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Who's killing copywriting?

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Recent months have seen a swathe of articles predicting the end of the traditional, journalistic newspaper. Indeed, I have commented on the topic on Creativepool. But, as far as I'm aware, there has been no suggestion that the art of copywriting may be imperilled. Allow me to put this right.

A car advertisement, currently appearing on television, includes the strapline 'Do You Like Fun?'. As facile and hollow proposition as you'd ever wish to hear (the very definition of 'fun' being an activity you enjoy or 'like'). Now, this may well have been written by a professional copywriter in a leading ad agency, or a small child scrawling with a crayon on a paper napkin. I have no idea. What I do know is that, in my time as writer in the advertising business, if I had presented this line to a creative director, I would have been invited to sit down and have a stern word with myself before having a bash at generating a line that wasn't quite so hopelessly lame and insulting to the intelligence of all involved. Largely because the quality control within the creative department would have insisted copywriters applied a modicum of effort to their writing and had at least a sliver of originality and flair. In this instance (and many others), a vacuous, ineffective and glib line has been nodded through, rubber stamped and broadcast. Either this sort of garbage is being generated by people other than genuine copywriters or copywriting as a skill is seriously poorly. Or both.

I must tread carefully here. More than aware that a number of people who read the Creativepool columns are passionately ambitious in their pursuit of a copywriting career, I have no desire to discourage a new generation of writers. In fact, I would very much urge writers with skill, integrity and imagination to pitch themselves headfirst into the creative businesses and resist this erosion of the profession.

But it will be quite a challenge.

This year I was involved in a project to re-brand a very well-known company and the products they offered. As you'd imagine, the demand for effective copywriting seemed substantial as almost every piece of marketing material required attention. Unfortunately, as the work progressed, it was soon clear the complex approval process ensured the chance of my choice of words, structure, syntax and vocabulary being published intact, was virtually zero. Once any text left my screen it was inspected by the commissioning account handler, who was at liberty to make his or her own alterations (often these folk were young graduates with no copywriting training and the tendency to use poor spelling in emails). From there, the copy would go to a place called 'Brand'. I never saw 'Brand', but their remit appeared to be the application of arbitrary and inconsistent rules to anything with which they were presented. Finally, the piece would be inspected by 'Legal'. Again, I had no familiarity or relationship with 'Legal' but their impact was considerable as they flagged up all the areas of the copy which might land the company in hot water. Unfortunately, these problem sections were often the additions and amends made by the account handler or our friends in 'Brand'. This bastardised document would then wing its way back to me to be re-written 'properly'.

I imagined I had merely landed a very bureaucratic and frustrating client, but subsequent conversations with other copywriters suggested this was the modern norm and the job was now little more than a means of producing a first draft which all and sundry would then have a fiddle with. One former colleague tells me he has been presented with a book of client approved headlines (writer unknown) with which he is invited to adorn his work. Writing his own lines isn't an option.

This is the world of the 'brand guardian'; a place where all communication is either pre-approved or subject to the ever-changing views of a panel whose lack of creative insight is matched only by a liberal helping of timidity. And my, admittedly limited, investigations appear to show this approach is becoming increasingly pervasive.

It would be foolish to suggest there was once a golden era of copywriting, when every syllable emanating from the writer was treated with a reverence usually reserved for large diamonds and Beatles songs. Of course, fantastic headlines have always been rejected by ill-informed clients and beautifully honed text has always been trimmed and adjusted. However, until recently, the copywriter's role has generally been to produce the words for a campaign and that work was usually respected and even admired. This is definitely changing.

I find it hard to believe this is the death of real, proud copywriting too much brilliant work has been produced and enjoyed through the years for it to perish so easily. That said, the price of creative freedom is constant vigilance and if copywriters present and future are to reclaim their words from brand managers and legal advisors, we need to make a start today.


Magnus Shaw - writer, blogger & broadcaster

www.magnusshaw.co.uk
www.creativepool.co.uk/magnusshaw

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