Full Time Diploma in Copywriting Application Form

Please fill the form out by hand, print clearly and answer all questions.

2 year Diploma in Copywriting

Diploma in Copywriting (Graduates)

A non-refundable fee of R 250.00 should accompany each completed application form. Please make cheques payable to the AAA School of Advertising.
Note Johannesburg applications must be submitted to Trudie Diffenthal by 30 November 2015.

Cape Town applications must be submitted to Dru Triegaardt by 30 October 2015.

Newspaper Radio A friend

School Other (Please specify) _____________________________________________

Pre 2008: Matric exemption Yes No

Pre 2008: Matric Exemption with Maths Yes No

Pre 2008: Did you achieve matric exemption? Yes No

Matric Results

(Specify institution attended, degree, diploma, computer courses, etc; length of course and subjects passed. Please attach academic record. If course was not completed, specify reason.)

1. 
   Institution/s attended _______________________________________________________________________________________________________
   

2. 
   Qualification/s obtained _____________________________________________________________________________________________________
   

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3. 
   Duration of study ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
   
4. 
   Subjects passed ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
   

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5. 
   Other courses completed ___________________________________________________________________________________________________
   

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6. 
   List the academic subjects you have enjoyed the most in your education so far and give a brief explanation why.
   

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7. 
   List your non-academic high school or university achievements, such as leadership roles, team captain,
   

1. 
   Complete the application form, as well as the Copy Challenge (section C) and submit to the AAA School. Please note that the application/copy challenge will not be returned to the students.
   
2. 
   All theoretical work submissions must be typed.
   
3. 
   All the questions and relevant forms must be completed in full. Any omissions may result in your disqualification.
   
4. 
   The application form must be completed unassisted and must deliver your own insights. Any plagiarised work will cause the immediate disqualification of a candidate.
   

5. 
   Work neatly presented and properly bound will enjoy preference. Due to space constraints, only work presented on A4 size paper will be considered.
   
6. 
   The applications received will be assessed by a panel of lecturers. In some cases, candidates must be prepared to attend an entrance exam/workshop. Successful applicants will be contacted with details for the workshop. The School may also ask candidates to attend an interview. No place can be guaranteed.
   
7. 
   If requested to attend a workshop, applicants (whether successful or unsuccessful) will be notified approximately one week afterwards.
   

1. 
   What special hobbies or interests do you have? Describe how these activities stimulate or reward you.
   

2. 
   What do you perceive as being your greatest achievement in life? Describe in approximately 100-200 words.
   

3. 
   Describe an event that touched you in some way. Use approximately 200 words.
   

4. 
   Who is your favourite author? Which book of theirs do you like the most and why?
   

5. 
   Why are you applying to the AAA School of Advertising?
   

6. 
   What area and aspects of advertising stimulate and interest you the most at this stage?
   

7. 
   What characteristics do you think are needed to become a great copywriter?
   

8. 
   Tell us in approximately 300 words why you want to be a copywriter, why you think you are cut out for a career in advertising and why you think you should be accepted for this course?
   

(*Please include & attach all details of any other previous employers you may have had.)

Ideas that communicate a relevant sales message. These may be entirely visual, but as a part of the creative team, you are still directly involved in the conceptual process. Big ideas are not just slick executions. They resonate with consumers on an emotional level, resulting in advertising communication which doesn’t simply convey information or provide brief entertainment. Instead it builds a memorable, positive association with the brand in the mind of the consumer for many years.

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  Copywriting isn’t trite rhyming verse.
  
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  Copywriting isn’t witty puns and famous quotations
  
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  Copywriting isn’t trying to be so clever that people have to try and work out what it is you’re promising.
  

Now it’s time for some mental gymnastics and word wrestling.

Like any industry, advertising has its own jargon and terminology. To help you feel more at home here is a summary.

You can also use the medium in an innovative, three-dimensional way and play with the shape and structure if it helps to make the communication of the idea more memorable and entertaining.

1. 
   Product: Fiat 500 Convertible
   

Target market: Young, urban stylish people

2. 
   Product: Samsung Mobile
   

Target market: All motorists who own cell phones

Key benefit: Enjoy using your word skills to win

Target market: Anyone in the family who enjoys playing games and appreciates wordy, conceptual challenges.
OR
Product: Tippex Pocket Mouse

Key benefit: Covers up mistakes without any visible trace

Target market: Students or anyone working in an office
Question 4: Print Challenge 2 – Headline and Copy
Now create a print ad with no visual, just a headline and some body copy – approximately 150 words. Because your ad doesn’t have a visual, the headline should offer enough intrigue or promise to entice your reader into the body copy.
Product: The Famous Butcher’s Grill

Key benefit: The best meat in town – clearly not for vegetarians!

