It's late on a Friday afternoon and as Holden Caulfield might say,
"It's cold as a witch's tit" outside. Much of the New York ad world
is thinking of leaving the office for the long Martin Luther King day weekend.
There's the faint clack and click of computer keyboards, some account people laughing
in the distance, but all in all, people are getting ready to shut down.
I don't blame them.
That said, I think Friday afternoon can also be the perfect time for a simple, brilliant
lesson in copywriting. That is if you find the right inspiration.
I found it today in "The New York Times" obituary of
Bob Levenson, who died last Wednesday at the age of 83, after 30+ years in the
business and countless great ads.
You can read his obit here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/18/business/media/robert-h-levenson-a-visionary-adman-dies-at-83.html?smid=fb-share
The copywriting lesson comes at the end of the obituary.
Dominik Imseng who wrote a book on DDB’s great VW ads asked Levenson about his approach to writing copy. Levenson replied:
“I always started by writing Dear Charlie, like
writing to a friend. And then I would say what I had to say, and at the end I
would cross out Dear Charlie, and I was all right. ”
