Page 46 - 100 Great Copywriting Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

We have a full-width photo of a glossy black Ferrari F430, landscape
blurred behind it. But it’s the headline that really brings you up
short and lets the ad do its work:

Imagine yourself behind the wheel of a supercar
It’s a powerful little eight-word phrase, supercharged by the word
“imagine.” Why? Because that’s precisely what the reader is doing
anyway. So the copywriter has tapped directly into the motivation of
the reader. They could have just written . . .

You could be driving this supercar
But then we’re left feeling, “Yeah right, but only for a day.” It’s
a downer.
Or

Driving a supercar needn’t cost the earth
But now we’re focused on cost, even as the copywriter strives to sell
the benefits of hiring. But the “imagine” headline takes us beyond
the sell, beyond the close, into the territory the copywriter wants us
to inhabit: life with the product.

In practice

• Start by thinking about how the world would look to your reader

if they did the thing you wanted them to. Create a quick pencil
portrait of this scene.

• Write some copy starting with the phrase “Imagine a world in

which you . . .” Now complete it with the details of your pen
portrait. New paragraph: “It’s all possible when you . . .”

100 GREAT COPYWRITING IDEAS • 37