add passion collective

Do you know that feeling, when youbite into your favorite dessert… it’sdelicious, exciting, sweet, rewarding, itmakes you feel better and you just wantmore of it?Well, that’s how I feel when I think, talkor write about advertising…

Who am I and why am I telling this toyou? For starters, I’m aCommunication Studies graduate,studying for a master’s degree inStrategic Marketing Communications. Icome from a small European country,Slovenia, which is set between Austria,Italy, Croatia and Hungary. I’m reallypassionate about many things, such

as music, tourism, medicine, writing, psychology, nature, ecology, volunteer work and entrepreneurship but my heartbelongs to advertising.

Who am I and why am I telling this toyou? For starters, I’m aCommunication Studies graduate,studying for a master’s degree inStrategic Marketing Communications. Icome from a small European country,Slovenia, which is set between Austria,Italy, Croatia and Hungary. I’m reallypassionate about many things, such

as music, tourism, medicine, writing, psychology, nature, ecology, volunteer work and entrepreneurship but my heartbelongs to advertising.

I haven’t had a chance to work in an advertisingagency yet but I have managed to get a fair bit ofexperience through student jobs including writing,public relations, event organization, customerservices and so on. I also try to take part inmarketing competitions which involve coming upwith campaign ideas. Little by little, I’m paving mypath to where I want to be and what I want to do fora living.

KajaKaja comes from Slovenia and is

a Communication Studies graduatecurrently studying for a master’s

degree in Strategic MarketingCommunications. Here she shares herpassion for advertising and reminds usall why we love doing this fantastic job.

www.copywritercollective.com

BITTER SWEET MOMENTSNow think about the first time you realized what you are good at

and what you wanted to do with your life. That’s a special feeling

and a memory that stays with you forever. But it’s not always a

peachy moment, that’s for sure. When you tell it to the world, well,

then things start to change. Maybe your family don’t approve of it,

maybe your friends laugh at you or they think it’s just a phase

you’re going through. In most cases, when a family realizes that its

precious child won’t become a lawyer, a doctor, a pharmacist or an

economist their world collapses. When you mention you want to

work in advertising, they’re finished. “What’s wrong with you? Why us? What did we do wrong? You want to be a what? An

advertiser? What will you do? Walk door to door and sell things? You don’t need an education for that.”

On the other hand, if you’re lucky, you can get a more positive response, for instance, “I really admire your courage to take

this path”, “I think you’re really going to be good at it” or “Wow, that’s an awesome occupation” (not a really common

response as you can imagine). When I tell people my field of study, they just make some weird grimace, a mixture of

judgment, pity, amazement, fear, disgust, worry and bafflement. And then they’re left speechless. You can imagine what an

encouraging reaction that was for me.

work in advertising, they’re finished. “What’s wrong with you? Why us? What did we do wrong? You want to be a what? An

advertiser? What will you do? Walk door to door and sell things? You don’t need an education for that.”


WHAT IS CREATIVITY?

Advertising can be a very touchy subject – most people just can’t stand it or don’t care about it, others tolerate it andsome adore it (probably because they work in advertising). Well, I’m definitely one of the latter. I love it . Love. Love.Love. Not because of advertising’s role in the greater economy or anything like that but thanks to its essence –creativity. Creativity is such a magical thing. It’s so simple, yet so complicated. No one can really pin it down, what it isor isn’t, can it be instantly activated or not, and whether you inherit it or can learn it.

As kids we used it all the time but as wegrow up we become pretty muchunaware of it. We just get into a routine,day after day and put our creativity on aleash or, worse still, lock it downcompletely. Observing the world, beingcurious, generating new ideas, thinkingabout new ways of problem solving,doing a chore, testing your latest recipeinspiration and hoping everyone willsurvive it, taking a different road to workor school, designing your ownaccessories, trying out new hobbies: thelist is endless. That’s what being creativemeans. To constantly evolve and look fornew things, views, ways and solutions.For me, creating means living.

As kids we used it all the time but as wegrow up we become pretty muchunaware of it. We just get into a routine,day after day and put our creativity on aleash or, worse still, lock it downcompletely. Observing the world, beingcurious, generating new ideas, thinkingabout new ways of problem solving,doing a chore, testing your latest recipeinspiration and hoping everyone willsurvive it, taking a different road to workor school, designing your ownaccessories, trying out new hobbies: thelist is endless. That’s what being creativemeans. To constantly evolve and look fornew things, views, ways and solutions.For me, creating means living.


ADVERTISING: A JOB LIKE NO OTHERAdvertising amazes me because it works for creativity. There are so many jobs that could be done by a robot but

advertising isn’t one of them. And that’s one of the reasons why I love it. I see advertising as a magical world. It’s

where all the forces unite. Where creative energy, writing, ideas, hopes, wishes and needs come together and

create something completely new, until then unknown and unseen. Advertising is one of those rare industries that

really let you express yourself, your thoughts, ideas and wishes. It lets you be curious, to research, observe and

walk around with open eyes and ears. That’s what makes it so unique, mystical and so appealing.

Knowing you can make your craziest idea

come true is really exciting. When I’m writing,

creating and imagining new ideas I feel fresh

and alive, energetic, like everything is

possible and the world lies in my hands.

Limitless, like the sky. I’m aware that the

reality isn’t quite like that: crazy schedules,

constant pressure, deadlines, always hunting

for new ideas, second guessing clients… but

I still want to be a part of this AD WORLD.

Knowing you can make your craziest idea

come true is really exciting. When I’m writing,

creating and imagining new ideas I feel fresh

and alive, energetic, like everything is

possible and the world lies in my hands.

