Displaying 613 - 648 of 1002 results
For all its trials, hardships, wars and woes, 2013 still managed to inject some wonderful stuff into our busy, pressured lives. So, with 2014 snapping at our heels, this would be an appropriate moment to celebrate the things which enhanced the human...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Most people would probably agree that, these days, we are a much more touchy-feely nation than ever before. Or much more “politically correct”, if you want to be more politically correct about the label. But advertising is still one of...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
Christmas is rather a competitive activity, isn't it? From those rather ghastly households attempting to out-decorate their neighbours by festooning their brickwork with flashing reindeer, to the restaurants fighting to see who can charge the most...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
As I sit down to write my blog today, I’m a bit anxious. You see, we moved on Saturday. But this was no ordinary move. I’ve left the creative centre of the country (and some would argue of the world) and gone to live in a place where...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
Understandably there's been quite some fuss about the John Lewis 'Hare and Bear' Yuletide spot. Not only is it high profile and eye-catching, but the cartoon alone cost somewhere in the region of £7m. With that sort of investment, you 'd hope it...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
“That’s the power of social media” - that’s what they keep telling us. Yep, social media can indeed be harnessed and used to great effect by an enormous range of businesses - from sole traders to multinationals. For some of...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
In the early days of television, a journalist asked the British Prime Minister whether he had anything he wanted to say to the nation. Eden paused for a moment, then said - "No." This exchange has passed into history as an example of a considerably...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
So, you think you know your social media? What's the biggest social network in the world, then? Right, Facebook. Even my Auntie Janet knows it's Facebook - and I don't have an Auntie Janet. Okay, which social network is the second biggest? Twitter,...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Unless you’ve been asleep for the past week, you’ll be all too aware of Olympian Tom Daley’s announcement about his sexuality via a ‘selfie’ YouTube video. The reaction has been incredible - from the media and the public...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
Not that I have anything against festive cheer, but for some reason, this sometimes means that good taste seems to vanish completely, and this could not be more true when it comes to Christmas songs. With videos featuring a load of scouse wigs and...
Posted by: Creativepool
I've written before on the clumsiness and general lack of bite of the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) and this week sees them back in action, in hot pursuit of Spotify. It seems the music streaming site recently threw out an email to selected...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Until recently, I can't say I was overly familiar with the nu-metal band Lostprophets. Now I don't think I'll ever forget them. The crimes to which their former singer has admitted are so monstrous, they leave even the most jaded person reeling and...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
"All branding is about setting yourself apart and trying to be clear to your audience or customers that you stand for this set of values.” Absolutely spot on…and so it should be, because those words of wisdom come from Martin Lambie-Nairn...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
Had it not been for an internship, I wouldn't be a copywriter. Once I'd completed my training, my tutor arranged for a series of placements at various agencies. It was called 'work experience' then, and each placement lasted a few days. It was a...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
These days, we’re by no means strangers to the phenomenon that is reality TV. It permeates every channel, every genre and every demographic. We laugh at the modern Victorian freak show that is X Factor, with their hopelessly deluded, fragile...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
Like most people in the creative industry, I know a fair few people who operate websites. Some of those sites are superbly designed and executed, others are a bit dull, and a minority are a right royal mess. It's also notable how few make real...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Many Creativepool readers are already well into their career, but it's clear a fair few are just starting out, possibly still seeking their first gig. If that's you, please stay with me. First, let me say that I recognise your wretched luck. You're...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
I'm no statistician, but I can be fairly sure fewer people are watching movies at the cinema with every passing month. Netflix, Sky Movies, Film 4, downloads and DVDs are all conspiring to keep film buffs glued to the sofa and away from the big...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
As a kid, I was very fond of the word 'wacky' - largely because it featured in the title of my favourite TV shows 'Wacky Races' (if you're too young to remember it - find it on the web, you'll be glad you did). As an adult, I'm less keen. It has some...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Could they have been the most expensive two minutes in advertising history? Well, if they weren’t, they certainly weren’t far off. Last Saturday during X Factor - and therefore requiring the sign-off from pop mogul Simon Cowell himself -...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
I'm always impressed by people who plan their career. Or rather people who plan their career and realise those plans. Planning stuff is easy, making it happen is something else - particularly in this business. Let's say, on your first day in the ad...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Say what you like about Tesco, but they know how to create a fuss. A couple of days ago, the digital, broadcast and print media fell on a story about the retail giant and its latest advertising wheeze. As a plethora of reports rushed to tell us,...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Look around any aircraft cabin during the in-flight safety demonstration and I’d guestimate that about 20% of passengers at most are actually watching as the crew show us how a seatbelt works (“because all aircraft are...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
In the laptop market, competition is fierce. So many brands, designs and features - manufacturers are constantly looking for innovative ways to make their kit more attractive. Interestingly, none of them has ever released a machine emitting the...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
I'm sorry for implanting a most unwelcome picture in your head, but I was taking a bath the other evening. The radio was on, I was leafing idly through a magazine and that's when I saw it - the least effective print ad of all time. In fact, it was so...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Yes, it seems that, whatever transport-based analogy one cares to make, blunder-prone Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary can turn anything into a bad joke. While other businesses are harnessing the power of social media to promote their brand and...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
I tried Corsodyl once. My mum had a bottle in her bathroom cabinet and, as it said it was a mouthwash, I took a liberal swig. It was very much like rinsing with floor polish and Polo mints. But it is a 'medicine' and the worse a medicine tastes, the...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
The other day, somebody accused me of being “such a copywriter” about something or other. I think I’d used the word “malapropism” and nobody else in the room knew what it meant. My being called “such a...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
We’ve all had fantasies about various ways of quitting our jobs. In fact, some of you out there may even have turned freelance because you just couldn’t take the permanent life any more - either because of your boss or the work itself....
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
You have just under two weeks to get down to the Serpentine Gallery in London’s Kensington Gardens to see this year’s Pavilion, designed by multi award-winning Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto. Over the years, the Serpentine Gallery has...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
Last week, I wrote about the key differences between copywriting and 'writing'. And while I attempted to make the challenges inherent in copywriting clear, I wouldn't say the profession is in crisis. Unlike the art of writing comedy. Quite when the...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
So, tell me honestly, does that title offend you? It's a serious question - I put it there deliberately. The reason being that, last week, Asda paid £25,000 to mental health charity Mind for advertising what was deemed to be a completely...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
When people ask what I do for a living, I tend to get in a terrible flap. This is largely because I do a variety of things. I pen pieces about music, I blog about advertising and the creative industry (obviously), I present podcasts and radio...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
You must be used to my moaning by now. All those tortuously bad ads that drive me potty - from Brad Pitt waxing poetical in the agonising Chanel 'inevitable' campaign, to Spotify waffling on about what music does to us (which has nothing to do with...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
As prizes go, having your own pub built is quite a nice thing to win. But so it was when McCann Manchester was voted global agency of the year across all of McCann Worldgroup. Having won the award this year, the Manchester-based communications...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
The World Wide Web, it's a wonderful thing to be sure. You've got your social media for endless moaning and pictures of your holidays. You've got your YouTube for Little Mix videos and footage of other people's pets. And you've got your online...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw