It should be distinguished from copyright, which is a legal term concerned with the ownership of creative material. Briefly, in European law a creative person such as a writer or photographer owns the writing or picture they have produced - even on behalf of a paying client - unless they decide to assign ownership to the customer. This is usually done, of course. As you can imagine, infringement of copyright is a serious offence. Companies such as Coca-Cola and Disney protect images belonging to them very aggressively.
Copywriting differs from news releases in that you are allowed to use wording urging people to buy your company's product or service. The criterion is that you are allowed to exaggerate (or use "hype" - from the Greek "hyperbole") so long as an ordinary person would recognize it as such. You will be familiar with advertisements that imply that a hair shampoo or cologne will transform you into a fabulous beauty or handsome hero!
We have the British Codes of Advertising and Sales Promotion, which set the standards for advertising material - that it should be "legal, decent, honest and truthful." Complaints are inspected and reported on by the Advertising Standards Authority. The ASA reports are publicized, which can be damaging for those who flout the Codes. Some advertisers, such as Benetton, have deliberately used shocking ads. This can lead to substantial editorial coverage, increasing the publicity.
In addition, of course, the ads have appeared before a complaint is investigated. The media may be asked not to accept future advertisements from offenders and the last resort is a legal injunction banning an ad from appearing. Other European countries have similar Codes. With the single market an ad produced in one country, but shown in another, will be subject to the Code applying in the latter.
Even if you are briefing a professional copywriter and a graphic designer (or ad agency) to produce promotional material for your company, it helps to have an understanding of the principles.
As with selling, good copy focuses, not on what aspects a product has (features), but what it will do for the reader (benefits). To illustrate this: The car has air-conditioning - a feature. The benefits are protecting me from pollution when driving in cities and keeping me cool on a hot day. I discovered another when a lorry driver nearly wiped me out, ignoring my indicator: having to continue driving in heavy traffic, I could put the air-conditioning on at full blast on cold and calm myself down after a dreadful fright!
Some general principles about compulsive copywriting: always have an objective. Why are you advertising? What do you want to achieve? A meeting? An order? An enquiry? If you're unclear, your copy will be muddled. Don't just advertise because you haven't done so for some time!
Don't oversell (that is, promise so much that your advertising becomes unbelievable). People know that no company can offer better, cheaper, more original products or services with longer guarantees!
Use fresh language. Shakespeare is said to have used 58,000 different words: many of us drag out the same few words: "the training was nice…Milan was nice…the hotel was nice…" By looking in a thesaurus (a reference book listing words of similar meaning), we are reminded that we know "stimulating" (or "pathetic"!), "vibrant", "comfortable" and many more. One of the most exhausted words in English is "new": other terms such as "novel", "fresh", "advanced", "latest", "refined", "modish", "original" and more have subtle nuances of meaning.
Eliminate negative words such as "may" "could" "perhaps" "maybe" "possibly" "you might" and employ positive language. Remember, people like doing business with successful people. Your writing should exude confidence.
If you are stuck on how to start (a common difficulty!), tackle the middle or end then go back to the beginning. Use natural language: don't be tempted to fill your copy with polysyllabic (or long!) words to impress. Your target audience has plenty of other things to think about: simple language reaches more people, faster. As with all forms of writing, reading it aloud can help to identify awkwardnesses: if you stumble over the wording, the readers will.
Avoid tautology: Saying the same thing twice, to pad out the text: "We offer the highest standards of service, the very best." Only use necessary information: outsiders will not be interested in the history of the company, but a special offer might grab their attention.
Address people's personal interests (the marketing slogan is "What"s in it for them?') or what matters to their company. (Back to benefits.) The message has much more impact if the first and second person are used - in other words, "I" and "we" and "you" (or "your company"). The third person, as we call it in English grammar, seems remote.
Give instructions: Tell people how to respond. You may be surprised by this: if you put a phone number, won't people realize that they can call?! Research shows that if you state "Ring this number Now", the response will go up!
