Even though the majority of us in the advertising business have never practiced law, we should instinctively know the importance of evidence.
Imagine a courtroom scene in which the prosecuting attorney points to the defendant and says, “Your honor, this person is guilty.” The judge asks, “What evidence do you have?” The prosecuting attorney shrugs and says, “There’s no need for evidence. They just are. They’re as guilty as anybody I’ve ever seen.”
Ridiculous, isn’t it? But isn’t that what some advertisers ask of their readers – to accept their claims without any supporting evidence? Just because an advertiser says a product is good doesn’t mean that consumers will automatically accept that as truth.
Advertisers – like attorneys – have to prove what they say. Many years ago I developed this simple PROOF acronym to help advertising folks remember five types of evidence. Although this memory tool doesn’t include every type of evidence, it’s designed to cover enough types to give us a good start when we’re working with advertisers.
Pictures: There’s a lot of truth to the old saying, “Seeing is believing.” Photographs and illustrations can add important elements to ads. Let’s say the XYZ Company runs an ad describing their sleek new widget, but there’s no picture. Is that likely to generate any interest at all? No.
Don’t just tell readers about the sleekness. Show them.
Reinforce (benefits): We’re all aware of the importance of benefits. People don’t buy features, they buy benefits.
Unfortunately, some things that advertisers think are benefits aren’t really benefits. For example, “You’ll find the handle on our widget to be convenient” is not a legitimate feature-benefit statement. The problem is with the word “convenient,” a fine word, but one which doesn’t identify a compelling consumer benefit.
Let’s see if we can reinforce that weak benefit statement with something specific: “Our new widget has a reversible handle, which makes it easy to operate right or left-handed.”
Our people: (In this case, “our” refers to the people who work for a specific advertiser.)
Some of the most effective ads feature members of an advertiser’s team. Consider the technician whose passion is keeping their customers’ office equipment running. Or the construction company CEO who regularly visits work sites to check on quality. Or the architect who has won numerous awards for their firm’s expertise.
Other people: This is usually a testimonial from a happy customer. This has more credibility with readers than a generic quote from an unknown source.
Facts: A fact is a bit of indisputable information that indicates something specific about a product or service.
“One-acre lot” is a fact, while “large lot” is not. “Buy one, get one free” is a fact and “big sale” is not. The length of a toaster warranty is a fact. Battery vs. electric power is a fact. The selection of colors in a new car interior is a fact.
The point is to provide the jury of consumers with the specific information they need to make the right verdict.
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(c) Copyright 2025 by John Foust. All rights reserved.
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John Foust has conducted training programs for thousands of newspaper advertising professionals. Many ad departments are using his training DVDs to save time and get quick results from in-house training. Email for information: john@johnfoust.com