Posted by Kim Stearns.
Jul
16
Posted by Kim Stearns.
Writing Dilemma from July’s Meeting
Thanks to everyone that came out to this exciting event! I definitely had a great, and inspiring evening. I had heard from a few at the meeting that they had brought with them some challenges they are currently facing, but didn’t get a chance to discuss them, myself included. So I am going to write up my challenge and ask for your feedback in the comments section here instead:
One of the biggest problems I face on a regular basis is that several of the clients I work with do not see the value in well-written copy. This became very apparent recently when my team presented a few mood boards (logo variations, type faces, color choices, etc) that also included a brand new tagline for the company. The client contemplated all of the designs very carefully, asking detailed questions and making remarks; finally selecting a logo and design direction. The next thing I know, they are starting to throw out different taglines, completely disregarding the one I had painstakingly come up with over the week prior.
My question to you all is this: what better approach could I have taken to ensure the client understood the reasoning (both for business purposes as well as being just plain clever) behind the choice in tagline?
Please comment below, I would love some feedback!
There are 6 comments to this post.
kim had this to say,
Jul 16, 2009 @ 10:22 am
Yeah, I guess maybe we should have stated that the presentation was about the mood boards AND tagline…then we could have directed the discussion better.
Tim Giron had this to say,
Jul 16, 2009 @ 2:41 pm
I think what you’re are really facing is the perception by many that because they can string together words to make a sentence, they are now a writer. Since they don’t know how to do the graphics stuff, they will concede that they can do little but offer their opinion of what is presented for those elements, but in their view, word skills are shared by all.
I think that expressing to the client that the taglines have been worked and re-worked to accentuate the other elements may help. What might also help is to mention a few of the ones you ultimately threw away and why (negative connotation, bad analogy, etc.). This might get them thinking about how your skill as a writer is valuable.
melissabalkon had this to say,
Jul 16, 2009 @ 3:52 pm
I just stumbled on an article that speaks of copywriting as a sales tool. It explains how you don’t cut your sales people to cut costs, because they are the producers of revenue. Likewise, a copywriter is a sales person via paper or screen. Its just a thought, but maybe this comparison could be worked into some of your presentations in the future.
kim had this to say,
Jul 16, 2009 @ 3:57 pm
@tim excellent suggestion!
@melissa that’s a really interesting comparison…makes me feel all important now 
Charlene had this to say,
Jul 20, 2009 @ 5:10 pm
Kim,
I’ve found that many clients enjoy being creative. But since many can’t draw to save their lives, they do something that everyone can do – they write. The difference is that a copywriter writes with a strategy in mind. We attempt to achieve something meaningful and memorable from a few words. That being said, I write up rationales for the taglines I present. This shows the client that a lot of thought and reasoning went into the process, and hopefully it takes the subjectivity out of the process, well as much as it can anyway.
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I’m not sure how this would fit into your presentation, but had they seen all the work that went into the tagline, notes, etc? Maybe if they actually SAW that you had tried 100 different taglines before selecting the one being presented, they would have more respect for it?