Navigating the new normal

My first three employers were big, bonafide household names. You’ve definitely heard of the NHS. Probably eaten Cadbury’s. Given a bit of cash to Cancer Research UK now and then. Huge, complicated machines with many cogs, and I was one of them. They had whole departments to look after branding, whole teams to write text, months of work could go into agreeing a message and then they would still bring in outside agencies and experts to create the thing itself. Well, that’s one end of the scale, and the first understanding I built of communications, branding and marketing. My closest brush with anything that felt like Mad Men. That occasionally felt like The Thick Of It but with Pantones instead of policies.

That world still exists, in an evolved form, and there will always be big organisations, throwing big budgets at big agencies. In the last few years though, it would seem that many of the functions they perform have been democratised. New tools have emerged that are affordable, intuitive and increasingly ‘smart’ — making it feasible for little (and even tiny) organisations to have a go to. Someone can make hand-crocheted ballerinas and sell them on Etsy. They can draw illustrations in Procreate to get custom stickers delivered to their door 24 hours later. Choose a logo template on Canva, and overwrite a website template on Squarespace. Then they can follow the content trends on Instagram, and get Chat GPT to write their strategy and their emails.

The great ‘democratising’ of branding, marketing, comms, and almost everything else. And for many that has felt like a transformative, positive revolution. But a few head scratchers remain.

1. What if you don’t want to do all that because it all sounds like gobbledygook to you?

2. What if it makes your brand and your comms look and sound like everyone else’s?

3. What if you want to spend more time with people than with algorithms?

If you have these concerns, that does’t mean you have access to the solutions my first employers had. You can’t summon up thousands of pounds for an agency. Can’t suddenly develop your own artistic flair or way with words. But you still need great communications.

I think the answer lies in community. For every side-hustler struggling to look professional, there is a freelancer with a good eye. For every small business that struggles to write about their product without sounding flat, there’s a small-agency copywriter who could make it sing. And that copywriter is friends with a web designer who can sharpen up a site. And they used to work with a great tech guy who could tighten up GDPR compliance.

For the small businesses and charities that are overwhelmed by everything they could do, but don’t feel they can do - and the ones who are steering clear of some of it on ethical grounds - the antidote is connection. Tapping into human networks to find skill and imagination.

So much of copywriting and communication comes down to taste, experimentation, balance, intuition, character, humour, empathy - all the things a computer programme can’t offer. Tap into the community though, and someone with those qualities can not only create something for you, they can also expand your horizons. They can connect you with others, surprise you with the unexpected, respond to the natural ebb and flow of your energy, your preferences, your situation. It becomes bigger than the task at hand. And the smaller your organisation, the more profound and vital that connection can be.

So, I am both seeking and solving. As a freelancer I am seeking out my own community. Joining a co-working space and networking events, offering pro-bono work and sharing experiences with other small (and tiny) organisations in my area. It’s helping me feel connected and driven now, but I’m also thinking ahead; so that my future clients can find their horizons expanded through me, and be connected to the brilliant people I’m meeting.

I’m also already part of the solution. I offer affordable copywriting and communications projects, with a transparent, practical, jargon-free process that meets people where they are. I use the programmes they want to use. I create things they can fully own, and reshape, and use well into the future if they need to. Not tying them to a file type they don’t understand, or writing a great resource without any thought to how it ties into everything else. I’m creating truly useful things.

The abundance of digital tools and ideas is settling into the scenery. It’s just the way things are now. But it doesn’t need to isolate us to our individual laptops and a DIY attitude way past our comfort zone. We can still have each other; still celebrate our unique talents and imaginations, and still lean on one another. Originate, debate and make the new landscape one we’re happy to inhabit.