Copy Work

If you want to be a good copywriter, do the copy work...

Midjourney Prompt: Robot writing with both hands at the same time --ar 16:9 --v 5

Copy Work

A method for learning how to be a copywriter.

People sell courses to future copywriters and marketers that teach them this. Hand copy famous advertising writing and campaigns in order to:

• improve their skills and create successful campaigns

• best understand the structure, impact and messaging intent

• to learn from the great copywriters

How to do it?

Either grab a pen and paper and start copying by hand a piece of advertising copy. Or type some ads on your computer and get the benefits of this practice.

Who uses this method?

Many of the legendary ad people you’ve heard about:

1. Gary Halbert - Legendary direct response copywriter

2. Ray Edwards - Author and copywriter

3. Neville Medhora - Founder of Kopywriting Kourse

4. John Carlton - Marketing and advertising copywriter

5. David Ogilvy - Advertising tycoon and copywriting pioneer

6. Bob Bly - Freelance copywriter and author

7. Jay Abraham - Business consultant and copywriter

8. Dan Kennedy - Marketing consultant and copywriter

9. Eugene Schwartz - Advertising copywriter and author

Some current proponents of Copy Work:

1. Joanna Wiebe - Founder of Copyhackers

2. Laura Belgray - Founder of Talking Shrimp

3. Ashlyn Carter - Copywriter and author

4. Brittany McBean - Copywriter and coach

5. Kira Hug - Copywriter and consultant

6. Eddie Shleyner - Copywriter and founder of VeryGoodCopy

7. Sam Parr - Founder and past writer of the Hustle newsletter

8. Hillary Weiss - Copywriter and messaging strategist

9. Ry Schwartz - Copywriter and coach

10. Alex Cattoni - Copywriter and founder of The Copy Posse

11. Tarzan Kay - Copywriter and launch strategist

Where to Start?

As you copy, be aware of the language of persuasion being used. The style - Is it short words, sentences, and paragraphs? Is it easy to understand? If I were in Grade 8 could I easily understand what the writing was saying? Are the headlines worth 80% of the whole?

You may want to copy these more than once. As you find interesting and well written pieces of copy on the internet, copy and paste them into a file for future copy work.

Here are some resources for you to copy, by hand or keyboard.

Apple's "Think Different" campaign:

Apple's iconic "Think Different" campaign featured a series of print and television ads that celebrated creativity and innovation. The copy was simple and powerful, featuring short sentences and bold statements that captured the essence of the brand. And a great copy work example to start with:

“Here's to the crazy ones.
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently.

They're not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can quote them, disagree with them,
glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can't do is ignore them.

Because they change things.

They push the human race forward.

While some may see them as the crazy ones,
we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world, are the ones who do”.

© 1997 Apple Computer, Inc.

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They didn’t mention the eyepatch in the ads. It was a prop that people would relate to the ad whenever they saw an eyepatch. The eyepatch was meant to symbolize high class. And a story the reader could write in their own minds. How did he get the eyepatch? What kind of job does this guy do? It’s there to pique curiosity. Similar to the Dos Equis' ads: "The Most Interesting Man in the World" campaign.

The man in the Hathaway Shirt - by David Ogilvy

“American MEN are beginning to realize that it is ridiculous to buy good suits and then spoil the effect by wearing an ordinary, mass-produced shirt. Hence the growing popularity of HATHAWAY shirts, which are in a class by themselves.

HATHAWAY shirts wear infinitely longer - a matter of years. They make you look younger and more distinguished, because of the subtle way HATHAWAY cut collars. The whole shirt is tailored more generously, and is therefore more comfortable. The tails are longer, and stay in your trousers.The buttons are mother-of-pearl. Even the stitching has an anti-bellum elegance about it.

Above all, HATHAWAY make their shirts of remarkable fabrics, collected from the four corners of the earth - Viyella and Aertex from England, woollen taffeta from Scotland, Sea Island cotton from the West Indies, hand woven madras from India, broadcloth from Manchester, linen batiste from Paris, hand blocked silks from England, exclusive cottons from the best weavers in America.You will get a great deal of quiet satisfaction out of wearing shirts which are in such impeccable taste.

HATHAWAY shirts are made by a small company of dedicated craftsmen in the little town of Waterville, Maine. They have been at it, man and boy, for one hundred and fifteen years.

At better stores everywhere, or write C.F. Hathaway, Waterville, Maine, for the name of your nearest store.In New York, telephone…Prices from $5.50 to $25.00.

