Reflection: Realizations of Ethical Approaches to Copywriting

One of the elements that is deemed important in creating an effective ad would be trustworthiness. As copywriters our job is to convince the audience to get the reactions that we want. So gaining their trust is crucial in making an ad effective.

Exaggerating on facts may be acceptable, but making things up is definitely not. That is what most people call "false advertising" and it makes people angry. It can also effect a company's image badly. A lie can be told and believed as long as no one questions it, but eventually after being told to so many people someone will definitely start getting curious and try to verify the truth. The people have the power to boycott a company and slander its name until the inevitable death of it. There are also consumer laws that will impose hefty fines. In the end, the one who gets into the most trouble would be the copywriter who lied in the first place.

Ethical ads should also avoid from being too suggestive, especially in a conservative country like Malaysia. People will get offended, report the ad and depending how bad it gets, a fine will be imposed or if it is really bad, someone will get arrested under the Sedition Act. Those are definitely the last things we want. Remember MyTaxi's breast cancer awareness ad in 2015? So many people were offended that the ad was forced to be taken down. The company also had to issue a public apology for it, but that did not stop their image from being permanently tarnished.

In the end, it is about understanding where the masses draw the line and cater to that accordingly. After all, it is all about gaining their trust and not about satisfying our selfish desires.

By,
Lim Jia Xin
0325831

Blog Swipe: Hygiene Product Ad

Visual
The visual for this advertisement cleverly intensify the headline. It uses a smart and emotional approach that is relatable to most public transportation commuters. The idea of replacing the bus handles that is held by many different hands with different types of realistic hands which shows how vulnerable and how we are easily exposed to the many and different type of contacts. The facial expression of the model is the perfect portrayal of how little attention we pay to the hygiene of our surroundings and physical contacts.

Headline
The headline is introduced in an interactive and attention grabbing way as a question that heighten audience's curiosity. The simple bolded headline depicts a serious toned advertisement, emphasising on the importance of cleanliness and how people nowadays are unaware of what their surrounding can bring. Apart from that, the headline perfectly incorporates with the visual and the model's facial expression.

Body copy
The copy of the advertisement is simple and straightforward as it uses a hard sell approach that emphasises on the product's selling point. I personally think the short and simple copy is suitable for advertisement like this as the visual and the headline is already clear enough for audiences to understand the story. However, I would suggest to include another short copy like statistics or factual researches that indicates how many times the bus handle is contacted in a day and how much germs are we potentially exposed to in the public and so on. The idea of including factual and statistic researches is to create a stronger impact, thus triggering the audience to think thoroughly about the advertisement.

By,
Triston Lee, 0328441

Reflection: Tips for writing a good press release

There are a few key elements that make an effective press release. The most well know of all is the 5W1H theory. This is one of the most important of all thought for a press release, these are the very useful elements for a perfect news. Target audiences are a very important thing to think about when writing a press release. Sometimes there might be different versions of press release for different types of audience.

The key ways to structure a press release is quite intimidating though it might be a very sensitive issue. The timing for a press release submission have to be done before a particular date that have been provided. Next,to give a very catchy title for the press release. The title has to grab the attention of the journalist and make the urge to read more. Identify working patterns and deadlines before the research. Always carry a checklist around to keep the work updated.

Be concise though a long paragraph might bored the target audiences.

Always add sub-headings and bullet points, though it can be useful to make information easy to understand. Press release is not a story, more tips would be useful for the journalist. Share the media coverage and keep the buzz going. Always reach out to specific journalists, though focus on a few journalists who have experience covering your industry and send them a personalized message. Lastly, always keep trying and never get down for anything. Write with full confidence and let yourself out there.

Renerajs A/P Selvarajoo @ Rajoo
0327807

Blog Swipe: Corporate Advertising Ad

The advertisement for Pakistan International Airlines is one that captured my attention a lot. First of all, the headline shows off their mission clearly. It indicates that they are the servant that brings you the world. It is a great headline to capture the attention of wanderlusts who desire to travel the world as they love thinking that the world is their oyster to explore. The headline also suggests the ease to travel the world with their airline as they travel globally.

The visual used also cleverly enhances the headline. It is of miniaturized landmarks from various famous traveling destinations served on a silver platter. So far, most of the visuals used in airline company ads are of the airplanes or staff members. Seeing a concept different from the usual yet is relevant is really refreshing. However, true to airline-styled ads, it still includes an airplane but not in the usual conventional way. Instead the airplane is a miniature flying over the landmarks. The trail left behind by the plane is cleverly used to underline the word "world" which highlights the headline. Not only that, it adds in the detail of stripes from a pilot's coat sleeve. It sends the message that these cities are delivered to you on a silver platter by the pilot a la butler style. The concept of the visuals itself is already pretty interesting.

The copy in the ad is also short, concise and straight to the point which I really like. There are no excessive flowery words to pretty things up. It also effectively sends their message which is to satisfy travelers who look for comfort and convenience to travel. They claim that they are the ones who can do that in a straightforward manner. The copy is easily understood.

Last but not least, the ad also contains all the necessary information such as their website, hotline and tagline. They are all also arranged in a way that is not cluttered and hard to see.

Overall, it is a good airline advertisement that is both effective and attractive at the same time.

By,
Lim Jia Xin
0325831

Reflection: How to Create an Effective/Useful Brochure

In order to create an effective or useful brochure, the sequence of a logical arrangement or the structure with a logical flow is the most important element that is necessary. On the cover page, the title, brand name and company logo need to be included. By placing a picture of the company building on the company is a NO. Regardless the company has become a successful company or not, it is irrelevant. Audience only wants to know about the product that meets their needs.

The content of the brochure must include the benefits and feature. Benefits must be believable too. Overall, the content must be short and simple. One paragraph should be from three to five sentence only. If there are more than five sentences, break it. Visuals can be included but the picture must be interesting or relevant. Use present tense and conversation writing, audience will be able to feel more connected to the message that is written on the brochure. Bullet points can be included to focus on the key features of your product or services as it can attract audiences’ attention and lead them towards the action you want them to take next.

The back page of the brochure must include the logo and information of the company such as website, address, number and call to action “For more information, call xxx to learn…” or coupon for discounts or free items before certain date. Give audience a reason to act now such as quantities are limited, price increasing and so on.

Written by,
Felicia Thor Xin Yi 0327777

Blog Swipe: Interesting Brochure

The only brochure that leave a strong impression in my mind- Volkswagen brochure. It is a "Green Guts" brochure that illustrating benefits of Jetta TDI and clean diesel.

Firstly, the headline "green guts" is attractive as it's short and clear enough to convey the message as well as USP of the car. The colour was mainly in green and white, which indicating green concept. Same application goes to the leaf shape design of brochure. As an audience, i was thinking " is this an environmental friendly car?" when the first glance without flipping over the brochure Other than that, the application of the colour and also the design of the brochure were also very appropriate in terms of conveying the message and eye-catching. It is able to direct audience to the message of the brochure by combining these elements-- The car is environmental friendly.

Besides the designing elements, it also provided the benefits of the car in an understanding and interesting way.  Instead of directly pursuing audience to buy their car, they provided the "tips" on how to pick a good green car such as price, consumption, performance and others. All of these information were in bullet point form with a detail description. Hence, it create a sense of caring towards the customers and arousing the curiosity and promoting their product at the same time.

Overall, the design and the 3 headlines in the brochure which is "green guts", "tips on buying green car" and also "clean diesel" were quite interesting as well as attention grabbing. This is because of the understanding of consumer behaviour, Volkswagen knows how to get people attention by taking advantage of the human interest.


written by,
Ng Zhee Jing
0326957