A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I was employed as a junior copywriter. Salary 4.5K. 1-month holiday a year. 1½ hours for lunch. I was not the only junior in the creative dept mind. There were three others and one guy in particular had some very peculiar tendencies.
Posts Tagged ‘John Fountain’
Cadbury’s Eyebrow. The top 10 YouTube remakes.
Thursday, May 10th, 2012
Back in 2009 the Cadbury’s Eyebrows spot was the third in a series for the chocolate brand that saw its advertising take the guise of entertainment rather than straightforward marketing. And while ‘Gorilla’ charmed viewers and ‘Cars’ met with mixed reviews, it was ‘Eyebrows’ that captured the imagination and took the world by storm.
Writing ads for vampires. How HBO launched the second season of True Blood.
Monday, May 7th, 2012
When Series 2 of the hit TV series True Blood was ready to be launched across the US, the executive producer of the show asked his agency, ‘If Vampires are among us how would they be marketed to?’ The agency, Digital Kitchen, decided to stick their neck out and came back with a bloody brilliant idea.
Is your boss any good? 10 attributes of a top creative director.
Monday, April 30th, 2012
I had a go at being a creative director once. It didn’t quite work out. All sorts of reasons why but the main one being that I was just 30 years old. Looking back that’s probably too young to be in the hot seat. Although I knew how to come up with ideas at that age I didn’t really get my head around the job. And if I had understood the full requirements I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have taken on the role.
Do you network?
Monday, April 23rd, 2012
Up until a month ago I’d never attended a networking group. In truth I didn’t know much about them. I assumed that they were for geeks and braggers, for the totally incompetent and the mildly desperate, for people either short of friends or folk who just couldn’t face another instalment of EastEnders.
10 great copywriters’ blogs (That avoid the subject of copywriting)
Monday, April 16th, 2012
As you are no doubt well aware, copywriters are, of course, some of the brightest, kindest and most imaginative people walking this planet. Indeed, when God was busy spooning out the talent, he took a particular shine to the marketing wordsmith – particularly folk like Joseph Heller, Terry Gilliam, William S. Burroughs, Salman Rushdie, Don DeLillo, and Fay Weldon who all received second helpings.
Can creativity be taught or is it something we are born with?
Friday, April 13th, 2012
Creativity has got to be one of the most important skills in the world today. Take a look at any recruitment ad in the corporate world and you’ll see how much the skill is in demand. Right now all kinds of companies are looking for someone to bring a creative edge to their global operation, business strategy, product development or marketing plans. And if your CV shows you’re a great problem solver and you have a creative mind, bingo, you’re someone in demand.
The best opening titles to movies
Friday, April 6th, 2012
Opening titles to a movie should tell us more than simply the name of the flick. At best they should draw us in, set the scene, tantalize, wake us up, introduce us to a weird new world, make us laugh or failing all that – just simply entertain.
Go big. 10 awesomely epic ads.
Friday, March 30th, 2012
From the moment the brief lands on the table and the creative team cast their eyes over the words “TV Script” the salivating begins. Will this be the one? The one with the inexhaustible budget. The one that shouts ‘GO BIG”. The one that doesn’t set any requirements on length, location or scope. The one that has Marty’s name all over it. The one that will push the boundaries of cinematic storytelling way beyond anything humanity has seen before. Yes as creative folk our dream is to create something mindblowingly awesome, and here today are ten occasions when the dream came true.
Meet Gail Parminter. Creative Director at Madwomen.
Friday, March 9th, 2012
Gail has 20 years’ experience as an Advertising Creative and Creative Head in agencies such as Ogilvy & Mather, Bates Dorland, Ogilvy Action and Saatchi & Saatchi X. More recently, she’s helped set up an agency called Madwomen – an agency that specialises in advertising to the most crucial of today’s markets – women. She’s also speaking at the Women of the World conference at the Southbank Centre on 9th March, along with industry leaders including Andrew Cracknell, author of ‘The Real Madmen’ and Kate Stanners, ECD of Saatchi & Saatchi. She also recently appeared in Channel 4′s Mad Bad Ad Show with Mickey Flannagan and Mark Watson.