Beauty Buzz
Hi my name is Travis Benner and I am currently a junior advertising major with a focus in copywriting and account management. I have been meaning to blog for a while, but haven’t had much time to sit down and write something.
In the beginning of September I accepted a position as an intern at Philadelphia Magazine, one of the region’s most successful and long lasting magazines. I was presented with a few opportunities, but chose Phillymag because I wanted to become more involved with Philadelphia. Although I knew I wouldn’t gain the agency experience I was looking for, I knew this would be a great place for my first internship.
When I first started, I was very unsure of how my skills and talents as a copywriter would be used. It wasn’t like I was interning as a copywriter at an agency, I was interning in the advertising sales department for a magazine. Part of me was excited, but part of me was saying, “What am I doing interning for a magazine?” However, over the course of the past few months I have learned so much and had so many awesome opportunities to write.
One of the first things I wrote was a direct mail postcard. It was designed to get local salons and spas to advertise in one of Phillymag’s special advertising sections, Beauty Buzz. Although the copy was minimal, I wrote a headline, subhead line, some short body copy, and location copy.
In the process, I couldn’t help but think of all I have learned in Bob Olson’s copywriting classes. Being that Bob seems to be the king of direct mail, I had him advise me on the copy I wrote. He helped me select my best headlines out of a list of about twenty that I had written. I then submitted this list to my supervisors and they were thrilled.
In the end, they chose the headline Bob liked the least. A few days later I told Bob which headline they selected and he remarked something along the lines of, “well, they aren’t copywriters”. Regardless, he was happy to see that my postcard was published and so was I.
Several hundreds of these postcards were produced and sent around the region. Within the office, everyone seemed to love it. I received various compliments from people not only in my department, but the marketing department as well. It felt good to know that I had written something that was going to have an impact on Phillymag. Writing for class is one thing, but writing in the real world is definitely a bit cooler.
With only a couple of weeks left here at Phillymag, I know I am going to miss this place. I have met some awesome people and hope to keep in contact with them after I leave. I am still working on various projects and will post about them soon. I have been working on a redesign of the ‘Pets of Philly’ section and will be sure to post about it as soon as it is done and ready to be printed in the magazine.
