Displaying 7201 - 7236 of 7266 results
by Magnus Shaw Browsing through my emails this morning, discarding increasingly bizarre spam along the way, I was struck by a common element. Of the dozen or so genuine messages, over half contained basic spelling mistakes. I wasn't particularly...
Posted by: Creativepool
by Magnus Shaw Last year I wrote a column on a brilliant campaign for Mooncup - an alternative female sanitary device. The brand's wit and frankness were refreshing and the correspondence I received suggested the gadget has many fans. And now a...
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by Ashley Morrison Hello from the Cote d'Azur, playground of the rich and famous and home to the wealthiest of the wealthy. Monaco itself boasts the world's highest GDP per capita (for that, read everyone earns shed loads) and, as a by-product,...
Posted by: Creativepool
by Magnus Shaw When a kitchen is infested with cockroaches, the little beasts do their unpalatable work quite happily while the room is dark.But turn on a light and they scatter chaotically in all directions, scared and confused. There are many...
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by Magnus Shaw In Britain, we love sports. We also adore a bit of patriotic tub thumping. Combine the two and the excitement is almost unbearable. I'm talking about the Olympics, of course. Within a matter of weeks, billions of pounds worth of...
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by Ashley Morrison As Euro 2012 draws to a close, and while we lick our wounds and I am constantly reminded that being called 'Ashley' is not exactly a blessing right now, thanks to Messrs Cole and Young you may find some artistic Euro 2012-based...
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by Magnus Shaw Even readers of my advanced years may struggle to remember The Skids. Formed in Dunfermline in 1977, the band bridged the final days of punk rock and the birth of new wave pop. They were pretty successful too. Singles 'Masquerade',...
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by Ashley Morrison Barbie is one of the most famous dolls, and even personalities, in the world. Girls, boys, women and men we've all heard of her and we all know that she lives in a fantastic world of clothes for every occasion, convertible sports...
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by Magnus Shaw Jimmy Carr is recording an episode of the sweary panel show 'Eight Out Of Ten Cats' tonight. A week ago, that news would be no more intriguing than discovering your train has a filthy lavatory. But a week is a long time in a troubled...
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by Ashley Morrison Look, love, just get back in the kitchen where you belong. What on earth are you doing, straying away from the cooker? Leash too long? Oh, mind you, with the leash off, you might as well do the vacuuming when you've finished...
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by Magnus Shaw So we're all agreed, social media is the brave new world of PR and advertising. A year ago there was some mileage in telling clients, and anyone else prepared to listen, the game was changing and it was time to get hip to the new...
Posted by: Creativepool
by Magnus Shaw Earlier today I had a phone call. When you're a freelance working from home, these are exciting moments. Unfortunately it was a sales call, which took much of the excitement out of this specific moment. But I hadn't spoken to anyone...
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by Magnus Shaw Throughout this increasingly insane financial crisis I have worked as a freelance. Disadvantage: I have to find my own work and therefore income. Advantage: I can't be made redundant. However, I have faced the redundancy...
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by Magnus Shaw The internet is full of hyperbole. Social media in particular. 'The funniest video ever!', 'The best song of all time!' - in a rush to draw attention to their tiny corner of the web, users understandably become overexcited and...
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by Ashley Morrison The year is 1967 and Alan Oakley, head designer at Raleigh, is on a plane over the Atlantic. He's been sent by Raleigh to the USA for inspiration to help restore the company's fortunes. It was a good move. If anyone knows about...
Posted by: Creativepool
by Ashley Morrison Good old Yellow Pages. There was something rather comforting about those adverts, about the fact that good old Yellow Pages is not just there for that leaky roof. Or for the warm and fluffy things in life: the boy who bought his...
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by Magnus Shaw I'm in America. Staying in Kissimmee, Florida and genuinely delighted to see things looking a lot better. Last year I was alarmed at the number of boarded up stores and saddened by the prevalence of regular Americans soliciting money...
