Who writes the copy for the ads in "Parade" and "USA Weekend"

by bob ross

Posted: 11 years ago 5 replies

COPY WRITING

In my Sunday newspaper, there's always the little "Parade" and "USA Weekend" inserts that are typically chock full of copy-heavy advertisements, mostly geared to seniors it seems.

Thomas Kincaid artwork (before he died)
Stretchy Pants, figure slimming clothes, slip-on shoes
Porcelain Dolls
Amish Heaters/Edenpure

Stuff like that. This week has a "Royal Baby Christening Doll" for $150 or so. I know this stuff is selling like hotcakes, these ads cannot be cheap.

Who writes these ads?

#ads #copy #parade #usa weekend #writes

laurencewins 11 years ago

Good copywriters with great bank balances I reckon.
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max5ty 11 years ago

Not sure the exact ads you're referring to, but most of the print ads in mags etc., aren't done by one person. An ad agency usually handles the concept, writing, images, photos, design, etc.

As far as what agency handles the particular ones you've mentioned...I'm not sure.
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sethczerepak

11 years ago

I've seen those ads and collected quite a few of them. The common thread in all of them is positioning, damn good positioning, of regular products. I'd suggest checking out Jack Trout's books on the subject, some of Dan Kennedy's latest stuff (No BS Trust Based Marketing & Making Them Believe). Check out Gerardo Joffe's book on direct mail marketing too. Bit out of date on the business model, but the positioning strategies are dynamite.

Other examples of positioning are the Snuggie, blue blocker sunglasses, the fly cake, the ant farm. Loads of regular products brilliantly positioned. Read the books, then go back to the ads, you'll see a pattern. As for the copywriter, if you get positioning you could easily duplicate what they're doing.

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KingOfContentMarketing

11 years ago

Originally Posted by sethczerepak

Check out Gerardo Joffe's book on direct mail marketing too.

Had to look up the name. Wow, what a life story:

FLAME head still wonders why Nazis saved his life | j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California

http://www.factsandlogic.org/president.html

From an Amazon review of his book:

"This is one of the guru's of direct mail. He started and sold 2 companies, then bought them back (Hennikers is the current one). He speaks from great authority and does not hold back any secrets.
This is the guy who runs those ads for $4.99 Swiss Army knives in the Wall Street Journal. And, he clearly explains why he does so (to build his in-house list). He also explains all the profitability ratios, etc."

How You Too Can Make at Least One Million Dollars (But Probably Much More in the Mail-Order Business): Gerardo Joffe: 9780930992026: Amazon.com: Books

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sethczerepak

11 years ago

Originally Posted by joe golfer

Had to look up the name. Wow, what a life story:

FLAME head still wonders why Nazis saved his life | j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California

F L A M E : About FLAME's President, Gerardo Joffe

From an Amazon review of his book:

"This is one of the guru's of direct mail. He started and sold 2 companies, then bought them back (Hennikers is the current one). He speaks from great authority and does not hold back any secrets.
This is the guy who runs those ads for $4.99 Swiss Army knives in the Wall Street Journal. And, he clearly explains why he does so (to build his in-house list). He also explains all the profitability ratios, etc."

How You Too Can Make at Least One Million Dollars (But Probably Much More in the Mail-Order Business): Gerardo Joffe: 9780930992026: Amazon.com: Books

Yeah, you don't hear a lot about him anymore. I think people assume his stuff is obsolete. But reading his book and seeing the positioning strategies he used for ordinary products is just mind-boggling. The ads mentioned by OP prove that positioning can be used to turn ordinary products into cash cows. There are probably thousands in the patent office right now that could easily make you millions if they were positioned right.

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Who writes the copy for the ads in "Parade" and "USA Weekend"

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