Can I come in?

There are many insights and quotes from various people in advertising that stick with me. I carry them around in the back of my mind all the time. I guess in a way, I hope that if I try and apply them to all the work I produce, I can’t go far wrong. Some of

Brands are people?

We miss you. This was the subject of a piece of comms I received from a brand the other day. I hadn’t used their site in a while. Now they miss me. A company. Misses. Me. I’m fairly lost for words. But you’re probably here to procrastinate, so I’ll try and find some. Brands talking

In and out of touch

This may seem strange because of what I do for a living, but I’m not a huge fan of social media. For me personally, that is. Sure, I’m partial to the odd scroll. I’ll upload an occasional picture, or an evidence-less opinion. It also provides me a way of getting these jumbled pros in front

It starts with not knowing

I have a fairly restless mind. Maybe restless isn’t the right word – that makes me sound like an angsty poet. Active? Not in an exercise way. Nor do I mean that my brain does more stuff. It just needs to be occupied pretty much constantly. Easily bored – let’s go with that. Since lockdown

Ticking off the Tok

TikTok have announced an ad platform for brands. Good news for all of the middle aged Creative Directors who have otherwise been trying (failing) to make an impact there without any real tools. Not that that’s an excuse. Knowing our industry, and it’s soft-spot for shiny new things, it’s good news for TikTok too. Budgets

Truth, lies or deception

Have you ever studied the subject lines of marketing emails? Of course you haven’t. Times aren’t quite that bad. If you do (yes, I have) it’s both depressing and boring in equal parts. It seems that, for a fair few brands now, email subject writing has become a feat of trickery and deception. Maybe even

We fought the feeling

Is it me, or is there barely any ‘ah ha!’ moments in modern advertising? No, I don’t mean Alan Partridge impressions. I mean, the moment you get the joke or hint or connection an advert has alluded to. It’s a really effective technique – a witty piece of copy, possibly even a joke, that nudges

When is it too late?

Have you ever worked on something – slaved away, toiled, fought – and then realised, it sucks? Or worse, it’s average. Nothing has changed about it. You were convinced it was a good idea at the beginning, and it all seemed to be going swimmingly as it progressed. And yet suddenly, out of nowhere, it’s

Can you print it?

In my last post I mentioned piles of paper a lot. I’m aware that doesn’t make me look particularly eco-friendly. I assure you my team has a strict recycling policy, and at least some of the six feet high paper mound I mentioned was metaphorical. But the thing is, I actually like paper. I know

Under the mound (of paper)

I’ve written about my creative process here from time to time. I find the concept of being creative so intriguing, so unusual, that I’m constantly looking at my own creative traits. Trying to analyse them (failing). Poking and prodding them. Not to change them. Or even attempt to. But just to be aware of them.