Now that doesn’t mean I copy writing, copy writing. Rather, what a copywriter is, is someone who has the ability to create a selling idea. How they do that, ah that is the question? If you look at the basics, first and foremost you need a product, then you need a concept, or an idea but above all you need to be able to understand what that product stands for, and what it means to those who are selling it.

If the product doesn’t sell, then it is just a product, which has probably cost a lot of time and effort getting it to the market, but unless it sells, it may well just have stayed on the drawing board.

That is why when creating a campaign and a concept for a product regardless of what it is, the copywriter needs to become part of the process. He or she has to get inside the product, understand its market, its strengths, its weakness’ its competition and its USP, (unique selling point) the reason that sets it aside from others.

Of course many products are similar in design and in use, so it is the responsibility of the copywriter to make their particular product stand out from the rest. When structuring an idea it is sensible to review their previous advertising. Or if this is a new launch to look for something of a similar nature so that you do not fall foul of a copywriter’s nightmare, plagiarism.

Finding out that it has been done before is a sure fire way to lose a client and any potential future business. Sometimes it is not always possible as the world is a big place and ideas can come from almost anywhere, but originality in design and in concept is always the key to successful advertising ideas. Advertising can be a subtle medium, or it can be a raw wake up call. It can be sensuous, artistic, deliberate, or just bland. What it cannot be is ignored.

From its earliest introduction advertising and copywriting has become the way to influence. Remember the Tory Banner of the 70’s election where a long line of people were shown queuing up to nowhere in particular, with the headline LABOUR ISN’T WORKING, it wasn’t just an advertising slogan but a political statement created by Saatchi & Saatchi one of the leading agencies of the 70’s and 80’s in what many people describe as the halcyon days of the industry.

The names of the famous ad agencies become like a  roll call of the greats, J Walter Thompson, Abbot Mead Vickers, Ogilvy & Mather, Collett Dickenson & Pearce and the copywriters who conceived and created some of the most memorable campaigns of all time in household brands such as Guinness, Kellogs, Rolls Royce, Benson & Hedges, Andrex, Cadburys, Rowntrees, British Rail.

Attached to these companies are the strap lines that have epitomised the product down the decades, A Mars a Day helps you work rest and play, Have a break have a Kit Kat, And all because the Lady Loves Milk Tray, and who can forget Do the Shake and Vac. For those of us who remember these and other famous catch phrases, the memory is almost as unforgettable as a children’s nursery rhyme, and that is the point!

Why should this be? Because one of the tricks of the ad business is to make sure people notice and remember what is being advertised. And repeating the ads over and over again until they become part of the psyche is a good way to ensure a product gets noticed and bought. This is why having a memorable strap line is a crucial component of any campaign. It is the copywriter’s responsibility to do this as part of the overall strategy for product recognition.

To ensure your website is written to reflect your image or brand we have a professional copy writer who we can bring into your website project. Myron Edwards has written books and had many years experience working for top ad agencies.