Some years ago, I heard a speech by John O'Toole, president of the famous Foote, Cone & Belding advertising agency. After his talk, I made my way to the dais and chatted with him for minute or two. During that brief conversation, I asked what he thought was the most important principle of advertising communication. Without hesitation, he said, "Clarity."

I remember being impressed by the unwavering certainty of his answer. He knew that there is no substitute for clarity. Big budgets, fancy flow charts and dazzling special effects aren't worth a nickel unless consumers receive a clearly expressed message.

Fast forward to a recent business conference which featured speakers on a variety of topics. Although the "sales and marketing" speaker did a good job of covering the statistical side of lead generation, she had some misconceptions about advertising creativity. When she put two ads on the screen and said, "These are outstanding print ads," I couldn't help but think of Mr. O'Toole's succinct statement. Clarity was nowhere to be found.

The first ad featured a headline which boldly stated, "The essence of luxury." It was surrounded by four stock photographs: a smiling man holding a golf club, a smiling woman holding a cup of coffee, a smiling couple walking on the beach, and a smiling kid playing with a smiling puppy. How's that for generic? The ad could have been promoting golf. Or family vacations. Or coffee. Or cosmetic dentistry.

The second ad had a photo of a hot dog, with a headline that read, "Frankly speaking." The speaker explained, "With a picture of a hot dog and a headline that plays on the word 'frank,' most people would think this is an ad for food. But the body copy shows that it is an ad for an open house. They were serving hot dogs."

I'm glad she told us the ads were promoting real estate developments, because no one in the audience could tell from looking at the screen. Ironically, we were in the same position as someone turning the pages of a newspaper; we were relying on headlines and visuals to let us know what the ads were promoting.

The speaker had good intentions, of course. But unfortunately, she was interpreting clever copy and artsy photography as effective communication. She was confusing style with substance.

If clarity had been the guideline for those two ads, the headlines and photographs would have worked together to create messages that communicated with laser-beam accuracy.

According to an oft-quoted statistic, only two out of ten people read further than a headline. It is human nature to glance at headlines and pictures, then turn the page. The only ads that are read in their entirety are those which promise "more information about this specific subject in which you are interested." If a merchant relies too heavily on the body copy to communicate what is being sold, the result may be advertising that is mentioned in speeches, but ignored by consumers.

(c) Copyright 2009 by John Foust. All rights reserved. E-mail John Foust for information about his training videos for ad departments: jfoust@mindspring.com