Does good quality copy still have a place in today’s world? By John Debell

When I started out as a copywriter, long copy was the thing.

Full page ads in national newspapers were the norm, all of them stuffed with reams of copy, much of it brilliantly written by some of the best advertising writers in the business.

Take for example the revolutionary ad created by David Ogilvy for the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud in 1959. The ad went into great detail about why the car was ‘the best in the world’, even leading with the lengthy headline message “At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock’.

Consequently, you didn’t read a book on your morning train commute, you read long copy ads. I’m exaggerating of course, but the point is that in those days there was a lot of great copy about.

Since then the world has changed out of all recognition. It’s become smaller. Everything moves faster and is more urgent – especially the way we communicate.

Rapidly advancing technology now sweeps us along in its unstoppable rush to outdo itself. And a seemingly endless series of smarter and slicker new platforms mean the marketing and communications environment is dominated by social media.

The result is a more personal approach to marketing; one that’s about people rather than things, where marketers aim to make more personalised connections with their audience.

The problem is that with increasing numbers of messages competing for our attention, the verbal and visual noise has had a numbing effect, and inevitably, attention spans have become greatly reduced as we try to keep up.

What happened to copy in all of this?

People have become less inclined to read it, especially when it’s being thrown at them from every direction in the hope that some will stick.

Little wonder that many people in marketing have decided that nobody actually has the time to read copy these days, and certainly not long stuff.

But the fact is, it’s not that people don’t want to read copy – they just don’t want to read boring copy that’s not in tune with who they are and what they want.

And this is exactly what makes well-crafted, thoughtfully composed copy, built around genuinely persuasive arguments, more important than ever when trying to get your message across.

Whether the copy is short or long, one thing’s for sure: having something relevant and engaging to say, in words that shine out of the ordinary and hit home, has always been what really matters.

It was refreshing to see the recent nod to times gone by from Volkswagen with their modern take on the infamous ‘Lemon’ ad from 1960. ‘Lemonade’ even included some beautifully written long form copy, which could be deemed potentially jarring in modern day advertising. I however, welcomed it with open arms.

As this ad proves, when copy has personality, is relevant, engaging, and packed with value, it’ll have a good chance of working no matter who you’re talking to, what your message is, or what platform you’re using.

My experience over the (many) years of writing copy has seen this change in real time. I’ve been fortunate enough to ride the wave and use my knowledge and experience to be able to turn my hand to any form of writing, a skill that I’m proud to say helps the copy we create here at Harrison Carloss stand out from the crowd.

Could we help you stand out too? Get in touch.