I interviewed Kristin Erwin yesterday for my media architecture class. I was psyched that Mason changed his mind about letting me interview a copywriter. She works at Avenue A | Razorfish though, so I was able to get some great insight into a writer’s perspective on working with the web and interactive media.
Rachel: How did you get into copywriting?
Kristin: I did a lot of writing in high school and I majored in English. One of my undergrad teachers told me I
would be good in advertising.
Rachel: What can you tell me about your experience at VCU?
Kristin: It was two years of hard work and not much sleep. When I went there they divided us all up by department, so as a writer, I got paired up with an art director to work on projects and you would work with the account team and the media team as well. They had it set up like a real-world advertising agency. Everyone had their own desk space, so you could leave all your stuff there that you were working on. You would get in by nine or nine-thirty in the morning and there were a lot of really late nights.
Rachel: How much does your position relate to interactive media?
Kristin: Quite a bit. Razorfish is a digital advertising agency. We don’t do any broadcast or print, we just deal with the web. Basically, there are two buckets that our work can be divided into: websites and online media such as banner ads, e-mail marketing, or e-cards.
Rachel: What clients do you currently work on?
Kristin: Well I just finished up a project for Burt’s Bees that should be launching soon. I also work on Carnival Cruise Line, Equity Apartments, and AT&T.
Rachel: If you could write for any client or brand, who or what would that be?
Kristin: BMW
Rachel: If you were to design a website for yourself, what would it look like and what would the content be?
Kristin: I have a portfolio website right now that has some of my work, and tells a little bit about myself.
Rachel: Would you say your own artistic style is more structured or loose, and how does that help or hinder you when working with clients?
Kristin: I have more of a structured style. I think more like someone on an account team in that I tend to stay on track and think more realistically. In brainstorming sessions, I’m not the one to throw out crazy ideas that are way of base like skywriting or something like that. I tend to stick to the brief and keep the target market, budget, etc. in mind. That may hinder me though because a lot of times you never know what can come from crazy, unrealistic ideas. At my previous job, I had been working with my art director for about eight years, and we knew each other so well and knew what to do to get each other inspired and thinking.
Rachel: How does your personal style show through in your work?
Kristin: I’m very mainstream, down to earth, and approachable. I’m not the edgy, flashy type that dresses weird, and I’m not the all-out everything has to be organic-type. With the Burt’s Bees project, their target was twenty-five to forty year olds who dabble in the trendy, all-natural product lines. With a project like that, I basically am the target so I just write about what I would want to hear.
Rachel: What would a normal work day for you consist of?
Kristin: It’s all over the place, but on an average, non-stressful day I usually get to work between nine and nine-thirty. I check my e-mail, and we may have a status meeting to see where were at with things. We might have a brainstorming session, and then I will go and work on my projects. We don’t really have any clients with something constantly going on, on a regular basis, so it varies by day.
Rachel: How much do you get to work with other departments?
Kristin: All the time. At Razorfish, we work in teams, so I’m always working with a creative director, art director, and a designer.
Rachel: What is the most challenging project you’ve ever worked on, and how so?
Kristin: There are two types of challenging projects. First, you are always going to experience client challenges when the project drags on because of direction changes or because the client doesn’t give good feedback. Then there is the type of positive challenge where you push yourself to do something you have never done or that you might not enjoy doing. A good challenge would’ve been when I was working for the Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation. It was an anti-smoking website that targeted children. They had a different poll on their site every day, like who is trashier, Lindsay or Brittany? On the fifteenth of every month I had to have the next months polls in for approval. I was reading all the teen magazines and the tabloids to come up with these questions, and there were no new celebrities on the horizon, so it was challenging for me to think of questions about the same people every month. Another challenging project was when I worked on the ESPN account at AKQA. Everyone there was huge sports fanatics, and knew everything that was going on in sports. There was a junior copywriter there who was writing for the account before I started there, and I (a senior copywriter) had to run my stuff by him for critique.
Rachel: Do you feel you’ve grown from that experience?
Kristin: Every challenge you overcome and work through is a positive thing and as you experience new situations, you will grow from them. The most important thing is people skills. You need people skills to work with clients as well as your co-workers. Different people will always want different things, and you need to know how to resolve differences.
Rachel: What are your thoughts on the competitive nature of this industry?
Kristin: I don’t think advertising is dead, it’s just morphing and becoming more integrated. Departments are no longer being segregated; they’re working together. Depending on where you go, there are people who don’t know how to do the interactive work, and they want nothing to do with it. Then you have the others that know they need to get on board. What I do know is that interactive copywriters are in high demand and they seem to be few and far between.
Rachel: What direction do you see interactive media moving toward in the next 10 – 20 years?
Kristin: I think mobile is the next big thing. People are using their cell phones and blackberries now more than ever and everything is integrating into that. Also, I think it will be less about making a website and more about what you can do across the globe interactively.
Rachel: Does your company have a blog?
Kristin: No, but they do have an internal wiki which is like a chat room or posting site for questions and new ideas. You have to be a registered user to access it though.
Rachel: Do you have a personal blog?
Kristin: I don’t but after this conversation, it makes me feel like I should start one. I’ve been wanting to do something creative outside the office.
Rachel: What is the best career advice anyone has ever given you?
Kristin: It’s not something anyone has ever said, it’s more something I’ve learned based on different situations. You have to speak your mind. If you don’t, you’re never going to be heard. There are so many egos in this industry and you have to be able to stand up for yourself and fight for your ideas.
Rachel: If you could choose any other career path, what would that be?
Kristin: My realistic choice would be a lawyer and my outside-the-box choice would be an author of best-selling books.
You can check out her website here. Thanks so much Kristin! I appreciate you taking the time to sit down and meet with me!
