Notes: MCM 223 ADVERTISING COPYWRITING AND LAYOUT

MODULE ONE

Unit One — Advertising: Meaning and Definitions

The concept of advertising

INTRODUCTION

This unit is meant to introduce us to the concept of advertising, giving us an understanding of

what advertisements are, and basically the components of advertisements. This will serve as a
baseline information necessary in further studies on advertisements.

OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to;

Summarize the different views in the definitions of advertising.

Give a clear cut definition of advertising.

Describe the components of advertising.

Describe the relationship between the human communication process and advertising.

The Concept of Advertising

Manufacturers use a wide variety of communication tools to initiate and maintain contacts with
the prospects and customers. These tools include solicitation letters, newspaper / radio /
television advertisements /commercials, event sponsorship, publicity, tele-marketing sale calls,
statement stuffers. All of these are marketing communication tools and so is advertising.
Advertising is a marketing communication tool aimed at causing sale of any product, idea or
service.

Definition of advertising

The nature of advertising has attracted different definitions to it as a concept. Journalists may
define it as a communication or public relations or a persuasive process; sociologists and
economists may view its social significance or it economic importance; philosophers and
moralists may want to view it from its ethical perspective and impact on behaviour. These
perspectives are very important but a clear cut definition of advertising must be given for
direction in this study.

W. Arens, M. Weigold& C. Arens (2008) define advertising as ‘a structured and composed non-
personal communication of information, usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature,
about products (goods, services and ideas by identified sponsors through various media’.

Components of advertising

(a) Advertising is actually made up of a message to be communicated in a structured and

composed manner. It puts to use both verbal and non-verbal elements usually composed to fill
specific space and time formats usually pre-determined by the sponsor.

A paint advert is composed of pictures and words usually put on a specific page and space in
the newspaper or printed material usually paid for by an identified sponsor.

A television commercial is usually made up of pictures, spoken and written words with songs
transmitted at a given broadcast time for a specific duration usually paid for by the advertiser or
sponsor as the case may be.

(b) Advertisements are directed to a group of people usually but not necessarily large and
heterogeneous. If not usually directed at individuals therefore it is a non-personal or mass
communication. These audiences can be consumers who already know of the product or
prospective who already know of the product or prospective, who are to be brought to the
knowledge of the product.

Example:

(i) MTN’s slogan ‘Your best connection’ refers to the over 3 million customers of theirs even
when the ‘your’ seem to be an individual.

Advertisements are usually paid for by identified sponsors. We must note that some
advertisements, like public notices are not paid for. They are structured, non-personal, and
persuasive communication.

Example:
A commercial or advert for 7-up, MTN, Joy soap, etc. are usually paid for by the manufacturers
or producers of such products but public information on ‘…Good people, Great nation….’ For
instance is not usually paid for.

The intension of most advertisements is to persuade their customers or prospects to patronize

their product. However, depending on the type of advertisement, it may just intend to inform
otherwise as against persuasion. Example:

MTN is persuading its consumers to migrate to its ‘family and friends’ product with its advert
but NAFDAC is informing it’s audience to buy drugs from the right places to prevent usage of
fake drugs.

In advertising there must be a product to be advertised. The product is either good, service or
an idea. Consumers or prospects are exposed to a product through advertising.

Example:

Products can be tangible; goods like soap, food, clothes, phones, etc intangible services; Bank
services, access to calls, courier services, etc; ideas like knowledge gained from trainings etc are
products.

Advertisement messages are definitely sent through a medium. Since it is a non-personal

communication, the mass media is the most likely channel. Examples:

Radio, newspapers, televisions, magazines, the internet etc.

Advertising and the communication process

Communication is no longer new to us; we have been studying it for some time now. We also
know now that advertisement in communication. It therefore requires the communication
process. It is important that an advertiser gets really familiar with the human communication
process because it is needed to creatively and truthfully present their product in the best ways
to achieve its advert aim. We shall therefore remind ourselves that the communication process
according to J. Pearson, P. Nelson, S. Titsworth and L. Harter,(2003) involves a source who is the
message initiator, the receiver who is the message target, the message which is the idea,
thought or feeling which the sender wants to communicate, the channel which is the means by
which the message moves from source to the receiver and feedback which is the receivers
response to the message. While we relate this advertising, we will see that the source is the
sponsor made up of the persona who pays for the advert copy as well as the team who created
the advert. The receivers are the target audience which is said to be a wide range. The message
is the advert copy itself projected through a channel, broadcast or print, or even the new
media. Feedback is measured usually by sales, phone enquiries, visiting the products website
and so on.

ASSESSMENT

Define advertisement and state its components.

What is advertising?

Describe the human communication in advertising.

MODULE One

UNIT 2: TYPES AND CLASSIFICATION OF ADVERTISING

1. Functions of Advertising

2. Types and Classes of Adverts

INTRODUCTION

This unit brings you to the knowledge of the functions, various categories and classes of
advertising. This is a follow-up to the concept of advertising. It will help in the knowledge of
relating the nature of the product to the advertisement audience.

OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, students will be expected to:

Identify the functions of advertising

Identify the classes which different kinds of advertisements fall and,

Note the types of advertisements at your disposal as a copy designer.

1. Functions of Advertising

The functions of advertising vary and are relative to the advertiser. Advertising can render the
following functions; marketing, information, persuasion, education and reminding.
Marketing

Advertising is used to creating awareness for a product to be marketed. It is a link between the
advertiser and the target market. Anyacho (2007) notes that advertising supports marketing
and it helps a company reach it marketing objectives.

