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Anyone at Strategy& able to explain what the EST means in 'Financial Services EST'? Have seen a role advertised with the title 'Manager, Strategy&, Financial Services EST'. It reads as standard FS strategy, and can't see the EST bit referred to.
Have tried to google to no avail!
Thanks!
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D&AD The Copy Book, Hey Whipple Squeeze This
Also consider books on good writing in general. On Writing Well by William Zinsser is a classic that will help. Study well written ads as well. The Copywriters Bible is a good source, as are older copies of CA from eras where body copy was a thing. And nothing helps you more than reading great authors. Pick a genre you enjoy and an author that leads the genre. Humor can be a great category since advertising uses irony and humor so often.
The book *Hey Whipple, Squeeze This* is the standard.
And here’s some advice:
1. Don’t concept alone.
Always concept with your art director partner by bouncing ideas back and forth (this is explained in *Hey Whipple*).
2. Push yourselves to think of more.
Once you and your partner hit a couple decent ideas, there’s a temptation to stop. Don’t. You want to get many ideas, all the way until you both get writer’s block. Keep going! Try to think of *more.* Really. The ideas you get just after the block are usually much better.
3. Don’t start without an insight.
The insight should be in the creative brief. Sometimes it’s not there, so you and your partner are going to have to find it yourselves. The insight is the *invisible,* non-observable reason behind *why* your target behaves the way they do. A good insight should make you go “a-ha!” An insight is not data, which is observable. For example, an Old Spice brief has data that says women buy more men’s body wash than men. The insight is not that women are buying body wash for their male partners (observable), the insight is that they wished the man in their life not only smelled better, but *was* better.
“Junior: Writing Your Way Ahead in Advertising” by Thomas Kemeny is a really good one, and it’s pretty recent.
I also really like learning from YouTube. Creative Circus posted a cool talk that Jeff Goodby did on there. Look up interviews from people like him, Dan Wieden, etc. + all kinds of good, old ads you can learn from and get inspired by.
Also “Art and Copy” is a documentary on Amazon that gives you a cool ad history lesson while letting you hear from some of the all time greats in the biz.
Some Good Content
Very Good Copy
Copywriters Club - just got a gig through this group
Copy Chief/AWAI
Copyblogger
I didn’t study advertising either! Although I studied screenwriting so there is some crossover I guess. Anyway, I like Ann Hadley’s book “Everybody Writes.” It’s very practical on the craft of writing, not just conceptually speaking.
Watch and read more ads — notice them and study them. Don’t just go for the story-driven “brand” spots; pay attention to direct response ads too. Pretty soon you’ll see tactics and patterns emerge. Notice when different kinds of ads and brands have different approaches.
Get to know other copywriters. Critique each other’s work in a helpful and constructive environment. I learned the most from observing other writers more experienced and better than me.
See if you can spot certain tactics or patterns. Think about the intention behind the ad. Is it more of a branded ad, in which case it’s more about story and less about selling a product? How do they go about telling that story? Is it more of a growth advertising/direct response ad? How is it different from a branded one? What’s the relationship between the visuals vs the copy/Voiceover? Do you think the ad is successful in its goal? Etc etc
Filthy Rich Writer has a pretty comprehensive program with tons of great practice activities and lots of opportunity for coaching/feedback. It's a nominal investment, but well worth it in my opinion.
Its hard to practice without someone giving you a mock brief. Self-briefing isnt the way.
One practice method i always offer is to write haikus. The process and parameters of making haikus are similar to copywriting.
I am in the same boat and I SO feel this! Some people I've networked with have recommended BrainCo if you want to go into advertising and writing. I also think you could try Skillshare, Udemy, LinkedIn Learning, and things like that for inexpensive tools to learn.