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Features

Tune Out. What use is radio to young people?

Recently it was announced that Radio 1 and Radio 1 Xtra would be shedding a cross section of their DJs. Controller Ben Cooper has handed Mike Davies, Jen Long, Ally McCrae, CJ Beatz, Crissy Criss and Robbo Ranx their cards, and his actions are blamed...

Posted by: Magnus Shaw
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Leaders

Weighty issues. Did advertising make us fat?

One in three Britons is now overweight. One in five is obese. As far as one can trust statistics, that's the picture giving rise to some hefty soul searching this week. How did this happen? What is to be done about it? And who's to blame? That's the...

Posted by: Magnus Shaw
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Leaders

Spray That Again. How evil is advertising?

Since an art director colleague introduced me to Banksy many years ago, I’ve enjoyed his stuff enormously. In that time he has painted throughout the world, from Sydney to Camden, LA to Palestine. The art critics bemoan him - too obvious, too...

Posted by: Magnus Shaw
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Leaders

Well done you! Why the Halifax campaign is so insulting.

Nobody likes being patronised. Even small infants boil with fury when some dough-faced adult leers into their pushchair and makes 'woo-woo' noises at them. Probably. I think being patronised takes us back to school, when we were bound by the...

Posted by: Magnus Shaw
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Leaders

How one man predicted the future of televison.

From Cicero to Aubrey Beardsley, human beings have never had to look too far for individuals touched by the hand of creative genius. But finding intellects so inspired, profound and insightful they actually manage to predict the future, is more of a...

Posted by: Magnus Shaw
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Leaders

Up In Smoke. Is there any point in 'No Tobacco Day'?

It's 'No Tobacco Day 2014'. Hooray. It is often said there are too many 'days' dedicated to this that and the other. And I think this rather proves the point. Not because the World Health Organisation (who are behind the event) shouldn't have an...

Posted by: Magnus Shaw
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Features

Game On. The toughest creative challenge in TV.

‘Nobody knows anything’. So goes the famous quote from screenwriter William Goldman, suggesting that it’s impossible to predict public taste. It’s a theory that would certainly be supported by the haphazard history of the...

Posted by: Magnus Shaw
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Leaders

Slipped Discs. Who's buying all this vinyl?

How much would you pay for a copy of Nik Kershaw’s album ‘The Riddle’? Should you wish to add it to your iTunes collection via Apple’s store, it would cost you about £5.50. On Amazon’s marketplace, you could pick up...

Posted by: Magnus Shaw
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Inspiration

Back Rub? The brands that changed their names.

On page one of 'The Bumper Book Of Branding' (which doesn't exist), we're told that a successful brand starts with a successful name. Y'know, something memorable, something that resonates with the audience. Crack the name and half the battle is won....

Posted by: Magnus Shaw
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Workshop

Where's the glamour? They said there'd be glamour!

As the footer of this column will tell you, I’m a copywriter. And a blogger. I also dabble in journalism and podcasting. These are all quite enjoyable and satisfying things - at least from time-to-time - and I’m pretty lucky to do them...

Posted by: Magnus Shaw
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Inspiration

Fear of music. Is this the most disturbing pop video ever?

Here’s an odd thing about rock music: the more frightening it tries to be, the more hilariously ludicrous it becomes. Ozzy can bark at the moon till the end of time, but he’ll still be more golden retriever than werewolf. Ronnie James Dio...

Posted by: Magnus Shaw
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Inspiration

'Let's Go Home'. Those inexcusable movie cliches named and shamed.

I don't know whether it's because I'm a writer, but when I watch a movie, the script and screenplay always take my attention. A great concept with a terrible script can really spoil things; likewise a thumping good screenplay can lift an average...

Posted by: Magnus Shaw
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Inspiration

Under the skin. Why are we so obsessed with tattoos?

Late last year, a picture of Cheryl Cole appeared on the internet and in various newspapers. Nothing particularly odd about that; Ms. Cole is a constant media fixture. Only this picture, which she had released herself, was of her backside, newly...

Posted by: Magnus Shaw
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Leaders

Smooth operators. Whatever happened to real radio presenters?

The BBC notwithstanding, and a peppering of community outfits aside, there aren’t really any independent radio stations left in the UK. It’s all ‘networks’ - which is a rather overexcited way of saying a large corporation...