Limitless, like the sky. I’m aware that the

reality isn’t quite like that: crazy schedules,

constant pressure, deadlines, always hunting

for new ideas, second guessing clients… but

I still want to be a part of this AD WORLD.


DRIVING AMBITION

I wanted that since I was 13 years old. Back

then my neighbor was this great ad producer

and director. He made one of the best TV

commercials in the history of our country. It

was for the state’s sport lottery and it was

really advanced for its time. It was so fresh

and humorous that everyone talked about it.

This commercial was a stroke of brilliance and

I still remember all the words by heart. I even

I wanted that since I was 13 years old. Back

then my neighbor was this great ad producer

and director. He made one of the best TV

commercials in the history of our country. It

was for the state’s sport lottery and it was

really advanced for its time. It was so fresh

and humorous that everyone talked about it.

This commercial was a stroke of brilliance and

I still remember all the words by heart. I even

used to act out the commercial over and over again with some other kids outside of our building. When we noticed

this producer going past we made sure to enact the commercial as well and as loud as we could. We thought he would

laugh, say “You did a great job guys” and we hoped he would choose us for a role in one of his upcoming commercials.

Of course, none of our hopes came true. He didn’t even notice our effort; he was always busy in his own creative world.

But it was his commercial that changed my life. It hit me then and hasn’t let me go all these years : I want to write ads,

therefore I will be a copywriter. And not just a regular one but a great one.


SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITYI want to be able to produce works which will change things,

perspectives, feelings, relationships and the world even. It’s

important to know what to say, how to say it and when to say it.

It’s not about selling that new deodorant or Snickers but it’s the

feelings you get to arouse, exchange or portray with the

add. Isn’t it wonderful to know you make someone laugh or

wonder every time they see your ad? That you made someone

realize something new? Or simply just made someone’s jaw drop

over a genius idea?

I believe that advertising can and should be used as a tool to

make a positive change. That’s where social advertising plays a

crucial role. It’s so underestimated most of the time because it

doesn’t make money and many agencies aren’t happy to do it.

It’s good for their image and that’s about it from their point of

view. In my opinion, the biggest impact you can have is that a

person changes something because of you. That’s what good

copy makes possible.

I believe that advertising can and should be used as a tool to

make a positive change. That’s where social advertising plays a

crucial role. It’s so underestimated most of the time because it

doesn’t make money and many agencies aren’t happy to do it.

It’s good for their image and that’s about it from their point of

view. In my opinion, the biggest impact you can have is that a

person changes something because of you. That’s what good

copy makes possible.


MAKE A SPLASH

Getting a job in advertising isn’t really that easy, because so many

people want to do it and you have to stand out. But that’s not

enough. You have to be noticed by the right person at the right

moment who will see that special spark or potential in you.

Experience and personal characteristics play a big part too. Agencies

like to hire people who are not only talented but also tough (ruthless

even), self-confident to the point of being self-centered. If you don’t

have these personal characteristics then you have to really really

really impress the agency people with something special, like juggling

during a triple somersault from the highest skyscraper into a pool.

Okay, maybe not so dramatic, but you see my point.

FOLLOW YOUR PASSION

Getting a job in advertising isn’t really that easy, because so many

people want to do it and you have to stand out. But that’s not

enough. You have to be noticed by the right person at the right

moment who will see that special spark or potential in you.

Experience and personal characteristics play a big part too. Agencies

like to hire people who are not only talented but also tough (ruthless

even), self-confident to the point of being self-centered. If you don’t

have these personal characteristics then you have to really really

really impress the agency people with something special, like juggling

during a triple somersault from the highest skyscraper into a pool.

Okay, maybe not so dramatic, but you see my point.

FOLLOW YOUR PASSIONIf you can’t do that, there’s always the option tofind a mentor who will guide you and share hisor her advertising experience with you. Passion,enthusiasm, curiosity, good writing skills and theability to see inspiration in everything aroundyou are essential for a good advertiser – or agreat employee in general. But there is alwaysa catch with wanting something really bad.When it happens, it may not be the way youimagined it to be because your expectationswere too high.


That must be a very troubling and disappointingmoment, a sort of personal test, but the key is torealize that you experienced what you wantedand can move on to another thing you love to do.But you can’t know until you try it. That’s of utterimportance. Maybe I’ll be disappointed when Ifinally experience the day to day life of acopywriter but either way I will know I tried andfollowed my passion.

BELIEVEIt’s tough to pursue your dreams, to innovate, to thinkpositively, to be inspired or to wish for something betterin today’s world, because we’re constantly worriedabout our future due to showers of bad news and theworld-wide economic crisis. Different authorities remindus that young people should take whatever job they

It’s tough to pursue your dreams, to innovate, to thinkpositively, to be inspired or to wish for something betterin today’s world, because we’re constantly worriedabout our future due to showers of bad news and theworld-wide economic crisis. Different authorities remindus that young people should take whatever job they

Best of luck,Kaja

Do you share Kaja’s passion for advertising? Tell us what you think! Leave a quick note below. Oh, and we’realways happy to feature GUEST WRITERS like Kaja on the site. So if you fancy doing an article for us just go to the

‘Contact’ section and tell us what you have in mind.

can and stop daydreaming. But let’s be honest. If you do something youdon’t want to, you won’t be good at it because you’ll be forced to do it. Insist with your passion, you can and MUST achievewhat you wish for. It may be harder than a few years ago, but it’s still possible. And the world needs these fresh thinkingpeople, their energy and ideas ASAP! Inspiration, an open mind, effort, goal, focus, are the key components ofsuccess, so remember: If it’s important to you, you will find a way. If it’s not, you will find an excuse.


www.beacopywriter.org