Without wishing to be unkind to these venerable gentlemen I reckon that the picture in this advertisement doesn’t replace a thousand or less good words. In fact, I think the picture works against the advert generating business for them.

As I’ve said, I don’t want to be unkind but the guys in the photograph look as though they may have been in the practice since its foundation and the casual observer might not believe that they are still up to speed on matters legal. Now I am sure that they are right on the ball but using almost half of the advert space with a photo that doesn’t advance the cause is a waste. Using the rest of the advert for a bland statement of fact and a list of work they handle is a heck of a waste.

After all, do you make a buying decision for a product or service based on how people look? Okay, yes we may do for some services, but if that was the case in my situation I’d starve coz I’m an ugly old bugger. (I remember once being told by clients who had seen my photo that they were worried I wouldn’t turn up for my presentation coz my photo gave the impression that I may cark it at any moment!).

So what could have made this advertisement work better?

Well, instead of the photo, they could use the space and employ the good old AIDA formula. That means they would:

• Get attention with an eye catching headline.
• Create interest and stimulate the reader’s desire with great body copy that amplified and explained the headline and gave powerful reasons why a reader would use them for their legal work.
• Make a compelling offer to entice the reader to take action and call them for more information or an appointment.

Maybe it should look something like this: