Currently I’m reading “Ogilvy on Advertising”, book written by the business advertizing wizard David Ogilvy, the most successful Ad-man of all the time. In the second chapter he has mentioned the steps on creating succesfull ads which sells. These steps are equally well applicable to web design, so I thought of listing out them here.

1. Do your homework

   • Study the product you are going to advertise
   • Find out what kind of advertising your competitors have been doing for similar products, and with what success.
   • Research among consumers (what they think about product, languages they use, attributes important to them, promises which would likey make them to buy your brand)

2. Positioning
   What the product does, and who is for.

3. Brand image
   Create personality of brand (brand image is an amalgum of many things - its name, packaging, price, style of its advertising, and nature of the product)

4. What’s the big idea
   Big ideas come from the unconscious. These are the questions to recognize a big idea:

   • Did it make me gasp when I first saw it?
   • Do I wish I had thought of it myself?
   • Is it unique?
   • Does it fit the strategy of perfection?
   • Could it be used for 30 years?

5. Make the product the hero
   There are no dull products, only dull writers.
   Explain the virtues more persuasively than competitors and differentiate it by the style of advertising.

6. ‘The positively good’
   Not necessary to convince consumers that the product is superior to its competitors, but to create a confidence that the product is positively good.

7. Repeat your winners
   Repeat good advertisement until it stops selling.

8. Word of mouth
   word-of-mouth advertising by spreading anecdotes.

9. Down with committees
   avoid committees

10. Ambition
    try hard, that might double client’s sales

11. Pursuit of knowledge
    Practical knowledge rather than theory to make ads that are not set in reverse. Observe how little the plus minus factors change.

12. The lessons of direct response
    General advertisers v/s direct-response advertisers.
    Good advertisement isn’t about how charming, witty and warm it is, but the one which sells.

13. The cult of ‘creativity’
    If it doesn’t sell, it’s not creative.
    Creativity doesn’t mean originality, in fact originality is the most dangerous word in advertising.s

14. what about sex?
    stay away from showing irrelevant sex on ads.

This is a great book, and I thouroughly enjoyed reading it so far. I’m going to read the rest of it so soon.