From Main Stage To Webpage, Entertainer To Copywriter

My previous career in entertainment has influenced my current role as a copywriter in ways you might not expect. In 2022, I made the switch to marketing and advertising, and Tribu has been a great place to learn and grow. I’ve felt supported throughout the transition period, which was surprisingly easy given the non-traditional nature of the switch.

Carnivale To Copywriter at Tribu - Devon Shipley
Copywriter at Tribu - Devon Shipley

Character Meets Copywriter

At the end of the day, both actors and copywriters are in the business of portraying characters. For instance, an actor’s entire career is built on taking on different roles with various backgrounds and stories. The goal is to convincingly play the part so that the audience believes the character is real. Similarly, a copywriter working to promote a brand needs to develop a brand persona that resonates with the target audience. For example,  Brand Master Academy describes brand personas as, “the human character that your brand communicates with and is developed based on who the audience is and what they’re attracted to.”

Characters’ and copywriters’ goals are the same. But how do we: educate, entertain, and persuade? A mixture of the right messaging and personality are equally important:

  • Messaging is the way you speak, for a role this is literal but when it comes to getting this right for a business it means finding strong verbiage that resonates with core values and aligns with your mission and vision. Tone and voice differentiate you from competitors. How do you present yourself with copy that looks, feels, and sounds like you?
  • Personality includes conveying that person’s wants, goals, and dreams uniquely and believably. Now, this is the fun part, the funfetti to the cake batter foundation that has already been created during the messaging phase! Entertainers and content marketers need to be excellent attention grabbers, who create engaging work and stay competitive across industries. Finding the space to play is important!
Carnivale To Copywriter at Tribu - Devon Shipley
Copywriter at Tribu - Devon Shipley

Agency life for a copywriter is fast-paced and continuously swelling with the progression of time and trends. You must be adaptable, and a life spent particularly in theme park contracts (as mine definitely has) requires a certain level of endurance and the ability to adapt to vastly differing environments and business partners. Having the capacity to work project to project, developing new ways to make some context compelling is also imperative.

Finding the right actor is essential for creating a successful performance or piece of art, just as settling on the perfect copy is critical for conveying a business properly.

Does creating the message behind a brand sound compelling? Build mighty brands with your words, and learn more about this type of career at Tribu!

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