Former copywriter and Ad Contrarian, Bob Hoffman, is our guest for the 132nd episode of The Copywriter Club Podcast. If you know anything about Bob and his special brand of commentary, you already know that you’re in for a treat. He’s been an outspoken critic of what’s wrong in the advertising world and he had a lot to say about privacy, ageism, and social media. Here’s what we talked about:

•  Bob’s path from bad school teacher to contrarian copywriter

•  the most important personal quality if you want to be a copywriter

•  how to write in a way that attracts interest from your audience

•  why he started his own ad agency—more than once!

•  the dark side of running an agency and the difference when working alone

•  the things about advertising that drive Bob crazy

•  why privacy should be your #1 concern as a marketer and consumer

•  what it will take to fix the privacy problem

•  what ad agencies are doing well right now (spoiler: it’s not much)

•  Bob’s complex love-hate relationship with social media

•  the limits of brand building with social media

•  the ultimate goal of the work that you do

•  Bob’s process for selling better ideas to his clients

•  the problem of ageism in advertising today—and why it matters

We also asked Bob about what he’s focused on today, his book recommendations, and what’s next for him—no surprise, it’s another book—and his reluctance to tell us his predictions for the future.  To hear this one, click the play button below or download it to your favorite podcast app. Or you can scroll down for a full transcript.

 

The people and stuff we mentioned on the show:

Hoffman Lewis

Bad Men by Bob Hoffman

10 Influencers Under 10

The Choice Factory by Richard Shotton

Dave Trott

Where Did It All Go Wrong? by Eaon Pritchard

Eat Your Greens by Weimer Snijders

Laughing at Advertising by Bob Hoffman

Bob’s website

Kira’s website

Rob’s website

The Copywriter Club Facebook Group

The Copywriter Underground

Intro: Content (for now)

Outro: Gravity

 

Full Transcript:

Rob:   This podcast is sponsored by The Copywriter Underground.

Kira:   It’s our new membership designed for you to help you attract more clients and hit 10k a month consistently.

Rob:   For more information or to sign up, go to thecopywriterunderground.com.

Kira:   What if you could hang out with seriously talented copywriters and other experts,