Short and Sweet Overview that's not short, nor very sweet.

REFERENCE MATERIALS:
Creative Advertising: Ideas and Techniques from the World’s Best
Campaigns - Mario Pricken
Deep Thoughts - Jack Handey
Hey Whipple, Squeeze This - Luke Sullivan
The Elements of Style - Strunk & White
An Inconvenient Truth for Copywriters - Suzanne Pope
The Onion
The Weekly World News
The New York Times


COURSE OBJECTIVE
Nobody reads ads. They read what interests them. Sometimes, it’s an ad. So that ad/outdoor board/banner/blogpost had better have a great headline. That’s the way it’s been since the first copywriter hunched over his personal cave-writing device, and, at some godforsaken hour of the prehistoric dawn, banged out the world’s first headline—“Special on Mastodon Ribs at La Brea Tar Pit.” Or, “Rock Furniture—No Interest till 39 B.C.!” Actual headlines discovered in the caves of France. Final resting place of David Ogilvy (not the caves, just France). Land of fine wine and cheese—Kind of prophetic. Because 3,000 years later, the same holds true. Headlines are still meant to telegraph information vital to our survival. Well, somewhat. And today, some are like fine wine, and some are like smelly old French cheese. In this course, the student will study the thinking and writing of the world’s great copywriters, the objective being to spawn a new golden age of ads with headlines, thus bringing about the inevitable extinction of the all-visual ad. Okay, that’s a lie. But the world does desperately need more great headline writers.

TEACHING METHODS
The teaching methods are lectures, demonstrations and critique of assignments.

YOUR GRADE
Your grade will be based on your participation, having all your work ready to go when class starts, being on-time, the progress your work makes from week-to-week and your final overall body of work. If you are going to be absent, email your teacher before class to let him or her know and send that week’s assignment. Any assignment not received by the start of class will be graded as late and may work against your overall grade.

ON DEADLINES
Advertising is a great business, but it’s a business of deadlines. Your creative director will want your work to be done on time. Clients will too. So if you aren’t already used to taking deadlines seriously, now is the time to start. Deadlines in this class are serious. Consider your instructor your creative director. Or, if you prefer, your client. Get your work done on time.

Week 1: Game on.

Writing for outdoor. The 7-word limit. The nature of placement: where is the media? Car traffic or foot traffic? Is it over/near a certain business or landmark? How does that affect creative?

Working with word banks. Finding Threads. Finding Treasure: Dig lots of little holes or one big one?

Twitter: A headline writers medium. Start a competition: Writers with existing accounts have their follower numbers recorded as a baseline. Writers without account need to establish one. Winner will have acquired the most followers by week 9. Prize to winner at teacher’s discretion.

Assignment:
Write a copy-driven OOH campaign for CNN or REI.
Inspirational writing sample

Week 2: Print isn't dead, it's bad.

Writing for print. Someone said long ago that “Print is Dead.” They were very wrong. The print ad is still the most visible showcase for the brilliance of a writer. To tag or not to tag?

Writing modalities: how do you write? How does the mode of writing you use affect the type of ideas you generate. What works best for you? How to shake things up an get out of a rut.

Assignment:
Write a copy-driven print campaign for Jell-o or Mack Trucks
Revise CNN or Mack Trucks work
Inspirational writing sample

Week 3: Always be closing.

Web Banners. Banners are the opening/pick-up line, not the date. Focus on attracting interest and a call to action (CTA), not the interaction. That, like the date, comes after you’ve successfully inspired interest.

Word play: Think of all the word plays, rhymes, popular sayings you know or use a dictionary of quotations, alter some words to write some headlines of your own. The point is not so much to integrate a quotation or idiom into your ad, as it is to be an exercise that helps stimulate new ideas.

Suggested Assignment
Write a classic 468 x 60 pixel banners campaign for Baby Gap or Netflix
Revise Jell-o or Mack Trucks work
Inspirational writing sample

Week 4: Make your audience think.

News headlines. What differentiates the headlines in a editorial (newspaper/magazine/weblog) environment from an advertising headline? How is the style different? How is language and phrasing changed to streamline communication?

Assignment:
Create a campaign for Dunkin Donuts or Toys ‘R Us.
Revise Baby Gap or Netflix
Inspirational writing sample

Week 5: Think shallow.

Write a Deep Thought
“The face of a child can say it all, especially the mouth part of the face.”
“It’s too bad that whole families have to be torn apart by something as simple as wild dogs.”
“It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.” Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey is classic Saturday Night Live. And it’s a great exercise in how absurd humor can get someone’s attention. How you can lead your reader one way and turn around and surprise them at the last minute. Once you’ve done that, you’ve got them right where you want them. Reading on. With your ad in the palm of their hand.

Assignment:
Create a campaign for Hedonism Resorts or Home Depot in the style of Jack Handey’s Deep Thoughts.
Revise Dunkin Donuts or Toys 'R Us work
Inspirational writing sample

Week 6: Start the conversation.

Emails: Why you’ll hate them and why you should love them. Cover “best practices”: CTA, straight focus, and above/below fold considerations. Also discuss Subject headings and how to avoid spam filters.

Assignment:
Create a three-email campaign from Livestrong.com promoting the various fitness program tools the site offers. Your goal is to get readers to visit the site and register.
Revise Hedonism or Home Depot Work
Inspirational Writing Sample