The brief says people think the bank is old-fashioned. The copywriter and the art director spend two days filling a wall with ideas. Most are bad. On the third day one of them says, "What if the grandmother is the one teaching her grandson to use the app?" That line becomes a thirty-second script, then a storyboard, then a commercial. The copywriter is the agency creative who works with words and ideas.
What a copywriter does
At an advertising agency, ideas usually come from creative pairs, a copywriter and an art director. The art director thinks first in pictures, the copywriter in words, but in practice both come up with the concept together. The copywriter writes the script for a TV or online commercial, the voice-over, the dialogue, the tagline (the short line that sums up the brand) and the words in print and social versions of the campaign.
The pair present their ideas to the creative director, who chooses which ones go to the client. Once a script is approved, the copywriter stays with it. They join director meetings, attend the shoot to check the dialogue and performances, and sit in the edit and the voice-over recording.
Responsibilities
- Read the creative brief and turn it into ideas with the art director
- Write scripts, dialogue, voice-overs and taglines
- Present ideas to the creative director and to the client
- Rewrite scripts after feedback from the client or legal checks
- Help choose the director and give input on casting
- Attend the shoot, edit and voice-over sessions to protect the idea
- Adapt the copy for different lengths, platforms and countries
How the role touches the budget
No budget responsibility, but a lot of influence on cost. The copywriter does not manage money. But every line they write has a cost. A script set on a beach at sunset, with a crowd and a dog, costs much more than one with two people at a table. Good copywriters learn to write ideas that fit the budget, and the agency producer will tell them early when an idea will not.
How people become copywriters
Most build a portfolio, often called a book, of spec ads, adverts written for real brands as an exercise. Some study advertising or creative writing, others team up with an art director straight away and look for a junior placement at an agency. The portfolio matters far more than the diploma.
In commercials
The copywriter belongs to the agency in the triangle of brand, agency and production company. The brand approves the script, the agency owns it, and a production company with its own director makes the film for a fixed price. Once the production company is hired, the copywriter's role shifts from writing to watching over the idea. See how a film is made.