Write offs?

Over the last week, I've very much enjoyed reading a debate, prompted by one of my Creativepool columns, on LinkedIn. It's always particularly satisfying to find creative professionals reacting to a piece I've written and I'm grateful to anyone who does.
However, I quickly noticed that most correspondents were designers, commenting from a design perspective and occasionally taking me to be a designer too. I'm not though, I'm a copywriter (and columnist, obviously). This set me thinking, are copywriters something of an afterthought in the modern creative industry? And if so, how did this happen?

A shot in the dark

When it comes to digital media The Guardian is certainly adventurous. Indeed, behind those doors at King's Place there's a policy/philosophy called 'digital first' - essentially a prioritisation of the newspaper's online activity, from podcasts to blogs, over the print edition. This could be considered very prescient in a rapidly changing market, although whether giving away your content on a website is a smart business model, remains to be seen. Especially when the paper is losing around £100,000 a week.

The Guardian's precarious financial position doesn't appear to be holding back its enthusiasm for surprising expeditions into the digital wilderness, though. This week, they opened the doors of Guardiancoffee, described as ‘a single site operation which is both a coffee shop and a space for journalists to work in’ (shouldn't that be '... in which to work'?).

The great Google betrayal

Like so many love affairs, our relationship with Google arrived unexpectedly, blossomed fabulously and soured rapidly and bitterly.

We've thought fondly of companies before - Cadbury for their caring, socialist roots; Virgin for their casual entrepreneurship; Levis for covering our legs with such aplomb. But Google was something else.

Formed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1998, with a mission 'to organise the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful' - the site wasn't the first search engine. Indeed, at the time, Yahoo! ruled the roost with misplaced confidence. When Page and Brin offered their company to Yahoo! they passed, leaving the path clear for the newer service to flourish at an unimaginable rate.

Google's appeal rests on three key elements. It is free to access, its homepage is irresistibly simple and it has always promoted a 'groovy' culture. The HQ is known as the 'Googleplex', developers are encouraged to spend 20% of their time working on 'anything that interests them' and the company offers free, nutritional food to all employees throughout the day.
In Google, we saw a real alternative to the great monolithic corporations of the past. Alongside their (admittedly rather clunky) moto: 'Don't be evil', Google espoused a philosophy of making money without being wicked, being serious without suits and enjoying ethical business.

Which direction?

I’m not sure exactly what One Direction’s fans were expecting but it wasn’t this.

For the last week or so, communiques from the group (or at least their ‘people’) started to wind their supporters into a frenzy of anticipation. A big announcement was promised. Actually make that a BIG announcement. But what could it be? After the JLS shocker, many feared the worst. The more optimistic followers predicted an album, maybe even a live one. (Incidentally, I know all this because, as regular podcast listeners will be aware, I am now a paid up member of the 1D fan club).

Well, in the end, it transpired the BIG news was some more concert dates. When one considers the boys are on a world tour right now, and most young fans have reached the limits of their disposable income – or that of their parents – more gigs was something of a damp squib.

Pussy galore

Owning a domestic animal is a trade-off. They bring you companionship, fun and a messy carpet - in return, you give them food. Lots of food. Indeed, it can feel as though the only reason they give you all the affection and comfort is because of the food (which of course is ridiculous).

I'm more of a dog man myself. They're reliably dopey, funny and dependent. But an ex-partner was obsessed with acquiring cats, so I've spent plenty of time with them too. As I recall, cats tend to tip the balance of the relationship in their favour. They don't do tricks, chase balls (they may pursue a piece of string once in a while) or see off intruders. That doesn't get you off the food hook, though. They're just as keen on their grub as their canine counterparts, they just do less in return. In fact, they're more keen on sleeping than anything else.

This slightly exploitative partnership is, of course, a gift to advertisers. We all know that manufacturers of sweets depend on 'pester power' to shift products, placing all manner of confections by the checkout to encourage children to badger their parents for Pokemon candy bars. Strong adults can resist this nonsense from kids, but almost never from pets (I know, the animals aren't in the supermarket - but their pleading eyes are ever-present in the minds of the owner). Consequently, pet food manufacturers are always keen to cook up new campaigns, the better to draw the hapless shopper to their brand. I think Pedigree currently sell Fido chews using a claim of improved doggy dentistry. Although, I can't help noticing that wolves have almost perfect gnashers and nobody buys them anything.

On cargo cults

If advertising is about anything, it's about influence and persuasion. So allow me to tell you a tale which perfectly illustrates the strange and mysterious ways in which the human psyche is influenced and persuaded.

This is the story of a man who doesn't exist, but who is worshipped with unwavering loyalty and belief. The man's name is John Frum.
Visit the island of Tanna (part of the Republic of Vanuatu in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia and southeast of Malaysia) on any 15th February and you'll enjoy the spectacle of hundreds of local villagers staging an extravagant celebration. Dressed in homemade uniforms resembling the kit of the US Army and with the letters 'USA' painted on their bodies, they hoist a 'stars and stripes' flag up a pole before marching over the foot of a volcano with bamboo 'guns' on their shoulders. This is no military pageant, however - it's a religious ritual. It is John Frum day.

What am I bid?

For the jobbing freelance there can only be one priority. Ahead of the bookkeeping, email answering, blog updating and business card ordering - there's nothing more important than bringing in the work. And, when the industry is buoyant, it's not too difficult. Call on a few contacts, send a few mailers, take a few meetings and, with a following wind, the bookings arrive.

But, as you may have noticed, these are not ordinary times. Agencies have been merging, slimming and folding with alarming regularity since the crash of 2008 - and, five years on, the malaise is a long way from cure. Inevitably, with creative businesses under pressure, costs are cut and that is never good news for freelances.

If you're lucky, you'll have one or two regular gigs to give you a 'baseline' income from which to build, but the building has rarely been tougher and even those frequent fixtures may look wobbly. Which is when the idea of an online marketplace for freelances starts to look appealing. 

Not 4U?

Channel 4 is in trouble with Ofcom. Not for a programme or an advertisement, but the juxtaposition of the two. The broadcasting regulator says the station broke their code on 26th December 2012 when they ran a commercial which gave the impression it was making fun of a strong rape scene featured in the movie 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo', in which the character Lisbeth Salander is violently assaulted.
The problematic spot didn't actually appear in the full break but in Phones 4U's sponsorship spot which shows a woman seemingly having sex and saying to camera "I'm faking it, can I upgrade?"

As I've mentioned before, the number of complaints which trigger investigation and censure from Ofcom or the ASA is always astonishingly low. Even the notorious Jonathan Ross / Russell Brand phone calls only drew a handful following their broadcast. It was only when the daily Mail ran a piece condemning the presenters that hundreds more objections arrived. In this case, the Phones 4U clip brought a mere 17 complaints bemoaning its inappropriateness. Inevitably, Channel 4 has apologised (such contrition is often the result of damage limitation meetings with lawyers, rather than anything more heartfelt, of course).