Keep it simple.
Keep it real.
Sadly, copywriting is often used as a glossy, modern way to fool people. We think that this line-of-attack is advertising suicide.
You see, your brand is not only your responsibility – it’s ours too. Consumers aren’t stupid and they’re also not very forgiving. If we spice up your copy with empty promises, they’ll soon find out, turn to another brand and never come back to yours. That’s not the sort of risk we’re prepared to take.
So let’s sit down, be real and do some great advertising – pure, truthful and simple.
Copywriting in the Middle East: The peculiar case of Arabic.
Pleasing everyone is no easy task.
There’s no doubt that the Middle East has become one of the world’s most exciting markets for big brands. But if you’re not careful, those big messages powered by massive media budgets can be distorted and lost through naïve writing.
In different dialects words can have completely different connotations, with puzzling and often embarrassing results. The way an Arab responds to the copy he reads reflects his education and dialect. For example, British- or American-educated Arabs rarely appreciate the subtleties of Arab literature – even some of the expressions used in the media. While popular, colloquial, day-to-day Arabic appeals to most generations.
These are just some of the pitfalls of Arabic copywriting. The result is that projects can involve hours of debate, not to mention days of to-ing and fro-ing before everyone reaches a consensus.
Yala Creative cuts through the confusion and time-consuming deliberation by using some of the region’s most talented Arabic writers. This eclectic mix of handpicked talent are experts in dialectical and tonal sensitivities. In other words, they know how to talk to people in their language – with words they can relate to.
It makes a lot of sense.
Use common English in the Middle East.
The Middle East is a vibrant melting pot of non-English and English speakers, many use English as the common medium. Your English copy should reflect this and be adapted to your market.
It’s no use having award-winning English writers using words and cultural references that won’t be recognised or appreciated.
If they’re from ‘Blighty’, writing text that leaves your customers ‘all at sea’, that would be a total ‘damp squib’.
You see what we mean?
Our collective of native English copywriters come with a sensible and sensitive knowledge of the Middle East, along with experience working on some of the world’s great brands. So while they’re strongly conceptual, they’re also careful to make sure their words are understood by everyone.
After all, one of the beauties of English is that it can be written in so many flavours.
Don’t get tangled in the web.
Web copy is special because web users are special. And we don’t mean that in a facetious way.
Users visit you. They experience your brand at a much more intimate and immediate level than through traditional media. So it just makes sense that your digital communication speaks to them differently.
Reading off a computer screen is not the same as reading a magazine or a brochure. For one, it’s tiring. What’s more, people on computers are often pressed for time and even if they’re not, the user is looking for specific info or a particular experience.
Most importantly, they’d better get it quick or they’ll be off googling another site that does give them what they’re looking for.
Which is why we advise that you don’t simply take the brochure copy we wrote for you and paste it into your website. You might think words are just words – but when it comes to web writing, there are totally different rules.
So we have a geeky band of brothers and sisters who specialise in writing for digital media. We asked them to tell us why they’re so extraordinary. And in true web style, they emailed us these pithy bullet points:
- We know how to use the right words in the right quantity to be easily googled
- We know how the eye travels on a screen and how to exploit the habits
- We write easy-to-read text that keeps users scrolling
- We know how long sentences and paragraphs can be before the reader gets impatient
- And we know how to break up text to keep them interested
Digital marketing isn’t just the way of the future – it’s the way of the now. And your brand’s communication can be so much more powerful with the right words, tricks and techniques.
Don't rewrite text. That’s what copywriters are for.
We all know that if you use good people, you don’t need to check every detail of their work. That’s true with copywriting.
You won’t believe the things copywriters have deliberated over before they send text to you. Yet some managers feel they ought to make at least one or two changes to text.
Well, with a good copywriter, you don’t. If the style is right and the facts are correct, you can approve text knowing it’s right for the job – even if you would’ve used slightly different words. After all, it’s what the reader thinks that really matters, and that’s who copywriters are thinking of.
If you have a concern about something, the best thing to do is highlight the word/sentence/paragraph and get the copywriter’s advice. Suggest an alternative if you have one. Just remember, while you could be improving it in one way, you might also be weakening it in another, (one you may not even be aware of). Let the copywriter advise you.
E.g. 1:
‘…peaceful…’ < tranquil?
E.g. 2:
“Please change word/sentence/paragraph to sound more…”
Copywriters love words. They check the number of times certain often-used words appear in a paragraph, know the subtle differences in meaning for similar words and even check the ‘speed’ a sentence reads.
They have other copywriters read their text, so it isn’t just their opinion on a choice of word or style. They even discuss whether to use a colon rather than a dash – over dinner. (They really do!)
They’ve been speaking fluent English all their lives, have studied it at a high level and constantly add to their knowledge as the language evolves, so they’re best qualified to suggest the most appropriate choice of words for those who matter most: your customers.
If you’ve changed nothing, that’s great for you. The job can go ahead and you can rest assured that good copywriters have made it sound first rate.
The Art of writing good copy.
Since the time of David Ogilvy, Neil French and other copywriting legends, a debate has raged about long copy versus short copy.
There’s a widespread belief that consumers won’t read ads with too much text. The desire to make everything in life more visually appealing has made a deep impact on advertising.
This, in our opinion, is the biggest threat to the craft of copywriting.
Certain brands have always communicated through ads which say a lot, but only because there is a lot to say. Consumers only dislike reading if the copy is irrelevant – their curiosity needs to be satiated by a compelling story.
Sadly, it’s this storytelling that’s missing in advertising today, replaced by pithy slogans and conjured catch phrases.
We’re increasingly becoming a ‘reading’ society. There are more emails to send, more blogs to tune into, more information to absorb. So why should advertising be bereft of this craft? This age of SMSing and PDAing is scything through whatever language and writing skills still exist. This will eventually impact on an industry that depends on both the visual and written art.
The art of writing should sync with the art of reading. Each depends on the other. We need a craft of writing that enables the consumer to make choices – and the right choices.
This is a re-invention that the advertising business needs. It should do so quickly before the dying embers of copywriting are replaced by garishly painted billboards screaming slogans only twisted linguistics can translate!