Want a Crash Course in Copywriting? Be a Parent…
By Anna Johnson on January 1st, 2009Anyone needing a crash course in copywriting – focusing, in particular, on the power of words – need only spend a little time with young children. When it comes to ‘selling’ them on dinner… or chores… or various other activities… using the right words can make all the difference.
I was reminded of this today when it came to preparing dinner for my kids. Not wanting to debate the merits of crumbed chicken breast with a 6 year old and a 4 year old, I decided to pitch the meal in such a way as to yield the most positive response (i.e. them eating the meal without argument).
Now, I’m not saying ‘crumbed chicken breast’ would have not appealed to them… it’s just that I knew that ‘repositioning’ it would have yielded a much better response.
So… instead of having ‘crumbed chicken breast’ for dinner, my kids had a ‘giant chicken nugget’ instead!
And, sure enough, ‘giant chicken nugget’ turned out to be one of their favorite meals of all time. (Well, that’s what they said…)
Actually, top restaurants are masters of positioning food in such a way as to best appeal to their patrons. What is a ‘giant chicken nugget’ to my kids… and ‘crumbed chicken breast’ to my husband and I… becomes ‘breast of chicken lightly crumbed with almonds and green peppercorns’ at a top restaurant!
And, as you can see, it’s not so much the words themselves that are important… it’s what the words MEAN to the audience in question. Which really lies at the heart of effective copywriting: using words that resonate – in an optimal way – with your audience.
So what’s for dinner at your place?
