Now that’s how to sell

Want to watch an entertaining video? It’s an infomercial for Chatbooks. I had nothing to do with it; US agency Harmon Brothers made the ad. They claim it’s had 75 million views and 467,000 shares. The version I saw on YouTube had only 16 million views. Even so, that’s a figure you’d expect of a […]

Is your brand story this good?

Isn’t there a lot of talk about storytelling these days? Marketing gurus stress its importance. Apparently, 80% of UK adults want brands to tell stories as part of their marketing. There are now annual surveys of the Best Storytelling Brands. And a recent forecast on Campaign Live, The Year Ahead in Creativity, predicted that, once […]

Less is more?

When copywriters write headlines, endlines and slogans, we normally try to keep them brief. Our thinking is that short lines are more likely to grab the reader’s attention than long ones. And like a small snack, short copy is easier to digest than a mouthful of words. Short is simple. Less is more. That’s why […]

Why Maths Men need Mad Men

Data and technology help you reach your audience. But are they enough to convert them? Google knows you’re reading this. Amazon is about to recommend the boxed set of Mad Men, the final season, to you. And Facebook has decided the name of the child you’re having next year (just kidding on that one). Isn’t […]

Why can’t B2B be more like B2C?

Think of a consumer ad campaign, current or past, that you like or maybe even love. Easy, isn’t it? Now think of a business-to-business one you have similar positive feelings about. That’s harder, wouldn’t you say? Apart from IBM campaigns over the years, there are few b2b brands that have made an impression on me. […]

Great script? Or OK script brilliantly produced?

What I learned judging copy at D&AD 2012 – plus some tips if you’re entering next year. If you’re a copywriter, art director or designer, you know that it’s easier to criticise than it is to create. I was reminded of that back in April when, instead of creating, I spent a day in the […]

Would this creative idea have happened in London?

For its size New Zealand has produced a lot of excellent creative work over the years. I asked a Kiwi art director why this was so. He said agencies there work closely with client decision makers. Does that happen in London? Maybe it did a few decades ago, but in my experience, it’s increasingly rare […]

The power of intelligent long copy

You’ve probably heard it a million times: “No one reads long copy.” But is it true? Copy is text. People read long text all the time, in the form of news articles and blog posts – like the one you’re reading now. And they read it because it’s interesting (to them at least). So maybe […]