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Voice Overs
Broadcast Commercials
Radio & Television Imaging
Copywriting
Concept Design
Website Audio
Music Production
Track Mastering
Soundtracks
Custom Demos
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Presents:
Writing Commercial Copy 101
By: Grant Brooks, Owner/Talent/Production Director
July 17, 2009
By: Grant Brooks, Owner/Talent/Production Director
July 17, 2009
Writing Commercial Copy is a craft that comes easily to some and is more difficult to others. Just like cooking, some people are excellent while others are terrible. But all commercial writing usual starts in the same place.
For example, let's say we want to advertise a pet store...
The first step is to get to know the pet store.
Who does it cater to? What is the atmosphere? Is it serious, professional, fun? Are pets allowed? What is the best part about the store? What sets the pet store aside from others? Are there any great deals or services? If so, what are they? What is the first impression customers should have? etc.
The next step is to look at how and where we plan to advertise our pet store. This will help in developing a concept which will make copy writing much easier. For those that plan to advertise in print, television and radio, it'd be best to create a concept that fits all formats. The easy method would be to create commercials that list sales, services and locations. Is this method creative? Not really. But does it work? It can. You have to keep in mind that people are busy and don't care about your business yet. You have to make them care. What will get their attention? What will keep their attention?
So continuing the mock pet store example, here are some random answers to the questions in blue (written conversationally):
We are a national pet store that caters to everyone. Our atmosphere is pet and family friendly, but mostly geared toward pets. We always have the best prices on pet food and products because we buy in bulk. We'd like our consumers first impression be that pets love to come to our pet store and we offer doggie/kittie daycare and have every item any pet could ever need.
We plan to advertise in print, radio and television, but right now we just want one 30 second radio spot.
From that point, the rest is left up to creativity. Everything is now subjective. I've written out my brainstorming process and a complete :30 second radio commercial for the mock pet store below:
Based on the answers to the questions about the pet store, I focus on the fact that this store has items for 'every' pet. I'm thinking of iguanas and parrots as well as cats and dogs; I'm thinking of 'every' possilbe pet. For this, I'm thinking the first line should get the attention of animal lovers everywhere.
Something like...
"Whether you've got a fish, dog or dolphin, our pet store has what they love!" We could then give out products, sales and services. But that's too simple, so, back to more ideas...
...still liking the dolphin idea, and liking that opening line...maybe we could have the voice over guy interruped by an actor. Something like, "Our pet store has everything you need for your pet! From cats to dogs to dolphins..." and then he's interrupted by an actor...."did you say dolphins?!"....Vo picks up, "Yep...everything! From any pet to any item, our pet store will (insert services and sales here)." Continuing, "They even offer daycare for your dog or cat" music and vo interrupted by actor again.... "well, what about my dolphin?" VO - "Yea sorry....not yet" Tag line out: "Our Pet Store...(insert location, phone number, slogan or all of the above)."
That could work and be somewhat different, but I'm sure something else could be done...
How about we have the dolphin itself talking? Opening line with fun, female voice over..."Oh Frank...why so blue?!" Then a deep, male, kind of monotone voice..."um...cuz I'm a dolphin"..."well that's no reason to be blue Frank..."
And there you go...three random concept ideas for a 30 second national radio commercial for a pet store in a couple minutes.
To narrow that down I would now look at where we plan to advertise. Since we will hypothetically advertise in print and television as well, the first 'laundry-list' idea would work, but isn't very catchy. The second idea involving the VO could work in radio and television, but doesn't work for print. The last idea, with Frank the dolphin could be made into an animation. For radio, the commercial could be a skit. For television, the commercial could include animation as well as video shots of the pet store. And for print, Frank could be there as well.
So personally, I'd go with the dolphin talking idea. The opening lines came out of the brainstorming and with that, copy is written to 30 seconds:
(This is how copy is typically written to accomodate producers and talent):
Our Pet Store, Radio :30
(Outdoor noises, slight water)
(Female 1, Fun, Happy but slightly concerned)
OH FRANK...WHY SO BLUE?!
