Why I Want Poetry to Inform the Copy
How can poetry be a difference-maker in business situations?
How can we use poetic frameworks to capture the attention of an intended audience?
Think about the intended reader or viewer of your sponsored message. She's tired. Her eyes are bloodshot and her kids are hungry for dinner (and for their mother's time and attention).
We're in the American kitchen now. The TV is on. Phones are ding-dinging. An argument is about to break out.
Okay, go. Deliver your message. Make it stick.
IN THREE-TO-SIX WORDS, PLEASE
I remember when I was a copywriter on the Coors Brewing business at The Integer Group in Denver in the late '90s. Coors Light had just overtaken Bud Light as the best-selling beer in New Jersey and the distributor there wanted to announce the news on the billboard along I-95.
I wondered why anyone would care, other than the local distributor. Nevermind. It was our job to help them care, and that's why we presented "Jersey's New Boss." Thankfully, we got the client to buy it and run it.
The billboard would have said, "Best-Selling Beer in New Jersey," if not for poetic intervention. Poetry is dense. The writer's job is to distill the big idea, or the brand's value proposition, down to its absolute essence and to do so with culturally relevant cues. You don't have to be a poet to do this, but it doesn't hurt.
We made something similar for Killian's.
领英推荐
"Came to This Country Rich" describes this imported beer and how it's a different kind of Irish immigrant.
Killian's was an aspirational brand with a point of difference. When the message fits.
MORE MIND CANDY
Brands are the public face of a company. And the face reveals, but it does not reveal all. Not by a long stretch. Like a favorite series on Netflix, brands contain a deep reservoir of customer, staff, and investor interactions and experiences. When brands are properly animated, they exist in the minds of these constituents.
I've always felt a heavy responsibility for the work we do to entice people, to convey what matters in the culture today, and to help our patrons and clients sell. In the best cases, there's a value exchange made between parties.
When a person gives up their attention, even for a few seconds, the professional communicator owes it to them to deliver something smart enough, or funny enough to make their pause worthwhile. Something memorable and actionable.
MY PROSE POEM CAMPAIGN ON LINKEDIN
In my desire to "Show, Don't Tell," (and to chronicle the prelude to my third act) I've been writing prose poems about my career, the communications industry, and some of the philosophies that guide me.
I'm looking for potential employers of people who do not think like everyone else. By pushing the boundaries of what I put into play here, and by staying true to my creative self, the hope is I reach the right people. People who want to harness what I have to give.
I am a writer, brand strategist, and creative director with experience working closely with the decision-makers at Fortune 500 companies, spunky startups, family-owned businesses, and a variety of good causes. I also start things.