There is little doubt about how much digital technology has had an affect on the advertising industry. With the advent of the internet, there is now a whole new medium of opportunities in order to breed creativity. Consumers now have the power to demand more from every type of company and the overall mantra of connecting people has made brands much stronger than ever before.
But behind all of the gadgets and QR codes, lies a story about the slow and painful death of a once powerful position. I'm talking about the death of the headline copywriter.
It wasn't always this way. For many decades, headline copywriters ruled the advertising world. It all started in the 60's with the release of the revolutionary VW "Lemon" ad. Although "Lemon" was not such a thought inducing headline, it brought prosperity and significance to the headline of a print ad. This was followed by the subsequent "Think Small" VW ad.
And the headline copywriter was born.
As any creative will tell you, the first place that copywriters went with their headlines was cliches. After all, with all that drinking and smoking, this was the easiest and fastest place to go. And at that time, headlines were still new. The new generation of headline copywriters wrote fun and punny headlines throughout the 50's, 60's and into the 70's.
Then in the 80's when people started to get bored of the puns, headline copywriting was reinvented and started to get more creative. The headline became just as important as the body copy. With attention spans getting shorter, a more persuasive headline was needed.
But behind all of the gadgets and QR codes, lies a story about the slow and painful death of a once powerful position. I'm talking about the death of the headline copywriter.
It wasn't always this way. For many decades, headline copywriters ruled the advertising world. It all started in the 60's with the release of the revolutionary VW "Lemon" ad. Although "Lemon" was not such a thought inducing headline, it brought prosperity and significance to the headline of a print ad. This was followed by the subsequent "Think Small" VW ad.
And the headline copywriter was born.
As any creative will tell you, the first place that copywriters went with their headlines was cliches. After all, with all that drinking and smoking, this was the easiest and fastest place to go. And at that time, headlines were still new. The new generation of headline copywriters wrote fun and punny headlines throughout the 50's, 60's and into the 70's.
Then in the 80's when people started to get bored of the puns, headline copywriting was reinvented and started to get more creative. The headline became just as important as the body copy. With attention spans getting shorter, a more persuasive headline was needed.
As attention spans continued to deteriorate due the high use of cocaine and the dialectic introduction of MTV, clients wanted even less copy. So the headline became the ad! This not only meant that the copywriting had to spectacular, but the art direction had to be impeccable as well.
(I always tell other creatives that the easiest way to find a great art director is to get him/her to art direct a headline ad. That to me distinguishes the best from the rest. )
The 90's and the beginning of the 21st century was the peak for headline copywriters. Awards and recognition came left, right and centre and headline copywriters were on top of the world.
The good ones at least.
(I always tell other creatives that the easiest way to find a great art director is to get him/her to art direct a headline ad. That to me distinguishes the best from the rest. )
The 90's and the beginning of the 21st century was the peak for headline copywriters. Awards and recognition came left, right and centre and headline copywriters were on top of the world.
The good ones at least.
And then came the internet. At first, nothing really changed because people were too busy getting used to video sites like YouTube and porn sites like YouPorn. Copywriters breathed a sigh of relief as they were still relevant in the digital economy.
And then came Twitter. And comment boards. And so on.
And there you had it. The internet killed the headline copywriter.
Whether you are reading a tweet or a comment on a blog board, the internet has now made headline copywriters of us all. Plus, with our attention spans now almost non-existent - "Look! A squirrel" - the job and the need has all but disappeared.
Headline copywriter. You will surely be missed for all of your wit and banter. But look on the bright side. At least your tombstone will have something creative.
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