Information

Information as a function of advertising gives relevant details about the product to the
consumer or its product. It highlights the existence of the product, benefits, location, price, etc.
It is useful to build a positive brand image for the product.

Education

This establishes the basic knowledge about the availability, usage and other alternative to the
product. It can offer the right choice and open the consumer’s mind to the quality of products
available to improve their standards of living.

Persuasion

Persuasion in advertising is used to ensure a change of attitude in a consumer or prospect in

favour of the product. It serves to motivate the consumer to try the product or keep using it as
the case may be.

Reminding

Advertisements serve to keep the product in the mind of the consumer. a continuous display of
advertisements on the media helps to keep consumer in constant reminder that the brand is
available and can be purchase at sales spots.

Cultural transmission / entertainment

Above these, advert serves to transmit culture as well as entertain its audience. Parts of the
primary roles of advertising is to entertain its targets audience, where advertising fails to
achieve this, he may lose its sales message therefore turning off target consumers from
purchasing the products. Advert that mixes work with play, gets the votes of the audience. Also,
culturally, advertising should reflect the culture of the target audience which is directed
towards.

Types and Classes of Adverts

The types and classes of advertisements will be treated as one here because in discussing the
classes of advertising, the types of advertisements will be considered. Arens (1999) and
Anyacho (2002) have classified advert into four (4) groups. They are:

Target audience

Types of media

Geographical area covered

Purpose of the advert.

Classification by target audience / purpose

Classification of adverts by target audience is strongly tied to the purpose of the advert. This is
so because the purpose of the advert determines its target audience. The manufacturer of any
product usually determines the purpose of the products. The position of the product in the
product life circle also determines the purpose of the advert. Different forms of advertisement
suits the different stages of the product life circle. They include:

i.Information advertising

ii.Consumer advertising

iii.Trade advertisements

iv.Public relations advertising

Classification by types of media

This classifies adverts according to their channels of exposure. They are:

Newspaper adverts

Magazine adverts

Television commercials

Radio commercials

Direct mail

Out-door advertising (Out-of-Home)

These and more can further be divided into the theme (above – the – line) media and the
scheme (below – line media). Examples of the above the line-media include; radio, television,
newspaper and magazine adverts while below – the – line media include stickers, posters,
calendars, pamphlets and so on.

Classification by geographical area

This class identifies the advert by the location of the target audience. They are:

International adverts

National adverts

Regional adverts

Local adverts

ASSESSMENT

List the types of advertisements you know (at least 10).

State the difference between a commercial and an advertisement.

Discuss above – the – line and below – the – line media of advertising.

Module One

UNIT 3: PROCESS OF ADVERTISING

The advertising process

The advertising agency

The media of Advertising

INTRODUCTION

This unit is poised to examine the process of advertising which goes from the advertiser to the
advertising agency through the suppliers then to the media before it will reach the target
audience. This unit would show the various process an advertisement would go through before
reaching the stage of completion. Advertising is not done haphazardly; hence, a team of
experienced professionals is required to produce an effective one, such that can drive the sales
message to audience.
OBJECTIVES

The aim of this unit is:

To expose students to the players in the advertising process.

To identify the role of each player in the advertising process

The Advertising Process

Just like most other endeavours, advertising is a process that involves different players.
Different units contribute its’ quota to achieve advertisements. These units or players as we
may call them play individual but vital roles which are linked such that the absence of one
affects the entire process or output. These players are the advertisers, the advertising agencies,
the suppliers and the media.

The Advertiser

We can also call them clients; advertisers according to Arens et al (2008) are companies,
manufacturer, patenters, developers, firms or any out fit that has a product to advertise. They
sponsor advertising for themselves and their products. Their sizes differ and range from small
independent businesses to huge international multinational companies. So also do they differ in
type. Companies can offer services, goods, or ideas like banks; a social manufacturing company
or a consultancy firm.

Advertisers have been classified into four; local, regional, national and international advertisers.

Local Advertisers

Also known as retail advertisers, local advertisers are advertisers who advertise directly to
consumers. Usually they employ personal selling, publicity sales promotion and other
marketing strategies to get sales for their product. Four types of local advertisers have been
identified to include; dealers or major distributors of big national or international firms; stores
that sell a variety of products e.g. a provision store; specialty businesses and services like banks,
insurance brokers etc and; governmental and non-profit organizations. Three types of local
advertising are product advertising, institutional advertising and classified advertising.

Regional Advertisers

Regional advertisers are companies who operate within a certain region usually made up of
some states put together. Example is ‘Baby Rising Powder’ produced in south-south Nigeria and
common in south-south states and adjunct states to the south-south region. Usually, adverts
are extended only to areas where their market reach.

National Advertisers

These are larger than the regional advertisers because usually they cover many more states or
at least more than one or two regions. Ideally, their markets cover and entire nation.

International Advertisers

Also called trans – national advertisers, international advertisers are companies or firms who
extend their product market to foreign countries.

Examples are Toyota, Honda, Google, Microsoft etc.

2. The Advertising Agency

These are organizations that help advertisers produce their advert copy. You may be curious
and want to know why companies will not just create its own advert copy by itself and save
costs or why an advertiser will rather use an agency over another despite the exorbitant bill of
the former. The role of advert agencies will give an insight to this.

Arens (2008) cited the American Association of Advertising Agencies has defined an advert
agency as ‘an independent organization of creative people and business people who specialize
in developing and preparing marketing and advertising plans, advertisements and other
promotional tools’. We should also add that the advertising agency also purchases advertising
space and time in various media on behalf of different advertisers or sellers to help them find
customers for their products.

