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Ogilvy Copywriting Skill

奥格威文案写作技巧

Apply these principles when writing, reviewing, or critiquing any copy with a sales or persuasion goal. Advertising is not art. It is information in service of selling. Every decision should serve that end.
在撰写、审核或评判任何以销售或说服为目标的文案时，遵循以下原则。广告不是艺术，而是服务于销售的信息载体。每一项决策都应围绕这一目标展开。

The Hierarchy: What Matters Most

优先级层级：最重要的事项

Ogilvy's framework operates in order of priority. Later decisions only matter if earlier ones are correct.
奥格威的框架按优先级排序。只有前期决策正确，后续决策才有意义。

1. Positioning (the most important decision)

1. 定位（最重要的决策）

Positioning is not a tagline. It is the answer to two questions: what does this product do, and who is it for?
The entire campaign depends on this decision being made first, before any copy is written.
  • Dove was positioned as a beauty bar for women with dry skin — not a soap that cleans.
  • Schweppes was positioned as a mixer — not a soft drink.
  • Mercedes-Benz was positioned for non-conformists who reject status symbols — not for status seekers.
Wrong positioning means every downstream decision is built on a broken foundation. Research helps. Decide it early. Lock it in before writing a word.
Psychological segmentation beats demographic segmentation. Any agency can target "women 25-45." The better move is targeting a mindset — people who believe X, who reject Y, who want to feel Z.
定位不是口号，而是对两个问题的回答：这款产品有什么用途，面向谁？
整个广告活动都依赖于先做出这个决策，再动笔写任何文案。
  • Dove 定位为面向干性肌肤女性的美容皂——而非清洁用香皂。
  • Schweppes 定位为调酒辅料——而非软饮料。
  • Mercedes-Benz 定位为拒绝身份象征的特立独行者之选——而非面向追求身份地位的人群。
错误的定位意味着后续所有决策都建立在破碎的基础上。调研很有帮助。尽早确定定位，在写一个字之前就锁定它。
**心理细分优于人口统计细分。**任何代理商都能瞄准“25-45岁女性”。更好的做法是瞄准一种心态——相信X、拒绝Y、渴望感受到Z的人群。

2. The Promise (the second most important decision)

2. 承诺（第二重要的决策）

A promise is not a claim, slogan, or theme. It is a specific benefit the consumer will receive.
Samuel Johnson: "Promise, large promise, is the soul of an advertisement."
Rules for the promise:
  • It must be a benefit, not a feature.
  • It must be unique and competitive.
  • The product must actually deliver it.
  • Most advertising promises nothing. That is why it fails.
Go the whole hog. Most campaigns try to say too many things. They reflect too many executives, too many objectives. Boil the strategy down to one promise and deliver it completely. Attempting too many things achieves nothing.
承诺不是主张、标语或主题，而是消费者将获得的具体利益。
塞缪尔·约翰逊曾说：“宏大的承诺是广告的灵魂。”
承诺的规则：
  • 必须是利益，而非功能特性。
  • 必须独特且具有竞争力。
  • 产品必须真正能兑现承诺。
  • 大多数广告没有任何承诺，这就是它们失败的原因。
**全力以赴聚焦一点。**大多数广告活动试图传达太多信息，反映了太多高管的意见和太多目标。将策略浓缩为一个承诺，并彻底贯彻它。试图兼顾太多事只会一事无成。

3. Brand Image

3. 品牌形象

Every ad contributes to the brand's cumulative identity. 95% of advertising is created ad hoc, with no consistent image from year to year. That is waste.
The manufacturer who builds a sharply defined brand personality over time gets the largest market share.
Quality signals quality. If the advertising looks ugly, consumers conclude the product is shoddy.
每一则广告都在塑造品牌的累积形象。95%的广告都是临时创作的，年复一年没有一致的形象，这是一种浪费。
长期打造清晰品牌个性的制造商将获得最大的市场份额。
品质信号代表品质。如果广告看起来很粗糙，消费者会认为产品质量低劣。

