Copywriting

Copywriter (also called " copywriter " or " Copywriter " ) is one of the classic careers in advertising agencies. Its mission is to design effective language of advertising material (including posters, ads, brochures, TV spot, radio spot, online advertising ). In addition, he developed either alone or in collaboration with an art director 's ideas for individual ads and / or complete advertising campaigns.

Task and responsibility

Depending on the agency philosophy the task of weighting between copywriter and art director turns out differently. Thus, the creative development emanating from the copywriter and the art director or graphic designer uses this idea to merely visually. In such cases, copywriter wear in German agencies often terms such as concept copywriter, concept or concept developer ( in Austria: conceptionist ). On the other hand, there are agencies in which the art director dictates the visual concept of a campaign by the copywriter only with linguistic content such as headlines, slogans and amount of text (called Copy) is then added. However, in most major advertising agencies in the copywriter and art director Meanwhile, form a solid team that inspired each other and jointly developed the basic ideas for advertising campaigns and individual ads.

Training

The training to become a copywriter is not regulated in contrast to the commercial and creative professionals in the communications industry. The entry into this profession therefore varies considerably. Usually a job as an intern or trainee is the first step in the profession. In this time usually takes between three months and one year, learned the future copywriter the basics of copywriting, also called " training-on- the-job ". Could he make during the internship his talent, he was employed under certain circumstances as a junior copywriter. Many copywriters are career changers, that is, before working as a copywriter they had little contact with the industry. Some come from related occupations such as journalism.

An academic background may be helpful to get you started well, but is generally not a requirement. The decisive factor is mainly the creative talent, that is, the ability to develop many surprising ideas under very strict requirements and high time pressure. Most of the larger agencies consider this ability based on a so-called copy tests, in which a series of realistic tasks to be solved from the advertising practice. After this test, it is then decided whether an applicant is invited for an interview, and finally with an intern or junior copywriter site. In Germany there are now also some training centers for budding copywriters, such as the part-time Texterschmiede in Hamburg, the Swiss " write scene " in Berne and Zurich, the creative cadres in Dusseldorf, the text Colleg in Munich or the study program " Social and Business Communication "at the University of Arts in Berlin.

Career

Usually, the copywriter starts his career in an advertising agency as an intern text, text or trainee in a PR agency as a volunteer. Certified by the industry association GWA internships are at least 350 euros / month paid (as of spring 2007 ). For the remuneration of trainee positions are available in the industry still is no official standard, with a GWA survey in the spring of 2007, the average of the recommendations submitted by agencies was around 1,200 euros / month. With some previous experience, training or a very good copy test is also possible to omit the internship and equal to start as a junior copywriter. From the " junior copywriter ", the copywriter first ascend to " copywriter ", then to " senior copywriter ", from there to the " creative director text", later the " Executive Creative Director " and finally to " Executive Creative Director " at large agency networks also known as CCO (Chief Creative Officer ). Due to the heterogeneity of the terms, however, the steps are formed differently in different agencies and sometimes referred to very different.

Free and independent copywriters usually work on a fee basis as so-called " Freelancers " for advertising or communication agencies, but also in the direct order of business enterprises, agencies or organizations.

Writer as a copywriter

Many well-known writers also worked as a copywriter; and not only out of sheer lack of money. Well-known examples are, among others, Jean Anouilh, Frédéric Beigbeder, Bertolt Brecht, Don DeLillo, Frank Wedekind, Martin Suter, Charles Bukowski, Robert Gernhardt, Joseph Heller, Erich Kästner, Klabund, Kurt Schwitters, Kurt Tucholsky, Wolf Haas, Simon Urban Wolf Schneider, Frank Schätzing, Rainer Maria Rilke, Lois Wyse and Dorothy L. Sayers.

Well-known German -language copywriter

  • Werner Belmont
  • Werner butter
  • Manfred Gotta
  • Konstantin Jacoby
  • Amir Kassaei
  • Walter Luerzer
  • Jean- Remy von Matt
  • Michael Schirner
  • Reinhard Siemes
  • Achim Szymanski
  • Sebastian Turner

Well-known international copywriter

  • Leo Burnett
  • Howard Luck Gossage
  • David Ogilvy
Wolf Schneider Leo Burnett Worldwide Howard Gossage David Ogilvy (businessman)
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