Why Sophie Rijnaard Doesn’t Believe in Complex Words
With a history of writing long stories and poems as a child, it’s no surprise that Sophie Rijnaard’s adulthood presents her as a creative copywriter by profession. Under the KesselsKramer Amsterdam roof, her passion is making complex social matters understandable and relatable, combining this with strategic ideas and a flair for language.
Originally studying for a degree in the liberal arts and sciences, and then a philosophy masters, Sophie had a chance to experiment with her writing and figure out exactly where she wanted to take her writing style. A pivotal learning experience, her education provided her with both an analytical sense and also created an environment for her dry sense of humour to shine.
At KesselsKramer, to date, she’s worked on 68 projects across 49 different clients, creating campaigns for NGOs, museums, international enterprises and more. Recently, she worked on The Deutsches Museum’s ‘EVERYTHING’ campaign, created to showcase 400 collection items across campaign videos, print media and socials – a spot she’s particularly proud of.
Sharing some of the other spots she’s worked on and her journey into the industry, Sophie speaks to LBB’s Nisna Mahtani.
LBB> What kind of kid were you and was there any inkling that you would end up in your current career?
Sophie> I was shy and wrote long stories and poems that I occasionally copied in secret from poetry books that I read. 20 years after the fact, it seems OK to admit that in public.
LBB> Where did you grow up and where are you based now?
Sophie> I was born in Rotterdam, then grew up in a city next to Rotterdam - Dordrecht - made studying detours to Zeeland and Maastricht, and just when I could not go further south whilst staying within Dutch borders, I moved back to Rotterdam at first, and then Amsterdam.
LBB> Did you go to uni or college – if so what did you study? And how did you find that experience?
Sophie> I studied liberal arts and sciences in Middelburg and followed that up with a master's in philosophy at Maastricht. Neither of these education programs were very specific, but gave me the room to experiment with writing puns in academic papers. Looking back on it, I think it helped me develop my analytical skills and dry sense of humour, but perhaps it could have been a bit more creative and a bit more practical.
LBB> What was your first job in the industry and what was the first professional project you embarked on?
Sophie> KesselsKramer was my first job in advertising, where I made my way in by writing the tone of voice of the Frans Hals museum - the first of many museums I worked for.
After that, I soon started the first project of many for the feminist organisation Women Inc. These first social causes and museums definitely set the tone.
LBB> What was the most useful lesson you learned in the early days of your career?
Sophie> Hard is easy. Simple is hard. We live in a world that has seemed to reward the use of complex words, but I don’t believe in complex words. It’s easy to make simple things sound hard. It’s tough to make complex things sound easy.
LBB> What are some recent pieces of work you’ve been a part of?
Sophie> Some of the things I have been doing recently have started a while back – we’re currently doing quite some follow-up work for campaigns launched last year.
Luckily for this interview, these are also some of the things I am still super happy with, such as the campaign that defines ‘EVERYTHING’ for Deutsches Museum in Munich, and a campaign to make suicide a topic of conversation in order to prevent it.
LBB> What’s your favourite part of what you do?
Sophie> I love that ads are ‘just ads’ but at the same time, can have a substantial social impact. Working on complex social issues, ranging from suicide prevention to closing the gender pay gap, allows me to think big, but start with something small – say, an Instagram post, or poster.
LBB> How do you keep yourself fresh and abreast of developments in your field?
Sophie> My field is advertising, but of course, advertising is only a tiny part of the larger scheme of fields and things: the whole wide world we live in. Therefore, I try to keep up by reading three different newspapers. After all, we shouldn’t solely make ads for other people making ads. We should make ads for everyone else.
LBB> Is there anyone in the industry you particularly look up to or admire – why?
Sophie> I think it must be the one and only Erik Kessels, for his ability to make anyone enthusiastic about anything. An ability very few have, and we all probably want.
LBB> Outside of work, what do you do to decompress or stay fresh?
Sophie> I clean my house and try to think of nothing.
