A sufficient number of examples of advertisements which have ap peared in the press for some time past have been given to show that copy must be always individual to its particular proposition. There are more ways of approaching the copy proposition than one, and copy can be good although it is applied in a widely different man ner. At the same time there are some things which the advertiser must avoid, and they have been to a certain extent shown. It may be said that the majority of advertising resembles in its character examples No. 1 and No. Q. The great majority of advertisers everywhere content themselves by displaying in the largest nossible form only the name of the article advertised. This method of advertising calls for no particular thought and is most easy of accomplishment. A lesser number, but still, taken as a whole, a great number, impress the name together with a fact or two in connection with the article advertised by way of illus tration. The number of advertisements which may truthfully be said to be carefully and intelligently written, in accordance with the article exploited and the public appealed to, are in very small minority, and some of them have been referred to herein. The reason is that sufficient thought is not given to the preparation of copy. It is not realised by all advertisers that copy is the most important thing in advertising.
the actual writing of copy and the designing of advertisements calls for particular ability, literary and artistic, the basis upon which they are written and designed may be ascertained by taking a common-sense view of the proposition. Good literary matter or fine pictures do not necessarily make good advertisements. It is the basis upon which they are written winch makes them ultimately and finally successful. This is the reason, very pro bably, why good advertisement copy-writers and good advertisement artists are so rare. It is the combination of literary ability, and what may be termed the selling commercial sense which makes the advertisement copv-writer. The finest literary man in the world may carefully investigate the merits of an article to be advertised, and fail to turn out copy which would be considered good advertising copy. On the other hand, a commercial man might thoroughly understand the basic principles of copy-writing, but his lack of literary ability would make it impossible for him to write :idling copy. There are certain broad lines of procedure, however, which can be laid down here, and they are something as follows:— Whatever article it is desired to advertise, the first thing to be thought of is the class of people who are likely to buy it. After that, the merits of the article should be very carefully looked into and compared w ill the merits of other articles. If the article to be advertised is of a very light unimportant nature, bought every day in small quantities, it is pretty safe to assume that, whatever merits it has, the public will not be interested in it to the extant that they would read long advertisements about that article. If, on the other hand, the article was one winch involved an expenditure of a considerable amount of money on the part of the public, it is fairly safe to assume that they will give sonic consideration to the purchase of such an article, and \via be sufficiently interested to read all the advertiser has to say about it. For instance, a possible purchaser of a piano would be in a mood to read half a column of letterpress regarding a certain piano, but the purchaser of a packet of needles would certainly not take that trouble. One suffering from neuralgia
would naturally be in a mood to read a long advertisement regarding a certain cure for neuralgia, but a person desiring to purchase a cake of soap would not give that time to reading about the manufacture of a certain soap. One advertisement can be lengthy, can go very carefully into the proposition, and can thereby endeavour to carry full conviction regarding the merits claimed. The other advertisement can merely impress the quality and not fully describe it. Having decided what section of the public the advertiser wishes to appeal to, and the attention that such a public is likely to give to his advertising, the next proposition is to find out exactly what are the merits or selling points of the article he advertises. Take fountain pens, for instance; the general advantage of all fountain pens is that they are always ready for use at all times, and obviate the use of the ink-well in any form at all. They can be carried in the pocket, and can be used in places where an ink-well is unavailable. These are the general merits of all fountain pens which should form the basis of copy-writing. Then, again, other fountain pens have particular merits. The Onoto Fountain Pen, for instance, is a pen which can be filled in five seconds without the aid of any mechanical bulb filler. It has a patent arrangement which absolutely prevents it from leaking in the pocket. These are the two main selling points of the Onoto fountain pen, and it is obvious that they should be made the most of when for that pen.
If a certain manufacturer of underwear knows that his goods cannot possibly shrink in the wash, then that should be made one of the main points upon which the copy should be written, and so on through the various articles which are in use every day, and which are exploited by advertising. The main merits of the article must be ascertained, and the copy should be written around those merits. If these merits can be indicated or proved by illtistra tion, then they should be proved by illustration, since that is the quickest way of carrying the necessary impression to the public mind. The general appearance of the whole advertisement is a matter for the copy-writer to decide. He will generally proceed on the lines of gaining strong contrast. He will, where possible, strike out an entirely new line of display so as to gain individuality. He may do this by using very strong black blocks, or on the contrary, by using a great deal of white space. Whatever he does will depend on prevailing circumstances. It may be taken as a principle that the copy-writer should stick absolutely to his subject, and not endeavour to hide his advertisement under an irrelevant illustration or remarks. He should not begin, for instance, by exploiting the delights of Alpine climbing and end up by endeavouring to sell a hot weather drink. Merely displaying the name of the goods advertised cannot be regarded as copy-writing at all. An advertisement should go further. The ideal advertisement is that which impresses the name of the goods advertised, which carries at a glance a favour able impression about these goods or their use, and which carries a degree of conviction regarding their merits. This is the class of advertisement which will make all space of maximum value to the advertiser, and it should be the aim of every advertiser to obtain it. The cost may he higher than he generally pays, but the results in pounds, shillings, and pence will more than justify it.