A Formula for Emotional Ads

I just released this video for a new Patreon campaign. Rather than producing a quick VFX trick or animation, I decided to reveal a bit more of myself and bring some artistic vulnerability to the table.

I'm new to this style of scripting, so I actually leaned on a formula that I stumbled upon a few months back - one that's often used for emotional ads produced by companies like Nike.

It's a 'U shape', meaning that the first half features a problem, pivots on a BUT, and then the last half optimistically mirrors the first half. It's specifically designed to build an emotional message.

If you create ads or write copy, I highly recommend checking out the page 'How to Write a Manifesto' from writer and copy director Lonnie Elliot. It breaks down a handful of very effective 'shapes' to structuring ads (like the U shape).

Lonnie has a ton of amazing resources at www.manifestowriting.com - totally worth a bookmark as he's regularly adding great ad examples and including his thoughts on what makes them so effective.

Also worth mentioning his 'cheat sheet' page for mastering good copywriting, featuring downloadable one-pager guides.