“Practice Makes Progress”: How Tone Green Was Able to Carve Her Own Space in the World of Copywriting
Image Courtesy: Tone Green
Tone Green is an Associate Copywriter at Allen & Gerritsen, a full service advertising agency with locations in Boston, Massachusetts and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. During her time at A&G, Tone has worked on accounts such as The Ninety Nine Restaurant, Dunkin’, and Blue Cross Blue Shield. Originally from the Bay Area in California, Tone completed her undergraduate studies at Syracuse University and then sharpened her copywriting skills by enrolling in the Creative Circus, an advertising-centered intensive program based in Atlanta, Georgia. Tone brings her infectious personality, joy, and positive energy to her work while brightening the day of anyone in her path.
Q: How did you get into advertising?
A: After undergrad, I was trying to figure out how to make money with my words without trying to compromise what I wanted to do. If I got an office job, it would have to be fun. I took a class called “Best Ads in the World” which talked about creative writing in advertising, and I knew I needed to learn more. I took a tour of the Creative Circus during my spring break, and decided to go in 2020.
Q: How would you describe your style of copywriting or your voice? Is it difficult having to shift writing styles/voices for different clients?
A: My writing style depends on the client. They usually give us a tone or voice depending on the target or who we are trying to sell to. I like to be upbeat, happy, cheery, funny, lighthearted, but not all clients can be like that. Blue Cross Blue Shield is supposed to be motivating, but it is medical so it's restrictive. Dunkin’ and The Ninety Nine have more freedom to be fun and to use creative in more of a creative way. Medical accounts or philanthropy accounts are serious because they deal with serious things, so there’s no room to be funny. What helped me is finding out how to write for relief’s sake, finding out what favor you are doing and how you are relieving the audience or the client. When in doubt I write for the middle ground: reassuring, serious, but still fun and lighthearted.
Q: How do you find inspiration when you are writing? Are there any processes you go through before you start writing for the client?
A: It depends, I look at a lot of publications, accounts, agencies, and creatives online that repost things online. I look a lot at LinkedIn and I’ll scroll for hours and hours, go on TikTok and scroll for hours and hours, just let my brain rot. It feels like a juicer, let it grind, marinate and settle, then let it flow out into whatever it turns into. I'll do research too. I don't know things about Boston, but I have to write things about Boston. I’ll go on Google, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, filter through all of it, see what I can grab and go.
Q: What is your favorite platform to write copy for (social media, podcast/radio, tv, print media)?
A: I like writing traditional headlines, we [the Allen & Gerritsen team] used a lot of the ones that I've written for social [media], but I do like writing headlines. Practice makes progress, it comes down to one line, so there's pressure on it to be good. The people I work around are quick, so they push me to do that. Being able to come up with things on the spot is something that I have had to learn and bad feedback fuels good feedback, it helps you appreciate copywriting as a craft. Taking feedback from different people builds character.
Q: Out of every account you’ve ever worked on, what is the work that you produced that you are the most proud of? Why?
A: The Ninety Nine Restaurant since it was during my first three or four months in the agency. I was doing side work for other accounts and I had the opportunity to sell a brand campaign and I did it! We all came together and they bought my idea! Once I figured out how a full 360 campaign worked and wrote a whole one myself, I was so proud. I downplay some things sometimes, but I am really proud. My practice paid off…even though it was hard. The campaign was called “Oh Happy Day” and it was all about celebrating small wins! It feels really good when people like your work and they can see the potential and legs when you can't. I fell in love with this account because there is nothing like The Ninety Nine in Atlanta. It’s a chain but it has the same feel as a mom-and-pop restaurant. The energy is so good.
Q: Thinking about all of the great historic campaigns of the past, what is your favorite creative campaign that you didn’t work on and why?
A: The Orbit “Dirty Mouth? Clean It Up!” campaign, I could've written those puns, all of the dirty mouth puns. It is so funny, I love that campaign so much. Also, the Pop-Tarts campaign when they were doing the shorts of the food running away and the people were eating them, crazy good.
Q: What advice would you give to an aspiring copywriter?
A: Patience, you will get it in time, that’s definitely key. Inspiration is everywhere, you don't only need to look at ads to understand ads. There is always a way in even though it might take a while to get to. Trial and error isn't a mindset, it is a lifestyle and find what you like and do it better.
Q: Looking back, if you could give yourself one piece of advice what would it be and why?
A: To not force it, forcing doesn’t help anything and to trust your own process. Learning your own process is part of copywriting, doing one person's process won't always work for you and that's okay. Trust yourself, your talent, your craft. In creative, creating new pathways is part of the job.
Summary
Tone Green serves as an inspiration for any aspiring copywriter looking to sharpen their craft or begin their journey into the professional world. She has been able to seamlessly merge her own voice with that of brands across the country, serious or lighthearted, regardless of their marketing category. Even through the countless hours she puts into creating great copy, she still manages to leave time for fun. Tone talks about the importance of repetition, practice, how copywriting isn’t a one-size-fits-all career, and how it takes time to develop an approach that’s true to you and to trust yourself. By trusting herself and developing her own voice, Tone has forged her own path in the creative industry and is a perfect example of practice making progress.
Mary Corbin