Recently I was talking to a designer who had been asked by their client to redesign an employee magazine. The client is a multinational company, with a workforce of tens of thousands spread across multiple locations worldwide. It has grown rapidly through acquisition.

According to the client’s brief, the aim of the magazine is to help employees of the wider group have clarity of the company’s strategy. They cited the target reader as the average shop floor worker in Slovakia.

The ‘new’ look magazine contains nothing but interviews with the C-Suite, a feature on the Chairman’s vision for the future and a thought leadership piece from the Director of HR. They had removed the regular sport and social news and local country updates.

It seemed an odd direction to take the magazine – until you understood the politics behind the brief.

All the client wanted was to convince potential investors to come on board. It was a PR exercise for the C-Suite.

It had nothing at all to do with the employees.

Writing is only half the copywriter’s job. Understanding the client’s real objective, knowing how to reach the right reader and being able to persuade with words, are equally important. Which is why it pays to hire someone who thinks beyond the brief. That’s me.