Punctuation

• DO use an apostrophe to denote the omission of one or more letter in a word.

  I don't think this ad is so outstandin'.

• DO use an apostrophe to form the plurals of letters, numbers, or words.

  There were several 6's in the list.

• DO use an apostrophe, followed by an s, to indicate the possessive form of most singular nouns or pronouns.

  This is David's work.

• EITHER use an apostrophe after the final s or add an apostrophe and another s to indicate the possessive form of singular nouns ending in an s, sh, or z sound.

  It is James' house ... or ... It is James's house.

• ONLY use an apostrophe after plural nouns ending in an s, sh, or z sound, to indicate the possessive form.

  It is the Thomases' car.

• DO use an apostrophe, after the s, to indicate the possessive form of most plural nouns.

  The students' ads were too simple.

• DO use an apostrophe and an s immediately before the word being modified, to indicate the possessive form of compound nouns.

  The Attorney General's action was expected.

• DO NOT use an apostrophe to indicate possession for personal or relative pronouns.

  Its message was clear ... NOT ... It's message was clear.

• DO use a comma before the conjunction and, but, for, or, yet, and nor, when they join two clauses of a compound sentence.

  The copy was child-like, and the art direction was inept.

• DO use a comma to separate an introductory phrase from a main clause.

  In this field's infancy, ad professionals worked for the newspapers and magazines.

• DO use commas to separate words in a list.

  Media planning is far more complex than choosing from a list of magazines, newspapers, television shows, and radio stations.

• DO use a comma to set off the speaker of a direct quote.

  "Put it in morning drive," said Jake, "and be sure it gets high frequency."

• DO use a comma to separate independent clauses joined by a conjunction.

  Buy spot radio, and check prices on newspaper ads for each of those markets.

• DO use a comma to set off parenthetical or non-essential material in a sentence.

  After the ad ran, however, sales actually went down.

• DO use a comma before and after a dependent clause that is in the middle of a sentence.

  That copy, although written by a junior copywriter, was some of the best I've seen.

• DO use a comma to set off titles and degrees which follow a name.

  Jef Richards, Ph.D., will speak at the conference.

• DO NOT use a comma to separate independent clauses not joined by a conjunction (this is called a comma splice).

  This is advertising; that is sales promotion ... NOT ... This is advertising, that is sales promotion.

• DO NOT use a comma between a noun and an immediately preceding adjective.

  It was a bold, exciting, fresh campaign ... NOT ... It was a bold, exciting, fresh, campaign.

• DO use a semicolon between two independent clauses when they are not joined by a conjunction.

  Sales promotions are good for inducing trial; they can hurt a low-quality brand.

• DO use a semicolon to separate independent clauses joined by conjunctive adverbs (otherwise, however, accordingly, moreover, hence, ...).

  The competition has a Web site; so, we've got to develop a site of our own.

• DO use an exclamation point to convey a strong emotion.

  Advertising is not dead!

• DO NOT use more than one exclamation point.

• DO use quotation marks around exact words in a direct quote.

  "The consumer is not an idiot, she is your wife," said David Ogilvy.

• DO use quotation marks to indicate that a word has a special or technical meaning.

  "Unfair" is not the same as "deceptive" under the FTC Act.

• DO use quotation marks for titles of book chapters, articles in newspapers or magazines, songs, and poems.

  He wrote the article, "Adverteasements."

• DO place periods and commas inside quotation marks (i.e., not after the quotation marks).

  He pointed out the First Amendment "assumes attempts to regulate speech are more dangerous than attempts to regulate conduct," and that the regulation of commercial speech "is no different than regulating any other form of speech."

• DO place colons and semicolons outside quotation marks.

  He wrote about the "Unique Selling Proposition"; she wrote about "Positioning."

• ONLY place an exclamation point or question mark inside quotation marks if it is part of the original quote. Place it outside the quotation marks if it punctuates the entire sentence.

  He asked, "Who is your target?"
  Should I really "target the smallest segment of the market"?

Type Style

• DO capitalize the first word of a sentence.

• DO capitalize the pronoun I.

• DO capitalize the first word of a quotation.

  Stavros Cosmopulos said, "Make the layouts rough and the ideas fancy."

• DO capitalize the first letter of official titles and ranks, before the name of officials.

  Tell President Clinton and Commissioner Kessler what you think.

• DO capitalize proper nouns.

  The campaign ran in Indiana and Michigan.

• DO capitalize every word in the title of a book, music, magazine, work of art, etc., except conjunctions, articles, and short prepositions.

  Adman: Morris Hite's Methods for Winning the Ad Game

• DO capitalize days of the week, months, and holidays.

  I believe Christmas was on a Monday.

• DO capitalize nouns referring to a deity, god, or goddess.

  This was what Christ commanded.

• DO capitalize the names of organizations.

  This was part of a campaign for the American Heart Association.

• DO capitalize abbreviations of degrees and acronyms of organizations.

  He has a B.S., and he works for the F.T.C.

• DO use italics for titles of books, newspapers, magazines, movies, plays, television shows, radio shows, and the names of trains, ships, and planes.

  We placed a print ad in The New York Times and ran a commercial after 60 Minutes.

• DO use italics to indicate a foreign word or phrase, or scientific term.

  But caveat emptor is an old principle of law.

• DO use italics to emphasize a word or phrase.

  That was the funniest ad I've ever seen.