Why copywriters must convey the truth
5 April 2009
The actor, singer and copywriter have one thing in common: his words will never be accepted unless he conveys the truth.
Sinatra was a top singer and Oscar winning actor because people believed his words whether he spoke or sung them.
David Ogilvy was a top advertising copywriter because readers recognised the truth in his headlines. Ogilvy created perhaps the most famous headline in the car business:
“At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock”.
Ogilvy also said:
“In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you can also sell what you create”
Creating and selling are the two fundamentals of business. If you are not doing either of those you are merely a bystander.
Drayton Bird, the UK’s pre-eminent direct marketing expert puts it like this:
“The art of persuasion starts with saying something so clearly true that people believe what you say next”*
As Drayton Bird explains in his headline above, the words in a promotion must be believed or they won’t sell much product. You may sell a few here and there, but what usually happens is mediocre response and just enough sales, maybe, to keep business level.
And Peter Hobday, subscriptions marketing copywriter says:
“Truth is the world’s best motivator”
A great copywriter must do much better than keep business level. His words must make the client’s business richer.
Here then, is a link to an example of an ad created by Drayton Bird that made tons of money. Usually, no-one gets to know who created an advertisement – they are perhaps the only works of art that never have a signature. So save these files in case you ever want or need to learn how to sell ..
Here is a link to an advertisement created by Peter Hobday. It helped take Right Start magazine to the number three magazine for parents.
Peter Hobday’s Right Start advertisement
You can find more about Drayton Bird here:
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