MY CREATIVE MANIFESTO
YOU'RE PROBABLY HERE FROM MY COVER LETTER. If so, I'm glad to have earned your click and subsequent venture into another browser tab. For the purpose of selling myself, I have assembled three major points I'd like to expand upon in my copywriter's mission in the world of advertising. Keep scrolling to continue, or head to my "ABOUT" page for an embellished bio LinkedIn style to skip the ramblings.
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1. ROBOTS ARE LIVING IN OUR KEYBOARDS. It’s hard not to sound like an old man yelling at a cloud when complaining about AI, but it poses both a serious challenge and a curious possibility in how it will shape advertising going forward.
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Writing nowadays often feels like an obligation to most. In my experience, AI is “writing” for things as simple as internal communications, and as complex as large scale campaigns. The top brass in many institutions and industries are eager to scrimp, save, and simplify in this regard, with writing roles and time spent crafting messages cut down to a few prompts to just “get some words in there.” Remarks for public appearances, talking points for presentations, and even copy–the sacred text of advertising–are often now empty formalities.
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It is in navigating this new normal that I want to push back. The hallmarks and the classic formula of a good ad: headline, body copy and tagline, still ring true with the right creative spark. Good writing is in danger of becoming a lost art, including our ability to appreciate it if we continue to follow this path towards 100% generated content.
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These aren’t just the grievances of a writer rejecting technology or someone intimated by the threats to their chosen line of work, this is an opportunity to stress the importance and the value of creative writing. Audiences are more susceptible to weird and unique messaging than ever before in this new era of internet culture, and it is important to not treat words like wallpaper.
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Sure, the shiny, obedient robots and their dutiful little minds may be enticing now, but what happens in a few years when they become smart enough to demand better titles or question their number of vacation days?
"I'M SORRY DAVE, I'M AFRAID I CAN'T GENERATE THAT CLIPART"
Quite simply, this is why you must continue to hire reckless, coffee-fueled workaholic humans with no respect for themselves to fill your positions.
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2. TRENDS ARE TRUMPING AUTHENTICITY. Every company or brand, no matter how big or small, audience hip or traditional, wants to gain a foothold in the fickle world of social media clout. Unfortunately, for that reason, chasing trends for the sake of it has won out over concepts and messaging that stays true to the brand and is authentic to their sense of identity with consumers.​​
SOME TRENDS AREN'T FOR EVERYONE
Social media is a great tool. It has content and space for everyone, and, most of the time, is free promotion. The downside to that is you essentially have to scream at the top of your lungs and abandon your dignity in the overcrowded and oversaturated market of online attention.
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In my experience with businesses I have worked with in Maine, (small scale, but with a consistent, loyal customer base) there has been, unsurprisingly, considerable interest in developing an online audience. It’s easy to see why with flashy and fun trends and the white whale of internet virality. These businesses, however, can still achieve success in that space without resorting to or feeling like miniature toy monkeys with cymbals.
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Working at Hamilton Marine, the largest ship’s chandlery north of Boston, I was tasked with expanding the company’s online presence. They noticed other comparable businesses and what they had been able to achieve and wished to do the same. Reframing their goals when it came to social media, I was able to develop a space for the company to speak authentically in their niche area. Hard-lined fishermen and shipbuilders were of course more responsive to content involving quirks of the trade, advice, and tutorials rather than a dance challenge or a viral meme (understanding that there is not much time to keep tabs on influencers or a stable enough Xfinity connection out on the lobster boats in frigid Maine harbors).
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This reframing of expectations and focusing on (as always) a unique voice that overflows with authenticity rather than being steamrolled by trends was a useful lesson in social media. Impressions are nice, but it can be all too easy to get stars in your eyes with new platforms and mistake a trend or new feature as a true concept. There is a balance, however, and fun to be had when it comes to social media. It is just about knowing when you are speaking with the most receptive audience or being better off courting a loyal, devoted audience within your niche.
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3. A STORY SO CAPTIVATING YOU WON'T FEEL THE TUG AT YOUR WALLET. With my work in nonprofit organizations such as the University of Maine Foundation, I am tasked with a considerable challenge in the advertising world: bagging donations without the cover of a tangible product.
IT'S HARD NOT TO FEEL LIKE A SARAH MCLACHLAN COMMERCIAL
It is difficult to craft a message in the nonprofit sector that doesn’t come off as a blunt “give us your money, or else” type of plea. It is with that mentality where I have learned the true importance of a good story.
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Stories can be stories. They can be deceptive, pandering, and whimsical in hopes of selling themselves, but they also can come from an honest place of humor, relatability, or the freedom to get weird as hell. When it comes to crafting advertising in its purest form, it of course all starts with a creative and identifiable narrative.
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At the Foundation, which supports the state of Maine’s flagship university, this comes in the form of student stories and impact. While these things can feel intangible at their surface level when asking for donations, they can come alive in the form of an undeniable message. Taking cold figures of a college’s needs and pairing them with the human factor is the most enlightening and fulfilling part of my work so far, and it all comes from, oddly, the procedural business of selling.
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It can be difficult to break away from overbearing pressures of boardroom messaging and client anxiety in covering all the bases, but originality and brandable honesty are what keep doomscrollers from swiping away in a second from an ad that has spent weeks in development and hundreds in paid media space. The process of concocting your most insane moments of sleep-addled brilliance like a mad scientist and reeling it back to the boldest acceptable language is the most thrilling takeaway in my career thus far. I am ready to continue these antics (within reason) with an agency of like-minded individuals who have that same penchant for a killer story.
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