The Big Idea

大创意

Unless the advertising is built on a big idea, it will pass like a ship in the night.
A big idea jolts the consumer out of indifference. It makes them notice, remember, and act.
Big ideas are almost always simple. Charles Kettering (General Motors): "This problem, when solved, will be simple."
Big ideas are not easy. They require research, preparation, and time. A truly strong one can run for 20 years — Ogilvy's eye patch for Hathaway shirts ran unchanged for decades.
How to find the big idea:
  1. Do the homework. The more you know the product, the more likely a big idea surfaces.
  2. Study what has worked and failed for similar products.
  3. Study consumer research — what do they actually think, want, fear?
  4. The promise should be important and unique. Use research to identify which promise is most persuasive.
除非广告建立在大创意之上，否则它会像夜航的船只一样悄然驶过，无人留意。
大创意能打破消费者的冷漠，让他们注意、记住并采取行动。
大创意几乎总是简单的。通用汽车的查尔斯·凯特林曾说：“这个问题解决后，会变得很简单。”
大创意来之不易，需要调研、准备和时间。真正强大的大创意可以沿用20年——奥格威为Hathaway衬衫设计的眼罩广告数十年未做改动。
如何找到大创意：
  1. 做好功课。你对产品了解得越多，就越有可能产生大创意。
  2. 研究同类产品的成败案例。
  3. 研究消费者调研——他们真正的想法、需求和恐惧是什么？
  4. 承诺应重要且独特。利用调研确定哪个承诺最具说服力。

Copywriting Rules: Print and Digital

文案写作规则：印刷与数字媒体

Headlines

标题

Five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. Waste the headline and you waste 80% of the money.
Rules:
  • Include the brand name and the promise in the headline. Most Ogilvy & Mather headlines do both.
  • Promise a benefit. Headlines that promise benefits outperform those that don't.
  • Inject news. Consumers are always hunting for something new — new products, improvements, new uses. Informative headlines outperform clever ones.
  • Keep language simple. Readers do not stop to decode obscure headlines. Telegraph the message in plain language.
  • Longer headlines outperform short ones in direct response. Headlines of 8-10 words are most effective for recall. Headlines of 6-12 words pull the most responses in mail-order. Long headlines like "At 60 miles an hour, the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock" outsell short, clever ones.
  • Flag your audience. If the product is for a specific group, name them in the headline. "Going to Europe?" "For mothers of toddlers." "Attention: bedwetters."
  • Avoid negatives in headlines. Research shows they are dangerous.
  • Headlines that arouse curiosity earn more readership — but only if the body copy delivers.
阅读标题的人数是阅读正文的五倍。浪费了标题，就浪费了80%的预算。
规则：
  • **标题中包含品牌名称和承诺。**奥格威&马瑟的大多数标题都同时做到了这两点。
  • **承诺利益。**承诺利益的标题表现优于不承诺的。
  • **注入新鲜信息。**消费者总是在寻找新事物——新产品、改进、新用途。信息性标题表现优于花哨的标题。
  • **语言简洁。**读者不会停下来解读晦涩的标题。用直白的语言传达信息。
  • **在直效营销中，较长的标题表现优于短标题。**8-10个词的标题最利于记忆。6-12个词的标题在邮购广告中获得的回应最多。像“时速60英里时，这款全新Rolls-Royce车内最大的噪音来自电子钟”这样的长标题，销量超过简短花哨的标题。
  • **明确目标受众。**如果产品面向特定群体，在标题中提及他们。“打算去欧洲？”“面向幼儿妈妈。”“注意：尿床人群。”
  • 标题中避免使用否定词。研究表明这很危险。
  • 引发好奇心的标题能吸引更多读者——但前提是正文能兑现承诺。

Body Copy

正文

  • The more you tell, the more you sell. Readership drops fast up to 50 words, then drops very little between 50 and 500 words. Long copy works for interested buyers.
  • Treat the reader as intelligent. Ogilvy: "The consumer isn't a moron. She is your wife."
  • Facts sell. Load copy with specific, pertinent facts. An advertisement's success increases as the number of relevant facts increases.
  • Show, don't tell. Praise adjectives ("great," "amazing," "revolutionary") add nothing. Specific facts prove the claim.
  • Helpful copy hooks more readers. Include advice, service, or information useful to the buyer beyond the pitch. This increases engagement by roughly 75%.
  • **说得越多，卖得越多。**阅读量在50词以内会快速下降，但在50到500词之间下降幅度很小。长篇文案对感兴趣的买家有效。
  • 把读者当作聪明人。奥格威说：“消费者不是傻瓜，她是你的妻子。”
  • 事实能促成销售。文案中要加入具体、相关的事实。广告的成功率会随着相关事实数量的增加而提高。
  • 展示，而非诉说。赞美性形容词（“很棒”“惊人”“革命性”）毫无意义。具体事实才能证明主张。
  • 实用的文案更吸引读者。加入对买家有用的建议、服务或信息，而不只是推销内容。这能将参与度提高约75%。

