Copywriting syllabus

Copywriting syllabus for BMM (Mumbai University)

Semester V

Paper II

Objectives:

To familiarize the students with various types of copywriting and develop their inherent writing skills

To train students to generate, develop and express ideas

To familiarize the students with contemporary advertising techniques

Syllabus

(Lectures to be used both for theory and practical)

1. Writing for print media - parts of a press ad- the headline, subhead, body copy (4)

2. Writing for TV (5)

• Writing scripts and developing story-boards
• Briefing the producer
• Pre-production
• Shooting
• Post-production

2. Writing for radio (5)

• Characteristics of radio environment
• Message strategy
• Writing the radio script
• Radio production process

3. Writing for Internet (1)

4. Writing for outdoor

5. Writing for direct mail-letters, product brochures, leaflets, folders etc. (1)

6. Writing for innovative media (1)

7. The skill of proof-checking (1)

8. The grammar of copy-writing (1)

9. Copy for specialized areas (12)

• Corporate advertising
• Financial advertising
• Recruitment ads
• Retail advertising
• Sale/Clearance Advertising
• Advertising in Indian Languages
• International markets - Language and campaign transfer
• Political advertising
• B2B advertising
• Local advertising
• Classified ads
• Catalogue copy
• Image advertising
• Fashion and Life style advertising
• Trade Advertising
• Mail order advertising
• PR advertising
• Non-commercial / public service advertising
• Government advertising
• Awareness advertising
• Agricultural advertising
• Rural advertising
• Food and beverages
• Durables
• Personal products

10. Different types of copy (7)

· Advertorials

· Infomercials

· Slogan and jingle ads

· Humour/sex/fear/anxiety ads

· Feel-good ads

· Light fantasy

· Demonstrations/testimonials

· Use of celebrity

· Slice of life

· Reason why

· Fund raising copy

· Comparative copy

· Motivational copy

11. Contemporary copywriting (5)

· The creative strategies, visual imagery, and copy used in current advertising

· Theoretical premises and industry practices.

12. Copy for different audiences (4)

· Children

· Women-Homemakers, modern women

· Senior citizens

· Executives

· Youth

13. Use of non-verbal communication in advertising (2)

• Use of colours, shapes, gestures
• Manipulation of the environments

Booklist

1. Arthur A Winters and Shirley F Milton, The Creative Connection : ad copy writing and idea visualization -- Fairchild Publications - 1989

2. Herschel Gordon Lewis, On the art of writing copy - Amacom 2000

3. Luke Sullivan, Hey Whipple, squeeze this - A guide to creating greater ads - John Wiley and sons 1998

4. Robert W Bly, The copywriter's handbook - Henry Holt and Company 1985

5. James L. Marra, Advertising Creativity : Techniques for Generating Ideas - Prentice-Hall 1990

6. Hank Seiden, Advertising Pure and Simple - Macmillan 1963

7. John Caples, Tested advertising methods.