Abstract:
In his article “Mummies, Lost Arks and Long Copy Ads,” columnist Ernie Schenck offers advice
to copywriters in particular, and to advertisers in general.
Made bold by a favourable response to a previous article, in which he advocated taking an “organic” rather than a
mechanical approach to creating advertising, the author now recommends what he
calls an archaeologist’s approach.
To illustrate, Mr. Schenck cites two of his favourite
writers, Stephen King and James Lee Burke. These bestselling authors have
claimed respectively to unearth and to discover the
stories they tell, rather than plotting their courses entirely in advance—hence
the archaeological theme.
He also cites as an example the phenomenon of the last-minute, high-pressure
breakthrough of the Amazing Great Idea. Is it possible, he asks, that such
ideas could have somehow been ready, almost waiting to be discovered,
rather than purely manufactured? (Shades of Plato!)
For the creative professional, the author notes, this could be “a humbling
concept.” Yet improvisational musicians, great comedians, and other artists
have long been able to tune into this “unconscious” source of inspiration. So
too, suggests Mr. Schenck, may the best copywriters. In order to make ready for
the task, copywriters will do well to relax their self-identification as creators
of ideas, and move toward seeing themselves more as skilled “conduits,”
seeking to unveil deeper, subtler layers and truths with their art.
Characters compellingly brought to life in this manner, he assures us, will begin to do
the work of telling the stories on their own! But should a careless writer then
attempt to force the plot in a direction which goes against the nature of those
characters, the audience will know the difference. Viewers will respond
favourably to characters that are genuinely crafted, but will surely tune out the “fakes” in a 30-second
ad spot as readily as they will those in a novel or a movie.
The author feels that copywriters have lost touch
with the art of storytelling. This is due not to the influence of MTV, video games, or other media, but
because they have mistaken the concept of the ad for the story itself. Accordingly, if
advertisers would only spend “less effort manufacturing a brand and more [in] helping it to simply
reveal itself,” the audience could respond at a deeper and therefore more
enduring level.
The author had previously considered this ‘right-brain’ technique in writing to be undisciplined and unsophisticated, but he has become convinced of its value and exhorts his fellow writers to consider the possibility as well.