Is the craft of copy dead?

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Permalink Reply by Cori Donohoe on July 21, 2007 at 12:43pm

You know, the long copy/short copy debate always gets me riled up. Copy is a tool to evoke a response, just like an image or the way you handle a layout. You wouldn't use the same type of layout in every circumstance, just like some concepts work best with long copy and some with short. I think we've come to shy away from long copy because so many clients (at least the ones I've worked with) see long copy as a way to cram every product benefit known to man into an ad. What starts as a beautiful stirring piece of copy ends as a mind-numbing catalogue of benefits. So we start presenting short copy. Is this because long copy doesn't work or is this because we don't have the sort of working relationship with our clients that would allow us to sell truly amazing long copy ads? I don't know if it's just where I've worked, but time and again, I've seen gorgeous ads go through countless changes until they were barely recognizable horrors. This has also coincided with budget cuts that have meant creatives rarely present their own work and the hiring of account staff who are less experienced than they used to be. These things don't seem like coincidences to me.

And, of course, international juries seem to love the graphic ads. Sometimes great long copy can be hard to translate.

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Permalink Reply by Cori Donohoe on July 29, 2007 at 5:49am

Brilliant long copy ad (by way of copyranter) in case anyone is still reading this thread:

http://bp3.blogger.com/__XCWUd8FFjQ/RqeKAPQy3qI/AAAAAAAABVw/ovm_69W...

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Permalink Reply by Farrukh Naeem on July 29, 2007 at 6:27am

Copy isn't dead... yet.

And it won't be.

Till the day all of us start using sign language instead of words.

As a copywriter who's worked for one of the largest direct agencies in the world, I can vouch for the power of persuasive copy over visual puns alone. Even today, crisp and well-crafted copy pulls in more response than any Photoshopping would (with all due respect to the art direction community).

Yes, it's harder to win awards with long copy these days. And yes, creative directors want to see visual puns these days in young people's portfolios.

But for people who believe that there's more to life than advertising awards, copy still holds promise.

If copy was dead...











You wouldn't be here reading this post.







Still reading, aren't you, even though there is no clever visual in this post (except my mugshot - and that can't be motivation for sure).


So.... copy lives.



farrukh
copywriter, journalist, advertising blogger from the UAE
http://www.farrukhnaeem.com

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Permalink Reply by bas brinkman on July 29, 2007 at 9:00pm

I freely quote the movie 'Music & Lyrics' here:
The image is the flirt; it catches the eye, teases, gets the chills and those funny feelings inside your stomach.
But the copy converts the flirt into love, into meaning, it goes deeper.

So. When you flirt; don't talk too much.
But when you are together, alone, talk more.

And: on the other hand: copywriters must work harder to get the sex back in their lingo. Hey, who said you couldn't get a lover with just words. Ask Cyranno!

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Permalink Reply by Cassandra Goodwin on July 30, 2007 at 4:04am

I think it depends on whether you're going for quality or quantity of exposure. If you just want high a hit rate as you can, SEO writing is sufficient. But if you want to actually get people's attention and create a good impression, you still need engaging, original copy. Check out Copyblogger, they have some excellent articles on this topic.

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Permalink Reply by aomisore on August 28, 2007 at 10:35am

Copy died hasn't but creatives are driven by the interact features a ad has, so the image has to be bring instant engagemnent unlike print ads.

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Permalink Reply by Susanna K. Hutcheson on August 28, 2007 at 12:17pm

I've noticed that too. I used to write very long copy for ads --- much like Gene Schwartz and some of the old timers. I still do and they still sell. But it seems that people have less time to read and little interest in doing so. I think long copy still sells. But sometimes, a picture really is worth 1000 words (or more) and if you can say it in a picture, I'm all for that.

Having said that, I personally do not think the craft of copy is dead. In fact, it's needed more than ever. We just have to learn to say things using less verbiage. On the other hand, when long copy is called for, we should use it.

By the way, sometimes it takes much more talent to write one RIGHT word than to write 2000 right words.

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Permalink Reply by Mary Baum on September 3, 2007 at 4:58pm

"By the way, sometimes it takes much more talent to write one RIGHT word than to write 2000 right words."

Or most of the time. Why do we have an education system that, using grades as currency, pays our kids by the word, when, as I read you the first time the real trick is to condense the 2000-word explanation into the eight-word idea?

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Permalink Reply by Richard E Lieberman on August 29, 2007 at 9:16am

An image might provoke interest, but only copy can convince.

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Permalink Reply by TJ Bennett on August 29, 2007 at 11:12am

i think if you look through advertising annuals you may see a lot less copy, but if you look through magazines and newspapers, copy is still quite alive and well. it may not all be the best copy, but it's certainly out there.

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Permalink Reply by Katina Beckham-French on September 5, 2007 at 8:17am

I think copy is alive and well, but it needs to be tight, dense and emotionally-engaging. And it also has to be fully integrated into the visuals and (if applicable) the interactivity of the piece.

There's still room for copy in the advertising world, online and off. But there's no room for bloat or fat.

And truthfully, speaking as an online copywriter, "the SEO way" of writing increasingly requires subtlety and skill. Well-executed SEO is like underwear. At a glance, you shouldn't be 100% certain if it's there or not. The engines penalize obviously SEO'd pages.

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Permalink Reply by DFHobbs on October 25, 2007 at 5:03pm

The best writing I've ever read has been by good copywriters. The length.. long, or short, makes no difference to me. It either tells the story, draws me through, or it doesn't. But then, I don't even know what the "SEO way" of copywriting is.

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