T & A: Tight and Always on Time

Terry O’Reilly is an award-winning copywriter and broadcaster. His CBC radio program, “Under the Influence,” focuses on advertising strategies both past and present. Terry always rewards his listeners with the inside scoop behind well-known marketing campaigns.

Today Terry revealed that the Aero chocolate bar tagline “Irresistabubble” was coined by none other than Salman Rushdie. That’s right, Rushdie started his career as a copywriter, and he’s not alone: from F. Scott Fitzgerald to Helen Gurley Brown, Terry dropped plenty of big names who got their start in copywriting. (Fitzgerald’s fiction, which he worked on after hours, was apparently rejected by 122 publishers.)

Rushdie credits the copywriting trade with his later success. He says he continues to write the way he learned to write in his copywriting days: he makes every word count, and he never misses a deadline. Writing is a job like any other, and he puts in his hours every day.

Keeping writing tight and on time has always been essential in advertising. Never waste a word, never miss a deadline. And I’d argue that these qualities of writing are even more important for today’s fractured market of media-savvy consumers.

Is your content concise and current? Hire an editor and be sure.

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