Displaying 1 - 36 of 2392 results
Many years ago, I worked for an agency which specialised in recruitment and graduate communications. It was pretty successful too, with a host of blue-chip clients and a stack of creative awards. It was American owned, and one day the message came...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
by John Fountain I'll wager that if you visit any creative agency's website and go to the "About" page you'll find that, though the pictures and design might be poles apart, the words themselves will all be pretty much the same. Which is weird when...
Posted by: Creativepool
by Magnus Shaw Last week I wrote a piece for Creativepool (which you can read here) explaining how the rubbish customer service offered by Orange ensured I would never purchase from them again, and simultaneously wasted their advertising budget. So...
Posted by: Creativepool
If someone told us in February that society would pretty much stop in a month, we’d have called 999 on him. And yet, here we are. Learning new habits every day, revolutionising our rhythms, even taking advantage of this lockdown to either...
Posted by: Antonino Lupo
Innovation continues to be the hot topic in businesses the world over. Last year I was fortunate enough to be asked to speak at the Spikes Asia Festival of Creativity in Singapore on the subject. The festival is a clear signpost of the growing...
Posted by: Marc Curtis
“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
After hundreds of thousands of pitches, to hundreds of thousands of clients, you'd the think the creative industry would have the process off pat. Sheer statistics would suggest pitching has now reached critical mass, a point whereby every...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
As a creative person, some people are good for you and some people are not. The good ones are those who enthuse and energise you. They nurture your ideas and help them grow. They are the radiators that give off positive vibes. Then on the other side...
Posted by: John Fountain
Sited just off Fleet Street, the very first agency for which I worked was called 'Riley' and it was great. Inevitably though, I eventually moved on (sooner than I should have, actually) and 'Riley' changed too. In a large-scale, late nineties...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Last week I wrote a piece for Creativepool, suggesting the role of the copywriter had become sidelined to the extent that designers were now the 'creatives'. I also wondered whether this wasn't just an attack of paranoia. Well, it wasn't. The column...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Over the last week, I've very much enjoyed reading a debate, prompted by one of my Creativepool columns, on LinkedIn. It's always particularly satisfying to find creative professionals reacting to a piece I've written and I'm grateful to anyone who...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
by John Fountain. A few months back I was helping a friend review some CVs for a copywriting position. There was the usual mix of applicants and all of them from different writing backgrounds including b2b, pharmaceutical, PR, blogging, journalism,...
Posted by: Creativepool
by Magnus Shaw As I write this Andy Coulson, Neville Thurlbeck, Stuart Kuttner and Glenn Mulcaire are appearing in court facing charges relating to the phone hacking scandal. And quite right too. There is little doubt the interception of voice...
Posted by: Creativepool
by Ashley Morrison But not just any sort of fight. LinkedIn doesn't provide a sort of Brad Pitt / Edward Norton-inspired forum or portal where the first rule about Online Fight Club is that you don't talk about Online Fight Club. (Sorry if you...
Posted by: Creativepool
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',...
Posted by: Creativepool
by John Fountain A few weeks back I was asked to do a stint as guest blogger for the writing agency Afia. Seeing as this is a first rate copywriting agency, and seeing as they think a lot about copywriting over there, I took the executive decision...
Posted by: Creativepool
The famous advertising agency McCann Erickson's founding motto is 'Truth Well Told'. I've always admired this as much more than a simple corporate strapline, but as a guiding principle for all creative marketing and advertising ventures. I was...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
With the US seeing states legalising weed (Alaska, Oregon, Washington and Colorado) there’s something of a scrabble to rebrand cannabis to a mass audience. Should health benefits be the calling card, targeting yoga bunnies looking for that extra...
Posted by: Jade French
Vodafone - Let's Go While I don't object to advertisements suggesting a product or service will enhance a small corner of my life (it could be argued that's what all advertising does), I do find it tiresome when a brand proposes it has unlocked the...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Travelodge - Travelodgical Here's an interesting thing. While Lenny Henry camps out in a railway station in their competitor's campaign, Travelodge pitch in with their guests as Sesame Street puppets. Other than comfort, I'm not entirely sure what...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
The Green Party - Change The Tune Unlike the US position, political parties in the UK aren't permitted to buy up airtime for promotional purposes. They are, however, allocated pre-arranged slots on which to display their wares - and this is the...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
M and M Direct - Start Saving Quite how a catalogue clothes company manages to use that name, without falling foul of the chocolate people (whose ad we reviewed last week), I'm not sure. Perhaps it's because their ad is so anodyne and dull, the...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Capital FM - Biggest Hits I'm not overly fond of Capital Radio. Over the last decade they've set about eradicating truly local music radio, and ensuring its replacement is nothing more than banal yammering. But what of their advertising? Well, not...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
McVities - Sweet Friends The image of two tough-nut window cleaners going all soppy over some soft toys is undeniably amusing, and that's what we find in the latest execution of McVities 'Sweet' campaign. Clearly a lot of time and money have been...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Barclays - Code Playground There can be few things more important to a kid's education right now, than teaching them code. Whilst nothing is guaranteed, it's surely their best bet for a productive career in later life. So Barclays have launched an...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Jackpot Joy - Bus Stop There's so much to baffle me here (which leads me to suspect these people are not really addressing me). Does Barbara Windsor really need money so badly that she's forced to appear in online bingo ads? Can't Eastenders give...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Jamie Casino - Casino's Law It's hard to overstate the importance of the Superbowl to Americans. Ostensibly a sports final, it's actually a televisual event which unites the country annually - and the commercial breaks are just as important as the...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Recently, I've been hosting some copywriting seminars. And I'm delighted to say the participants have all been attentive, smart and enthusiastic.That's not always the case, however. So, if you're due to deliver a pitch, presentation or training...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
by Magnus Shaw. A couple of years ago an ailing roadside restaurant chain called in a radical TV chef to boost their menu and therefore their revenues. They refurbished some tired looking outlets, hired new people and ran a fairly hefty marketing...
Posted by: Creativepool
by John Fountain Not so long ago creative folk were employed to work across all areas of business communications. It was said that if you were any good you'd be able to turn your hand to almost anything. And if you had any weak spots or showed any...
Posted by: Creativepool
by Magnus Shaw Kentucky Fried Chicken may well be an assault on the digestion and troubling to the waistband, but it seems its advertising is also offensive to a cross section of the viewing public. The Advertising Standards Authority has announced...
Posted by: Creativepool
What better way to celebrate the “most depressing day of the year” than by pontificating over the collective demise of the creative industries? I jest, of course, but there is a surprising amount of doom mongers out there who would have...
Posted by: Benjamin Hiorns
This year’s “All In” Census Data revealed that 36% of people (out of almost 19000 people that took part) are hesitant to report sexual harassment due to perceived impact it may have on their careers. This alarming statistic reflects...
Posted by: Creativepool Editorial
Matthew Bushby, Head of Customer Success at Scibids UK, on why agencies should champion the ‘AI heroes’ within their business. Matthew argues that those who can act like a ‘dog with a bone’ and scale these internal obstacles...
Posted by: Creativepool Editorial
It’s finally happened. 2023 has been, and always will be remembered as, the year when AI finally entered the mainstream conversation. To say its evolution has been swift would be a dramatic understatement, with the emergence of AI tools like...
Posted by: Benjamin Hiorns
In recent years, the issue of climate change has been at the forefront of many minds, particularly in creative circles. Even in a landscape where applying for B Corp status seems to be among the primary concerns of many brands, there are countless...
Posted by: Benjamin Hiorns