This week we've gone to all the way to India, to speak to Priya Singh. She used to be an ad agency side copywriter, but now works for a large infrastructure & technology company we'll leave nameless as she's not a spokesperson for that brand - and part of her job is to keep things like that in check. Priya can be found on twitter as well at rimeswithcya. Our global tour of the advertising world shows us that there are universal truths in advertising, and clever people everywhere. DB: What’s the one thing you love most about advertising?
Priya : That it’s still one of the most fun jobs you can have, and usually you get to work with smart, talented people who don’t take themselves too seriously. Oh, and I love the product - a good ad done right is a joy to behold.
DB: You've recently gone to "the dark side" as they say, what is the difference when you're working as a copywriter on the agency side and then as a copywriter on the client side?
Priya : Well, I’m seeing a difference in copywriting on either side, writing copy or adapting copy to web-friendly formats has become less of a craft, maybe due to the sheer volume & versions of it you’re expected to generate. So it's all starting to look a little 'dark' to me. Oh, and I hate it when the term ‘content’ is used interchangeably with copy.
The biggest difference to a creative person moving to the client side is, I think, the fact that you have to be the ‘grown-up’ in the room when you’re being presented creative ideas. You can’t just fall for the clever stuff or the pretty pictures unless it also meets the business requirement.
You have to recognize the spark in the ideas that the agency comes up with and steer it through all the rough waters of “Does this meet the brief? What will it achieve?”… I’m avoiding the dreaded term, RoI. Your motivation is different because you’re not putting your creative ego into it, instead you’re making sure it works for the brand and the purpose that it’s meant for. Plus, you're actually in a much better position to push the good ideas through.
DB: What project that you've worked on are you most proud of, and why?
Priya : I’m not going to name a campaign here, because most of the work, when I look back at it, I feel I could have done better.
But there have been challenges that I’m proud to have tackled without caving. The most recent of which was the complete transformation of our enterprise website, bringing multiple businesses across diverse sectors and geographies under one coherent design language & navigation structure. The biggest challenges were people challenges, convincing different teams with different marketing objectives to be true to a shared design & communication strategy so we could deliver a uniform brand experience.
You know Creatives are not often known for their patience, they get bored easily and start looking for the next exciting thing. Well, I have the ability to work through the ‘boring’ to find something in there that can lift it and make it interesting - I guess I’m most proud of my ‘stick-to-it-iveness’ as it’s called, to just stay with the project and keep digging, when everybody else is ready to say F*** It, take a shortcut, or move on to something else. Patience is not often seen as a required skill in Creatives, but it’s useful.
DB: What was the trigger that lead you into the creative industry?
Priya : Ha! It was probably the complete absence of any idea of what I was going to do after college. I took a copy test because someone suggested it, before my college results were even out, and got accepted as a trainee in what was then a small-ish agency. It was meant to be a short stop till I figured out the next step.
Why I stuck was because I was lucky enough to have had good bosses early on. People who really loved advertising and I guess the passion was infectious. I was around some very talented people who were at the top of their game in the first 3 or 4 years of my career, and that’s the phase when you have no ego or preconceived ideas – so I was open to learning and I learned without cynicism.
DB: What’s something you wish you could change about the creative industry?
Priya : One word:
Clickbait.
President at Mullen, Pittsburgh, PA Bo Hellberg, Swedish ECD in France, at Brave and Billington Cartmell, Paris Jane Goldman Creative Director/Copywriter & Strategist, Boston, MA Jonah Otieno - Executive Creative Director 5ive Ltd, Nairobi Anne-Cécile Tauleigne ECD at JWT Paris Esther Clerehan, Headhunter, Sydney, Australia Ad chat: Manuel Bordé Creative copy at BBDO Dubai Rance Randle Art Director at TBWA\Chiat\Day\LA Åsk 'Dabitch' Wäppling the force behind Adland Dave Trott creative mischief chief Arnie DiGeorge Executive Creative Director of RR Partners Andy Kinsella Innovation Director at Glue Isobar Koert Bakker Director of Strategy at Victor & Spoils Evan Brown, Sr. Copywriter at TBWA\Chiat\Day Dena Walker, Digital Strategist at Irish International in Dublin, Ireland Bernie Watt, copywriter at Make, in Sydney, Australia Ron Smrczek, Executive Creative Director of TAXI Europe Vincent Vella, Creative Director - Grey Paris, Euro RSCG and Publicis. Gideon Amichay, Creative Chairman of Shalmor Avnon Amichay Y&R Tel Aviv Richard Tseng, Freelance Copywriter at CP+B Claudiu Florea, Managing Partner - Wunderkid, Romania Snorre Martinsen creative at Saatchi & Saatchi Oslo Laura Jordan Bambach, Executive Creative Director LBi Simon White Creative Lead from Rapp, London Richard Gorodecky Executive Creative Director at Amsterdam Worldwide Ray Page Creative Director at Tribal DDB Adam Pierno of Off Madison Ave. Edward Boches of Mullen Dirk Singer of Rabbit, UK Gareth Kay of Goodby, Silverstein and Partners Tim Brunelle of Hello Viking Rob Schwartz of TBWA\Chiat\Day
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