'Organizing Information Before Cool Words': The Copywriter's Method

Currently, I am working as a copywriter. My main job is creating catalogs for housing-related products.

For example, when a new insulation product for autumn is released, I sometimes create flyers to distribute them to households or home improvement stores. Or, there are requests for a systematic understanding of the product, so I also create catalogs for the entire product. It's a catalog that systematically summarizes the features and the products available in certain colors.

Of course, sometimes I am asked to come up with phrases. For example, in a catalog, I might put eye-catching words in the heading or summarize the content of the page in the heading, so sometimes I put strong and catchy words there. There are many famous catchphrases, but I think they are not just about creating words, but about how to use those words to bring about behavioral change in the reader. So, whether it's just a catchphrase or the entire catalog, the basic idea is to use words to achieve the goal, whether it's to promote behavioral change, encourage purchases, or make the product memorable. That's what I think a copywriter does.

Basically, I don't start with words, but I think a lot about what needs to be done. Of course, there are times when I have to decide whether to use a polite 'desu-masu' style or a more casual essay-like tone. For example, in the catalogs I create, the most important thing is to make sure that the reader correctly understands how to use the product. To ensure correct understanding, mistakes like typos are absolutely unacceptable, so I always pay attention to that. Even though essay-like expressions might be acceptable in terms of usage, they might deviate from the purpose in a catalog that aims to convey information accurately. Therefore, I choose words based on what needs to be done. When there is a clear objective, it becomes easier to think about which words to use and in which direction to go.

I've been a copywriter for about two years now, but before that, I worked at an advertising agency. Since I was a child, I had admired copywriters, and when I joined the advertising agency, I was able to do some copywriter-like tasks, such as writing scripts for radio commercials. However, it was a small advertising agency in the countryside, so I had a versatile role, doing everything from sales to suggesting ideas to clients as a director. But on the other hand, I felt that I still lacked the power to solve clients' problems, and I wanted to improve that skill. Also, I wanted to become a copywriter, which I had admired since childhood. So, I came to Tokyo with these two thoughts in mind, and by chance, I got the opportunity to work as a copywriter.

If I had to name one, it would be how to organize information. For example, if you're having a conversation with someone and they say, 'I like bread,' that person might have eaten bread that morning, or they might not have eaten bread for six months. If you think about it, that's the case, but somehow from the phrase 'I like bread,' you might imagine that they eat it every day. However, in copywriting, it's necessary to organize that information correctly. If you structure the information in the order of 'This person said they like bread, so they always eat bread,' it doesn't get organized and becomes a strange flow. Instead, if you want to know if this person ate bread this morning, you ask, 'Did you eat bread this morning?' and extract that information. It's very important to structure the information correctly and not make assumptions based on how it's received.

My supervisor is exceptionally good at organizing text. He points out things like 'These parts overlap' or 'This can be combined into one' when I write something around 50 characters long. The longer the text, the more cumbersome it can become, so he makes it sharp yet ensures the meaning is conveyed. He's exceptionally good at selecting the meaning and cutting out unnecessary words.

Easy-to-understand language is very important not only for clients but also for working together. When there are easy-to-understand words, it promotes a common understanding among everyone, or rather, it's about having words that are easy to understand and don't lead to misunderstandings. Everyone can refer back to them. So, I really think it's a very important skill.

I don't just write it off the cuff. For example, when I'm tasked with creating a flyer, before writing the content and handing it over to the designer, I need to have knowledge about the product in the flyer and information about what the client wants to achieve with this flyer. Or, I wonder how the competitors are approaching it when this flyer is released, and what kind of expressions they are using to sell the product. If the flyer I'm about to release has the same expression as the competitors, it's a big problem, so I have to be careful about that in my work. The information gathering before writing takes quite a bit of time, and I might spend a significant part of my day on it.

If I really gain strength, I am considering it. If I were to go independent, I would like to specialize in something within copywriting, such as being an extremely knowledgeable copywriter about housing manufacturer products, or knowing everything about catalogs from start to finish. Or, being a copywriter who is also good at photography and video, adding some kind of value, and gaining a certain level of trust from clients before going independent.

In the earlier discussion about copywriting, the goal is to create text that conveys one clear meaning accurately to avoid misunderstandings. However, I see tanka poetry as the opposite. I think it's something that expands meaning. I think it's important for the reader to have a more varied and changed image from those words. While using words in that way, I can use them differently in copywriting and tanka poetry. What you shouldn't do in copywriting might be very good in tanka poetry, and conversely, what might be very explanatory and uninteresting in tanka poetry might be a very clear and good text in copywriting. Being able to do both might be good.

Without money, work might be a bit difficult. To a large extent, it's for living. However, you can do tanka poetry even without money.

I think it would be great if you could realize this on your own, but being a copywriter is not just about creating cool words. There are various tasks behind it, such as organizing information before creating cool words. So, I think people who like catchphrases or cool words should aim to be copywriters, but even those who have no interest in such cool words might have the potential to be copywriters. So, I hope you'll look into it if you're interested. Since I mainly focus on the work before creating cool words, I think it's a fascinating job that involves human interaction and is not yet replaceable by AI.