Writing amazing radio and television advertising, winning print ads, and powerfully converting web copy is the greatest challenge marketers face. As a doctor of psychology and the creative force behind some of the most successful media campaigns today, I can tell you – WORDS don’t just matter – they’re 90% of the battle.
To understand the role of psychology and writing winning radio, TV, online and print copy, I need to take you back to the early 90’s. I worked mornings seeing clients as a doctor of psychology before heading off to the radio station where I hosted my talk show in the Los Angeles market. It was my dual focus in both psychology and in trying to help my sponsors and advertisers to succeed that shed light on the essential nature of WORDS in advertising. I can’t tell you how many new advertisers were trotted through my show. I’d read the ad copy created by some ad agency or the station’s writers and shake my head. After a very short time on the air, I could tell you which advertisers would succeed and which would not – based mostly on the ad copy I was reading.
It was during that time that I became intimately involved in the radio station’s creative process. I started meeting with new advertisers and rewriting copy based on what motivated their consumers to… well, consume. I employed words with deeper meanings connecting with the listeners at strategic levels. Once this transformation started, my advertisers succeeded. I don’t say this in a boastful manner at all. I simply stumbled upon the key to writing transformational ad copy because I was so steeped in psychology and radio at the same time.
It was during this time that I coined the term Ad•col•ogy, which is the use of words that tap into consumer’s shared life experiences. Ad•col•ogy is an honest and non-manipulative ad form that replaces its more manipulative cousin, psychology. It focuses on using words and phrases, which evoke a connection through shared life experiences. A common mistake among ad copywriters and creative agencies is that they try to do and say too much in the span of sixty seconds. They mistakenly believe that more words are better when just the opposite is true: fewer words are better as long as those words tap into the consumer’s shared life experiences.
To help you decipher the difference between WORDS and SHARED LIFE EXPERIENCE WORDS, let’s take a look at a handful of examples from recent commercials we’ve orchestrated for our clients.
Words: Help
Adcology Words: Solve
Why it Matters: Every copywriter uses the word help. It’s a fine word, but it isn’t nearly as powerful as solve, which evokes a shared life experience among consumers. To solve is a long-term solution while to help is fleeting hope.
Words: Estate Tax
Adcology Words: Death Tax
Why it Matters: 90% of consumers don’t relate to estate tax. They mistakenly believe that only rich people have an estate so they remove themselves from the commercial message. Conversely, 100% of consumers understand the term death tax, which elicits an emotional reaction through shared experiences.
Words: We think
Adcology Words: We believe, we’re convinced, we’re resolved.
Why it Matters: Which ad copy phrase garners more confidence in a service: “We think we can help you”. Or, “We’re resolved to helping you”
You might equate overused and passive-advertising copy to trying to cure a health issue with overly prescribed antibiotics. Doctors tell us that viruses mutate over time and become resistant to once successful treatments. Consumers have been so over-exposed to common advertising, that they have become desensitized to the approaches that once worked like a charm. Adcology breaks through today’s creative morass and we’ve proven it over and over with our direct response and brand clients. It’s absolutely the most effective way to launch a new product or service – boost sales – or revive a campaign that was on life support.
For more information, please contact: greg@roimediadirect.com
