Creating advertising concepts is the most important aspect of a copywriter's job, but, as in the case of an art director, the responsibilities of a copywriter far transcend coming up with ideas.
The most important of those other responsibilities is writing. A copywriter must be a wordsmith. The words he writes must be logical, intelligent, and compelling copy that persuades people to part with their hard-earned money.
Beyond that, it's the copywriter's job to be sure the copy that was set and is in the ads is the same copy, letter for letter that was seen and approved by the client. It's both his and the art director's responsibility to see to it that everything in the ad-the photograph, illustration, props, models, wardrobing, lighting, layout, and even logo size-is executed in such a way as to accomplish everything the creative team set out to accomplish, and that the ad which is produced contains the elements that were approved by the client.
In television advertising the copywriter has similar responsibilities. In the case of TV, though, he shares them not only with his art director, but often with a producer, as well. Together, they choose a director or sometimes an entire production company to shoot the commercial. They decide whether it should be shot on film, on 16 mm or 35 mm, or whether it should be recorded on video tape. They approve all the elements in the commercial right down to the camera angles and the emotion with which the actors deliver the copy.
When the commercial's been shot, it's part of the copy-writer's responsibility to see to it that all of the post-production-editing, sound mixing, printing, and dubbing-is done to everyone's satisfaction.
If music is needed, that's another job in itself, because music requires not only composing, arranging, playing, and singing, but the mixing of all of these elements together, as well.
To put the television responsibilities of a copywriter in a nutshell: he's responsible for delivering to a client a commercial that includes everything the client approved, and which will accomplish everything the client wants it to accomplish.
The real yardstick of a copywriter's abilities is visuals, and radio is probably the most visual medium of all. In most agencies, copywriters alone are responsible for all conception and writing. Art directors very rarely become involved with radio. A copywriter's responsibilities in radio do not stop with the concept and copy. Often, he and a producer are also charged with selecting the talent to perform in the spot. In agencies that have no producers, it can also be a copywriter's responsibility to locate a studio in which to record his commercial. He even supervises the sound mix. In short, as with both print and television, the copywriter is responsible for seeing that the radio commercial delivered to the client possesses all of the characteristics and personality that the client expected to hear when he approved the commercial for production.
Behind all of the concepts, copy, and production, there's another duty which usually ends up in the copywriter's lap: digging for the information required to do an ad or commercial, and finding that unique sales point, that one benefit which will make consumers respond to the advertising message.
According to one of those unwritten rules in this business, the folks in marketing are supposed to supply this information to the creative team, but often (for any one of several reasons), the creative team isn't given that benefit. This is a very real problem in the ad business, and you run into it even in the "good shops." It's at that point that the copywriter becomes an investigator. He's got to badger, cajole, coax, pry, plead, beg, threaten, bribe, and do whatever it takes to find the U.S.P.
Sometimes this means taking another look at an already established product to find some new benefit that can be derived from it. Sometimes it'll mean searching and coming up with little or nothing for your efforts. And it'll almost always mean an argument with somebody somewhere who's already convinced that a new U.S.P. just doesn't exist, who says, "why waste the time and effort in an useless cause when you could be working on something else?"
With all of these duties and responsibilities, including the authority to spend large sums of money to carry them out, it should come as no surprise to learn that you just don't walk out of school and into a job as a Sr. Copywriter in an advertising agency. You've got to learn the job, and that takes time.
How do you start if you want to be a copywriter?
There was a time in this business when there was a critter known as a copy cub. Copycubs were the pre-natal form of copywriters. When they went to work for an agency, they were apprenticed to a senior copywriter. Copycubs were never-but never-given permission to write headlines, but they were expected to learn to write body copy. They were sentenced to a year or two of writing the bodycopy for the headlines written by their senior writers. The more demanding the senior writer, the more he critiqued the copy written by the cub, and the better that copycub became. That copycub would continue to do little more than write bodycopy until one fine day (shout Hallelujah, one time) he finally got to write a headline for a 1/6 page trade ad. Then the heavens opened and that copycub finally knew what it felt like to be a genuine, U.S. Grade A Certified Copywriter.
Life isn't quite like that anymore, but you still have to pay your dues.
Now, if you want to get a job as a copywriter, you start off as a junior copywriter. Salaries run anywhere from $7,000 to $12,000 a year. You will, however, write headlines (shout Hallelujah, one more time), along with bodycopy, promotional pieces, and just about everything else except radio or television.
You'll be given all those jobs that the more experienced writers don't want to be bothered with. If you're lucky, you'll do all of that work under a ridiculously demanding Creative Director or Copy Group Head who'll work your butt off and make you sweat unmercifully. If you're really lucky, he'll make you defend each and every word on your page before he'll approve it. By making you work that hard, he guarantees that you'll learn what it takes to put food on your table as an advertising copywriter.
