An Interview with Mrs. Phyllis Robinson(9)

from "Great American Copywriter Vol.2"
Tadahisa Nishio
published in March 10, 1971

chuukyuu: 　Ｉ am sure that there are several "Must" in order to make good ads. Would you please tell me these things advertising men have to be careful of?
Mrs. Robinson: 　Well, I would say the first "Must" is to know your product. You cannot possibly write or communicate excitement about something to someone else if you don't know it, or if you just know it superficially. If you personally can't get excited about it, you can't tell another about it. It would be like telling somebody about a marvelous party that you didn't go to. You really have to know the product. Know it well. That's number 1.
The number 2, I've started to answer with my first answer which is you must be able to generate excitement about it. I don't mean that the copy must be full of exclamation points or that you must bubble over like a teen age girl, but it just cannot be dull or nobody is going to care.
Another thing, quite an obvious thing that almost every agency in the United States is aware of aware of now. There must be strong visual interest and that doesn't even necessarily mean a picture. It can just be an arrangement of type that is arresting and exciting. Those three are the most important thing.
(fin.)