These definitions give an insight to the role of advertising agencies. Because advert agencies are
independent, that is, they are not owned by the advertisers or its’ managements, they stand to
view the product objectively and can bring in objective view points to advertisers’ businesses.

Secondly, they harness different business people and creative people to carry out production
jobs for advert copies. They also carry out research for advertisers (their clients) to determine a
most suitable media for advertising their products. Usually, they negotiate, contract and
arrange for commercial space and time with various media including digital media for their
clients.
Advertising agencies are loyal only to their clients, (the advertisers). Their obligation morally,
financially and otherwise is to their clients. Advertisers in turn rely on them to create more
effective advertising and select more effective media than they can themselves. They employ
the services of advert agencies in their own interests.

Types of Advert Agencies

Advert agencies are usually classified by their geographic range, the types of services they offer
and the types of businesses they do. Hence, they include:

1. Geographical Coverage: Advert agencies are grouped into local; regional and national
agencies; and international agencies.

International ad agencies: Prima Garnet, Ogilvy, Ogilvy and Mater Africa, Publicis Groupe,
Omnicon, Dentsu, WPP.

The largest advertising agency in the world is Omnicom Group, with a revenue of $14.29
billion. As of 2022, global ad agencies have a market size of $383.67 billion. Americans are
exposed to between 4,000-10,000 ads per day.

2. Nature of service: They can also be classified according to what services they offer, advert
agencies are grouped into:

a. full service agencies and

b. specialized service agencies.

Full service advert agencies offer both advertising and non-advertising services to their clients.
Advertising services offer includes planning, creating and producing adverts; carrying out
research and selecting media while non-advertising services include packaging, public relations,
producing sales promotion materials, annual reports and so on. This kind of advert agency is
either a General consumer agency or Business to Business agencies.

Specialized service agencies offer specific services to their clients such as creative boutiques,
media buying services and interactive agencies.

3. In-house Agencies

These are advert agencies fully owned by advertisers. Usually, they carry out the same function
as an independent advert agency would but they are under the directives of the management
of the company.
Advertising Suppliers

Suppliers are organizations or people who produce specialized services to the advertising
business. These services may not be peculiar to advertising only; advertising certainly cannot do
without them. They are a very wide range depending on the nature and type of advert copy to
be produced. They include: art studios, web design houses, artists, film and video production,
models and modelling agencies, production houses, and research companies.

3. The Media of Advertising

The media in advertising refers to vehicles through which advert messages reach its target
audience, the customer. They are an important link between the manufacturer or organization
and their customer or prospective consumers bringing them the advert messages intended to
create or maintain sales.

The media in advertising are also a very broad range from:

1. Prints: Print media advertising is a form of mass communication strategy that uses hard copy
printed mediums like newspapers, billboards, and magazines to reach consumers. The
advertising industry identifies print media as one of the oldest mediums used to promote
products.

This allows advertisers to more effectively reach smaller, niche audiences, including those in
specific geographical areas. This targeted advertising can range from simple inserts to regular
weekly sections in local newspapers and other special publications

The newspapers offer widest circulation and have universal appeal. The cost of advertising is
lesser as compared to other media. The newspapers have more repetitive value and are very
helpful in introducing a new product. These are suitable for all types of goods having wider
markets.

A high degree of flexibility is ensured by newspapers i.e., the advertisement campaign can be
undertaken and stopped quickly. Advertisements are the main source of revenue to the
publishers. The most important benefit derived from the newspapers is that the advertiser’s
message can be conveyed to the readers quickly.

2. Electronics:

Radio Advertising:
Radio advertising is very popular these days. The advertisements are broadcasted from
different stations of All . Radio advertising can be explained as “word of mouth advertising on a
wholesale scale”. The advertising messages can be in different regional languages.

The most important advantage derived from radio advertising is that it covers every type of
listener whether illiterate or educated. It is a very effective medium for popularising on mass
scale various consumer articles. The coverage of this medium is wider extending to a large
number of listeners. It ensures quicker repetition.

Radio advertising suffers from shorter life, limited memory and short messages. Cost of
advertising is higher. The message may not be listened properly by the listener. There is no
secrecy. This is useful for those who possess radio sets. There is lesser flexibility and lack of
personal touch.

Television Advertising:

This is the latest and the fast developing medium of advertising and is getting increased
popularity these days. It is more effective as compared to radio as it has the advantages of
sound and sight. On account of pictorial presentation, it is more effective and impressive and
leaves ever lasting impression on the mind of the viewer.

It is a very costly medium which can be employed by big concerns only; it has a shorter life span
and limited coverage. Back reference to the advertisement cannot be made after its
presentation. The duration of the advertisement is very limited.

3. Digital interactive media:

Digital advertising refers to marketing through online channels, such as websites, streaming
content, and more. Digital ads span media formats, including text, image, audio, and video.
They can help you achieve a variety of business goals across the marketing funnel, ranging from
brand awareness to customer engagement, to launching new products and driving repeat sales.

The field of digital advertising is relatively young, in comparison to traditional channels such as
magazines, billboards, and direct mail. The evolution of advertising isn't just about what the ads
look like or where they appear, but also the ways they're built, sold, and measured

4. Outdoor/Out–of–Home: Outdoor Advertising:

This type of advertising include different media like posters, placards, electric displays or neon
signs, sandwichmen, sky writing, bus, train and tram advertising. This is also known as ‘Mural
advertising’. The main aim of outdoor advertising is to catch the attention of passerby within
twinkling of an eye.

This is the most effective medium of advertising. This is very suitable in the case of consumable
and household articles like soaps, medicines, fans, shoes and pens etc.

5. Film Advertising:

This is also known as cinema advertising. This also provides sight and hearing facilities like
television. Short advertisement films are not prepared by big business houses which are sent to
different cinema houses to be shown to the audience before the regular shows or during the
intermission. It has more repetitive value but not to the same viewers. Its coverage is limited
which benefits the local population only.

It is a very costly medium involving higher distribution and film making costs. Only big
organisations can afford to produce advertisement films. It ensures more flexibility at larger
costs. Its effectiveness cannot be measured properly. Film making is a time consuming process.

6. Window Display:

It is a common method which is usually undertaken by retailers who display their products in
the shop windows in order to attract the customers. This is also known as exterior display.

It is the most effective and direct method of influencing the people. Window display has direct
appeal to the onlookers. It is instrumental in arousing the desire to purchase in the prospective
customers. It acts as a silent salesman..

7. Direct Mail:

This is one of the oldest types of advertising media. Under this method message is sent to the
prospective buyers by post. A mailing list is prepared for this purpose. Circular letters, folders,
calendars, booklets and catalogues are sent under this type of advertising. In the sales letter an
appeal is made to the buyers separately.

It contains detailed information with regard to the product. The main aim of these letters is to
create the reader’s interest in the product. The letter should be attractive, interesting and
convincing. Booklets and catalogues contain information regarding detailed description and
prices of different varieties of products
Sometimes, advertisers or advert agencies use foreign media which are actually the local media
peculiar to different countries or cultures. This is because adverts must be carried in a way the
audience will understand and identify with.

ASSESSMENT

Explain the advertising processing and mention the key players.

Briefly explain the differences between an In-house and independent advertising agency.

Can an advert copy be disseminated on more than one media?

With a diagram, present the advertising process.

Discuss the role supplier’s play in producing an advert copy.

REFERENCES

Arens W. (1999), Contemporary Advertising. USA, R. Irwin. Inc.

Arens W. (2002), Contemporary Advertising. USA, R. Irwin. Inc.

Arens W. (2008), Contemporary Advertising. USA, R. Irwin. Inc. Anyacho R. (2007), Advertising;
Principles and practice- The Nigerian Perspective.Nigeria, Tee jay Enterprises.

Bovee C. and Arens W. (1992), Contemporary Advertising. USA, R. Irwin Inc.

Ibrahim G. (2000), Advertising: A Definitive Approach. Ibadan, Stirling-Horden Publishers.

Okunna S. (2002), Teaching Mass Communication: A Multi-Dimensional Approach.Enugu, New

Generation Books.

Module Two

UNIT One — CONCEPT OF ADVERTISING COPY

Advertising Copy

INTRODUCTION

Copy is an integral aspect of advertising campaign, without it no advertising agent is

acknowledged; besides, without a creative and persuasive copy, an advertising campaign
becomes futile. Copy makes up the sum of the business of advertising, it is why advertising
business is evolving and succeeding. A copy gives a good return to the advertiser. Where an
advertising agency care less about creativity in the preparation of a copy, such would pack up
shop.

The creative department is therefore, responsible for the writing and development of copy in
any advertising agency.

In this unit, we shall examine the totality of a copy concept, afterward we shall look into other
area that would enable us appreciate this concept the more.

OBJECTIVE

At the end of this unit:

You should understand what an advertising copy is and be able to explain it in the light of
COPYWRITING.

1. Advertising Copy

Advertising copy is the sum of all the elements of a creative work. These are elements
coordinated to produce a ready-to-disseminate advertising message. The elements that make
up a copy include:

Headlines

sub-headline

text,

pictures,

sounds, and every other thing that would make the success of the advertising campaign; be it,
electronics, print or digital media.

It should be noted that advertising copy is to perform the function of development of

familiarity with the brand name, shapes, motive and desire to build believability and to provide
a reason for selecting a particular brand over all other competing brands (Ucheanya 2013:60).

The existence of a copy is the reason most advertising agency craves for excellent copy writers.
Copy writing is a painstaking and herculean task which requires critical thinking and application
of ideas to the briefs received in order to produce a salesmanship content that can provoke
purchases from target audience. Many product are competing earnestly for large market
shares, as a result, producers invest heavily on advertising to enable them enough publicity that
would drive traffic to them as much as possible.

It is the function of a copy to highlight a product's unique selling point so that the target
audience would begin to get attracted to the brand, patronize it and maintain patronage for as
long as it stays in the market. The person who writes the copy is known as a copywriter.

The Copywriter

The copy writer concerns himself with every element that will appear in the complete
advertising message. He ensures that all the copy elements are correctly and creatively
interplayed to ensure successful sales return after the campaign is launched. A copywriter is an
individual who is professional trained in advertising and who has good years of experience in an
advertising agency.

There are no rules that state how copy elements should be applied; this is why advertising is
regarded as a highly creative job. The expression of copy elements is the sole responsibility of
the creativity of a copy writer.

“Since advertising space is very valuable, the copy writer must convey his message without
waste of words. He must condense a bridge and revise what his reader thinks in a thousand
way" (John-Kamen 2006).

ASSESSMENT

What you understand as an advertising copy?

Elements of an Advertising Copy

There are Six (6) basic elements of print advertising copy.

Some advertisement may contain almost all or while some may contain two or three elements,
the most important to the copy, is its ability to deliver and get the desired result.

However, no rules guide the application or usage of copy elements. It is solely the creative
responsibility of the copy writer to determine that. The followings are the basic elements of an
advertising copy, these are:
The headline

The sub-head

The body copy

The caption

The box and panels

Slogans, logotype and signature.