(Male 1, Deep, Monotone, Says sarcastically)
UM...CUZ I'M A DOLPHIN
(Female 1, Fun, Happy, not concerned at all now, just helpful and fast)
WELL THAT'S NO REASON TO BE BLUE FRANK! OUR PET STORE HAS EVERYTHING YOU NEED!
FOR EVERY ANIMAL...FROM DOGS TO DOLPHINS!
(Male 1, not believing)
DID YOU SAY DOLPHINS?
(Female, still excited and fun...into sell)
YEP! EVERYTHING!
FROM ANY PET TO ANY ITEM, OUR PET STORE HAS THE LOWEST PRICES ON ALL THE PET FOODS AND PET PRODUCTS THAT A PET COULD EVER WANT!
(Male 1, still not believing)
INCLUDING FOR DOLPHINS?
(Female 1, slightly annoyed to be asked again, but right back to sell)
YES, DOLPHINS FRANK...THEY EVEN HAVE DOGGIE-KITTIE DAY CARE!
(Male 1, finally starts to get excited, still 'blue' but less than before)
AND DAY CARE FOR DOLPHINS?!
(Female 1, kind of apologetic)
YEA, SORRY...NOT YET
(VO, Quirky, fun, middle age or so)
OUR PET STORE...WHERE THE HAPPIEST PETS GO!
LOCATED SOMEWHERE IN THE VALLEY AND ONLINE AT OUR PET STORE DOT COM
(Cut back to Female and Frank...Frank is crying ridiculously and making odd dolphin noises)
(Female 1, nurturing)
OH FRANK
Let's do it again, this time for a sports pub/restaurant. First step, answering the questions in blue from above...
We are a local restaurant that caters to everyone in the valley and offers a fun sports-like atmosphere that includes 5 massive big screens. Most of our clientele range from 16 to 55 year old males who enjoy sports. We have a fun, sports-like environment with great deals on wings and delicious hamburgers. We have wings for $.10 on Tuesdays and Thursday is college night where we offer half off pitchers to students. We will want our ad to sound fun and sporty, but yet still clean and classy. We'd like to do a 30 second commercial but would like to advertise in print and on the web in the future.
Considering that males usually enjoy sports in the company of other males, I'm thinking the ad would feature maybe two customers talking about the restaurant. Or an employee and a customer are talking. Maybe they're inside the restaurant and are talking about how great it is. Or maybe they start out at a football game and want to continue the game-like atmosphere so they talk each other into going to the restaurant. That could almost create a slogan for the ad as well. Something like 'get the game-like atmosphere at our restaurant' or since most people probably aren't going to the game it could say, 'can't get to the game??' 'We'll bring the game to you!'
This could play out well in radio and television. For television, you could walk through the doors of the restaurant and inside it looks like a pro sports arena. With some sort of slogan that says, 'get to the game' or 'the game's all here.'
So personally, I'd go with that. This would probably best be done with a main voice over and without voice actors.
And here's the copy:
Our Restaurant, Radio :30
(Television playing sports in background...unimpressive quality)
(Male VO for all, Young, Cool, Energetic)
CAN'T GET TO THE GAME?......WE'LL GET THE GAMES TO YOU!
(Quick drum beat into cool rock type bed, sports sound quality now big as if at game, crowd excited)
WITH 5 MASSIVE BIG SCREENS AND ALL THE WINGS YOU CAN HANDLE, OUR RESTAURANT IS THE HOTTEST SPOT IN THE VALLEY FOR SPORTS, FOOD AND FUN!
(Transition effect for voice lines. Background bed and sports continue)
STOP IN ON SUNDAYS FOR NON-STOP PRO BALL ACTION AND THE MOST DELICIOUS BURGERS YOU'VE EVER TACKLED!
TEN CENT WING NIGHT IS TUESDAY!
AND COLLEGE NIGHT ON THURSDAY! COME IN WITH YOUR STUDENT ID AND GET HALF OFF PITCHERS FROM 8 TO 11!
(Transition effect if needed, Rock bed slows and sports calm to dull roar)
WINGS...BURGERS...BEER AND SPORTS!
(Big Football tackle hit to kill rock bed entirely and crowd)
WHAT MORE COULD YOU ASK FOR?!
