Senior Copywriter at Ogilvy South Africa

About the job Senior Copywriter

• We believe in creative work that disrupts, and we are looking for a candidate who is going to embrace modern marketing principles and is a self-starter by nature. This is an individual who is not afraid to challenge the norm and embodies our philosophy of divine discontent (Never stop chasing brilliance attitude).
• We are therefore looking for a Senior Copywriter. Must have 8+ years experience.
• To complement the above, well also be looking for:
• Highly conceptual individual (Must show a minimum of 5 projects)
• Demonstrate exceptional strategic thinking (Provide 2 examples)
• Track record of leading the conceptualization and execution of campaigns (Show minimum of 4 examples)
• Must demonstrate in-depth understanding of new and existing digital platforms
• Must show an understanding of various programmes (Word,Excel etc.)
• Must have industry recognition in the form of local and/or international awards. (i.e. Cannes, One Show, Loeries, Clios, Bookmarks etc.)

RESPONSIBILITIES

• As a senior creative you will help lead our passionate, multi-talented studio, guiding more junior members to deliver, and encourage exceptional, integrated concepts that exceed client briefs and expectations.
• A Senior Writer is an important contact point in our agency, so they can expect to be craft-led, strategically driven, media agnostic, agile and consistently conceptual, with a desire to transform brands by creating exceptional, intuitive, and human-centred products and experiences.
• The successful candidate will be tuned into all aspects of South African popular culture and the platforms and media it plays in, as well as have a strong point of view on what it takes to win in this space, with the experience to back it up. Exceptional writing ability is paramount.
• Must be able to work on two sizable and one small size project at any one time. Have the ability to attend every review on a project with new 3 ideas. Must be comfortable running projects independently.

What you'll do everyday

Responsibilities

• Be part of the strategic process and interrogate the brief
• Scope, plan & manage the creative process on projects
• Manage & mentor the junior creatives
• Work with other disciplines (Strategists, Developers, Media, Accounts, etc) to ensure cohesive team integration, and alignment with broader business objectives
• Be a champion for innovative media solutions on every brief
• Play an active role in campaign planning
• Participate in pitches for new business
• Define the tone of overall campaigns
• Manage multiple projects simultaneously
• Generate ideas and sell them into clients and other members of the team
• Mock up creative ideas
• Consistently produce creative elements against a deliverables list
• Lead brainstorms & conceptualisation
• Lead the craft of an idea
• Compile presentations for clients
• Attend client briefings & present to clients
• Attend recordings & film shoots
• Source inspirational material and references of how to push creativity
• Submit proactive work for awards purposes.

You'll also be required to develop the following:

• Good understanding of influencer, Mobile, Podcast, Out-of-Home, Guerrilla, Activations and Direct Marketing
• Great time management
• Ability to work under pressure & meet tight deadlines
• Adopt problem solving skills
• Strong communication skills with ability to provide rationales for creative choices made
• Strong presentation skills
• In-depth working knowledge of existing and emerging technologies & platforms
• A strong understanding of strategic processes
• Able to work with team members & delegate effectively
• Understand the clients business requirements, and understand how our services should be applied to solve business problems
• Agility is key
• Working knowledge of these tools:
• Microsoft Word
• KeyNote / PowerPoint
• Facebook Creative Hub (Not required, but helps)

Additional skills

• A storyteller
• Audio and Music abilities
• Editing skills