Interview with Mr. Leon Meadow(7)
chuukyuu In hiring a new copywriter what do you check at Doyle Dane Bernback?
Mr.Meadow In hiring new copywriters, whether they are experienced seniors or raw trainees, we look for the pretty much of tha same basic qualities, imagination, freshness in approach, strength in selling concepts and, above all things, as I have mentioned before, believability in carrying out the concept,
Of course this is easier to spot in a seasoned writer than it would be in a trainee. On the other hand, trainees must be selected with perhaps more consideration and care and selectivity than even so called senior writers, This may seen like a strange statement but when you analyze other reasons behind that, you will see how much sense it makes. The trainee to us represents very little investment of money since his salary is quite low to start with. But he does represent a tremendous investment in the time of the supervisor to whom he is assigned because he is completely new for the most part. His work must be gone over and carefully discussed at great length. And a tremendous amount time in general must be put against actually bringing him up from the level of trainee through junior to senior writer.
This time on the part of the supervisor dose not come cheaply since our supervisors are well paid. Therefore to invest in the one or two or three years which it takes to bring a trainee out of this classification into a more advanced one and then to find out that the trainee does not come out to the original potential that he showed when we hired him, is to throw away a lot of money ad time. So in a normal course of events, we exercise tremendous care and take on but very few trainees just those whom we think have a great potential for development.
As far as experienced writers are concerned we hire them in the usual way by looking carefully at their sample books, by checking their previous work experiences and by using the general yardsticks that are employed for determining the creative value of writers and art directors. Often we find that when they are too senior in their careers, they may have developed certain approaches to advertising problem and styles of writing which do not allow then the flexibility of doing it our way. In that case we must very carefully avoid hiring them.
printed advertisements for French Government Tourist Office.
Think you've seen France? Think again.
Sure, you've seen the Eiffel Tower.
But have you followed a poplar-lined lane into the lovely valley of the Loire? Have you watched the children dancing in Avignon, or heard them singing " Sur le pont"? The song rings true here: the pont itself is right behind you. Have you backed on the rocks at Cap d'Antibes? Or gone up behind the Riviera into Venc? Venc is vivid, sunny, happy: a Matisse painting come life. Have you watched run on green terf at the swhite wedding-cake racetrack in Chantilly? Have you stuffed yourself with one of Mere Poulard's massive omelettes? Or stood out the ramparts of Mont-St-Michel alone in the moonlight, after the rest of the world has gone to bed? Have you see the cowboys galloping across the Camarogue? Or played le oinball in a smokey bar-tabac?
Sure, you've been France.
But have you seen France.
Five years from now it won't be the same.
One of the few remaining spots in Europe that is still un touched, unsophisticated and rich with atmosphere is Finistere,.
You'll find this little piece of France at the top Brittany. Here, a lady isn't dressed without her white lace coiffe---a towering wedding cake of a hat that's so thoroughly starched it can even face a sea gale, unbowed. Here, the whole bword worjd looks French blue: the sea, the sky, the cafes, the tuna fleet, even the fishermen in their caps and blouse.
Here, a fishing village is still a fishing village--- not a chic resort. You can meet the fleet at seven and sip Pernod for break-fast with the friendly, muscled fishermen. You can hear them auction off the tuna in Breton, the most amusing language on earth. You can dine on delicate Belon oysters, idle over a bottle of Muscadet, shop for lace gloves or wooden shoes, and amble through towns dotted with white-washed doll houses. You can swim in foaming sea, then dry, like a sardine net, on the gigantic rocks. You can get to know the real Frenchman and his family. You can have the time of your life---for a sou.
Finistere is just up the coast from some of France's most elegant resort hotels, exciting casinos and bikini beaches. And it's just a short, picturesque drive or train trip northwest from Paris. Finistere is bound to be discovered, bound to change. So if you hunger for originals, for adventure---go now.