Ad Advice

1. Keep It Simple.

Advertising needs to catch the eye, deliver a message quickly, and allow the reader to recall your company, product or service.

2. Sell Benefits.

The best ads tell consumers how your product or service solves problems and makes life better.

3. Use Celebrities.

Celebrities are effective at attracting reader attention. Ads with celebrities have recall rates 13 % higher than average.

4. Buy Color.

One-page color ads have recall rates 45 % higher on average than comparable black and white ads.

5. Control Reader Flow.

Good design controls the way a reader looks at the ad, locking in the elements most likely to be seen first, second, third and so on. The most powerful element of an ad is the illustration or photo, so don’t put it at the bottom where reader is likely to miss the rest of the ad.

6. Be Specific.

Americans have little tolerance for advertising that doesn’t have a clear and distinct message. Worse yet, they may react with considerable hostility to the advertiser who dares to confuse them.

7. Turn Up The Contrast.

Advertisers do well to include “visual irony” in their advertisements. American Express produced a memorable ad by having the jockey Willie Shoemaker and the towering Wilt Chamberlain standing back-to-back. Stolichniya vodka ads performed an average of 50 % better when the artwork was presented on a black background, versus white.

8. Use Animals And Kids.

This holds true for products or services that have nothing to do with kids or animals. The challenge is to find a way to incorporate these winners into the campaign.

9. Make Copy As Inviting As Possible.

Squeezing copy into a tight corner to maximize white space is a so-called “triumph of style over common sense,” as is a lot of reversed out type, unjustified left and right margins, and type over heavily patterned backgrounds. If you get 20 % of readers to delve into your copy, you’re succeeding.

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