Creative and marketing go together like love and marriage, one can't function without the other. But the course of true love never runs smooth.
I did a marketing degree. And I have to confess, I've never used anything I learnt in the three years studying it.
My first job out of uni was working as a marketing assistant, but my main role was producing and distributing materials to the field force. It was there I realised marketing wasn't my thing and I wanted to do something more creative or artistic.
A job in music, I thought. Or a gallery. Perhaps an agency. Other than that, I didn't know what else I could do. Knowing that I had a love and itch for writing, I did a diploma in journalism... I had no idea the job of copywriter existed, let alone was open to me.
Then I had six happy years as an editor, in a publishing quango of the Department of Education. After Gordon Brown's bonfire, I went back into a marketing communications role.
I did not thrive in this environment, despite working on the greatest show on Earth (London 2012). I wasn't happy, but the bits I loved were creating materials and experiential campaigns. It was there I realised I had a flair and, dare I say it, talent for copywriting.
And that's what I pursued. Until I saw the glass ceiling and resigned myself to thinking that I was destined for a marketing job if I was to ever move up the client-side ladder.
The time I spent in marketing was a miserable one for one simple reason; maths.
One of the most impressive people I've ever worked with is a Marketing Director for one of the UK's most familiar legacy brands and she confirmed my opinion of the profession, that it is essentially maths.
A marketer has to analyse the market, buy the space, do media planning, targeting and retargeting, worry about CPA and trading. They have to pull reports on every campaign and activity they do to see how much revenue its generated.
Copywriting, content and creative is about, first and foremost, the customer experience of the brand.
Yes, I determined the tone of voice, I've written the headlines and CTAs, and produced the visuals.
Yes, I established a content strategy, conceptualised the creative.
Yes, I related all of this to the brand and customer experience.
No, I'm not the one who litters your Twitter, Facebook and Instagram timeline with ads that you whizz by as they're getting in the way of you looking at the things you've chosen to follow.
No, I'm not the one who interrupts the video you're watching with a 5 second ad, nor do I delay it.
No, I don't pepper every webpage with ads that obscure and disrupt the flowing of the article you're reading.
No, I don't spam your inbox with nonsense you don't care about, as you only signed up to buy something for your gran.
No, I don't embed my content into someone else's content like a parasite.
No, I don't have display ads that try to sell you something you've already bought or stalk you round the internet trying to make you buy something you look up for a laugh.
No, I don't put all that noise on every single webpage, so you spend most of linger time on that page dismissing pop-ups.
Digital and the internet means marketing has become intrusive. Marketers are like that annoying friend that shows up everywhere despite never talking to him/her or having anything in common.
Gone are the days where you can marvel at Eve Herzigova's norks while driving around the Hanger Lane gyratory. No longer can I choose to sit through ad breaks in the hope McDonalds' "money-saving tips" comes on or make a cuppa.
The fundamental difference between creative and marketing, is we think up the money-saving tip of getting a friend to thump to the side of the car instead of buying expensive sub-woofers. We cast and film it, we write the strapline and all the images, content and copy that sits around it.
A marketer decides where, when and how to use it (if at all) and worries about it meeting its targets. The overall success or failure of the product/service is their responsibility.
The beauty of working in digital and experience means that people who have actively chosen to come to the website (either through marketing or naturally) see your work and from there you show them why they made the right decision and how you're adding value to their lives. And hopefully making it better.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not under the disillusion that my role is completely altruistic and I'm nothing like those mercenary, money-driven marketers. I too am motivated by conversion, but also traffic and engagement. And I realise that I wouldn't get traffic and engagement without a helping hand from my marketing colleagues.
But I am happier on this side of the fence, where I can write copy, I can strategise content, I can execute creative and I can optimise the customer experience.
