Page 77 - 100 Great Copywriting Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

32 “I WANT” DOES GET

Read any half-decent copywriting book and you’ll quickly twig
that you’re supposed to focus on benefits, not features. What is a
benefit? Well, it’s anything that makes your reader’s life easier or
better in some way. Top of my head? Save money. Now, although
benefits will bring in sales, alone they’ll only get you part of the way
toward your goal—which should be . . . maximum sales.
So what is the missing ingredient? Here’s a clue. Why do so many
married people get themselves into so much trouble—financial,
legal, and emotional—by having affairs? Desire. My dictionary
defines desire as an unsatisfied longing or craving. (In its noun
form, anyway.) So let’s look at what people long for.

The idea

From Carte D’Or, an ice cream brand
If you want to engender desire, you need to make people imagine
life with your product. So yes, start by writing down a list of benefits
of your product or service. You should definitely include them in
your copy. The trick is to couch them in language that reflects your
reader’s desires. Here’s some copy from an ice cream ad (accompanied
by a full-bleed color photo of the product, which helps):

The thought of Carte D’Or Chocolate Inspiration ice cream
gently melting on top of a steamy chocolate pud is enough to
make anyone go gooey in the middle . . . *

* Copy reproduced with kind permission of Unilever.

68 • 100 GREAT COPYWRITING IDEAS