Cringe Ninja: Why copywriting with emotion is a delicate balance
Aside from the death of Goose in ‘Top Gun’, there is very little that leaves me emotionally moved. As such, as both a copywriter and a consumer, emotional messaging leaves me beyond cold to the point of palpable discomfort.
But, though an expression of feeling in advertising does, as a general rule, makes me want to purposely crush myself to death under a ‘Deal or No Deal’ pub quiz machine, it would be the height of churlishness not to recognise that it has a valid, and even impactful role in copywriting.
To horribly misappropriate a quote from W Somerset Maugham, I would suggest that the purpose of marketing is to act as a manifestation of emotion and emotion speaks a language that all may understand. A copywriter’s goal is to illicit definite response, but at nearly every approach the barrier between your words and that particular accomplishment is a human connection.
I think emotion in copywriting makes me so squeamish purely because when it is done badly it positively drips with a mawkishness that I am reluctant to believe is able to influence even the least discerning of modern consumers. Clearly, again I am demonstrating my small-mindedness because even such maudlin campaigns do bear results.
But my concern lies not solely in those who misapply this delicate tool, but the fact that when done subtlety and with restraint it can be done incredibly well.
MacMillan Cancer Support are especially adept at delivering a written message that is at once blindingly simple and yet astoundingly moving. The seriousness of their cause and the extraordinary kindness embodied in their work gives them ample material to deliver impactful campaigns, but it takes a writer of dexterity, character and judgement to establish an emotive limit for the brand voice and work skilfully within it.
Emotional copywriting and copywriting with emotion are entirely distinct from one another. The former is an unsteady and aggressive means of open manipulation. The latter requires a complete understanding of the breadth of the emotion to ensure it is handled with the appropriate restraint.
Emotion in the hands of a copywriter should be a poignant, although entirely judicious, nudge against the heart. Investing our own feeling into copywriting is no bad thing, so long as we apply our commercial intuition and sense of social awareness in equal measure.
Now, rest in peace Goose, my friend. Knowing what we all know now, everyone wishes it was Maverick instead of you.
Andrew Boulton is a Top Gun copywriter at the Together Agency.