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Have you ever wondered what a copywriter does?

We met Noemi Mariani, a young copywriter, content creator who explained to us that the real dilemma is not "what a copy does" but "how to stop copying"

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It is increasingly difficult to give a current definition to professions that never stop changing, adapting to the times, almost obsessively taking on different forms.

The copywriter, then, is one of those jobs that out of the context in which it is applied is still unknown to most laymen. Nobody knows what they are talking about despite the fact that it is the words that give them dignity to be.

For this and many other reasons I decided to meet Noemi Mariani, copywriter since 2015, recently freelance with a single and clear goal: to put her face on it.

 
 
 
 
 
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Un post condiviso da Noemi Mariani (@mangiapregasbatty)

Hi Noemi, what do you do in life?

I like to think that when I issue an invoice, having the VAT number, I attribute enormous importance to this action, what I have provided to the customer is first of all my thought, my idea translated into words.

Wikipedia says: the copywriter is “the person who writes all the words of the advertisement. He works in an advertising agency and together with the artistic director he forms the creative couple". But in reality this WAS the definition of copy.

Communication is evolving at an impressive speed and anyone who works in this sector knows it. Today it is perhaps more correct to speak of "content" rather than "advertising words".

I work mainly on social media and digital. The creative couple has become a condominium assembly where the strategist, the analyst, the social media manager, the graphic designer, the producer are also found.

People don't imagine how much work there is behind a single Instagram post. In addition to all this, I make video content on @mangiapregasbatty. Basically the brand is me.

The goal is to become a digital content creator / entertainer. To be clearer: I think about the contents, I realize them by putting my face to it, someone pays me (for now no one but I hope this comes sooner or later) so I can pay the bills and be happy.

 
 
 
 
 
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Un post condiviso da Noemi Mariani (@mangiapregasbatty)

How do you explain to your parents what a copywriter does?

Despite having been in this job since 2015, I'm sure my mom still can't tell her friends what I do. So, or am I not able to explain things well - and here I would appreciate the intervention of the readers, give me some feedback! - or is it simply my mother's fault who, being of the sign of Taurus, finds it difficult to conceive as true anything that is not concrete and material.

The example I like to give is: you know “Coca-Cola, uncork happiness?” here, a copy writes that. But with my parents, I can afford to be quick.

What I can add for you is that a customer can call a copy to make an editorial plan on social media (therefore posts and stories), if he needs to communicate a product / service through video formats or if he needs to write the voice. over for a video. A copy, however, also does something else.

For example, he writes the texts of websites and newsletters or, my absolute favorite thing, he finds the names of new products / services / events.

 
 
 
 
 
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Un post condiviso da Noemi Mariani (@mangiapregasbatty)

How do you get started with this job?

The real question is: “how can I stop copying?”. If anyone has the answer, write me in DM. Obviously I am joking. There is no real answer.

In Milan I know two options: the polytechnic school or the Communication Academy. I attended the Academy. But my arrival in the world of communication was anything but linear. I studied psychology at university and until I was 25 I didn't even know what a copywriter was.

While I was in Australia I started writing @mangiapregasbatty (my now defunct blog, now an Instagram page) and it was thanks to this creative momentum that my best friend enlightened me with: “Why don't you try being a copywriter?”.

Then the Academy, as I said, internships in an agency and now freelance. There is no single way. Rather…

My advice is always to space out as much as possible. A fellow master of mine had been an engineer for 10 years and then decided to follow his character.

Draw from as many sources as possible. I'm the one who advises you against doing “Communication Sciences”. If I had studied this at university, I would have discovered at 19 what a copy is and I would have missed much more.

 
 
 
 
 
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Un post condiviso da Noemi Mariani (@mangiapregasbatty)

What project are you most proud of?

I have a folder on my computer with a number of projects that will never see the light of day and frankly I'm more sorry for that than proud of something I've done. Another great truth of this world is that there are more ideas that are thrown away than those that are realized. Thinking instead of what I did, I cannot fail to mention Goovi, Michelle Hunziker's brand. I have been involved in social communication for almost two years as a copy / author and I must say that content has been created that I am very proud of.

And above all, I had a lot of fun making them, which is fundamental for me.

 
 
 
 
 
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Un post condiviso da Noemi Mariani (@mangiapregasbatty)

And the copy?

My favorite copies are all the names I gave to my personal projects from “mangiapregasbatty”, to the title of my book on Tinder which is called Ma Tinderesso Veramente?” up to the name of my company: Zoca Studio.

 
 
 
 
 
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Un post condiviso da Noemi Mariani (@mangiapregasbatty)

What changes in your work between digital and TV?

I state that I lost the digital terrestrial 2 years ago and that I have not watched television for two years. Speaking of digital, since there is very accurate targeting, we can speak in many different ways.

Communication is faster, it often thrives on images, people's attention is very low, the number one enemy is scrolling. But you can experiment a lot and above all there is a direct approach to performance: one day you can understand if the content you have developed works or not and consequently modulate, change, experiment with new things.

TV is slower. The products we are talking about are those you find in the supermarket. Or the commercials of the cars. A bit of the “classic” television stuff.

 
 
 
 
 
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Un post condiviso da Noemi Mariani (@mangiapregasbatty)

What advice would you give to someone who wants to do your job?

What I feel like saying is that you have to be creative. Creativity is a personality trait. It is not taught. There are certainly techniques, you can improve but from my point of view you are born there. So the first question to ask yourself is: am I creative? Do I like producing ideas? Do I like to name things? If the answer is yes, you are well under way.

 
 
 
 
 
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Un post condiviso da Noemi Mariani (@mangiapregasbatty)

Who is the greatest copywriter right now?

Fortunately, I have no idea.

However, I want to specify that the copy is like an employee. He is not an artist, he is not a performer. Indeed, 80% of people, perhaps even more, have no idea what a copywriter does. This thing must make you think.

What does it mean to communicate?

It means providing a vision. Communication influences thought and is like the silt so dear to the Egyptians: it makes everything more fertile, if used with intelligence. Communicating means preparing the mind for openness and exchange. Great responsibilities come from communication.

 
 
 
 
 
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Un post condiviso da Noemi Mariani (@mangiapregasbatty)

What is the process by which you create copy?

It is a process that sometimes proceeds by inferences, by assonances, by metaphors, by oxymorons. Creativity moves in all directions. We often speak of “lateral thinking”, it means uniting different worlds that have only a small point in common and it is precisely from that limited common ground that we start. The idea is born first, then you find the right words to express it.

 
 
 
 
 
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Un post condiviso da Noemi Mariani (@mangiapregasbatty)

When do you consider a copy to be a winner?

It will be obvious and trivial, but when you remember it. For better or for worse.

What did you want to do as a child?

I started with the veterinary, then I moved on to criminology (crazy) and for a few years crimes and misdemeanors have been at the center of my interests, thanks to an unfiltered and censored administration of “Murder, She Wrote" since more tender age.

 
 
 
 
 
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Un post condiviso da Noemi Mariani (@mangiapregasbatty)

Who do you want to be now?

I want to make people laugh. The form through which laughter can come to life is yet to be defined: videos, stand up comedies, books. I don't know, but I would very much like to succeed.

 
 
 
 
 
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Un post condiviso da Noemi Mariani (@mangiapregasbatty)

On the spot: a claim for Acrimònia?

We give a voice to glowing minds.

 
 
 
 
 
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