This course will not only teach you how to think, write, and edit as a professional advertising copywriter but help you understand your value to the brands who require one. You’ll learn to develop a brand’s voice and write across multiple formats and adapt for different media. You’ll also learn how to use AI tools strategically, not lazily, and how to move people to act, with words.

Anyone who writes, edits or thinks about words that represent a brand, business or product. Past participants include account coordinators and execs wanting to better understand the craft, marketers looking to sharpen their messaging, creatives building their chops—and even clever small biz owners who know that great copy means better results.

Over eight weeks, you’ll pick up real-world tips, tricks and techniques for creative ideation—and master the art of writing for both the eye (think press, websites, brochures) and the ear (radio, voiceovers and audiovisual content). In the final week, you’ll put everything you’ve learned into practice, presenting a final assignment that showcases your skills.

Designed to be interactive, practical and thought-provoking, this course combines two key elements: a pre-recorded lecture you can watch in your own time, and a live working tutorial led by an experienced industry facilitator where you’ll apply the theory to real briefs.

Small-scale homework and assessments to help cement your learning—and walk away with an industry-certified achievement.

Please note: if you’re enrolled in an online course, all live tutorial sessions are delivered via Zoom or Teams.

Weekly facilitators (live session)

Charles Baylis

Executive Creative Director, ATime&Place

LinkedIn

Josh Edge

Executive Creative Director, Anthologie

LinkedIn

Video lecturers (pre-recorded)

Dr Anna Spargo-Ryan

Author, Lead/Senior Copywriter & Scriptwriter, Freelance

LinkedIn

Rees Steel

Creative Director, BMF

LinkedIn

Anneliese Sullivan

Senior Copywriter, Clemenger BBDO

LinkedIn

James Wills

Creative Director

LinkedIn

Hannah Lawson

Senior Copywriter, Freelance

LinkedIn

Hannah Melanson

Creative Director, M+C Saatchi

LinkedIn

Dean Hunt

Founding Creative Partner, Chapter

LinkedIn

Over eight short weeks, you’ll be delivered bite-sized content designed to fit your schedule—anytime, anywhere. The best part? It takes no more than three hours a week.

Duration
Part-time.

Delivery
Pre-recorded 30-minute video lectures for flexible learning combined with in-person 90-minute tutorials to help you apply theory to practice. Weekly tutes for online courses will be delivered virtually.

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Week 1: The Value of Copywriting 
Lecturer: Dr Anna Spargo-Ryan

• What is copywriting vs. writing? Why it matters.
• The role of a copywriter in the age of AI.
• Distilling ideas (the art of compression).
• Recognising good vs. bad copy

Week 2: Purpose and Prose
Lecturer: Dean Hunt

• Articulating brand strategy.
• Naming conventions and purpose statements.
• Language “wizardry” — semantics and subtext.
• Rewriting purpose statements, and the ‘purpose’ of purpose statements
• Using AI effectively (with prompts) & spotting AI writing.

Week 3: Making it Personal
Lecturer: Rees Steel 

• Establishing and applying Tone of Voice (ToV).
• Identifying and flexing your own ToV.
• One idea per paragraph, one thought per sentence.
• Long vs. short vs. no copy

Week 4: Get their Attention 
Lecturer: Anneliese Sullivan

• Anatomy of a great headline.
• The 8-word rule.
• Headline types 
• Writing for social
• Shock value vs brand value – what is appropriate attention? Are there rules?

Week 5: Writing for Audio
Lecturer: James Wills

• Writing for the ear vs. the eye.
• Formats: audio-only vs. audio-visual
• Long format/podcast/traditional length formats
• Establishing characters, mood, and pacing.
• Actors vs. voice-overs

Week 6: Writing for Image 
Lecturer: Hannah Lawson

• Writing for moving media
• On-screen copy, dialogue, and VO.
• The musicality of ‘real life’ dialogue.
• Commercial/storyboard structure.
• Visual hierarchy in ads

Week 7: Writing for Online 
Lecturer: Hannah Melanson

• Writing for websites, banners, social, EDMs, and blogs.
• Hierarchy, scannability, and bullet points.
• Adapting tone for each platform

Week 8: Presentation Week

Wrapping up the course with the final review and summary of what we’ve covered