15 Copywriting Exercises to Work Your Wit

 

No muscle grows in size without conditioning. Likewise, no writer improves without practice. History's best novelists, journalists and advertising creatives understood that great writing doesn't always come easy.

These 15 creative writing prompts will keep you sharp whether you're battling a bout of writer's block, working on perfecting your latest marketing project or just looking for a way to pass time on Sunday night.

How Unfriended is Changing Product Placement

All reviews aside, advertisers should be jumping for joy at the newest horror flick to hit the box office.  

Unfriended, while at surface level may reek of low-budget millennial cliches, is the first silver screen production to attempt an immersive cyber setting. The film takes place in a Skype video chat between five friends and is supplemented by their interactions across different platforms as their video chat is hacked by an anonymous user.

What Unfriended lacked in plot development it made up for with a goldmine of advertising opportunities. The genuineness of main character Blaire Lily's digital multitasking allowed for inconspicuous product placement disguised as background noise. Aside from obvious homages to Skype, Spotify and iMessage, names like Tumblr, Teen Wolf and Forever 21 made B-list appearances within the tabs of Lily's browser.

Lies You've Been Told About the Advertising Industry

A quick search for "false advertising" on Google news uncovers a hotbed of legal controversy surrounding big brands -- more than 50 pages worth for articles published in 2014 alone. Companies like Nestle, Nordstrom and Red Bull have sat under the media spotlight for the misleading claims made in their marketing efforts.

Not only have advertising lawsuits damaged individual brands, but the prevalence of these controversies in mainstream media has left consumers with a sour aftertaste. This negative attitude about the advertising industry perpetuates a multitude of myths. The four most common follow.

The Most Important Word in Blogging (And in Life)

Last weekend I turned 21 years old, and since then something's changed.

My entire 20th year, I felt an incurable angst at being nested between the clueless teenage years and the duty-laden world of years 21 and beyond. I approached with awkwardness such fundamental issues as "Am I too old to wear ripped jeans?" and "Should I file my own taxes this year?" I got fired for the first time at 20, and I didn't take it very well. I moved out of my parents' house, moved to a new city, started school at a new university and started The LC Studio. I bade a bittersweet farewell to 20 for the memories I made with it.

Maybe that's why I've been absent from blogging for three weeks. And why I've acquired a new-found love of jazz music, bedtime yoga and business casual Pinterest fashion. I'm not ashamed to admit I've shifted perspectives in the months leading up to my big day and in the few weeks since.

Brilliant Branding: What is a Brand?

Like a yearbook embodies a period of life for a school, a brand embodies the life of a business. Each + every one upholds a look + feel as distinctive as a yearbook photo – even the ones you hated the most (my three years of braces perpetuated merciless picture days).

A “brand” isn't just synonymous for a company, product or service; a brand encompasses the identity of those things. It personifies them. It gives them a face. Branding allows us to differentiate between the goofy, carefree personality of Google and the sleek, sophisticated personality of Apple.

All brands accomplish the same goals:

• Representing the values of the company
• Influencing consumer perception of the company
• Sustaining a relationship with consumers

In essence, branding controls how people feel about a company. All advertising, customer service, package design, hiring decisions + web design cater to branding.