Copywriters Get No Respect

I was watching one of my favorite T.V. shows this weekend, Mad Men, when I was reminded how copywriters get no respect.  One of the characters, Peggy Olson, was at a party for an artist and she was introduced as a writer.  Someone asked her, "What do you write?"  She responded that she was a copywriter for an advertising firm.  The other person then replied, "Yeah, but what do you write?" As this brief part of the conversation continued, it became clear that the "real" writer had no respect for copywriting.

As somebody who has written my share of copy, I can tell you it's not as easy as it looks. The next time you go to a website or look at an ad in a newspaper or magazine, stop for a moment and notice it. Every word written on that page was written by somebody, and it's not like they just threw it together.  Careful thought went into choosing those words, getting the message across in as few words as possible, placing the words and graphics for maximum effect, and making sure the overall effect was right.

One of the things that can make me groan is when I've asked someone in my business to make a modification to our website or add a page and the response is, "I'm going to need some copy for that," because I know it's not as simple as it appears. The part that makes copy writing particularly challenging - and dramatically different from all other kinds of writing - is that you are writing to inspire action. Copy writing usually happens before people buy something, rather than after. If someone reads your novel or non-fiction book or news article and they don't like it, they have already bought it. The marketing folks (including some good copywriters) were successful at their job so someone would buy and read your lousy (or spectacular) book or newspaper.With copy writing, success is measured by people taking action - purchasing a product, clicking on a link, calling a phone number, making a donation. Some people would say that makes success harder to achieve.

I was reminded again this morning about the impact of good copy writing.  I grabbed a banana for breakfast and there was a sticker on it.  That's not unusual. I don't even know how many banana stickers I stuck on my forehead as a kid or how many I have given to my own kids. But this sticker caught my attention. It was a slightly different shape than others, and it said, "Go Bananas After Dark at dole.com/bananas." I started thinking, "I wonder what that means...does this sticker glow in the dark? My son would like that.  I wonder what's on the website......" Then I came into my office and I pulled up the website.  I don't want to spoil the surprise, but did you know that bananas are not just for breakfast anymore? I found some cool BBQ recipes for bananas, too.  The point is that this little sticker caused me to take action.  In this case, the action was to go to the website.  I found recipes there that will likely lead me to buy more bananas this week.

There it is - copy writing success!

The person who wrote "Go bananas after dark" probably won't get any big recognition.  S/he won't appear on CNN or the Today Show.  If the campaign is particularly successful (as I suspect it will be) there might be a bonus or some other small financial compensation for the good work, but most likely that person will just keep on doing his or her job well without any adulation or fanfare.  I can see him at a party telling people he is copywriter and watching their eyes glaze over before they start looking around the room for someone more interesting and exotic to chat with.  He'll get no respect.  At least he'll have the satisfaction of knowing that just about everything the hostess is serving is there because a copywriter did a good job and that website everyone is raving about is as good as it is, in part, because of the excellent work of a copywriter.

For now, satisfaction will have to substitute for respect.

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