Two people go on a date and one of them thinks it went great, but the other one fails to return calls the next day and without any feedback the first one calls the radio show and asks them to make a call to find out what went wrong or just...why? Remind you of anything?
The Vanishing Art of Copywriting
These days it seems that the copywriter, at least those in the mould of the David Abbotts, Tony Brignulls and Tim Delaneys of yesteryear have almost, if not disappeared, been relegated to the bench. The glitterati of adland are no longer the wordsmiths but the tech developers, the experiential masterminds and the product developers. Copywriters... Continue Reading →
Feedback is fuel. Or Diesel. Or did you look at hydrogen?
One of the hardest things in our job is to accept client changes. We all have had to attend meetings, where we have to dutifully write down the client comments on how a concept could be improved, taking in all the feedback, and thanking them for their input. I have mixed feelings about this and... Continue Reading →
The pros and cons of a ‘key visual’ in pharma.
We pharma creatives often have a slightly different hill to climb when it comes to creating brand campaigns. The concept of a campaign with multiple executions all pivoting off one central thought, like consumer campaigns, is hard for many pharma clients to get their heads around. History has proven to them that one 'key visual'... Continue Reading →
The centenary blog: What we’ve learned so far. Part 2.
Why centenary? well, it's been 100 blogs and I thought that was worth a review. So while I am here, I'd like to say thanks to all of you who continue to read my ramblings and opinions. It reminds me of the time Eric Morecambe (if you don't know he was then I'm afraid we... Continue Reading →
The centenary blog: What we’ve learned so far. Part 1.
It's been ten years (more or less) of writing these blags and it turns out that I have now penned a staggering 99 blogs (okay, not the most staggeringly prolific writer I must say, but not a bad average) and so I have been thinking about what I should write for the 100th, or what I like to call the centenary edition.
What brands can learn from dating apps.
When I started researching this topic, I quickly landed on articles that explained why men fail at online dating. The correlation between some brands and how they behave in the marketplace was startling.
What clients should look for in pitch creative.
Creative work in pharma can't win a pitch, but it can lose one. So how should clients judge work that might never run anyway?
Marathons versus sprints.
How do you feel about the gamification of creativity? You know: All night work-a-thons. Two day hack-a-thons. "Let's have a creative sprint!" "You mean doing the work in a really short space of time?" "Yeah but if we call it a 'Sprint' we can sell it as a thing!" Maybe I've just had my share... Continue Reading →
The slightly dark art of client services.
What would be the skills 'creatives' look for in account people if we had the choice? And would a client's reply to 'what makes a great account handler?' be the same as an art director's or a copywriter's? These are just some of the important questions I pretty much never ask myself unless writing a... Continue Reading →