Testimonial lead

The pattern

This still is filed under Testimonial lead.

Define

The first voice on the page is a customer's. Proof arrives before the company's claim.

Mechanism

Borrowed voice. The lead sentence is already someone else's verdict. The seller speaks second.

Verdict

The result is easier to believe from a peer

Why it works

The headline sits in quotation marks, so the first voice on the ad is a customer, a company head saying he no longer needs to call everyone to central meetings. The body explains why in his terms: he now flies to his branches and agents himself and settles matters on the spot, saving time and money. Only after that case is made does the airline speak, with its route list, the arrow logo and the BOAC name, so the reader meets the result before the seller.

The big idea

A company head no longer calls costly central meetings: he flies BOAC to his branches and agents himself and settles things on the spot, saving time and money.

The offer

Fly BOAC to Britain, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, India, Pakistan, Australia and the Far East. Book at BOAC in Cairo, 1 Sharia al-Bustan, in Alexandria, 15 Midan Saad Zaghloul, or any travel agent.

The proof

A manager's account in his own words, 150,000 miles of routes linking 42 countries on five continents, and 30 years of experience.

Lines from the ad

الآن لم أعد فى حاجة إلى عقد اجتماعات مركزية

Now I no longer need to hold central meetings

الطرق الجوية البريطانية تعنى بك كل العناية

British Airways takes every care of you

سافر بطائرات B.O.A.C

Fly with B.O.A.C planes

Steal this when

Use it when you sell to managers and a peer's plain account of a changed routine will persuade more than any claim about your service.