(Rock bed picks up)
JUST WEST OF THE 101 AT FIRST AND GRAND
OUR RESTAURANT...THE GAME'S ALL HERE!
(Sports sfx to close, big tackle effect into ref whistle, fade out)
For example, let's say we want to advertise a pet store...
The first step is to get to know the pet store.
Who does it cater to? What is the atmosphere? Is it serious, professional, fun? Are pets allowed? What is the best part about the store? What sets the pet store aside from others? Are there any great deals or services? If so, what are they? What is the first impression customers should have? etc.
The next step is to look at how and where we plan to advertise our pet store. This will help in developing a concept which will make copy writing much easier. For those that plan to advertise in print, television and radio, it'd be best to create a concept that fits all formats. The easy method would be to create commercials that list sales, services and locations. Is this method creative? Not really. But does it work? It can. You have to keep in mind that people are busy and don't care about your business yet. You have to make them care. What will get their attention? What will keep their attention?
So continuing the mock pet store example, here are some random answers to the questions in blue (written conversationally):
We are a national pet store that caters to everyone. Our atmosphere is pet and family friendly, but mostly geared toward pets. We always have the best prices on pet food and products because we buy in bulk. We'd like our consumers first impression be that pets love to come to our pet store and we offer doggie/kittie daycare and have every item any pet could ever need.
We plan to advertise in print, radio and television, but right now we just want one 30 second radio spot.
From that point, the rest is left up to creativity. Everything is now subjective. I've written out my brainstorming process and a complete :30 second radio commercial for the mock pet store below:
Based on the answers to the questions about the pet store, I focus on the fact that this store has items for 'every' pet. I'm thinking of iguanas and parrots as well as cats and dogs; I'm thinking of 'every' possilbe pet. For this, I'm thinking the first line should get the attention of animal lovers everywhere.
Something like...
"Whether you've got a fish, dog or dolphin, our pet store has what they love!" We could then give out products, sales and services. But that's too simple, so, back to more ideas...
...still liking the dolphin idea, and liking that opening line...maybe we could have the voice over guy interruped by an actor. Something like, "Our pet store has everything you need for your pet! From cats to dogs to dolphins..." and then he's interrupted by an actor...."did you say dolphins?!"....Vo picks up, "Yep...everything! From any pet to any item, our pet store will (insert services and sales here)." Continuing, "They even offer daycare for your dog or cat" music and vo interrupted by actor again.... "well, what about my dolphin?" VO - "Yea sorry....not yet" Tag line out: "Our Pet Store...(insert location, phone number, slogan or all of the above)."
That could work and be somewhat different, but I'm sure something else could be done...
How about we have the dolphin itself talking? Opening line with fun, female voice over..."Oh Frank...why so blue?!" Then a deep, male, kind of monotone voice..."um...cuz I'm a dolphin"..."well that's no reason to be blue Frank..."
And there you go...three random concept ideas for a 30 second national radio commercial for a pet store in a couple minutes.
To narrow that down I would now look at where we plan to advertise. Since we will hypothetically advertise in print and television as well, the first 'laundry-list' idea would work, but isn't very catchy. The second idea involving the VO could work in radio and television, but doesn't work for print. The last idea, with Frank the dolphin could be made into an animation. For radio, the commercial could be a skit. For television, the commercial could include animation as well as video shots of the pet store. And for print, Frank could be there as well.
So personally, I'd go with the dolphin talking idea. The opening lines came out of the brainstorming and with that, copy is written to 30 seconds:
(This is how copy is typically written to accomodate producers and talent):
Our Pet Store, Radio :30
(Outdoor noises, slight water)
(Female 1, Fun, Happy but slightly concerned)
OH FRANK...WHY SO BLUE?!
(Male 1, Deep, Monotone, Says sarcastically)
UM...CUZ I'M A DOLPHIN
(Female 1, Fun, Happy, not concerned at all now, just helpful and fast)
WELL THAT'S NO REASON TO BE BLUE FRANK! OUR PET STORE HAS EVERYTHING YOU NEED!
FOR EVERY ANIMAL...FROM DOGS TO DOLPHINS!
(Male 1, not believing)
DID YOU SAY DOLPHINS?
