Sometimes a perceived fault can become the product's strongest selling point:

Remember the story about David Ogilvy, arguably one of the world's greatest copywriters, and his famous long headline ads that shattered his own rule about limiting your headline to five words or less? One ad that Ogilvy wrote that is still remembered was for Rolls Royce when it entered the American market and he highlighted a fault to emphasise the perfection of the total product.....

At 60 mph, the loudest noise you'll hear is the clock ...

Although this headline broke all the known rules, this copy was written in an era when car and road noise competed to deafen road users. The result of this headline was to invite the American market to imagine themselves enjoying the ultimate European luxury driving experience - and to imagine that the car you drove was so quiet you could hear the tick of a clock. This was one of the most successful US car advertisements of all time.

Sometimes breaking the rules of good design can work well too. The first person who took a full page in a broadsheet paper, then asked for their ad to be printed upside down, achieved remarkable readership and retention. Of course, the next person who did this didn't achieve quite as good a result - then the me-too's who followed suit but with boring, long-copy ads just wasted their advertising dollar.

It's a paradox, but to break the rules successfully you have to know the rules first. Talk to us about writing the ad that works …

Ideas Unlimited
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