Posted by: Magnus Shaw
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Leaders

Can I kick it? What's wrong with the World Cup 2014 logo?

Is there anything wrong with a writer reviewing a logo? After all, very few of us know our way around Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop, and I've never met a writer who went to design school. If then, you do think we have no business sounding off about...

Posted by: Magnus Shaw
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Leaders

What to watch? Why too many platforms are spoling the TV broth.

On 11 December 2008, Project Canvas was announced. A joint venture between the BBC, BT and ITV, it replaced the failed Project Kangaroo, a proposed video-on-demand service which was refused a licence on competition grounds and ended up as the SeeSaw...

Posted by: Magnus Shaw
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Leaders

A word about Rehtom and Easter eggs.

Easter, eh? Not as big as Christmas, and yet more substantial than Pancake Day. Still, a very good time to slow down and kick back. Here's what you'll need: some high-quality family members or friends, and small amounts of chocolate crafted to look...

Posted by: Magnus Shaw
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Inspiration

How to be right.

When it comes to the minutiae of modern life, I'm prone to getting things wrong. Go to the shop, come back with the wrong size batteries; turn up for an event on the wrong day; forget to put the clocks back - all that sort of thing, hopeless. But on...

Posted by: Magnus Shaw
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Leaders

Fighting fires. Why that Vodafone ad is such a terrible mistake.

Getting an advertisement completely and utterly wrong is quite an art. For starters, it takes two parties who at least profess to know what they're doing: the client and the agency. Then the brief must wildly misunderstand the nature of the audience...

Posted by: Magnus Shaw
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Leaders

Are we failing all this technology?

When the dreadful story of the mysterious disappearance of Flight MH370 dawned on the world, it was notable how many people pontificated ‘Surely all those satellites and things can track a plane anywhere.’ Some hotheads even went as far...

Posted by: Magnus Shaw
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Leaders

"Content is crap". Does ITV's Simon Daglish have a point?

Last week saw Sir John Heggarty proclaiming most modern advertising to be sh*t. Perhaps there's something in the bracing Spring air, because this week ITV's commercial boss Simon Daglish has warned brands that '90% of content is crap'. Some livewires...

Posted by: Magnus Shaw
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Leaders

Sir John Hegarty says modern advertising is 'sh*t'. Is he right?

“If you look at the UK, we are suffering because we are not putting the time into the idea and there’s empirical evidence to say that the quality of our output has gone down. It’s not my opinion. Empirical evidence from the audience...

Posted by: Magnus Shaw
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Inspiration

The Flying Spaghetti Monster and the nature of belief

In the UK, we have the odd instance of a fringe school pressing for the right to teach archaic or arcane ideas to children. This is usually the desire to include creationism, or other religious notions, in their science classes. In the USA it's a...

Posted by: Magnus Shaw
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Inspiration

The cupcake gambit. Annoying people as an advertising strategy.

Back in the eighties, I worked for a radio station which ran a campaign for a double glazing firm. This campaign never actually ended. Like those sofa sales, it just continued year in, year out. The ads were very straightforward, consisting of little...

Posted by: Magnus Shaw
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Leaders

What a spectacle. Why most people will never wear Google Glass.

Right now, the SXSW music festival is in full flow in Austin Texas. What's more, I believe Creativepool's glorious leader Mike Tomes is there, doing his funky thing. Anyway, following the event on Twitter, I noticed someone reporting a bearded fellow...

Posted by: Magnus Shaw
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Workshop

No reply. Are contact forms a waste of time and pixels?

Recently, I spotted something of interest on the site of a firm of creative recruitment consultants. Clicking through to their 'contact us' page, I was pleased to notice a statement declaring their belief in common courtesy, backed with a promise to...

Posted by: Magnus Shaw
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Leaders

Up front. What does 'Page Three' have to do with cancer?

On the whole, we don't tend to turn to The Sun for medical advice. Insensitive headlines about torpedoed foreign ships and prurient trivia about the borderline famous - yes, absolutely. But practical guidance on cancer prevention? Not quite so...

Posted by: Magnus Shaw
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Leaders

Getting the message. Was WhatsApp really worth $19billion?

'Merry Christmas' - that's how it began. On 3 December 1992, Neil Papworth from Sema Group, used his PC to send this written seasonal greeting to the phone of a Vodaphone executive. By 2010, 6.1 trillion SMS text messages were sent annually. That is...

Posted by: Magnus Shaw

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