How a Copywriter Uses Words and Creativity to Bring our Brand to Life

A year after her first day at GetYourGuide, Brand Marketing Copywriter, Emma Brooke looks back on her career and the incredible opportunities at Creative Studio.

I’m Emma, a brand copywriter working in the Creative Studio team. The Studio officially launched in July 2018. It’s an internal creative brand agency at GetYourGuide that sits in the Marketing department.

With a large variety of projects, no two days are the same — one day, I’ll be writing captions for our Instagram page, while the next, I’ll be helping to create a TV ad or writing copy for billboards in Berlin Tegel Airport. It’s a diverse and challenging role. In a nutshell, my job’s all about bringing our brand voice to life and adapting it for the audience and environment.

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Breaking into copywriting

My path was a little unconventional as I completed a BA in Philosophy rather than study Marketing or English, so it took a lot of grit and determination to get my foot in the door. I started out by writing an article and sending it to a magazine.

They replied a few days later, offering to pay me a small fee. Over the next year, I continued to pitch to publications and get published, gradually building up my portfolio. Off the back of that, I was eventually offered an internship at a boutique content agency.

Working at that agency was one of the most valuable experiences of my career — I had some incredible mentors who taught me the craft and helped me understand what makes outstanding copy. I spent the following years working my way up through creative teams at some of London’s leading agencies, before moving to Berlin and joining GetYourGuide.

The shift to data-driven creative

The move from agency to in-house has been a big one — in the best way possible. The approach to creative here has a much more end to end, 360-degree view. Rather than just delivering copy, I also have the chance to make real-time iterations, gather learnings, and use data to make my writing more appealing to our customers.

There’s a big focus on testing here, and I’ve been amazed at how much it’s helped me improve my writing skills. Instead of wondering which messaging might be effective, I’m able to test several alternatives and see directly how our customers respond from an objective viewpoint.

A whirlwind first year

Over the past year, I’ve created global digital campaigns from scratch, helped launch a set of TV ads, and seen my copy in huge print at Tegel airport — and that’s just for starters. But the real highlight has to be the team I work with. The Studio is packed full of talented, wonderful people who make the office an inspiring and joyful place to be.

Bringing big ideas to life

The Creative Studio has a strong spirit of collaboration and open-mindedness. On most projects, I work very closely with designers, an animator, a strategist, and other stakeholders, so working as a team is at the heart of everything we do. We value clear communication, honest feedback, and a desire to get your hands dirty.

One of my favorite parts of working in the Studio is our brainstorming sessions. We all come with big, sometimes crazy, approaches, but the most exciting part is turning these raw ideas into practical, creative solutions that work for our business and our customers.

If you’re interested in learning more about marketing copy, check out our article: Position Spotlight: Marketing Copywriter

More than just writing

We have specialized copywriters on both the marketing and UX team. I’m on the marketing side, but I love being able to learn and ask advice from our UX team who know so much about our product. Within the marketing team itself, there are a lot of opportunities to mold your career and play to your strengths. We have specialists in editorial, paid search, and B2B who are all developing their skills beyond their day-to-day role.

For me, that means broadening my creative expertise beyond copywriting. This year I got the chance to do that by writing, producing, and art directing a company video. It was a considerable challenge that allowed me to learn and grow very quickly in a very short span of time.

If you’d like to learn more about copywriting and UX writing, check out our article: Why copywriting and UX writing actually have a lot in common.

Personal and professional growth

I’ve never grown so much during my first year at a company than I have here — period. For me, the most exciting part has been developing as a person and a colleague. I think it’s rare to find a company that puts such a powerful emphasis on this.

Right from the get-go, I received great feedback, hands-on advice, and mapped out clear goals with my manager. We worked together to create an ambitious but achievable personal growth plan, which enabled me to get promoted within my first year.

Now is a great time to join Creative Studio

We’ve achieved so much together in the first year, but in many ways, we’re just getting started. We’re still evolving our brand and our voice day by day, which means whoever joins will have the power to shape our creative, see their ideas implemented, and make a big impact for our customers. Oh, and you’ll get to work in our fancy office, the Ampere building in Berlin.

A world of opportunity

If you’re curious about joining Creative Studio, come prepared not only to have big ideas but to explain why they work, and how to make them happen. You’ll need to back up your proposals with testing and tell us why our customers will love them. Then you'll need proactively bring them to life by taking the necessary steps to drive your ideas forward. For those who can do this, the opportunities are endless.

Interested in joining Creative Studio? Check out some of our upcoming roles in the Marketing department.

If you’re interested in more B2B marketing roles, you can also explore the Business Development department.

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