Advertising is about creating messages that move people to action. Arguably, it is the most creative of the media writing sectors. Copy writers create new messages with fresh approaches to selling clients’ brands, products, and services. Advertising professionals must understand pop culture and current events, and use what they know to generate attention among consumers in key demographic groups. Copy writers listen to the needs of their clients and use their creativity to compose messages that will sell. They then work with production staff to shape those messages for particular media platforms.
You can expect to write outdoor slogans, web page banner ads, radio and television commercials, print newspaper ads, and other types of promotions. You may also be a team member involved in developing an entire advertising campaign, where your key messages carry through all aspects of the campaign. Over the past three decades, the public relations, advertising, and marketing disciplines have largely merged in the industry world and are now collectively known as strategic communication or integrated marketing communication (IMC).
The central idea is that organizations are always communicating with a brand voice, saying something positive or negative about their brand through their public relations, advertising, product packaging, customer relations, and everything else they say and do. As an example, consider Walmart.