(Female, still excited and fun...into sell)
YEP! EVERYTHING!
FROM ANY PET TO ANY ITEM, OUR PET STORE HAS THE LOWEST PRICES ON ALL THE PET FOODS AND PET PRODUCTS THAT A PET COULD EVER WANT!
(Male 1, still not believing)
INCLUDING FOR DOLPHINS?
(Female 1, slightly annoyed to be asked again, but right back to sell)
YES, DOLPHINS FRANK...THEY EVEN HAVE DOGGIE-KITTIE DAY CARE!
(Male 1, finally starts to get excited, still 'blue' but less than before)
AND DAY CARE FOR DOLPHINS?!
(Female 1, kind of apologetic)
YEA, SORRY...NOT YET
(VO, Quirky, fun, middle age or so)
OUR PET STORE...WHERE THE HAPPIEST PETS GO!
LOCATED SOMEWHERE IN THE VALLEY AND ONLINE AT OUR PET STORE DOT COM
(Cut back to Female and Frank...Frank is crying ridiculously and making odd dolphin noises)
(Female 1, nurturing)
OH FRANK
Let's do it again, this time for a sports pub/restaurant. First step, answering the questions in blue from above...
We are a local restaurant that caters to everyone in the valley and offers a fun sports-like atmosphere that includes 5 massive big screens. Most of our clientele range from 16 to 55 year old males who enjoy sports. We have a fun, sports-like environment with great deals on wings and delicious hamburgers. We have wings for $.10 on Tuesdays and Thursday is college night where we offer half off pitchers to students. We will want our ad to sound fun and sporty, but yet still clean and classy. We'd like to do a 30 second commercial but would like to advertise in print and on the web in the future.
Considering that males usually enjoy sports in the company of other males, I'm thinking the ad would feature maybe two customers talking about the restaurant. Or an employee and a customer are talking. Maybe they're inside the restaurant and are talking about how great it is. Or maybe they start out at a football game and want to continue the game-like atmosphere so they talk each other into going to the restaurant. That could almost create a slogan for the ad as well. Something like 'get the game-like atmosphere at our restaurant' or since most people probably aren't going to the game it could say, 'can't get to the game??' 'We'll bring the game to you!'
This could play out well in radio and television. For television, you could walk through the doors of the restaurant and inside it looks like a pro sports arena. With some sort of slogan that says, 'get to the game' or 'the game's all here.'
So personally, I'd go with that. This would probably best be done with a main voice over and without voice actors.
And here's the copy:
Our Restaurant, Radio :30
(Television playing sports in background...unimpressive quality)
(Male VO for all, Young, Cool, Energetic)
CAN'T GET TO THE GAME?......WE'LL GET THE GAMES TO YOU!
(Quick drum beat into cool rock type bed, sports sound quality now big as if at game, crowd excited)
WITH 5 MASSIVE BIG SCREENS AND ALL THE WINGS YOU CAN HANDLE, OUR RESTAURANT IS THE HOTTEST SPOT IN THE VALLEY FOR SPORTS, FOOD AND FUN!
(Transition effect for voice lines. Background bed and sports continue)
STOP IN ON SUNDAYS FOR NON-STOP PRO BALL ACTION AND THE MOST DELICIOUS BURGERS YOU'VE EVER TACKLED!
TEN CENT WING NIGHT IS TUESDAY!
AND COLLEGE NIGHT ON THURSDAY! COME IN WITH YOUR STUDENT ID AND GET HALF OFF PITCHERS FROM 8 TO 11!
(Transition effect if needed, Rock bed slows and sports calm to dull roar)
WINGS...BURGERS...BEER AND SPORTS!
(Big Football tackle hit to kill rock bed entirely and crowd)
WHAT MORE COULD YOU ASK FOR?!
(Rock bed picks up)
JUST WEST OF THE 101 AT FIRST AND GRAND
OUR RESTAURANT...THE GAME'S ALL HERE!
(Sports sfx to close, big tackle effect into ref whistle, fade out)
By
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Copywriting Made Easy Extended
Who are you?
What do you do?
Who do you do it for? (Women? Businesses?)
What is your atmosphere?
What is your slogan or motto?
