There are many copywriting and marketing lessons available from a study of movies and movie trailers.
I’ve commented before about the the power of stories in copywriting and how movies can be good illustrations and examples of storylines and themes.
Movie trailers can also contain useful lessons, particularly now that video is becoming increasingly important in online marketing.
(As an aside another great guide is infomercials. There’s a great DVD from Discovery Channel called “Gadgetmania” that’s all about the classic infomercials and infomercial giants like Ron Popeil.)
I mention this because I came across the news today that Don LaFontaine had passed away after an illness (“Don LaFontaine, R.I.P.”).
Probably like most people, I’d never heard of LaFontaine. But I’d almost certainly heard him.
You see, he was one of the great “voiceover” artists.
“Announcer Don LaFontaine, whose snarling, urgent baritone graced more than 5,000 movie trailers and countless commercials, passed away Monday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 68…
If generations of movie-goers never knew his name, they instantly recognized the voice, described as both sonorous and ominous. At the height of his career, LaFontaine provided the voice for roughly two-thirds of the films produced in Hollywood, shuttling between recording sessions in a chauffeur-driven limousine.”
Very interesting, I hear you say, but what’s this got to do with copywriting?
Glad you asked.
it turns out that not only did Don have a great voice but he also was known for using the phrase “In a world…” to open many movie trailers.
Now, this was criticised as being something of a cliche but here’s the strategy behind using the phrase…
“We have to very rapidly establish the world we are transporting them to” he said of his viewers. “That’s very easily done by saying ‘In a world where…violence rules’ or ‘In a world where…men are slaves and women are the conquerors’. You very rapidly set the scene.”
You very rapidly set the scene. Brilliant!
As a copywriter, you don’t have words or space to waste. You’ve got to get the job done quickly and “Grab your reader by the eyeballs” (as copy ace Michel Fortin says). Anything that helps you do that is well worth having in your bag of tricks.
There’s also a great spoof video (“5 Men In A Limo”) on Don’s site featuring Don and four other top voiceover artists.