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by Magnus Shaw Perhaps we shouldn't expect anything more from ITV2 - after all, this is the home of Celebrity Juice, Life On Murrs and The Only Way Is Essex. But while those shows may grate and irritate, they manage to avoid devaluing and...
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I'm a bit of a sad case. I like American Idol. There, I've said it. I prefer it to the UK version of The X Factor, largely because it hasn't got that buffoon Louis Walsh on it but also because I feel that the singing talent in America is better than...
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Loaded, the title from which all lads mags sprang, is to be sold for the second time in as many years. Its publisher, Vitality, was taken into administration last week, owing creditors £1m and liquidators Cooper Young have been tasked with...
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Being the product-loving and recession-conscious consumers that we are, we all want to get as much for our cash as we can. And in some ways, that even applies to giving to charity. People will admirably train themselves to death to run the London...
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HM Government and Tesco must have thought they'd found the Holy Grail. In an era of high unemployment and a conspicuous absence of career opportunities, the idea that the jobless could somehow be coerced into working for the ubiquitous supermarket...
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Twitter can be a bear pit. As a repository for anything that crosses one's mind, it tends to attract rebuttals, rejections, replies and refutations like an old sweet attracts pocket fluff. However, with a bit of luck, a judicious following policy and...
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Last Sunday Facebook surprised the world. Without waiting for their market flotation later this week - and like a big shot investment banker casually ordering the 1900 Cristal Brut - the social network laid down $1b in cash and stock to acquire...
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Easter's a bit confusing, isn't it? I've managed to get my head around the crucifixion being on 'Good' Friday and Easter weekend falling on different dates every year - but now I find myself befuddled by the whole egg thing. Try as I might, I simply...
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I suppose when you create the most useful invention since the Corby Trouser Press, you have the right  to outsmart your audience. And the good people at Google certainly like to take advantage of their elevated position on the first day of the...
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In comparison with the tabloids, The Guardian uses television advertising sparingly. This may be a cost consideration, but actually ensures a rather pleasing impact when a spot does appear. In the past, the paper's TV efforts have been intriguing,...
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Last year I wrote a piece and published it from Egypt while the population was engaged in an, ultimately successful, push to overthrow its president. Now I am back and writing this from Dahab, a town on the eastern coast of the Sinai peninsula where...
Posted by: Creativepool Magnus Shaw - writer, blogger and broadcaster www.magnusshaw.co.uk www.creativepool.co.uk/magnusshaw
Posted by: Creativepool
In the eighties and nineties I lived in London and throughout that time, London Underground put buskers on a par with the small, grey, dusty mice running between the rails. That is, vermin ripe for extermination. Okay, maybe not extermination, but...
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Jeremy You know the Honey Monster? Big, funny, cuddly, kooky old rug? Cold-blooded, careerist vampire more like. Because those of us in our forties know he usurped Jeremy Bear, casting him out of his proud role as the face of Sugar Puffs; condemning...
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If you look to the left, you'll notice this is the one hundred and first column I've written for Creativepool. I must admit I let my century pass by unnoticed, which is rather typical of my lack of attention. But it does allow me the opportunity to...
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I felt sure if we waited long enough, someone would grasp the nettle and prove that the art of copywriting isn’t dead, just having a lie down. The fact that this little miracle has been achieved by one of the nation’s best known (and best...
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There are many signs that something is going wrong. The scarcity of invitations to join the staff of a particular agency; the lack of requests to pencil out dates in your diary and the distant memory of those top-dollar, overnight emergency...
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Social media is currently the marketing Holy Grail. Formerly sceptical clients are now convinced that, properly leveraged, Facebook and twitter will open up a treasure trove of commerce. Against this backdrop, Dutch airline KLM is offering its...
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We've been spoilt. The delights of the modern media have ruined us. Our predecessors would have little or no idea what a polar bear was, let alone be presented with the vision of one giving birth to unbelievably sweet baby polar bears. But now, we...
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