1. The Headline: This is the first copy interface which anyone would come in contact with, it is
usually written in large type face. Also referred to as caption, the headline is designed alongside
a catchy illustration to capture and attract attention to the advertisement. It drives prospective
buyers to further investigate the brand.

2. The Sub-Head: This goes after the headlines often, sometimes some copy writers, display the
subhead first before the headlines, this is basically for a purpose which they deemed would
drive in audience to the entire copy. The subhead is written in a smaller type face lesser than
headlines but larger than the body text.

3. The Body Copy:This is the illustration text, always in the smallest type face in the copy than
the headline and the subhead. The body copy explains a brand in a few and concise but creative
words that stick faster in the mind of the audience. It explains a brand in the best possible
ways.

4. Captions: These are written in a smaller type face than the body copy to represent sales
points by illustrating and explaining them at the same time. Captions are less important to the
main selling points in the advertisement than the body copy

5. Box and Panels: These are elements in a copy which display unique and special information
other than those already displayed by the advertisement. They are use in such features as
coupons, special offers and contest rules.

6. Slogan, Logotypes, Trade – Mark and Signatures: These elements often show themselves in
every advertisement. They are companies identifying tags; they differentiate one organization
from another especially when they offer competitive brands. For instance: MTN, GLOBACOM,
ETISALAT, and AIRTEL, all these organizations offer telecommunication services, if they have
none of these elements, they might just confuse customers in a bid to identify with their
preferred brand.

ASSESSMENT

List and explain the elements of an advertising copy.

Vital Question to Ask Before Displaying a Copy

Copy writing is not done haphazardly; it requires critical thinking, meditation and
experimentation of creativity. It does not matter the media variety you are writing for, the
common consensus is that a copy writer must be skillful in words, and have good understanding
of his target audience to which the communication is directed.

John – Kamen (2006:163) says “copy writers often do more than writing headlines and text.
They are frequently called upon to help plan the layout and illustration for the print
advertisement or to develop the idea on which it is based”.

For an advertising copy to appeal to its audience, it must stimulate the human five sense
organs, as our actions and reactions are predetermined by these senses. These are the vital
questions that must be answered by a copy writer before displaying his creative work or copy.
These include:

Can this copy attract attention?

Can it arouse desire?

Is it capable of creating interest?

Can it provoke purchases action?

Can this copy attract attention?

The first purpose of a copy is to catch attention, if it fails here, it would fail in other stages of
the campaign process. Attracting consumer’s attention is the best bet of a copywriter. So every
creative measure to enable this should not be compromised.

Can it arouse desire?:If a copy succeed to attract attention, the next is to determine whether it
stirs interest in the audience. To arouse desire is to make one long for something or someone.
This stage of the copy is crucial and should not be jeopadise by non-availability of the brand as
promised in the advertisement. The desire of consumers to purchase a product is the key to
achieve an advertising objective.

Is it capable of creating interest?:

Desire gives birth to interest, if the desire to have a product or service is there, automatically,
the interest to purchase would follow. If a copy moved to create an interest in the brand, it is
almost successful.

It is a different scenario, if interest persist and the will to purchase the brand is not there. This
however, does not mean the goal of the copy is defeated. This lead us to the last question that
need to be self-asked by a copy writer before showing or displaying his creative work.

Can it provoke purchasing action?: the bottom line of an advertising copy is to encourage the
sales of a brand. A copy should above all other vital question be able to provoke buying attitude
of consumers toward the brand displayed to them, by so doing, the advertiser would do more
to advertise his brands in the agency.

ASSESSMENT

List and explain the first five vital questions needed to be asked by a copywriter before
displaying an ad copy.

1. Advertising Layout

INTRODUCTION

Layout in advertising is in identical category with advertising copy. One may not be able to
totally isolate both copy and layout in the production of advertising campaign. While copy is
the integration of copy elements to produce a superb message, layout is the physical show or
sketch of the outcome of a copy work. Layout is primarily concerned with the finished work of
an advertising copy. It displays the aesthetic of a copy and presents it for assessment and
acceptability.

OBJECTIVE

This study would ensure understanding on the concept of advertising layout.

It shall explain various layouts formats and plans that would equip you with practical tools for
professional practice in advertising.

Advertising Layout

we shall consider the perspectives of three scholars on the definition of advertising copy.

a. George et al., (1995: 306) define layout as “The physical arrangement of various parts of the
advertisement, including the headline, subhead, illustrations, body copy, and any identifying
marks”.

b. Ucheanya (2013) defines layout as the “Arrangement of all the units or elements into a
printed useable format”. Ucheanya further stated that the combination of ideas or concepts
used in planning and designing advertisement is critical to the functions of an advertising
layout. According to him, layout is a work-drawing which is usually pencil sketched to show the
positions of copy elements, sizes of text, typefaces, colors of different units or items that are
put together to inform a complete advertising campaign

c. John—Kamen (2006) sees advertising layout as “a part of sales promotion”…. he posits that
advertising layout shows how finished advertisement will look; this look consists of drawing,
product illustration or painting that can later be reproduced in the advertisement. A finished
advertising layout according to Kamen is compared to the blue print of a building drawn by an
architect.

The following traditional layout indicators are stated for printers to note:

i. The Shape

ii. The size and location of the illustrations

iii. Type style, size, space and mass to be occupied

iv. Border style (if any).

v. Any additional direction that may help the printer to execute the plane of the designer

vi. Color combination in type, border and illustration.

