Author: Teressa Iezzi
It's been a while since I last did a book review. I was so busy at school that I didn't have time to sit down and write one. But, the time has finally come for another review. I am pleased to share with you my opinion of the Advertising book called "The Idea Writers".
This book is all about copywriting, and more specifically, copywriting in the digital age. The author uses many examples of mostly recent successful campaigns to illustrate her point that a copywriter writes more than just some television commercials and magazine ads. A copywriter is someone who has to come up with ideas that can be used in a fully integrated campaign, especially in the new age of marketing.
In addition to highlighting some of the great campaigns, Iezzi also describes what the copywriter's job entails, as well as what should go into making an ad, including originality, and what life is like in the business.
Iezzi interviewed many copywriters, art directors, and creative directors in order to write this book. The juiciest parts are the various opinions and experiences of the industry professionals. It was great reading about how some of the best campaigns came together right from the people who worked on that particular campaign.
I have two favourite chapters in this book. The first, titled "Life in Adland" was particularly cool because the author asked several copywriters to describe what an average day is like for them for one of the sections in the chapter. Two out of the three wrote down their day as a timeline, including little details like hitting the snooze button a couple of times, and what they ordered for lunch. I thought that was a great touch and it gives you a feel for how hectic life can be like at an agency.
The second chapter that I really liked is called "Bringing Ideas to Life". This is the chapter that goes through some of the best campaigns in the digital age, and a couple of classic campaigns including the famous Economist ad campaign. This was a very enlightening chapter for several reasons. The copywriters, art directs, and creative directors described the process of how they came up with the ideas, most of the time, they were very spontaneous. It also described how much research went on behind the scenes, and how useful that research was in generating the idea.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The amount of research that went into writing it was quite apparent. It was extremely informative on the topic of how copywriting has changed since the 1960s, and even has boxes in some of chapters with career tips in them that could be quite useful. There is so much good advice in this book from both the author and the various creatives that were interviewed which could definitely help aspiring copywriters. I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in working on the creative side of the ad business. Not only is this book very informative, but it is also fun to read.
I hope enjoyed this review. That's all until next time. And don't forget to follow me on Twitter @GalacticGirlx2 for even more insights into the life of an advertising student.
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