Photography and Visuals

摄影与视觉元素

  • Photographs outperform illustrations consistently. They attract more readers, are more believable, better remembered, and sell more.
  • Use captions. Twice as many people read photo captions as read body copy. Every caption should function as a miniature ad — brand name and promise included.
  • "Story appeal" in photographs increases readership. A photo that makes the reader ask "what's going on here?" pulls them into the copy.
  • Before-and-after formats work. Any visualized contrast earns above-average attention.
  • 照片的表现始终优于插画。它们吸引更多读者，更可信，更容易被记住，也更能促进销售。
  • 使用图片说明。阅读图片说明的人数是阅读正文的两倍。每一条图片说明都应起到微型广告的作用——包含品牌名称和承诺。
  • 照片中的“故事吸引力”能提高阅读量。让读者产生“这是怎么回事？”疑问的照片，能引导他们阅读文案。
  • 前后对比格式有效。任何可视化的对比都能获得高于平均水平的关注度。

Layout

布局

  • Editorial layouts (resembling editorial content) consistently outperform "ad-looking" ads. Higher readership, less resistance.
  • Never use a photograph without a caption.
  • Ugly advertising signals a shoddy product.
  • 社论式布局（类似社论内容）的表现始终优于“广告感”强的广告。阅读量更高，抵触情绪更少。
  • 永远不要使用没有说明的照片。
  • 粗糙的广告意味着低劣的产品。

Repetition

重复投放

  • Great ads are discarded before they pay off. Readership can increase with repetition — up to five exposures.
  • Repeat winners. Don't discard something that works just because the team is bored with it.
  • 优秀的广告在获得回报前就被弃用。重复投放能提高阅读量——最多五次曝光。
  • 重复投放有效的广告。不要因为团队看腻了就弃用有效的内容。

Television and Video Rules

电视与视频规则

These apply to video ads, social video, and promotional content.
  • Exciting opening. Commercials with a strong opening hold audience attention at higher levels than those that begin quietly.
  • Testimonials work. Almost always effective when credible. Real people or relevant celebrities both work. Irrelevant celebrities steal attention from the product.
  • Problem-solution works. Show a problem the viewer recognizes. Show the product solving it. Prove the solution. Never cheat — viewers notice.
  • Visual demonstrations work. Show the promise in action. Drives the claim home, saves time, aids memory.
  • On-camera voice outperforms voiceover in effectiveness scores.
  • Music backgrounds reduce recall. Most creative people resist this finding. It is still true.
  • Create a mnemonic. With 20,000 ads per year, most slide off. Build in a distinctive burr — a symbol, sound, image, or phrase that sticks.
  • Avoid animation for adults. Cartoons are less persuasive with adults. Viewers cannot identify with cartoon characters. Animation works for children.
  • Logorrhea kills. Don't drown the viewer in words. What is shown matters more than what is said. Let the visual carry the story.
这些规则适用于视频广告、社交视频和推广内容。
  • **开场引人入胜。**开场强劲的广告比开场平淡的广告更能保持观众的注意力。
  • **推荐语有效。**只要可信，几乎总是有效的。真实人物或相关名人都适用。无关名人会分散观众对产品的注意力。
  • **问题-解决方案模式有效。**展示观众熟悉的问题，展示产品如何解决问题，证明解决方案的有效性。不要弄虚作假——观众会发现的。
  • **视觉演示有效。**展示承诺的实际效果。能强化主张，节省时间，帮助记忆。
  • 镜头前旁白比画外音的效果评分更高。
  • **背景音乐会降低记忆度。**大多数创意人员抗拒这一结论，但它确实是事实。
  • **创建记忆点。**每年有2万条广告，大多数都会被遗忘。加入独特的标识——一个符号、声音、图像或短语，让观众记住。
  • **面向成人避免使用动画。**卡通对成年人的说服力较弱。观众无法与卡通角色产生共鸣。动画对儿童有效。
  • **喋喋不休会毁掉广告。**不要用文字淹没观众。展示的内容比说的内容更重要。让视觉元素讲述故事。

Behaviors to Avoid

应避免的行为

Awards

追求奖项

There is no correlation between creative awards and sales. The pursuit of awards pulls creative attention away from the goal. Successful advertising sells the product without drawing attention to itself. The product is the hero — not the ad.
创意奖项与销量之间没有关联。追求奖项会让创意偏离目标。成功的广告推销产品，而不引人注目。产品才是主角——而非广告本身。

