Hug Your Copywriter

By / March 16, 2011 / As an ACD I spend a lot of time on conference calls, so it wasn’t a big surprise that I found myself on one the other day. What was surprising was the energy on this one. Everyone was leaning in. People seemed more excited then usual. There was an unsaid understanding in the room and on the other end of the phone. It was like everyone suddenly remembered why they got into this business in the first place. On the monitor was the topic conversation: One word—and a picture that added up to one huge idea. When I realized that the guy responsible for the concept was nowhere to be seen I started tallying up the titles in the room: Creative Director, Account Director, Associate Creative Director, Regional Account Director, Sr. Art Director, Creative Technologist, Planner—not to mention the clients and partner agencies on speaker-phone. Everyone was buzzing to bring an idea to life. I couldn’t help but think to myself: “all these people finally have something worthwhile to do thanks to a imaginative, articulate copywriter.” Thank god. People don’t work for people as much as they work for ideas. Nothing motivates or inspires us like a well-articulated thought. Technology doesn’t drive business—ideas do, which is something that is easy to forget. As an industry we tend to value the flashy and new—over the tried and true, which is a big mistake. From my experience, no one is a more efficient generator of the ideas that drive our industry than a good-old copywriter. A good writer can articulate a vision for an ad, an agency, or a brand. A good writer shows us what it could be—what it should be, and can even outline a plan to get there. For me it all boils down to this: If you’re doing boring work it’s probably because you have a boring writer. If you have a good one—love them, nurture them, and please excuse them for being a little weird. Read more of Wade Campbell on his blog and on Twitter.