Is the Copywriter Dead?
Posted on | July 20, 2010 | mike weston
First the type director. Then the dye sub retoucher, the stat camera operator and the mechanical artist.
Can advertising wordsmiths be the next victim of the business’ transfiguration?
Here’s an interesting thought from a LinkedIn discussion group I belong to:
Jack Neary, Executive Vice President/Executive Creative Director, BBDO Worldwide, says in part:
“Few creative directors want [great copywriters] any more. Verbal virtuosity is dramatically less in demand by creative directors today than in the days when David Abbott, Ed McCabe, Bob Levenson, Phil Dusenberry and many more occupied the pantheon of heroes influencing the next generation of copywriter. The wordsmith’s craft is seldom celebrated, rarely taught, and, therefore, almost never practised. Also, the increasingly fragmented media landscape has shortened consumers’ attention spans putting more of the communication burden on images, which usually connect faster than words.… “There is another culprit still. The heightened, often mindless lust for Cannes Lions has led to more visual, less verbal work because pictures generally do better than words with a cosmopolitan jury.’ I wholeheartedly disagree. As a professional with many years of experience, I find that copywriting is in more and more demand in the digital space (although often devalued and referred to derisively as ‘content’).”
Interesting. Personally, I still believe people recognize good writing (even if it’s purely a great headline); and more importantly, they respond to it. So reports of copywriting’s demise are premature. It is simply evolving in response primarily to digital media.
What do you think?
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