.Where do you start when you’re creating a mailing (or a TV spot or a press ad or a post or an email)?
Years ago I was briefed to write a mailing for the NSPCC. Being a typical young and callow copywriter, I skimmed the brief and was ready to begin when the client (Barry Evans who ended up working for me) said “want to go and visit a centre?” Did I have to? I was very busy. And the centre was in, good heavens, Coventry.
But Barry was insistent and I found myself on a train going to, good heavens, Coventry, and then making my way to a modest building in the backstreets. I announced myself proudly as the Copywriter Sent up From London by Head Office.
The centre was run by a big bloke with a beard, the very image of a social worker. He sat me down across a cheap desk and I asked Important Questions to which he duly gave answers which I duly scribbled down, with an eye on the clock because I didn’t want to miss the train back to civilisation.
Just as I thought we might be finishing he quietly opened a drawer in the desk. He pulled out a brown folder. “But do you want to know what we’re really faced with?” He passed the folder over. “Open it.” I won’t go in the details, and these days I suspect it wouldn’t be allowed, but it was in black and white. The face of the child was obscured but the cigarette burns were clearly visible.
I went back to London and wrote with a determination that even these days is undimmed when it comes to the work of the NSPCC.
So don’t start with just the brief. Start with the reality. Go and see. Visit the centre, the field, get your hands on the product. Insist. Ever since that trip to Coventry I’ve rarely started on a project unless I can experience it for myself.
It worked even better when I was asked to write a mailing for Laithwaites Wines. But that’s another story.