Copy in advertising: Few words that can achieve a lot

The number of advertising messages that urban-based people are exposed to daily is estimated to be in the thousands. Whether on the way to work or during leisure time when consuming electronic or printed media, we encounter advertising everywhere. Annual advertising expenditures worldwide have been rising for years and may soon exceed one trillion US dollars. It is obvious that hardly anything is left to chance in such a business. Researchers at the Institute for Media and Communication Management (MCM-HSG) at the University of St.Gallen (HSG) have investigated the role that text plays in the interpretation of advertising messages. They differentiated between four strategies to promote the interpretation desired by advertisers. They recently published their findings in the renowned journal “Communication Theory”.

Four strategies for copywriting

According to Dr Fabienne Bünzli and Prof. Dr Martin Eppler, four verbal strategies or anchors can be distinguished in order to increase the probability that an advertising text (often called “copy”) will help the target group to understand an advertising message in the intended way. These can be differentiated according to how much (or little) room is left open for interpretation. With the “typification anchor”, the text offers hardly any additional information such as details about the product or service. The advertising message relies primarily on brand names or slogans to signal a meaning. This can often be seen with luxury and fashion brands with a high level of recognition. The “description anchor” is different, where detailed information about depicted products, people, objects, actions or places is described. This is often done using adjectives and demonstrative pronouns. The level of detail can vary greatly. Typical examples with a high level of detail are product adverts, for example for cars.

With the “storyfication anchor”, narrative elements are used to place a depicted scene in a context or story and to insert a temporal component. This is often done with the help of temporal adverbs (e.g. then, later), specific time references (in year X, last year) or various tenses. This strategy is intended to touch the audience emotionally and encourage them to engage more intensively with the advertising message. The authors cite (awareness-raising) campaigns by government agencies or nonprofit organisations as examples. Finally, the “redefinition anchor” offers new perspectives on everyday or familiar things. Viewers are asked to resolve the supposed discrepancy between the verbal and visual elements and recognise the deeper connection. Frequent indicators for this anchor are negations (e.g. “this is not...”) or unusual, surprising or contradictory descriptions of the people, objects or scenes depicted. “Such ads are considered particularly creative and often win national and international awards,” says Fabienne Bünzli.

One size doesn't fit all

Does this mean that the “redefinition anchor” is the best strategy for copywriting? Of course not. Depending on the advertising objectives and target groups, different strategies are more promising. The researchers therefore make several propositions as to how the four strategies can be utilised in a targeted manner. Basically, they found that the persuasive power of verbal anchors increases the more they expand the meaning of the image and thus encourage the target groups to engage with the advert. This applies most strongly to the “redefinition anchor”, followed by storyfication, description and finally typification. However, a prerequisite for successful engagement with an advert is that the message is understood by the target group. This is most likely with a description anchor. If recipients are unable to derive a meaningful interpretation, this is more likely to lead to confusion and frustration than persuasion. The following also applies: the more explicit and detailed (more complete) a description is, the faster (and more clearly) the advert can be processed by recipients. According to the authors, a high processing speed also increases the persuasive power of advertising.

But all of this does not apply unconditionally. There are also people who are looking for challenges and find advertisings that are too clear superficial and boring, which is why they hardly engage with them. For such target groups, it may be better to choose a “redefinition anchor”, which conveys incomplete information about the meaning of the image and therefore requires the viewer to make a greater effort to interpret it. “In times of decreasing attention spans and increasing advertising expenditures, however, this can be risky,” says Fabienne Bünzli. Accordingly, the strategies and suggestions formulated by the researchers are not a universal recipe for the successful use of ad copy - they do, however, serve as a promising tool for better tailoring advertising to target groups and predicting its impact. 

Image: Jannick Isler