The Layout Designer

The creative officer that produces advertising layout is known as layout designer. A layout
designer is the visualizer of the entire copy output. He projects his concept of how the copy
would appear before the target audience. He is usually experienced and professional in the job.
Often, he is a creative and aesthetic personality.

Kamen also opines that “Before an advertising layout designer proceed to work on his design,
he must first consider a number of principles of layout design elements, which control the
finished design’’ The layout designer observes the following guidelines to enable him perfect a
layout procedure. Hence he should note that:

i. Layout design space allocation, size, amount of figures and copy to go into the media are well
arranged.

ii. The designer knows the brand very well enough to give it an excellent layout, especially for
digital marketing.

iii. He should know the advertising policy of company.

iv. He should be able to adapt his layout design to fit the publication in which the
advertisement is to appear.

The Importance of Layout

Layout displays the components of an advertising campaign on the media to be used for
dissemination. It laid them originally on line format to determine their respective slot in the
advertisement. The work done by the layout designer make the job easier for printers, clients
and agencies to view and understand as to accepting the output of the advertisement.

Ucheanya (2013: 58) states the followings as the purpose why advertising layout is necessary
and important:

1. It enables the advertiser to see in advance before printing what the exacts picture of the
advertisement would be like.

2. It gives the printer a guide on what to do.

3. It provides to the printer in advance picture of the complete work and how it will look like
when printed.

4. It eliminates arguments and misunderstanding between the advertiser and the printer in
most areas of the design.
5. It gives a concrete proposal to the agency to make a bold presentation to its client’

6. It gives the advertiser / client an opportunity to examine what the agency submitted for
approval.

7. A carefully prepared layout makes the tasks of decision making easier.

ASSESSEMENT

Explain what you understand by advertising layout, stating six importance of layout design.

Advertising Layout Formats

Advertising layout format explain the look or appearance the layout designer envisage for a
particular campaign. He also considers the copy sheet to determine the form which is expected
to take.

For instance, he ask himself if the layout would be on a single sheet, a folder, a label, a double
sheet, a sticker, and so on. When this question is satisfactorily answered, then he moves to
work properly.

John – Kanem (2006) and Ucheanya (2013) agreed that there exist three basic formats of
advertising layout. These include the followings:

i.) Thumbnail or Miniature Layout: Here the designer sketches his mind’s picture in a sheet to
help him develop on it. This experimental stage allows the layout designer to demonstrate his
intentions practically. He uses wavy lines to show and represent each copy element. It is the
pictorial form of a layout designer’s idea. Furthermore, thumbnail layout format presents the
ideas the words will represent, the elements to be used, the relative importance of the ideas
and elements and the order of presentation which can be any size.

Harland E.S and William T.P (1992) summerise that thumbnail sketch, as it often is called is
simply a sketch of few lines and shapes to show placement of the advertisement’s elements. It
is a miniature layout of the headline, copy, illustration, price, and logo type is developed to try
out ideas about how the advertisement might be laid out. In making sketch, their concern is to
proportion the space appropriately.

Diagram 1
ii.) The Rough Layout: This formats exceeds the thumbnail, it is in a large format but carries
more information than it is, in a thumbnail. Rough layout carries the resemblance of a finished
work, it consist of the features of a proposed advertisement. In it several draft may be called
out for re–work on them, to take care of revisions and changes. The final rough bears
resemblance of the finished advertisement but the elements are lettered in hastily and
incompletely written. The elements positions are so precise that printer can work with it to
compose and make up the advertisement without problem.

Diagram 2
iii.) Comprehensive Layout: This is the finished version of the rough layout. It shows the precise
positions, colors, sizes, shapes etc of the layouts. The ready to launch position of this layout
makes it comprehensive. Proofs of composed types are positioned for clients who may want a
closer representation of advertisement than is offered by rough layout.

Diagram 3
ASSESSMENT

Explain what advertising layout format is, with the aid of diagram.

Define advertising layout

List and explain 3 formats of advertising layout

Sketch a sample of an advertising layout

REFERENCES

John–Kamen, A.U (2006). Advertising: Genesis, Evolution, Principles, Practice. Snap Press Ltd.
Nigeria, Enugu.

UNIT THREE : STAGE IN PREPARING ADVERTISING MATERIALS

3.1 Preparing and Producing Copy Materials

 INTRODUCTION

This unit shall explain the various steps needed to be taken to actualize the production of an
advertising copy. As said elsewhere, copy is crucial to every advertising campaign, the more
time and resources invested on it, the better the quality of the output. We have exhausted
theoretical frame work that surrounds the concept of advertising copy and layout, let journey
into this action plan to keep ourselves abreast of the guidelines that ensure proper preparation
and production of a quality advertising copy.

OBJECTIVE

At the end of this unit, you would learn and understand the step involved in preparing and
producing a durable and acceptable advertising copy.

Preparing and Producing Advertising Copy

To prepare and produce an advertising copy is solely the decision of the advertiser. The
organization which sees a need for its brands to reach a wider audience and also desire to
achieve this through advertising must take the step to visit an advertising agency, this step is
the conception of copy idea.

When copy idea is conceived, the advertising agency contacted is thereby require to proffer
solution to the need of the brand (s) brought before it. Advertising agencies are copy
producers, the kind of copy they produce for an advertiser is peculiar to the need of the
advertiser or the problems or need they were briefed about. The copy produced for brand X
may not solve the problems or meet the needs of brand Y. by this, every advertising need have
its own solution.

Ucheanya (2013:65) posits “the journey of preparing a copy starts with the organization that
has articulated its advertising need for a given period. It is therefore directed to the agency
requiring them to specifically propose solution”. As it stated, the journey to birth a copy start
from the organization that needs the copy to promote its brands in order to provoke buying
behaviors in its favors, thereby increasing market share.

