I’ve had opportunity to read weekend newspapers cover to cover of late and recently for once it wasn’t Covid-19 that captured my attention, but a long copy ad.

The Sunday papers usually have an abundance of long copy ads that you would think only your grandparents who have lived in another era would engage with and purchase. Yet, from souvenir plates to comfortable shoes, their frequency of insertion now must mean that the time people have on their hands in 2021 translates to a high volume of purchases.

Increasingly, however, as cardigans become strangely more attractive to me, so have well-crafted, long copy ads.

I now regularly find myself reading snippets from long copy ads. From efficient hedge trimmers to ergonomically designed vacuum cleaners, they are regularly grabbing my attention.
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But this ad was different. I read every word of the Roberts Beacon Bluetooth Speaker ad.

It may have been the Beacon’s retro look, the range of colours, or the quality of the sound that appealed to someone who has graduated from a faux wood finish National Panasonic music centre to hi-fi separates and on to my current Denon configuration and from working on the earliest of MACs at my first agency in Covent Garden, right through to my iMAC of today.
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I remember reading ‘Ogilvy on advertising’ many moons ago when at Watford College and a section focusing on ‘The Man in the Hathaway Shirt’ – I have no idea why I remember that ad so well. It clearly had an impact, as I was hardly the target market at that time.
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Don’t get me wrong, I’m a real fan of short copy Economist ads, or no copy Silk Cut ads and many more that let the picture paint a thousand words or more.

Yet, the Beacon’s long copy appealed. It may well have been the layout, clean, lots of space, nicely ordered – not having to find where my eyes should go next and images that don’t fight for my attention over and above the copy.

In short, I’m considering a purchase and as there’s a deal to be had, maybe two. The power of advertising eh!

#robertsradio #advertising #brands2market