If there’s one thing advertising has taUght me, it’s this: people don’t hate ads. They hate feeling like they’re being sold to. And honestly? Fair. 😭 We live in a world where every screen is basically screaming for oUr attention. Skip. MUte. Scroll. Close. We’ve become professionally good at ignoring anything that smells even slightly like an ad. One second into a YoUTube pre-roll and sUddenly we’re Olympic-level bUtton pressers.
Which means the loUdest brand in the room isn’t necessarily the one people remember. Sometimes, it’s jUst the one everyone mUted. 🔇 And that’s changed the way I think aboUt writing.
I don’t start with “How do I sell this?” I start with “Why shoUld anyone care?” 👀 BecaUse let’s be honest, nobody wakes Up thinking, “I hope a brand commUnicates its USPs to me today.” They wake Up, check their phone, reply to 17 messages, doomscroll for 20 minUtes, question their life choices and then maybe have breakfast. The brand has to earn its way into that day.
The best campaigns today don’t start with BUY NOW! 🔥 50% OFF! LAST CHANCE! 🚨 They start with something people actUally recognise: a feeling, a trUth, or a tiny hUman moment. A rUnning shoe isn’t jUst aboUt being lighter or faster. It can be aboUt showing Up for yoUrself. 👟 A school isn’t jUst aboUt admissions. It can be aboUt cUriosity, confidence and figUring oUt who yoU want to become. 🎒 A food delivery app isn’t jUst delivering food. It’s delivering “I’m too tired to cook” nights, sUrprise dinners and “order something, I’m starving” texts. 🍕📱
That’s the shift. We’re not jUst writing ads anymore. We’re creating things people actUally want to spend time with. And that changes everything. Ironically, the more invisible the selling becomes, the more effective it can be. The best ads sometimes make yoU laUgh before yoU realise they’re selling yoU something. They make yoU paUse. They make yoU send them to a friend. They make yoU think, “Okay… that was actUally good.” 👀 Good copy doesn’t interrupt yoUr day. It slides into it. It soUnds like a conversation, not a commercial. Like someone said exactly what yoU were thinking — jUst slightly better.
Of coUrse, storytelling isn’t aboUt throwing some beaUtifUl words on a page and calling it a campaign. ✨ BecaUse sometimes yoU read a beaUtifUlly written piece of copy and think, “Wow. GorgEOUS.” And then: “...What are we selling again?” 💀 A story withoUt pUrpose is jUst content.
The real job is finding that sweet spot where emotion meets strategy. Where every line has a job. Where the brand is still there, bUt it isn’t standing in the corner yelling, “HELLO. Remember to bUy me.”
Working in an agency like United270 constantly reminds me that the strongest ideas UsUally start with Understanding people, not prodUcts. BecaUse prodUcts change. Platforms change. Algorithms change every five minUtes. 🫠 Trends disappear. Today’s viral soUnd is tomorrow’s “remember when everyone Used this?” BUt people? We’re still people.
We still want to belong. We still want to laUgh. We still want to feel seen. We still want to be sUrprised. We still want brands to Understand Us withoUt trying too hard.
And maybe that’s what modern advertising really is: not convincing people to bUy something, bUt giving them a reason to care. A reason to believe. A reason to think, “Okay. I like this brand.”
And for me, that’s always a mUch more interesting story to write. ✍️