Course Reflections and Project Documentation
Admittedly, Effective Copywriting was a course that initially presented itself as very intimidating. With a background essentially devoid of any real writing experience, I knew careful attention would need to be paid to research and properly absorbing the information offered in the course resources. The main component of this course was the development of an ad campaign for the non-profit organization The Child Welfare League of America, consisting of three different print advertisements each with a unique approach.
Synthesizing
Initial steps toward the campaign execution required the creation of two separate target audience personas. George Felton’s book Advertising: Concept and Copy covers a list of user needs, which are defined in 15 categories by Robert Settle and Pamela Alreck. This was an insightful resource, as it revealed that by personas fit soundly into the categories of nurturance and affiliation. These categories allude to the idea that our users “need to be closely associated with others” (Felton, 2013, p. 27) while simultaneously “providing care for others” (Felton, 2013, p. 27). This information was synthesized into the development of two target personas, both of which are parental figures with jobs that involve childcare and development. After cementing our personas, a warm and sympathetic voice was deemed appropriate to speak to a target audience with the attributed needs and values. It was crucial to complete this step before ever putting pen to paper, as a copywriter’s first task is to discover “who” is speaking (Felton, 2013, p. 93) and to whom before embarking on the actual writing process. The information discovered in this initial stage ensured that the communication created throughout the rest of the campaign will be directed at the appropriate audience without sounding vague (Felton, 2013, p. 100) and disingenuous.
Persona #1 
Persona #2
Problem Solving/Innovation
The following stage required the development of six rough sketches. Each variation was created in the style of a testimonial ad for the Child Welfare League of America with a different spokesperson to “testify for it” (Felton, 2013, p. 241). Felton discusses nine potential options for testimonial approaches, however, categories such as the “extreme user” and “the wrong person” were deemed inappropriate to represent this specific non-profit organization as these tactics would have lacked the ability to speak in the voice and tone specified for this campaign. Free-association and seed phrases were developed to help establish the core values (Smallish, 2013) of the CWLA which helped narrow down which approach would be most appropriate. Utilizing Craig Smallish’ techniques revealed that Felton’s categories of celebrity, not the person but something associated with the person, President/CEO, just plain folks, unreal people, and irony should be explored as options for further development. The core values and seed phrases provided numerous concepts which needed to be taken through the process of visual definition (Smallish, 2013), in this case creating very rough sketches of each testimonial variation to see what was working and what wasn’t.
The ads also required close attention be paid to the headlines and copy, as the goal of these things are to “create a bridge between the brand you’re talking about and the people you’re trying to talk to” (Felton, 2013, p. 197). Specificity was applied to multiple headlines, as “nothing is more persuasive” (Felton, 2013, p. 211) than true facts about the non-profit’s offerings being represented. Body copy was developed keeping in mind Ian Laurie’s suggestions to be direct, address the reader, and avoid subtlety (Lurie, 2020). The copy was kept succinct while also employing Felton’s advisement to be persuasive, give enough detail, and end with a call to action (Felton, 2013, p. 128). In this case, the call to action is always the offering of a link to the CWLA website where the viewers are urged to make a donation and get further involved. Three concepts were chosen to develop into final comps due to the fact, while each was a unique testimonial approach, they all maintained an appropriate voice and tone for the campaign. Feedback from my instructor on the developed comps indicated that no further adjustments would be necessary. However, slight color modifications to the CEO comp were done in order to create more consistency in the palette and more overall consistency across all three advertisements.
Takeaways
This course revealed multiple takeaways for me as a media designer that will stay in the forefront of my mind as I continue my journey through the program and into the professional world. The insight gleaned in regard to Settle and Alrek’s hierarchy of needs was of upmost importance. Before beginning any actual design work, I’ll be sure to identify the needs of the client/consumer/target audience to which whom I’m speaking so that the work is executed with proper direction. The differences, both large and subtle, between a headline and body copy as well as their purpose were also key elements of this course. With a background focused solely on visual communication, I now have a new set of literary tools and the understanding of their ability to deliver messages in a stronger way than would be possible with images alone. Furthermore, the importance of establishing an appropriate voice and tone for each brand or even a specific campaign is a concept I’ll carry with me. The concepts in regard to development of voice and tone will help me avoid self-referential design when given a task and recognize that each brand has its own personality, and robust research must be done to help reveal it.
References
Felton, G. (2013). Advertising: Concept and Copy (Third ed.) [VitalSource Bookshelf]. Pearson Education. https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780393733921/
Lurie, I. (2020, November 25). Learning to write marketing copy. LinkedIn Learning. Retrieved February 4, 2021, from https://www.linkedin.com/learning/learning-to-write-marketing-copy/
Smallish, C. (2013, August 16). Developing ideas and advertising concepts. LinkedIn Learning. Retrieved February 5, 2021, from https://www.linkedin.com/learning/developing-ideas-and-advertising-concepts