Page 114 - 100 Great Copywriting Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

When you start a new assignment or project your first job is to
interrogate the product. In other words, to find out as much about it
as there is to find out. Sometimes that’s easy. There are spec sheets,
press releases, or previous ad campaigns to review. Then there are
the limitless possibilities of the web, from Wikipedia to newsgroups,
blogs to Google. Ah, dear Google, what did we do before there
was you?
From your research you may well find out one unique thing about
your product. It’s worth talking about, especially if you can find a
way to make it sound like a benefit to the buyer. In any case, laying
out why it’s unique is a whole lot more interesting than just slapping
the old “unique” sticker on it and hoping some mug will go “Ooh!
Look—unique.”

In practice

• Do your research. Read anything and everything you can

discover that relates to your product. Recently, I found myself
on the American Environmental Protection Agency website,
downloading PDFs that were exactly what I needed.

• Remember that your reader has seen everything described as

“unique” and therefore believes nothing is. Prove it’s true.

100 GREAT COPYWRITING IDEAS • 105