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I've never known a copywriter who didn't think they were funny. That's our thing. Jokey Jokester.
Yh I see that
When it comes to copywriting, much of it is innate. Either a person has that talent or they don't. Technical skills can be taught, being witty can't.
What would you do if you were in my shoes
Valid. Learning about what you’re writing about is part of the job.
Also if you need a copywriter who likes sports I know a guy…
I’m not a to tell you what to do, because every situation and person is different. But I found myself in a similar situation many years ago. I was hired as an AD. But I was paired up with a partner who couldn’t write his way out of a paper bag. It felt like I had to tell him what to do all the time and how to do it. It was infuriating. He was actually a really nice guy, which made it even harder, because I felt bad for hating working with him. But it was hell. I started to resent him because I actually wrote the outlines for most of our scripts, after having concepted them almost completely by myself.
Long story short… I’m a freelancer now and 90% of my work is as a writer… 🤣
Also will add that I end up having to guide them on stuff, point out what’s witty and basically explain why, show them references, try write something as an example etc. but I’m not a writer and I don’t want to worry about it, I want to focus on getting better at being an AD. But they can write well, like scripts but when it’s comes to headline I get a bit dubious about the quality of them
I’ll say, headlines are the hardest part.
Do they have less experience? Do they have curiosity about what else there is in the industry?
If those answers lead you to believe they can get there, then continue to be supportive. Everyone needed guidance when they started.
If they just have a different level of taste or ambition than you do, it may not be a good long term pairing.
You’re supposed to make your concepts together.
There’s a million ways to write a joke. Here is one way: you and your partner find something relatable (“true”) about your target customer. Make sure that relatable thing has something loosely to do with the benefit your product offers.
Think of about 10 different ways to link that truth to the product benefit, with your partner, at the same time (this means collaborating in person or on live Zoom for a couple hours.) One of the ideas of those 10 should stand out.
Think of a small situation or storyline based on that., with your partner, Then … remove a teeny tiny slice of the story, and you let the target customer guess what that missing part is through context. That usually gets a chuckle
In response to your "what would you do?" comment, I would let me have a crack at it to see if I can help. No charge. I like a challenge (lol!) leksl1@att.net
At first, I struggled to understand what made a good headline when starting out and the twists my CDs were looking for. The “say it great” of it all. Because no one really broke it down for me. So, I read “Hey, Whipple Squeeze This”. Then, I sought out anything I could online that had hacks and tricks and thinking to get to a solid structure.
Then, I struggled with being funny on demand. So, I took classes to learn proper joke structure and how to make things funnier.
Each time, I knew I had what it took. I just needed to find more full-proof ways to tap into what was already there.
But, I will say, that the hunger to be better has to be there. I’ve always had a natural knack for writing. But, when I found my weak spots, I worked on them.
So, if your writer is a good writer outside of headlines, they can learn if they want to.
However, if they’re not willing to research to figure out how to nail a TOV, that feels like they might not have the hunger they need to grow in this job.
I’ve written for categories I know nothing about, and each time I learned and adapted. That’s the job. You’re rarely going to write in your voice for a product you know and love. Being a copywriter is being a jack of all trades and a master of none. You know a little about a lot of things. Because you have to to get the job done.
Don't they have a direct report you can talk to?