Writers, teachers, patterers
Advertising Copy: What Separates the Chaff from the Wheat in Copywriting? A Plea for the Most Underappreciated Member of the Advertising Family.
Copywriting What separates the wheat from the chaff? A plea for the most misunderstood member of the advertising family: "Copywriting is perhaps only so difficult because everyone has learned to write. And hardly anyone writes copy." With this statement, Francis Sulzer, Creative Director of Sulzer Sutter, hits the nail on the head. If you ask ten copywriters about their career, you will get ten different answers because there is no recognized training. Most of them are self-taught: many are former German teachers or writers in disguise, some are patterers. They have one thing in common: the value of their work is barely recognized and only moderately rewarded, and the profession itself is to blame: Only a few can prove their qualifications and the quality of their work with letter and seal. Of the estimated 500 or so copywriters in Switzerland, only 13 are listed in the professional register of their professional association, Script. This is hardly surprising, as admission is demanding: BR members have to submit three new pieces of work every three years, which are reviewed by an independent commission. Their criteria range from linguistic craftsmanship, dramaturgy and congruence to the concept.
So a good text is by no means a good advertising text; it takes more than a feel for language and a few original ideas. The value of our work is underestimated, even in agencies. In the past, the CD as creative head was at least on a par with the art director, today the AD decides. This has led to a serious shift in weighting and resources from words to images.
A copywriter contributes a great deal to the success of a campaign and other communication projects. Their creative multi-fight begins with the strategic groundwork and ends with the battle for the right word. Anyone who knows the difference between modern and fashionable or brain and brain knows how important the right word is. Language is often the core of a brand and conveys its culture, essence and values better than any image. The agency Ogilvy & Mather, for example, owes its success to the cultivation of this knowledge.
Jörn Winter, co-owner of an advertising agency and lecturer at the Corporate Text Institute and the Texterschmiede Hamburg, takes up the cudgels for copywriters with his "Handbuch Werbetext". Together with 20 renowned experts, all highly decorated creatives and strategists, he shows from A to Z what makes a good copywriter, what makes good copy. However, the book is more of a basic guide than a handbook: anyone who wants to learn how to write (better) copy will find one or two valuable tips here, but there are books that are better suited to this.
Winter's opus offers a comprehensive overview: starting with the question of what a copywriter actually is and does, through technical and strategic skills to looking beyond the end of one's nose. This book is therefore aimed at anyone interested in copywriting. Be it because they write it themselves or because they have it written (for themselves or their clients).
The second, expanded edition weighs an impressive 1.4 kilograms. Nevertheless, the book is not heavy fare. The essays are comprehensible, entertaining and in some cases brilliantly written. Particularly recommended are "Wie der alte Mann zum Regenschirm kam" by Armin Reims (the author of "Mörderfackel"), "Der Texter als Ideen-Lieferant" by Sebastian Turner (Scholz & Friends) and "Alles neu, alles anders?" by Anette Scholz (Scholz & Volkmer). The compulsory material is not exactly cheap, but well worth the price. The only fly in the ointment is the lack of a bibliography.
(Copywriter with entry in the professional register)
> Handbook of advertising copy by Jörn Winter. Deutscher Fachverlag, Frankfurt am Main 2004. 450 pages, 115 francs.
Too bad for the creative potential: Some agencies simply leave their copywriters hanging.
Roger Hausmann
So a good text is by no means a good advertising text; it takes more than a feel for language and a few original ideas. The value of our work is underestimated, even in agencies. In the past, the CD as creative head was at least on a par with the art director, today the AD decides. This has led to a serious shift in weighting and resources from words to images.
A copywriter contributes a great deal to the success of a campaign and other communication projects. Their creative multi-fight begins with the strategic groundwork and ends with the battle for the right word. Anyone who knows the difference between modern and fashionable or brain and brain knows how important the right word is. Language is often the core of a brand and conveys its culture, essence and values better than any image. The agency Ogilvy & Mather, for example, owes its success to the cultivation of this knowledge.
Jörn Winter, co-owner of an advertising agency and lecturer at the Corporate Text Institute and the Texterschmiede Hamburg, takes up the cudgels for copywriters with his "Handbuch Werbetext". Together with 20 renowned experts, all highly decorated creatives and strategists, he shows from A to Z what makes a good copywriter, what makes good copy. However, the book is more of a basic guide than a handbook: anyone who wants to learn how to write (better) copy will find one or two valuable tips here, but there are books that are better suited to this.
Winter's opus offers a comprehensive overview: starting with the question of what a copywriter actually is and does, through technical and strategic skills to looking beyond the end of one's nose. This book is therefore aimed at anyone interested in copywriting. Be it because they write it themselves or because they have it written (for themselves or their clients).
The second, expanded edition weighs an impressive 1.4 kilograms. Nevertheless, the book is not heavy fare. The essays are comprehensible, entertaining and in some cases brilliantly written. Particularly recommended are "Wie der alte Mann zum Regenschirm kam" by Armin Reims (the author of "Mörderfackel"), "Der Texter als Ideen-Lieferant" by Sebastian Turner (Scholz & Friends) and "Alles neu, alles anders?" by Anette Scholz (Scholz & Volkmer). The compulsory material is not exactly cheap, but well worth the price. The only fly in the ointment is the lack of a bibliography.
(Copywriter with entry in the professional register)
> Handbook of advertising copy by Jörn Winter. Deutscher Fachverlag, Frankfurt am Main 2004. 450 pages, 115 francs.
Too bad for the creative potential: Some agencies simply leave their copywriters hanging.
Roger Hausmann
