The Copywriters Toolkit: The Complete Guide to Strategic Advertising Copy

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a student, novice, or seasoned professional, this book will hone your copywriting skills. Beginning with strategy and technique, each following chapter focuses on writing for a specific medium: from print and broadcast through ambient and digital media. Writing examples are shown using industry standard formats. You’ll quickly see how radio scripts differ from TV scripts, how television storyboards are best presented, and how print copy is typed up to facilitate typesetting. Copywriters from global agencies share their writing secrets and offer copy tips for every medium. Special callout boxes will make major points easy to remember and simple to apply. Glossaries are listed in relevant chapters and checklists summarize the principles for fast reference. Written from a real–world perspective by an award–winning copywriter/producer/director, this comprehensive guide is what every writer needs to create powerful, strategic ad copy.

1 THE PERSUASIVE WORD: strategy ABCs: audience, benefits, and creative briefs 1 2 THE STRATEGIC WORD: strategy categories 15 3 THE CHOSEN WORD: writing techniques 32 4 THE STICKY WORD: headline and slogan techniques 44 5 THE WRITTEN WORD: print 59 6 THE SPOKEN WORD: radio 85 7 THE ANIMATED WORD: television 115 8 THE DELIVERED AND ABRIDGED WORD: direct mail, mobile, and small–space writing 167 9 THE AMBIENT AND MOVING WORD: out–of–home and transit 196 10 THE ONLINE COMMUNAL WORD: digital dialogue, virtual community, blogging 224 11 THE ONLINE WORD: websites 242 12 THE BUZZ WORD: interactive engagement, social media, viral marketing 265 13 THE MULTIMEDIA WORD: integrated campaigns 289 14 THE GLOBAL WORD: multicultural and international campaigns 314

Margo Berman is a professor of advertising at Florida International University. She has more than twenty years of experience as an award–winning creative director and copywriter. She is the author of Street–Smart Advertising: How to Win the Battle of the Buzz (2010) and co–author (with Robyn Blakeman) of The Brains Behind Great Ad Campaigns: Creative Collaboration between Copywriters and Art Directors (2009).