Ernest Hemingway was and is one of America’s most celebrated authors, as well as being a symbol of male bravado. However, he was also a champion of simplicity and, throughout his life, he never failed to stress the importance of thinking and writing clearly. In this article, we’ll take a look at how Hemingway’s advice could help you to target your audience more directly.
On Fiction:
From a letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald:
That is what we are supposed to do when we are at our best—make it all up—but make it up so truly that later it will happen that way.
This is an excellent piece of advice and one which can and has frequently been used by advertising agencies ever since ads first appeared. When marketing a product, try to imagine your ideal customer and then, through your advertising, paint their story. Tell them how happy they will be at the end of their journey whilst guiding them through every step of the way.
You can dig deep here and picture various differing circumstances surrounding why a person might buy your product. Try to hit mid-range with an average client and think about how their lives might be now and how they could be improved after purchase. Once you have this, you have your basis for a character who is driven by need and desire. This is the person you want promoting and championing your product.
If you’re thinking of advertising using video, then it would be advisable to look more towards showcasing the average person and not a droid in a suit. The reason for this is relatability. Whilst you may wish to make your ads aspirational, it’s also a good idea to ground them. Presenting people in suits from the get-go will isolate more people than it motivates, therefore, think about contrasts and before and after; that way you can establish a story. The same goes for written advertising. Even if you have a word limit of 3 words, you should still attempt to send out a positive message and invoke a story. There are plenty of examples from slogans used around the world:
Carlsberg: - “Probably the Best Beer in the World” L’Oreal: – “Because You’re Worth It” Nike: – “Just Do It” Sky: - “Believe in Better”
Think of this type of advertising as the self-fulfilling prophecy. If you write it down and write it down well, then it will come true. It sounds a bit fantastical, however, people often express themselves by reflecting things which have influenced them. It’s merely a case of life imitating art.
Here is one quick example of the process done well in a video format:
Remember, people love stories, especially ones which are relatable, so if you can envisage the lives of your customers after buying your product, then write it and watch it come to life!
On Writing Clearly:
“This too to remember. If a man writes clearly enough anyone can see if he fakes…True mysticism should not be confused with incompetence in writing…Mysticism implies a mystery and there are many mysteries; but incompetence is not one of them.”
Writing clearly and concisely in advertising is a must and, as a general rule, the shorter, the better. People don’t have the attention spans they once did, and unfortunately, in today’s ad filled world, Hemingway’s letter in the picture heading this article would most likely go unread.
When advertising your product, say what it does in no uncertain terms and once you have done that, highlight all of the key components and then attempt to summarise it. Try to test out the words and find associations and synonyms to see what style you prefer. You may even be able to create a quick slogan off of the back of the exercise, which you can then use to ensure that people viewing your campaign remember it. Here is a quick example for a fictional fast-food company.
Notes:
We make burgers - they are delicious - we have a variety of options - we are targeting families, but we want to be open to everyone - we provide healthy options.
Associations:
Make burgers, originality, old-fashioned, grilled
delicious, tasty, mouth-watering, crisp, fresh
variety, choices, options, selection
healthy, lifestyle, health, vitality
Tests
Here at BurgerShack, we make quality burgers the old-fashioned way. If you’re looking for mouth-watering meat grilled to perfection then look no further. Our burgers are all handmade to ensure that they taste as good as they should. What’s more, we don’t pack processed produce into our buns. Everything is 100% fresh, 100% fast and 100% food!
We make fresh burgers fast!
100% fresh, 100% fast, 100% food
Burgers Handmade to Perfection!
Fresh Just got Fast!
On Omission:
“If a writer of prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of an ice-berg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water.”
Omission is a trickier subject, but it follows on nicely from the previous one. In any campaign, you need to highlight your USP (Unique Selling Point) and then target it. This sometimes means leaving certain aspects of your product out. However, if you can invite the readers of your content to use their imaginations then, as Hemingway points out, you can actually relay all of the information without direct reference.
This is a skill that you will acquire over time as you become more and more aware of what works, what doesn’t and why. However, to get you started here is a little writing exercise for you to try out:
Task
Without using adjectives and emotions, describe how a person is feeling.
Background
If someone were to ask you how you were feeling right now, you might reply with an adjective to describe your emotions. You might say something like ‘I’m fine’ or ‘I’m miserable.’ This is ok when you’re talking face-to-face with someone. However, when it comes to reading, people process information slightly differently. Writing the words, Alice felt sad is far less effective than saying, ‘As Alice looked down at her dog lying in the road, a tear fell from her cheek.’
One of the great things about writing is that, when it’s done well, it ceases to be about relaying a story and, instead, becomes about harnessing the readers’ emotions, with the writer knowing when to lift them up and when to tear them down. The same goes for your customers. If you can harness their emotions and carry them along, then they will follow your every word.
As Hemingway wrote in his Essay ‘From Cuba’:
All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you; the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse, and sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather was. If you can get so that you can give that to people, then you are a writer.