Save the WORD!

An open letter to advertising copyrwiters throughout the region, from Titus Upputuru, from WordSociety, New Delhi, India:

This letter is from one Copywriter to another. I was going through the results of the award shows this year and was saddened to notice a death. The Word has almost disappeared.

In most ads, there are just one or two. (There are a few exceptions though, and the outdoor Grand Prix at Cannes gives me hope.)

In many, there are none at all.

I was wondering what happened to the Copywriter. When did we stop writing Copy? And when I say Copy I do not mean the long copy masterpiece that we all set out to make at least once in our lifetime.

When was the last time we wrote a good, full-bodied headline, even? Was it because the Client had rejected the picture-only ad so many times that we had no option left but to do a headline ad?

This email is an initiative to 'Save The Word'.

If you would like to join this movement, contribute by doing the following:

1) Do your next five ads or campaigns with headlines, irrespective of brand guidelines.

2) Pick an old One Show/D&AD Annual and photocopy copy-led ads and paste them up all over the agency.

3) Dnt wrt lke ths.

4) If you are a Creative Director, ask your writers to show a headline, with every visual-led ad that they show.

5) Hire writers who have at least ten headlines in their portfolio.

6) Spread the word. Send this email to all the copywriters you know.

You can add more to the list.

The only way, we are going to Save The Word is by getting together and ensuring that we see more Copy in the media. For that to happen, this email needs to find legs and travel far and wide. So, please forward this to as many Copywriters in the world as you can.

Posted on Sunday, September 03, 2006 at: The Campaign Brief Blog