I want it all: why the worst copywriting briefs are the ones that expect everything
If I were to promise you, dear reader, that this blog would begin with a discourse on the evolution of marketing language in a retail environment, segue into some poorly-researched blah about cognitive responses to exclamation marks, before shooting off into a rambling yarn about the time I fist-bumped Lou Carpenter from Neighbours, would you read on? I imagine you would not (although some may skip to the end just for the Lou from Neighbours bit).
Any article that tried to cover such a multitude of topics in any meaningful way would be dense, sprawling or simply unreadable. The same is, of course, true for copywriting.
But how often are we presented with a brief that, rather than asking for the illumination of one compelling thought, effectively give us a lift of ‘benefits’ – each one, we are assured, no more or less important than the next.
Even the briefs that take the time to talk about message hierarchy rarely extract one clear direction. ‘This is what we want to say’ they promise us. But often that primary ‘this’ is accompanied by a swarm of others that positively cannot be further than a bee’s shinbone away from the main message. And then we sigh, pick up our pencils and try once again to force an elk into a balloon.
Such extensive and varied briefs customarily result in work that is opaque and jumbled. In amongst the grappling claims, there is undoubtedly something extraordinary and persuasive. If only anyone with eyes and a mind had the time or attention to extract what matters from that which does not.
Grumpy old writers may well point an inky finger at content marketing and an era where brands have a platform to say everything and anything they think matters. This is probably churlish, but there has been a notable shift in how difficult it can be to persuade a client to be economical with their messaging.
And perhaps this is understandable. A model that reduces complex or elaborate products or services to their single most remarkable feature perhaps isn’t quite as full-bodied an exchange as it deserves. But, whatever compromises a copywriter or agency is prepared to make, there is one character in this murky dance who will not budge an inch – customers.
There may be 14 outstanding things about your product – and those 14 things may very well be indistinguishable in their brilliance. But present that to a customer in the kind of format that demands immediacy and they will engage in between one and zero of your points. In extraordinary circumstances, a customer may engage with two – and when that happens copywriters all over the world get the afternoon off to go and play Laser Quest.
The argument we use, to varying effect, is that great brands need to give customers a reason to find out how great they are. Dropping everything that makes you incredible under the noses of your customers is not, as some imagine, an act of storytelling or transparency, it’s effectively nothing more than commercial fly-tipping.
The question is one of balance – the harmony between content and volume that leaves you saying just enough to engage and just little enough to intrigue. Less isn’t especially more, but perhaps perpetually seeking and demanding ‘more’ from our messages is what leads to so many simple and convincing propositions appearing so desperately insipid. Less can be more lucid, more substantial and more inspiring. But in simple terms of lines on a page, ‘more’ is not an endorsement in itself.
Oh, and if you’ve just arrived directly from the opening sentence, I fist-bumped Lou from Neighbours outside the Pizza Express in Norwich. Now, was that worth coming back for? I think we can all agree that it was.
Follow Andrew on Twitter for more semi-celebrity fist-bumps