Grammar and Advertising
So I’ve received my first “constructive criticism” comment.
I know that proper grammar is very important (not only in the advertising industry, but in almost every other industry as well). I made the decision to write My Own Ad School in a more casual tone, rather than a professional one. So maybe by doing this, I was a little more loose in my writing style, which resulted in poor grammar. If it weren’t for this comment, I wouldn’t have been able to correct my mistake. And there’s no doubt that I will be more conscious of my grammar when I apply for jobs.
That being said, I’m glad to have received this comment because a) it’s something I need to improve on, b) it’s a good start for developing thicker skin [a must in advertising!], and c) it gave me an idea to write about in my blog.
How important is grammar in the advertising industry? Extremely important. But then this got me thinking:
Let’s say a creative director was very impressed with a junior copywriter’s portfolio and was thinking of offering this person a job. But right before he was about to hire this person, he read an email that the junior had written, which could have used better grammar. Would the creative director suddenly change his mind about hiring the junior copywriter? What if his portfolio had great long copy spec ads? How critical of a factor is grammar? Is it critical enough to change this creative director’s mind?
If what the author of this comment wrote is true, then I’ll just have to add it to my list on what I need to work harder on of things to work on.
