the role of a copywriter—part deux

It’s now over two year since I wrote on the original “role of a copywriter.” Much has changed…experiences gained, knowledge acquired, roles switched…though  will say this, I still do not disagree with what I wrote in my original piece.

I have read the commentaries, and find them very valid, but I believe that aside from the copywriter’s “umbrella” role, at the end of the day we are wordsmiths.

Our craft is wordplay; our medium language. Our jobs are to play the game of word combination in an effort to present a message which will ultimately cause a desired reaction.

That is what we do. We are not researchers. Not strategists. Not designers.

Yes, we are in a much more visionary role than many others whose hands touch a finished peice of work, but that does not change our core goal. The words. The words are our goal.

There has been a large wave within the marketing world with the emergence of “social media.” It began far before that, but social media has heightened this need exponentially. The need I’m referring to is specialization. We’ve evolved in our craft so much that everyone can now do one anothers role. Because social media demands such specific targeting, there is just not enough time to be a jack-o-all-trades. There needs to be a comeback to specializing, so that each individual cane strategist their own section of a task and bring it together to the team. This way, you have several different people bringing just the most effective part of their intricate strategy instead of one person compiling all different aspects of a project by him/herself.

Advertising is a creative field. No matter what your role, you’re creative in your job. The problem with creativity, however, is its limitless; and in a limitless world, there are no boundaries. When one looks at a project as a writer, he/she begins to imagine the layout of the project; the imagery; the type. There’s nothing wrong with that- creativity needs to feed, live and evolve, but my point is that we as “creatives” wear multiple hats.

The problem with “multiple hats” is the rise of expectation. As I wrote two years ago,

The copywriter then went on to say that he did research and found out that his client had no geographic specifications to target with his letters and thus was not going to get any sort of positive response.

This is not a wrong action, but one that goes beyond the required task. Lets say, for example, the client followed the advice of the Copywriter and skipped the sales letter. Next month, the client comes back and says, “Copywriter, I’d like to send out a collateral piece in my community. Find out who would be the best target and why, their demographics and pitch the piece to me.” Now, unless this person is a friend or family member for whom I’m doing a favor, I would consider such a request far beyond my “job,” but that’s what I did last time, isn’t it? So why not now?

Hit and Miss

I’ve noticed a pattern in my copy work. I am on a one hit/one miss streak. Just now, a miss. Complete miss. The worst words an Advertising newbie who solicits themselves to a company and gets a chance can here are, “I was a bit disappointed.”

Skin is tough, but the reminder is, I suppose, always necessary. Particularly coming off of a successful project. Finally feeling a sense of accomplishment in ones professional career and POW! Right in the kisser.

On that note, I recommend a company snatch me up ASAP because continuing on my streak, the next job will be fantabulous.

How about you, oh void of internet readers, how many time have you disappointed your Creative Directors?

Before you go to the mattresses

One of the most difficult aspects of working as a copywriter is the collaboration with a creative director. Though you may have just rolled your eyes thinking that “its part of the job” I’d like to take a brief moment to analyze the precise difficulties associated with this combination.

For starters, the communicative medium is in constant battle for attention. An art director desires to communicate via visual images and a copywriter’s capabilities are such that they feel words are the best information source. And thus the battle. Realizing of course that all things aside, one needs the other, the conflict still persists.

I’ve recently been asked the question of what I would do in a situation where one creative is making a project more theirs than yours. How would I handle that? Granted, this question was a test of my problem solving capabilities and attempting to gain insight on how I work as a team member, my answer was simple. At the end of the day, the message is what gets the reaction, not the medium.

What do I mean by this? How you say what you say is irrelevant to the audience. It is what they take away from what you say that accomplishes the goal. That should be hung up in every creative department everywhere. There is no “your piece is better than my piece” There is just a piece. If a set is painted and the man who was assigned to paint the palm tree leaves in the background never got around to it, the picture would focus more on the blank space than the beautiful castle with gold engraving. Such is the advertisement; all parts contribute to the end result. All parts cannot function without the other to get the message across.

It’s not the size of your part that counts, its utilizing what the receiver needs to get him to react.

Sexual or otherwise, it’s the truth.