Page 34 - 100 Great Copywriting Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

it provided more ammunition for the “all advertising is rubbish”
brigade. However . . . that’s not my point.
Although the self-proclaimed “creative community” seemed to be
having a collective you-know-what over this “brilliant viral
campaign,” the card itself was already in deep doo-doo,
commercially. The brand owners had just written off almost
half a billion dollars of losses and a quick trawl through a few
personal finance chatboards or money comparison sites revealed
the awful truth.
No doubt the marketing department and their agencies were hoping
for many awards and accompanying champagne dinners. No doubt
they got them. But did all the brouhaha about the advertising turn
around the fortunes of the brand? Well, as it now no longer exists,
I guess that would be a “no.”

In practice

• Provided you can write simple sentences in Plain English,

grammar shouldn’t be an issue for your copywriting. Concentrate
on expressing your concept clearly and all should be well.

• No amount of good grammar will save a toxic brand, so make

sure the product is solid before worrying about the subjunctive.

100 GREAT COPYWRITING IDEAS • 25