. Or a cartoon character. Or a dead politician. He, she or they are all "created" characters because you define the role they play in the advertising.
While a "brand character" must represent the personality and other aspects of the brand, an invented character must not.
Some of the world's best advertising campaigns have been built on invented characters. And the best of these characters frequently do not reflect the brand or even a demographic profile of the target audience.
Like a good movie or book, your character needs to be interesting. Different. Unexpected. With lots of personality. Quirky behaviour. Or strongly expressed views.
These engaging, out-of-the-ordinary characters will grab attention, and by grabbing attention, they will help communicate your sales message because they break through the clutter, stand out from the crowd.
Exaggeration
Take the basic idea you want to communicate, your concept, then exaggerate it. Take it to extremes. Push it beyond reason, beyond reality. In the copy. With visuals. Or both.
Exaggerate a benefit. Exaggerate a problem. Exaggerate size, the physical appearance.
Just make sure to exaggerate your exaggeration. Because a BIG exaggeration is interesting, and a powerful way to get communicate your concept. A small exaggeration is simply a misleading ad.
An interesting approach is to exaggerate the visual, but understate the copy. Or exaggerate the copy and keep the visual simple.
To work with this technique, it can help to simplify your message, the main thing you want to say, into one sentence or one visual. Then let your imagination push it from there, all the way to outrageous exaggeration.
