Book: How to Write Great Copy

This is a book for the ad agency copywriter. I say that because so much copywriting literature is really about direct response advertising. In his fast-reading book, British creative director Dominic Gettins prefaces it with his own definition of the copywriter’s work:

What we really do is conceptualize. We take the base commercial desires of our clients and fashion them into ideas that ‘resonate’ (a buzz word in every sense) with consumers. Subsequently that idea may need to be expressed in print, radio, online, or television, or whatever the most appropriate medium might be. That might involve some actual writing. For me the real creative work lies in taking those sometimes complex marketing objectives and distilling them down to a simple communicable idea that can change attitudes and, ultimately, behaviour.

The slim little book is organized around eight rules.

Know your target market.

Do research.

Answer the brief.

Be relevant.

Be objective.

Know your medium.

Be ambitious.

But in advertising, knowing when to break the rules is its own rule. To create a great ad, these steps can’t be followed in sequential order. But Gettins knows this. Instead, each rule is a starter for a conversation.

In its endearingly self-satisfied style, the rules are used to explain examples of ads. From there, Gettins grabs your finger and puts it on exactly what makes each one work. The value of this is powerful. After all, this is a trade where great work cannot come from an engineered process.

But Gettins’ deconstruction of smart ads can help each of us see the hidden elements behind them. With this, we can apply these nuggets of greatness to our own process. That’s exciting, and certainly worth looking past the sometimes-confusing British advert industry lingo. In fact, this little paperback has already become one of the most important in the collection above my desk. And no -- you can’t borrow it. But it is on Amazon.

Amazon: How to Write Great Copy: Learn the Unwritten Rules of Copywriting [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback), by Dominic Gettins