© Hathaway Shirts

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Volkswagen's "Think Small" campaign

Volkswagen's "Think Small" campaign was a groundbreaking example of how to turn a weakness into a strength. The copy was witty and self-deprecating, acknowledging the small size of the car while highlighting its benefits.

Presenting America’s slowest fastback.

There are some new cars around with very streamlined roofs.

But they are not Volkswagons.

They are called fastbacks, and some of them are named after fish.

You can tell them from Volkswagons because a VW won’t go over 72 mph. (Even though the speedometer shows a wildly optimistic top speed of 90.)

So you can easily break almost any speed law in the country in a VW.

And you can also cruise right past gas stations, repair shops, and tire stores.

The VW engine may not be the fastest, but it’s among the most advanced. It’s made of magnesium alloy (one step better than aluminum). And it’s so well machined you may never add oil between changes.

The VW engine is cooled by air, so it can never freeze or boil over. It won’t have anything to do with water. So we saw no reason to name it after a fish.

© Volkswagon

Some more fun stuff to copy would be the Billy Mays infomercial scripts:

Hi, Billy Mays Here

My take of the most successful piece of advertising ever. The original was written by Martin Conroy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Conroy) for The Wall Street Journal, ran from 1975-2003, and is responsible for more than $2 billion in sales and subscriptions.

The DPN (Deplatformable Newsletter)

If you are looking for more stuff to copy I’ll suggest going through the following list of the Top 30 Ads according to AdAge Magazine. The copy can be found by Googling. If they are TV ads, then they may be on Youtube.

The top 30 ads according to AdAge Magazine are:

1. Volkswagen "Think Small" Doyle Dane Bernbach 1959

2. Coca-Cola "The pause that refreshes" D'Arcy Co. 1929

3. Marlboro The Marlboro Man Leo Burnett Co. 1955

4. Nike "Just Do It" Wieden & Kennedy 1988

5. McDonald's "You deserve a break today" Needham, Harper & Steers 1971

6. DeBeers "A diamond is forever" N.W. Ayer & Son 1948

7. Absolut Vodka The Absolut Bottle TBWA 1981

8. Miller Lite "Tastes great, less filling" McCann-Erickson Worldwide 1974

9. Clairol "Does she...or doesn't she?" Foote, Cone & Belding 1957

10. Avis "We try harder" Doyle Dane Bernbach 1963

11. Federal Express "Fast talker" Ally & Gargano 1982

12. Apple Computer "1984" Chiat/Day 1984

13. Alka-Seltzer Various ads Jack Tinker & Partners; Doyle Dane Bernbach; Wells Rich, Greene 1960s, 1970s

14. Pepsi-Cola "Pepsi-Cola hits the spot" Newell-Emmett Co. 1940s

15. Maxwell House "Good to the last drop" Ogilvy, Benson & Mather 1959

16. Ivory Soap "99 and 44/100% Pure" Procter & Gamble Co. 1882

17. American Express "Do you know me?" Ogilvy & Mather 1975

18. U.S. Army "Be all that you can be" N.W. Ayer & Son 1981

19. Anacin "Fast, fast, fast relief" Ted Bates & Co. 1952

20. Rolling Stone "Perception. Reality." Fallon McElligott Rice 1985

21. Pepsi-Cola "The Pepsi generation" Batton, Barton, Durstine & Osborn 1964

22. Hathaway Shirts "The man in the Hathaway shirt" Hewitt, Ogilvy, Benson & Mather 1951

23. Burma-Shave Roadside signs in verse Allen Odell 1925

24. Burger King "Have it your way" BBDO 1973

25. Campbell Soup "Mmm mm good" BBDO 1930s

26. U.S. Forest Service Smokey the Bear/"Only you can prevent forest fires" Advertising Council/Foote, Cone & Belding

27. Budweiser "This Bud's for you" D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles 1970s

28. Maidenform "I dreamed I went shopping in my Maidenform bra" Norman, Craig & Kunnel 1949

29. Victor Talking Machine Co. "His master's voice" Francis Barraud 1901

30. Jordan Motor Car Co. "Somewhere west of Laramie" Edward S. (Ned) Jordan 1923

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Bonus: https://marketingbullets.com/archive/

I hope you found some value today. There are guys charging up to hundreds of dollars for “courses” to basically tell what I have here. Have fun, and comment, share, and like if you liked this. Let me know if you tried this out. Peace!