Interview: Apostrophe Copywriters Founders Talk Landing Global Clients and Unlikely Inspiration

After working as copywriters at several of Melbourne, Australia’s most prominent ad agencies, Stefanie Digianvincenzo and Crystal Fong decided it was time for a change. “We were tired of [corporate] politics, egos, and dinners at desks under fluorescent lights. We knew there was a better way of working,” says Fong.

Both entrepreneurs decided to strike out on their own to create Apostrophe Copywriters, Melbourne’s first copywriting collective — a group of award-winning, freelance copywriters that collaborate with design agencies, digital agencies, brand managers and like-minded start-ups.

The copywriter’s collective boasts a roster of professional accolades, hosting freelance copywriters that have worked with top global brands at some of the world’s most well-known agencies.

“For too long, people in our industry have lived by the rules put in place by the folks that came before them,” says Fong, Apostrophe Copywriter co-founder, “We had different ideas.”

Learn how Stefanie Digianvincenzo and Crystal Fong launched Melbourne’s first copywriting collective and why entrepreneurs should go mobile to find inspiration.

How We Got Started:

My co-founder, Stefanie Digianvincenzo and I have worked at some of the biggest [advertising] agencies in Melbourne. Although we enjoyed writing, we were tired of [corporate] politics, egos, and dinners at desks under fluorescent lights. We knew there was a better way of working.

After [we both decided to quit] the industry, with not much to go to, Stefanie and I began to discuss other ways of working in our industry. We realized that so many parallel industries needed copywriters, but couldn’t necessarily justify [hiring] them on full-time. We knew there was a gap that could be filled by our working on a project-by-project basis, so we started the collective.

In 2011, we hit the ground running. In comparison to most businesses our start-up costs were minimal, but there are always mandatories. The biggest investments were branding, collateral, website, insurance, legal advice, a space to sit and furniture to sit on. Oh, and of course lots and lots of caffeine to get us through our start-up days!

In the past 18 months we’ve picked up projects for Garnier, Adidas, iSelect and even the launch of the new Wolverine movie. Linkedin and word of mouth have been our best friends. It’s an incestuous industry. People move around a lot, so maintaining relationships means we’ve always had access to new networks when they move on.