Who Are You Writing For? (Really?)
I was giving a guest masterclass at SCA recently. It’s one of the top advertising schools in the world. Vikki Ross is a tutor there so I guess that speaks volumes. During the session, which was all about the power of storytelling, …
Oh, no! Were we wrong about exclamation marks?
Psst! I know your little secret. Come closer. Ready? You use exclamation marks. There! I said it. And in case you’re feeling embarrassed, let me state for the record: I use them too. We all do. In our social media posts. In …
Young, gifted and male. Say what?!
My friend Vikki Ross recently tweeted this copywriting job: First of all, as Vikki herself said in the conversation on Twitter that followed, she wasn’t recruiting or even endorsing the client’s requirements. But it’s an interesting topic, isn’t it. Why specify a …
Towards a transformative hermeneutics of linguistic periphrasticism, or, why do people love jargon?
In authoring this thought-leadership white paper my strategic roadmap was to build a key deliverable for continuous professional development and learnings. Er, what now? I said, I wrote this article to help you be a better writer. Only now, the Harvard Business …
Are You So Old-School You’re Cool?
Think you’re a copywriting cool cat? Take our lighthearted, but deadly-serious 10-question quiz to find out your Copywriter Cool-Rating 1 Which of the following do you own: a) A fountain pen b) A Filofax c) A fax machine d) A typewriter e) …
Ten Types of Copywriter – Which One Are You
Saying you’re a copywriter is all very well. But it’s a bit like saying you’re a craftsman. What kind? is what we want to know. So, to help you define yourself more precisely and spark more interesting cocktail party conversations (especially with …
Twas The Deadline Before Christmas
Twas the night before Christmas, when at her pine desk The writer still strove for lines Ogilvy-esque. O’er keyboard her hands hovered, limp in the air, While she waited for insight that just wasn’t there. Her colleagues had long since …
The Future of Copywriting by Eric Moeller
There are a number of broad global business trends that have had an impact on copywriting and will continue to do so in the future. These trends include globalisation, customer centric marketing and technological innovations. Copywriters who want to thrive in the …
Results of our 2014 blogging competition
The results are in. But before I reveal the winner and runners-up in our blogging competition on The Future of Copywriting – here are a few thoughts on how the event turned out. The first thing that surprised me was the apparent …
The Future of Copywriting – by Chris Smith
Here is the winning entry in our 2014 Blogging Competition – “The Future of Copywriting”. Among a strong field, Chris Smith triumphed. According to the judges: “A tightly structured and newsworthy article. This piece has a strong and original tone of voice …
Why I hate grammar nazis
Here’s a little tip for getting traction in the Twittersphere. Tweet about grammar. I did it this morning, asking why copywriters feel that “good grammar” matters so much. Roughly eight milliseconds later my Twitter feed lit up. I think I’m still catching …
Is rigid thinking holding you back from copywriting greatness?
Being a copywriter is a lot like being a chameleon. Not the whole eye-swivelling, gross metre-long sticky tongue rocket thingy, but the ability to blend in with one’s surroundings. In our case, those surroundings are two-fold. The persona of the person on …
18 free copywriting ebooks
Here is a list of 18 sites offering free or almost free copywriting ebooks and PDFs to help budding copywriters find their feet. I have linked directly to the download/signup pages so you don’t need to hunt around once you’re there. I …
Story and its authority and impact (without a particular char.)
How hard is it to put out a blog post that has a point but still has no … in it? I took this on as a task to find out if it was worth it. My work follows. (This is not …
Ten copywriting ‘rules’ you should break before you die
Rules, eh? Doncha just hate ’em? Do this. Don’t do that. Show me a rule and I’ll show you a baseball bat. Copywriting is plagued with rules. You know, you buy a book by someone who says they’re going to teach you …
What links Darwin, road deaths, cold bugs and long copy?
How do you feel about people who say they don’t believe in evolution? What about folk who claim wearing a seatbelt causes road deaths? Or the ones who want antibiotics for their colds? There’s no evidence for their beliefs. And mountains of it proving …
Long copy ad for Rolex – 1971
Luxury goods don’t need long copy? Pah! Check out this ad from 1971. CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE. …
Where old skool meets new skool – how to integrate content marketing into your sales machine
I woke up the Saturday after PCN2013 prey to a mixture of emotions, one of which I can only describe as a hubris hangover. Did I really say all those things about content marketing? Without qualifying my opinions? I must have come …
The 7 telltale signs you’re reading “zombie copy”
She stands, screaming. Her feet refuse to move. She is rooted to the spot with terror. Slowly, inevitably, the bloody, walking corpse approaches. Arms outstretched, snarling, it reaches for her. It is hungry. Actually, that’s a metaphor. It’s not going to eat …
Copywriting genius Bill Bernbach picks a lemon
This is one of the ads that made me want to be a copywriter. It’s written by Bill Bernbach of Doyle Dane Bernbach. He took David Ogilvy’s classic three-column layout and used it for VW. It was a pretty successful …
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