Displaying 145 - 180 of 709 results
This week has been one big, fat customer relations fail in the life of Creativepool’s grumpiest blogger. That’s me, by the way, and it’s a title I’m rather proud of. Oh, and before you go all grammar guru on me, and tell me...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
Compare The Market: Meerkats On Safari Try as I might, I still can't bring myself to dislike the meerkats. The campaign has been running so long, it should have run out of steam, but when Alexander tells Oleg (you see, I even know their names) he's...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Have you read the Forrester report? If not, do you know what the Forrester report is? Don't worry, neither did I until someone asked me what I made of it, prompting me to run away and look it up. In some quarters, however, this report is hot stuff....
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
There are few things more cringe-worthy than politicians trying to be any of the following: hip, funny, down with da yoof, normal, John Travolta. I had to add number five because I'm still haunted by images of John "Two Jags" Prescott bopping away at...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
Supermarket wars have been with us for as long as there have been supermarkets. But the intensity of the competition has never been so keenly felt as it is today. Tesco has had a thoroughly miserable year, which cost them one Chief Executive, a mass...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Much like text messages and instant noodles, there was a time when audio logos seemed terribly brave and inventive. Received wisdom tells us Intel were the first to deploy such a thing, when they decreed their name could not be shown or spoken...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Ah, advent! The gateway to Christmas! Today is the day when millions of children all over the country are opening the first window on their advent calendars and devouring that first overpriced and possibly over-wrapped square of chocolate - assuming...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
If we ever had drive-in movies in the UK, they kept it pretty quiet. The whole concept of taking your car into a cinema is very much an American one, and even here it’s dying. In fact, there are only 340 such theatres left in the whole of the...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Let’s keep things simple. I’ve seen an ad campaign I really like. It’s funny, witty, smart, highly noticeable and very memorable. I know, I know - if you’ve read my articles for Creativepool, you’ll be aware I rarely...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
by Ashley Morrison This Friday sees the eagerly anticipated release of the Paddington movie. I'm a colossal fan of the marmalade sandwich-loving young gentleman bear - and not only of the original five-minute animated episodes narrated by Michael...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
When Creativepool went looking for a fine fellow to write a column called ‘The Week In Advertising’, it made very good sense to search for a writer with a calm perspective and a measured, balanced approach. Well, they were all busy, so...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
10. Travelators You know travelators, those flattened escalators that serve as moving pavements. Well, it’s not unusual to find static print ads along their route, but I’m suggesting the actual moving steps would be ideal ambient media....
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Nicky Morgan is the UK Secretary of State for Education. This week she gave a speech as part of the ‘Your Life’ campaign, designed to promote mathematics and science subjects to young people. These are part of the STEM subjects (Science,...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Dapper Laughs isn't funny. He isn't not funny because he plays fast and loose with accepted standards of decency and respect towards women (although he does); nor because he uses infantile language in his 'routines' and 'pranks' (although he does...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
by Ashley Morrison The other day, I was at a party and talking to someone who wrote for a technical magazine. Personally, I'm a generalist; unlike him, I don't have one particular area of expertise. So that means, as a freelance copywriter, I've...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
Mindshare, WPP's global media agency network, recently held a media summit with a “Planning for Agility” theme, which brought together the brightest mind's in the industry to discuss integrating paid, owned and earned channels. The...
Posted by: Benjamin Hiorns
A copywriting pal of mine has drawn my attention to a collection of quotes about, well, copywriting. I'm always delighted when these things crop up, because I feel sure blog posts on design and art direction outnumber pieces on copy by about a...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
If you're in the habit of staying in and watching ITV on a Saturday and Sunday night, you'll probably be familiar with Stevi Ritchie. If not, then I just need to tell you he's this year's comedy offering on the X-Factor. You know, the one who can't...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
"It is a pleasure to open the Information Age exhibition today at the @sciencemuseum and I hope people will enjoy visiting. Elizabeth R." That's what it said, the first tweet from Her Majesty The Queen. Causing a great deal of fuss, it arrived on...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
1. "I've changed the copy, so I'm sending it back for you to make it read properly." Ah! So you couldn't resist meddling with the perfectly good copy I sent to you - and now you want me to put it right. Right? 2. "I know it's not in the brief, but...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
I don't know about you, but I don't play video games. I'd argue that they're a bit childish, but I like plenty of childish things: Bagpuss, Thunderbirds, The Muppets - I think they're all terrific, so that's not the problem. No, I think it's a...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Remember what a pain using a website used to be? Leaving aside the time it took for a page to load, which was often sufficiently long to allow a quick city break, it wasn't unusual to find the navigation wrongly linked, or the image files so large...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
MySpace is an astonishing use of new technology, which links people to one another, and allows them to share news, views, photos and comments. It is extraordinarily popular, particularly with younger people, and is growing every day. This makes it...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
By virtue of the fact that you're reading this blog, you almost certainly know what trolling is. For those of you that don't, it's when people with absolutely no penis (and whatever the female equivalent is) leave nasty comments on blogs, online...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
Good Morning Britain 6:00am - 8:30am Suzanna Reid talks to Alan Yentob about his new beard. Meanwhile Simon Schama and Andi Peters drop into the International Symposium On Medieval Folk History in Bruges for more spins of the Wheel of...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
We can't really go on like this. The alarming evolution of 'trolling' from pestering people online to the loss of life, has been eye-watering in its speed. The last week has seen a situation develop whereby a family whose daughter is missing, was...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
This is how it happened - or at least how I became involved. Scrolling through Twitter yesterday, I noticed a message which expressed alarm at real zombies being at large in real Scotland. It was followed by this link:...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Many, many years ago - when I was a mere lad (so that really is a long time back), many products had 'boards'. I don't mean the manufacturers had directors - although they did. Nor do I mean they came complete with a large piece of wood - excepting...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Today I’m on a bit of a high. And not just because I have a rare day off. No, it’s because yesterday I completed my second marathon this year - the 41st BMW Berlin Marathon. For a while there, I didn’t fancy my chances. About six...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
Nick Kamen was famous for a while. He was a pop star in the eighties and had a hit with a thing called 'Each Time You Break My Heart'. It wasn't terribly good. But his music wasn't the reason he was famous. No, the reason he was famous was for taking...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
I must be getting old. I'm still in my forties, but something fundamental has changed in the creative business; something I don't recognise and don't much like. I was a punk, when that was a thing, and I was certainly a truculent teenager, but for...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Last week, I talked about what a moany lot we are, taking to Twitter to complain about U2's Song Of Innocence landing unrequested in our global iTunes accounts - because really, there's nothing we like more than having a good whinge. As if by magic,...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
Here we go again. Yet another campaign for The National Lottery (TNL), and it stinks. This has been going on for years, of course. If you can stand to, cast your mind back to any TNL marketing, branding or advertising and tell me whether you can...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Perhaps it's hard-wired into the very nature of the internet (after all, almost anyone can publish one) but it's increasingly difficult to find a really good website. As so much focus rests on social interaction and 'sharing', it seems as though the...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Looking down my Twitter feed, it seems to me that the 140-character-loving public has forgotten something. They've forgotten how to be interesting. That includes me, incidentally, before you go and tweet something rude @Ashley_Morrison in response. I...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
Of all the things Apple do well, creating a hullabaloo is one of the best. Despite ongoing wars and Scotland's bid for independence, the launch of a new product still performed well in the news agenda on Tuesday. Live from Cupertino, the world's...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw