Archive for May 2009
Steal Our Ideas: Ok.
I’m designing a college writing course for aspiring copywriters. This site looks like a promising resource.
Read about “Building a Generous Brand”
Check out John King’s article about Building a Generous Brand in Ad Age. This is a positive step, when an agency as forward-thinking as Fallon starts considering how brands can “give back.” This is also an excellent way of thinking about the dialogue that consumers really want to have—versus the dialogue marketers wish consumers wanted to have. Is this more evidence that the days of one-way messaging are going away? The danger is that the generous brand becomes just another manipulative gimmick. But in this new dialogical age, such chicanery will be found out, posted and soundly dressed down.
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Can a copywriter persuade without manipulating?
I’ve been teaching for the past seven weeks and have not had time to update this site. I’m done lecturing this week and hope begin adding content to “Engage Your Audience.”
One thing on my mind: can a copywriter persuade without manipulating? I see a difference, where persuasion uses reason and rhetorical tools and manipulation uses…well, I’m researching that. But my initial answer leads me to look critically at the way “brand” builds a pre-conscious image. My final freelance writing class at Northwestern College explores this potential ethical quicksand from the perspective of a commitment to how God reveals Himself in the Bible.
In the meantime, check out this commercial for Carlton Natural Blonde Beer. I can’t stop watching it. Is it persuasion? Is it manipulation? Is it pure self-mocking creative fun?
My favorite line: “Man friends with machine.”
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