Two weeks before Christmas, I noticed an ad.

The picture for the ad was simple: A gray-haired man and a gray-haired woman smiled at each other. White sand and blue salt water behind them. They were in my opinion reasonably attractive and fit, and were wearing  “Santa caps:” red caps with white pom-poms. Above their heads, two words in bold red print: “Hear Joy.”

I had to take a picture. The whole idea fascinated me; the ad pulled me in. The ad was outside of a shop that sells hearing aids.

But, what does it mean to hear joy?

From a worldly standpoint, joy is an internal knowing.

Joy means peace; a feeling that all will be OK no matter the outcome.

But what did this ad want to convey? That buying this product would bring more joy into the buyer’s life? But, HOW would these hearing aids do that?

Hear is an active word, which means to listen. Listen to the joy around you.

What does joy mean to you?   Or, what part of the ad speaks joy to you most?

Is it:

• The picture of this seemingly happy couple?
• Perhaps hearing joy is being able to hear your loved one or loved ones laugh.
• Perhaps joy to you is hearing the ocean behind you, indicating retirement or vacation, or retirement in a vacation spot.
• Because the couple is wearing red and white caps, I think of hearing joy as hearing the laughter of grandkids and family together again.

To summarize, this ad is a great example of good copywriting. It has all the necessities for a great ad: it shows much emotion sparked by so few words.

And that’s what great communication is: Learning how to say so much, with  few words.

Most of us are visual people, so ads like (interruption marketing, especially) is more compelling when it nudges an emotion.

The best ads and copy motivate buyers  by stirring up  their (our!) emotions. 

I don’t  know if this ad stirs more emotion that the Christmas video by foreign supermarket chain Edeka a few years ago, but this one features great acting, great filmography and directing, a full script and a believable story with a surprising outcome.

Buyers buy for emotional, not rational reasons.

The word ‘Joy’ means:

1.) the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune.
2.) A state of happiness or felicity.
3.) A source or cause of delight.

Source: Merriam-Webster

Hearing is the physical process, and listening is the mental process  that leads to understanding.

Because we are intelligent and analytical beings, our minds analyze further. If not consciously, subconsciously.  So when we read those two words “hear  joy”, we may engage more than our hearing sense (to think the visual sense is the first one touched in visual ads!),  we actually see joy, smell joy, taste joy, imagine joy and sense on every level all that  joy means to you. Less is more. Simple is stronger.

Ads speak personally on many levels.

Thanks for reading.  Merry Christmas!

Vanessa S. Lewis is a Connecticut shoreline-based  freelance marketing content and copywriter. She helps non-writers and small businesses to keep in touch with their network more regularly by supplying SEO-rich, high quality, action-oriented content such as  email newsletters and blog posts for their website, but sometimes  YouTube descriptions for videos, or catchy social media posts. She also handles event promotion. Want to learn more? Get in touch.