Needed Writer - Writing Great Headlines and Slogans

In a great headline, a dog is never just a dog.

One punctuation mark can make all the difference. A colon can add significant meaning to the phrase "needed writer," turning it into a want ad-"Needed: Writer."

An expert advertising writer knows that creating copy for advertisements is much closer to composing a poem than writing prose, though this is may not be apparent at first.

Though some copy does read like a paragraph from the newspaper, passing along a few pieces of information, an advertisement is intended to do more than simply communicate. An advertising writer seeks to grab attention, deliver a meaningful message, and motivate a contingent of people to do something specific. Whether its purpose is to enlist volunteers at a soup kitchen or to sell expensive televisions, an ad must persuade people to act.

If an individual understands the message but fails to act, then to some extent the ad has failed, even if it succeeds in building awareness or establishing good will.

Of course, each prospective customer represents so many uncontrollable variables that neither the writer nor the ad is always at fault, but a great advertising writer keeps in mind that consumers rarely make purchases for logical reasons. Most people spend money for emotional reasons and later come up with the necessary logical arguments to justify their decisions: "Isn't the picture so much sharper than our last television?" or "Did I tell you it gets 36 miles to the gallon on the interstate?

As with poetry, we know ads require a special type of reading. We're supposed to read between the lines and pay attention to what's been left out. The awkward syntax of the "needed writer" grabs the reader's attention and, perhaps, piques her curiosity. An even better example is Nike's famous "Just Do It" tag line. The folks at Wieden & Kennedy who developed this slogan sought to capture Nike's brand and to communicate its mission, values and unique value proposition at the same time. "Just Do It" evokes an attitude or posture towards life with which Nike wanted to associate itself.

Great headlines and slogans become a part of popular culture and the public consciousness because they carry an invisible cargo that separates the Wall Street Journal from Macbeth. What distinguishes "Just Do It" from the slogan of that athletic shoe company that you never choose? Emotion. Nike captured an attitude with three words.

The power of "Just Do It" comes from the slogan's spareness, or economy of language. Less is more. To have used more verbage would have been to weaken the slogan. Think about how negative space in a photograph or graphic "amplify" the focal points. A rest in a piano concerto has the same effect. A great slogan distills that brand into its essence, and each word in an ad must carry its share of the message. A word wasted is money wasted. More text can dilute, rather than reinforce, the core message. "Needed Writer" and "Just Do It" get straight to the point.

Regardless of where or how you're advertising, a great advertisement makes an emotional connection with its target audience. Showing an understanding of a common desire or problem builds trust with your audience. They feel understood. When you offer a solution, they believe you and want for you to tell them what to do.

A great advertisement is more than a tool; it is a work of art.

An avid flyfisherman, outdoorsman, and traveler, Austin Church divides his time between helping his marketing and advertising clients sell more stuff with SEO copywriting, traffic generation, and marketing strategy and his own creative projects.