Just a stroke of the pen

Milan, end of August: the summer break has ended, and everyone is returning back to work. Slowly, the city is recovering its normal busy pulse. I don’t know about you, but for me the end of vacations, much more than New Year’s Eve, represents a new start and I’m more inclined to reflect upon what I normally do during the year, and especially about my job as a copywriter. Many words were spent on advertising until the onset of the 90s: in fact, before that decade, words could easily reach the 60% of total weight of an ad.

Nowadays images rule virtuallly unchallenged. A major exception arises when we deal with “digital brand strategy”, though, since interaction is involved. It’s about creating the right environment that nurtures opportunities for interpersonal exchange. Building relations with people online means engaging with reactions, emotions and conversations. In this case, writing becomes more essential than showing. To prove the enduring power of the written word, I’d like to share with you a video which is helping me find a fresh start for this year’s business season. It’s the story of a copywriter who with few strokes of the pen manages to transform the experience of another man. The director won the Cannes 2008 Online Competition.