If you don’t use testimonials and case studies in your marketing communications, you’re missing a trick. We get so many sales messages bombarding us these days, that we see through most ‘marketing speak’. As consumers, we know you are after the money in our pockets, and we don’t want to Read more…
My first reaction when I saw this poster was to start a mini-rant: ‘I disagree. Poverty can never be eradicated. It can only be re-defined. Poverty in the third world is completely different to ‘poverty’ in the first world…’ That’s what I was thinking before I visited the website. Let’s Read more…
An ad that sells, that’s what. A client recently asked me to write and design an A4 ad for a trade magazine. I warned him that a one-off ad wasn’t likely to attract much response, and that it would probably be a brand-recognition exercise only. He (and I) were happily Read more…
Re: Keeping your dignity I am a huge fan of your work on Dragon’s Den. I realise you are becoming as much a media personality as a multi-millionaire. But I do worry that riding a trolley in the moneysupermarket.com ad is a big mistake. When asked to perform such stunts, Read more…
Earlier this week, I met some friends for dinner at Kettners in the heart of Soho – expecting the usual faded ex-hotel grandeur serving an affordable Pizza Express menu. Alas, it’s no more. It’s been refurbished and now offers a new brasserie menu. The cheapest glass of wine in the Read more…
My little sister gave me a book about vinegar for my birthday (no, I don’t know why either). On the front cover it says ‘Over 750,000 copies sold’. I’d heard that 40,000 defines a non-fiction book as a best-seller, so this one is phenomenally successful! It’s a short-cut. We’re all Read more…
I was driving behind a white van today. The sign-writing on the back doors read: “Ace Carpet Cleaners”. Yawn. Boring. Then: “London’s leading carpet company”. Yawn. So what. Then: “No job too small. No job too big.” Yawn. Not another one. Then it read: “You are following one of the Read more…
Andrex Shea Butter p..Watch the ad… Andrex has a fine tradition of using labrador puppies in its ads. But I wish they’d included a French poodle somewhere in the last scene. Just this once.
When buying ad space, it’s important to buy it in the right place. That is, where your desired customers will see it. Old Speckled Hen have sponsored PrimeTime on Dave (the comedy channel). Their ads feature a fox in various odd situations, saying: “Yes, it’s different, but it’s not a Read more…