The Idea Writers by Creativity editor Teressa Iezzi is a celebration of the copywriter’s role advertising and popular culture.
In her chapter “Digital Is Not A Channel” Iezzi discusses how the post-digital copywriter is a creator of ideas, a master of craft, a conversationalist and more. Describing how much more complex the job is today is a central current in her book. At one point she quotes Guy Barnett of The Brooklyn Brothers, who explains in part what a copywriter must be made of today:
Your choice of phrasing and syntax needs to be that much more nimble and informed. You need to keep people both entertained and informed. You need to be authoritative, charming, funny. You need to be able to recount a story and digress in all directions. You need to be able to do it in a variety of voices so you can work on a number of brands. And you need to be able to express yourself in 140 characters or less as well as at length on the back of packaging. And there simply aren’t that many writers who can do that. Actually, there are; they just don’t see advertising as a career. We call them authors. Or columnists. Or journalists. Or bloggers.
And people bristle when they learn of our fees. For shame!
Previously on AdPulp: This Post Is Not Brought To You By Bing, But It Could Be