September 2011

Room2Breathe

While I am no expert in the area of Food & Wine, even I know good wine needs time to breathe. A steak fresh off of the grill needs a few moments to settle before being served.

In our busy lives that same space can be most helpful in planning for growth, creating an idea or developing a strategy. It is a part of the normal flow of thinking and in turn a part of every successful organization's culture.

The concept also applies to print advertising. Internally you wrestle with the knowledge you need lots of white space in your ad and the need to shove every possible feature and benefit into what you are selling. It truly is a battle - in this case for space. The purpose of a print ad is to either generate response or to build awareness. In either situation you need to get the attention of the reader.

That is generally best done through space and copy.

Application4You

Resist the temptation to put another selling feature into your advertisement.

Use some of that white space to create compelling and engaging copy - pull the reader in. Let people who are reading get a break - for a moment - from the information. Then you can communicate a few simple concepts, sales or ideas to them. All the statistics in the world say we are daily overwhelmed by information - use thatinformation to your organization's benefit.

Keep it simple - and clean.