Target market: Anyone who loves a good quality steak

OR
Product: Clorets

Key benefit: Get fresh breath confidence when you are out and about.

Target market: Anyone who cares about their personal hygiene and might come into close contact with other people.
Question 5: Radio Challenge
Writing radio is one of the most rewarding (and challenging) aspects of copywriting. To begin with it’s all your work, right from concept to the final production. This means you cannot hide behind stylish art direction or cinematography. But it also means you can claim all the glory! Working with sound is very exciting. On radio you’re building pictures in the mind and, as you know, there are no limitations there! Here you can create fantasies which you can’t achieve anywhere else - not even on film. And it can all be achieved at comparatively low cost. Remember to keep your timings in mind when writing your script; count on two words per second of time – and that excludes whatever time you may need for sound effects. So avoid cramming in too much copy.

When writing for radio, it’ll help to know and understand some of these general “shorthand” descriptions used in scriptwriting:

For example:

SFX: Pacy music under throughout

SFX: Harbour and seagull sounds in background

SFX: Loud crash by breaking glass

MV: Male voice delivering the message

FV: Yes, you guessed it, Female voice

Jingle: A sung message

Key benefit: Report any crimes or suspicious behavior anonymously.

The script would have to leave time for this mandatory Call to Action:

SMS your anonymous tip-offs to 32211. SMS charged at R1.

Target market: People living in urban environments who have a socially responsible attitude and care about maintaining

law and order in their community and society.

Key benefit: The knowledgeable book store where the people who sell the books actually read them.

Target market: Book lovers who like to build a relationship with their book shop.
Question 6: Alternative Media Challenge
In the current communication age, consumers are so bombarded with advertising and marketing messages, they are becoming cynical, and selective about what they watch, read and absorb.

The advertising industry is having to adapt the way in which advertising messages are communicated. There is a strong shift away from ‘traditional’ media towards more unconventional communication channels, involving ambient, experiential and outdoor media. It could involve anything from a message on a golf tee to a spaceship ‘landing’ on the pavement, as long as it interacts with the lifestyle of the consumer in a relevant and meaningful way.

Product: Ster-Kinekor

Objective: Ster-Kinekor is suffering from a decrease in movie-goers as more people download and stream movies.

They would like to create a sense of excitement and hype around the ‘cinema experience’.

Task: Describe briefly in a few lines three ways to drive more people to the movies. These ideas should not involve traditional advertising, but any other alternative, interesting, unexpected, crazy ways of communicating to the appropriate target market and demonstrating an understanding of their lifestyle.
Question 7 : Social Media Challenge
The role of the copywriter has expanded into the world of social media, where communication takes place in a unique, quick-thinking way, with bursts of smart and succinct writing that has to be relevant and current. In fact, the less it feels and sounds like advertising, the more effective it is likely to be in connecting with consumers. The copy on a brand’s Facebook or Twitter account needs to be written in the voice of the brand, conversing as an individual rather than a faceless corporation.
See if you can create appropriate voices and tones for these three different brands.
Products: Nando’s, Durex, Twinsavers

Objective: Create a Valentine’s Day promotion for each of these brands to increase engagement during this time.

Task: Write two Facebook posts and three tweets for each of these brands.


Declaration
I hereby declare that I, (full name & surname) ___________________________________________(The Applicant) have completed this application unaided

______________________________ _______________________________

Signature of Applicant Date

*Note Having completed and returned this application, the final acceptance may be subject to an entrance exam and a successful face–to–face interview with the School’s Registrar:

Johannesburg	Cape Town
Trudie Diffenthal Tel 011 781 2772 Fax 011 781 2796 trudie@aaaschool.ac.za	Dru Triegaardt Tel 021 422 1800 Fax 021 422 1827 dru@aaaschool.ac.za

www.aaaschool.co.za

Standard Bank

Sandton City Branch

Account Name: AAA School of Advertising

Branch code: 01 81 05

Account Number: 220 387 915

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  Yvonne Gordon (Accounts)
  
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  Russell Cory (Financial Director)
  

Tel 011 781 2772

Fax 011 781 2797

Email yvonne@aaaschool.ac.za

russell@acasa.co.za