“Most copywriters are uninspired hacks with only a small bag of smartass tricks separating themselves and oblivion. Very few of them bring any seriously original thinking to their client�s problems. And very few clients ask copywriters for serious thinking as a result. They ask other people instead.” -Hugh Macleod of Gaping Void
Hugh’s words are often provoking. A sure sign of a good writer. Brand managers ought to ask a guy like this what they might do to improve their marketing efforts, because a writer is exactly the person able to tell the brand’s story.
Advertising has been a visual medium, ever since Bernbach’s “Think Small,” the hallmark campaign of the Creative Revolution. But now, with the rise of blogs, writers will be needed to engage customers in one-on-one conversations. Traditional advertising is impersonal. It’s a brand speaking to everyone. What leading brands need to do, and in some cases are about to do (in this writer’s opinion) is employ individual voices—�customers, associates, agency staff, freelance writers and consultants�—to carry on a daily conversation with their customers.