The Procedures Involved In Copy Preparation and Production

The first step in the preparation and production of advertising copy is the meeting between the
advertiser (organization) and the agency that would carry on the job. This meeting would
provide the platform for both parties to appreciate the problem or needs of the advertiser in
order to have a sense of direction for the campaign. The meeting will allow for a brief to be
given by the advertiser, afterward the agency would make suggestions that both parties would
deliberate upon and arrive at a conclusion by consensus. This stage is called Advertising brief.
Advertising brief simply refers to “advertising” problem of the organisation that requires
solution” Ucheanya (2013:65). This brief could be in the form of statement which consist the
organisation’s problems and at the same time serves as some background information that
would help agency in working out a solution.

The second step after the advertising brief is the Contact report. The agency representative
produces the contact report and distributes to concerned officers. The contact reports
represents the minutes of the meeting except that it is set out rather differently. John – kamen
(2006:132) opines that “The right-hand side being ruled off as an action column with remark
such as “MR J.K. to supply prices or MR. P.K to submit layout” contact report shows the
confirmation that some matters were agreed upon. It further necessitate quick action that must
be taken by both parties. Preceding this, the account excutive would give verbal report to the
account director and agency head to emphasise his position in the copy process. Once this is
done, the agency swings into action to produce the copy. Every department in the agency takes
up its responsibility to ensure everything work well as planned. When this is religious and
meticulously done, the next stage is embarked upon.

The third step of the campaign requires the advertising agency to return to the organization
with a sample copy which has solution to the organization to the brief presented to it. This
stage is called the Agency’s response to the brief. This response consists of what the agency is
suggesting to the advertiser or organization to do during the campaign period in order to
achieve its objectives. The suggestions provided are supported with reasons necessitating
them. More so, it is the proposal of the agency that is the comprehensive document of the
advertising plan for the brief given by the organisation. This proposal is called a response to the
brief, after wards the agency presents the proposal to the organisation which goes through it
and shows it satisfaction or not. The agency’s representative does the agency’s presentation for
the purpose of attending to questions which may arise after presenting the proposed solution
to the brief. The contents of the agency’s presentation are the procedures of preparing an
advertising copy.

When these processes are achieved, the advertising agency draws up a copy platform. This
consists of the researched items which would necessitate quick and qualitative production of
the copy. Copy platform contains figures, facts and other information necessary for preparing
an advertising copy; this evolved from the research endeavours of the agency while providing
solutions to the brief given to it. The copy platform has in it both vital and non – vital
information. This could be: facts about the organisation, the brand, and media to be used,
techniques of message delivery, prospective buyers, competitors, qualities, strengths and
opportunity in market. These information are listed in a paper sheet to enable whoever would
produce the copy to do an excellent job. In other words, copy platform as stated by Ucheanya
(2013:66) “is a list of facts that must contain comprehensive, quite useful and related materials
to the visualization . This is actual creative writing that starts the production.”

The copy platform process is responsible for the final copy that would be disseminated in the
proposed medium. At this points, issues that would give the creative writer a sense of direction
are raised, because his job requires, deep thinking, imaginations and decision making. The
creative writer ensures he avoids using copy limitation and where such limitation is necessary, a
high level uniqueness should be spelt out in order to give the advertiser a successful copy.

Some decisions that a creative writer might take according to ucheanya (2013) includes the
followings:

Whether to include product element or not

Whether to you picture of humans to promote the products or graphics. Where humans are
settled for, the question of whether a celebrity or just a model comes to lime light

Typography varieties to be used for the copy elements like: Headlines, subhead and text.

Highlighting some elements to meet the paths of the eye

Other elements to be included

The decision to use white space and the proportion required

The medium of dissemination.

Production space to be used.

The kind of appeal approach to be used

The structure of the copy which create the type of thumbnail to sketch.

Having provided reactions to these decisions, the copy writer begins to visualize the picture of
the proposed copy. Hence, advertising copy is conceived. The final stage of the copy
preparation is the copy sheet. This process involves the actuality of the final copy which is
capable of going through the right medium to the consumers. The structure of the advertising
copy is determined; what the copy write does is to unleash the big idea, this is the unique sales
proposition that will project the copy for the product sake.

At this stage the copy writer does visualization to structure the copy elements and starts to
translates them into illustration in-order to communicate the big idea. Here, the agency’s team
is solely to consume the outcome in-order for them to criticize and make input that would
further improve the purpose copy sheet. This sheet is not the final advertising copy, but how
well scrutinize and done it is, would be seen in the success of the final copy.

ASSESSEMENT

Discuss the process involved in producing an advertising copy materials.

What do you understand by copy preparation and production?

Explain the steps involved in preparing / producing a copy

List the decision areas that a creature writer has to consider when writing a copy.

UNIT FOUR : CAMPAIGN PLANNING IN ADVERTISING

1. Campaign Planning in Advertising

INTRODUCTION

Planning for advertising is like preparing a meal. The process of campaign planning requires
systematic approach which must be followed religiously and devotedly. When the decision to
launch an advertising campaign is made a great deal of creative armies are engaged, they
straighten their mind’s ammunitions and attack every brief set before them by advertisers or
organizations.

This we shall consider why planning campaign is necessary in advertising. We shall journey
through the aims, considerable factors, and appropriation etc of advertising campaign.