What are the best parts about your business?
What sale/service would you like to advertise?
Where do you plan to advertise?
(TV? Radio? Print?)
Which channels or publications?
What is the desired length of your ads?
What is the first impression you would like your customers to have?
What sets your business aside from others?
What do you do?
Who do you do it for? (Women? Businesses?)
What is your atmosphere?
What is your slogan or motto?
What are the best parts about your business?
What sale/service would you like to advertise?
Where do you plan to advertise?
(TV? Radio? Print?)
Which channels or publications?
What is the desired length of your ads?
What is the first impression you would like your customers to have?
What sets your business aside from others?
We are a local restaurant that caters to everyone in the valley and offers a fun sports-like atmosphere that includes 5 massive big screens. Most of our clientele range from 16 to 55 year old males who enjoy sports. We have a fun, sports-like environment with great deals on wings and delicious hamburgers. We have wings for $.10 on Tuesdays and Thursday is college night where we offer half off pitchers to students. We will want our ad to sound fun and sporty, but yet still clean and classy. We'd like to do a 30 second commercial but would like to advertise in print and on the web in the future.
Questions:
Answers: (Mock Restaurant)
Mock Restaurant Copy
Our Restaurant, Radio :30
(Television playing sports in background...unimpressive quality)
(Male VO for all, Young, Cool, Energetic)
CAN'T GET TO THE GAME?......WE'LL GET THE GAMES TO YOU!
(Quick drum beat into rock type bed, sports sound quality now big as if at game, crowd excited)
WITH 5 MASSIVE BIG SCREENS AND ALL THE WINGS YOU CAN HANDLE, OUR RESTAURANT IS THE HOTTEST SPOT IN THE VALLEY FOR SPORTS, FOOD AND FUN!
(Transition effect for voice lines. Background bed and sports continue)
STOP IN ON SUNDAYS FOR NON-STOP PRO BALL ACTION AND THE MOST DELICIOUS BURGERS YOU'VE EVER TACKLED!
TEN CENT WING NIGHT IS TUESDAY!
AND COLLEGE NIGHT ON THURSDAY! COME IN WITH YOUR STUDENT ID AND GET HALF OFF PITCHERS FROM 8 TO 11!
(Transition effect if needed, Rock bed slows and sports calm to dull roar)
WINGS...BURGERS...BEER AND SPORTS!
(Big Football tackle hit to kill rock bed entirely and crowd)
WHAT MORE COULD YOU ASK FOR?!
(Rock bed picks up)
JUST WEST OF THE 101 AT FIRST AND GRAND
OUR RESTAURANT...THE GAME'S ALL HERE!
(Sports sfx to close, big tackle effect into ref whistle, fade out)
(Television playing sports in background...unimpressive quality)
(Male VO for all, Young, Cool, Energetic)
CAN'T GET TO THE GAME?......WE'LL GET THE GAMES TO YOU!
(Quick drum beat into rock type bed, sports sound quality now big as if at game, crowd excited)
WITH 5 MASSIVE BIG SCREENS AND ALL THE WINGS YOU CAN HANDLE, OUR RESTAURANT IS THE HOTTEST SPOT IN THE VALLEY FOR SPORTS, FOOD AND FUN!
(Transition effect for voice lines. Background bed and sports continue)
STOP IN ON SUNDAYS FOR NON-STOP PRO BALL ACTION AND THE MOST DELICIOUS BURGERS YOU'VE EVER TACKLED!
TEN CENT WING NIGHT IS TUESDAY!
AND COLLEGE NIGHT ON THURSDAY! COME IN WITH YOUR STUDENT ID AND GET HALF OFF PITCHERS FROM 8 TO 11!
(Transition effect if needed, Rock bed slows and sports calm to dull roar)
WINGS...BURGERS...BEER AND SPORTS!
(Big Football tackle hit to kill rock bed entirely and crowd)
WHAT MORE COULD YOU ASK FOR?!
(Rock bed picks up)
JUST WEST OF THE 101 AT FIRST AND GRAND
OUR RESTAURANT...THE GAME'S ALL HERE!
(Sports sfx to close, big tackle effect into ref whistle, fade out)