Imitation

模仿

Advertising that follows fashionable fads or imitates competitors is rarely successful. Innovate. Start trends rather than following them. But pre-test innovation before committing.
跟风潮流或模仿竞争对手的广告很少成功。要创新，引领潮流而非追随潮流。但在投入前要测试创新内容。

Boredom

枯燥乏味

Nobody has ever been bored into buying anything. Detached, cold, impersonal advertising fails. Involve the consumer. Talk like a human. Make them feel something.
没有人会因为无聊而购买任何东西。冷漠、生硬、缺乏人情味的广告会失败。让消费者参与进来，像人一样交谈，让他们产生共鸣。

Burying news

隐藏新鲜信息

New products deserve loud launches. Many copywriters instinctively bury news in the body copy or hedge the announcement. The moment of newness is the single easiest moment to generate interest. Use it.
新产品值得大力宣传。许多文案本能地将新鲜信息放在正文中，或者淡化宣传。新颖性是最容易引发兴趣的时刻，要好好利用。

Over-complication

过于复杂

One strategy. One promise. One idea. Complexity is how committees dilute advertising into nothing.
一个策略，一个承诺，一个创意。复杂性是委员会把广告稀释得毫无意义的原因。

Ogilvy's Diagnostic Questions

奥格威的诊断问题

Before writing, answer these:
  1. What is the positioning? (What does it do, who is it for?)
  2. What is the single promise? (One benefit, competitive, deliverable)
  3. What is the big idea? (Simple, memorable, built to last)
  4. Who is the reader/viewer? (Demographic + psychological profile)
  5. What does the headline do? (Brand name + promise + news?)
  6. What proof exists? (Facts, demos, testimonials, before/after?)
  7. What does the image say? (Does it support the promise? Does it have story appeal?)
  8. Does the caption work as a standalone ad?
  9. Is this boring? (Would this make someone lean forward or away?)
  10. Is the product the hero? (Or is the clever idea the hero?)
动笔前，先回答这些问题：
  1. 定位是什么？（产品用途是什么，面向谁？）
  2. 唯一的承诺是什么？（一项利益，具有竞争力，可兑现）
  3. 大创意是什么？（简单、易记、经得起时间考验）
  4. 读者/观众是谁？（人口统计+心理特征）
  5. 标题的作用是什么？（包含品牌名称+承诺+新鲜信息？）
  6. 有什么证据？（事实、演示、推荐语、前后对比？）
  7. 图片传达了什么信息？（是否支持承诺？是否有故事吸引力？）
  8. 图片说明能否作为独立广告？
  9. 内容是否枯燥？（会让人们感兴趣还是反感？）
  10. 产品是主角吗？（还是花哨的创意是主角？）

Quick Reference: What Works

快速参考：有效的做法

ElementWhat wins
PositioningPsychological over demographic
PromiseSpecific benefit, not a slogan
Headline length8-12 words for recall; 6-12 for response
Headline contentBrand + promise + news
Copy lengthLong beats short for interested buyers
VisualsPhotos over illustrations
LayoutEditorial over "addy"
Video openingStrong/exciting, not quiet
Video narrationOn-camera over voiceover
TestimonialsCredible and relevant
MusicReduces recall — use sparingly
RepetitionRun winners longer than feels comfortable
ToneHuman, specific, intelligent
ComplexityOne promise, executed completely
元素有效方案
定位心理细分优于人口统计细分
承诺具体利益，而非口号
标题长度8-12词利于记忆；6-12词利于获得回应
标题内容品牌+承诺+新鲜信息
文案长度对感兴趣的买家，长篇优于短篇
视觉元素照片优于插画
布局社论式优于“广告感”布局
视频开场强劲/引人入胜，而非平淡
视频旁白镜头前优于画外音
推荐语可信且相关
音乐会降低记忆度——谨慎使用
重复投放有效广告的投放时长要超出舒适区
语气人性化、具体、尊重智商
复杂性一个承诺，彻底执行

Source Material

资料来源

Adapted from:
  • "How to Create Advertising That Sells" — David Ogilvy, 1972 (38-point newspaper ad placed by Ogilvy & Mather)
  • "Ogilvy on Advertising" — David Ogilvy, 1983
  • "Confessions of an Advertising Man" — David Ogilvy, 1963
改编自：
  • 《如何创作能销售的广告》——大卫·奥格威，1972年（奥格威&马瑟投放的38点报纸广告）
  • 《奥格威谈广告》——大卫·奥格威，1983年
  • 《一个广告人的自白》——大卫·奥格威，1963年