A well-planned advertising campaign can help create immediate sales and profits as well as
develop long term customer goodwill. For an advertiser to achieve this successful feat, he must
be very careful in thought and develop an excellent advertising plan. A perfect advertising
campaign is like a master piece or good road map that shows the best route to follow to get to
a desired destination.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this unit is to help students:

1. To understand what advertising campaign is

2. To know the aims of advertising campaign

3. To identify factors to consider when planning an advertising campaign.

1. Campaign Planning in Advertising

“Campaign” is a word that has affinity with war or military operation. Campaign, when
embarked upon is directed towards achieving a particular end using all the means available to
it, whether favorable or not. However, all campaigns require a carefully thought-out plan or
activities whose purpose is basically to attain a definite objectives or goals.

So it is with advertising campaign because ammunitions of research, co-ordination with sales

plans, co-operation with retailers, public relations, Media planning and so on will be used to
attain the ultimate goal of the campaign.

John – Kamen (2006:126) defines advertising campaign as “an organized and carefully use of
paid publicity for the achievement of a definite purpose”. He furthers by opining that most
advertisement in the national magazines, radio, newspapers and television, is part of a
campaign that has been carefully planned and laid out well in advance.

Campaign Planning

A primary and definite goal is the purpose in the mind of a successful advertiser when planning
a campaign. Also, acknowledging the fact that every business entity primarily exists for the
goals of profitability and growth through sales among other things. Hence, that is not precisely
enough to guide its advertising campaign. However, businesses must carefully scan their
operation environments; analyze them via their strengths, weakness, opportunities and
threats (SWOT) indices, afterwards, scrutinize the entire situation and decide the best
approach to launch their campaigns. The campaign principle that ensures result is to launch
sales messages in the best convincing and provoking ways that can endear customers to
purchase the brands sold to them through advertisement.
Objectives of Advertising Campaign

An objective of advertising campaign varies in line with the function of advertising. The primary
objective of every advertisement is salesmanship. Increasing brands awareness and developing
a reputable image for an organization, and adding to the core objectives of advertising
campaign. The followings are other objectives of advertising campaign:

1. To Secure New Dealer: An organization may want to increase its brands in the market by
seeking distributors to do this for it by advertising on media, inviting them to take advantage of
the offer it is giving at less sales percentage. Also, new dealers can walk to an organization to
help promote its brands after discovering the brands are worth promoting.

2. To Secure New Customer: with a good advertising campaign, an organization is capable of

attracting more customers to its brands. Some customer tries new brands of product when they
see or hear of their existence and what they have to offer. Most customers are alternative
oriented that they seek a product that can offer them the same or similar satisfaction as the
one they currently use.

3. To Increase Use Per Capita: The joy of every advertiser is to see its brands being purchase in
the market, not only that, it seek to increase supply and demand of the brands in such that per
capita usage is on the highest.

4. To Increase Insurance of Business: Advertising campaign helps to insure and increase the life
span of a business organization. When advertisement about a brand continues in the media,
customers keep in mind that the organization producing the brand is very well in existence. For
instance, the advertisement and promotion of “Gala” sausage keeps in our mind that UAC food
company lives despite all the competitors in the market. More so, the quality of a brand
determine how insure a business would be in the market place and in the economy of a society.

5. To protect against the expiration of products: Advertising campaigns are launched to help
advertiser sell off the bulk of products they have in their warehouse. When goods stays in the
warehouse for long without being purchase. It gets expires and therefore becomes a loss for
the organization financially.

6. To Inspire Sales and Dealers: With advertising campaign, dealers are motivated to know that
their brands are publicized to endear more customers and increase sales simultaneously. Every
dealer of brand wants their brands to be known and identified with a large market in the
economy.
Important Criteria for Considering Planning an Advertising Campaign

To plan for a successful advertising campaign, these factors must be considered;

Goals of campaign

Cost Implication

Action plan for achieving the result.

Media Selection

Techniques of information packaging.

Goals of Campaign

The goal of a campaign is pre-requisite to the success of the campaign. Where purpose or goal
is not defined, abuse is inevitable. An advertiser must decide what he wants to accomplish by
his advertising campaign before starting the process.

Cost Implication

In planning a campaign, it is crucial to earmark a budget for it. The magnitude of the campaign
would influence the budget that would be allocated for it. More so, the objective or goal of a
campaign has great effect on the cost of advertisement. The cost of an advertising campaign
also means the appropriation allocated to achieve the advertising goal of the advertiser.

Action Plan for Achieving the Result

The way to bring about the purpose or the campaign would be spelt out to ensure error free
procedures in the actualization of the campaign exercise. A step by step approach outline is
stated to guide the preparation and production of the campaign process. This stage becomes
functional when the purpose of the campaign and budget are determined.

Media Selection

The success of an advertising campaign cannot be de-associated from the media. Media are
vehicles that convey advertising messages to the target audience. Knowing the best media that
suit a campaign is a criterion for consideration. Factor like media credibility and wide reach has
significant role to play to ensure successful campaign launch. Media varies in types, reach, and
quality. The one which suit a campaign would be best advised to be used; whether, electronic,
print or social media.

Techniques of Information Packaging

Most of the time, it is not always the media nor message that were disseminated to audience
that endear them to patronize a brand, but the manner or strategy used to convey the message
in the media which performs the miracle. Some advertiser can choose to use drama, songs,
commentaries, documentaries, speeches, etc as communication techniques. The techniques to
be used by any advertising agency should be in alignment with the target audience disposition
to understand and appreciate it. This requires research and creativity. When this factor is
considered, then the campaign would be good to go.

ASSESSMENT

Explain campaign planning in the light of the objectives, definition and criteria for
consideration.

O2/02/2023 updated