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Apr 14

Has marketing changed?

By B2B, Communications craft, content, Uncategorized

It’s hard to do marketing without thinking everything is so different from when we all came into the industry. Even if you’ve only been in the industry for a year or so, you’ve probably noticed some big shifts already. But as ever there’s a counter view, and one provide by the father of advertising, the late, very great Bill Bernbach.

“It took millions of years for man’s instincts to develop. It will take millions more for them to even vary. It is fashionable to talk about changing man. A communicator must be concerned with unchanging man, with his obsessive drive to survive, to be admired, to succeed, to love, to take care of his own.” Bill Bernbach

*With thanks to Rory Sutherland for reminding us of this quote.

One of the classic B2B ads of Bernbachs era, printed in 1958 is by McGraw Hill publishing. It runs as follows.
So how might it read today? Here’s a guess.
The man sitting in the chair would also nowadays probably be sporting a beard and a mobile device, but as Bernbach would have said, his unchanging need to guard against an unknown visitors and their untested products is just as it strong as it always has been.

Mar 30

Symmetry with an opposite

By Creativity, Uncategorized

This neat little idea comes from building a symmetry between the transient text of a text message and the really permanent text of a blue plaque. The net result is a neat comment on just how annoying the wrong predictions are.

Mar 17

We’ve all been there. And the other place

By Uncategorized


I’m always telling participants on the Copycourse that change is the key making a piece of writing interesting. Yet this cute little film keeps doing the opposite; It’s a story about keeping the bear in the same place.
So how come it’s so entertaining?
Well, for one the expectation for anyone who stands in a queue is to move forward. So the film turns our expectation of moving forward in a queue upside down. It plays with how we see the world.
And it keeps doing it in different ways.
All the while it’s saying something deeper about trying to get ahead: that it comes at the price of frustration.
As William Goldman said about screenwriting, give the audience what they expect, not in a way but not in the way that they expect it.
No wonder it got four thousand likes and counting.

May 20

Nothing Compares 2U

By content, Uncategorized

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x28r9_sinead-nothing-compares-2u-live_music

Sinéad O’Connor – Nothing Compares 2U


Ever wondered why the lyric is nothing compares to you rather than no one compares to you? That’s the genius of this lyric, because it adds that touch of craziness that defines great poetic thought. And the structure is identical to Martin Luther King’s ’63 speech and Winston Churchill’s Finest Hour speech. 114 million hits can’t be wrong. Looking at the structure in terms of beats. It’s been seven hours and fifteen days
Since u took your love away (Facts) I go out every night and sleep all day
Since u took your love away (Develop the pain, problem or situation)

Since u been gone I can do whatever I want
I can see whomever I choose
I can eat my dinner in a fancy restaurant But nothing
I said nothing can take away these blues (Claim USP or deal -Nothing brings you the same level of blues)
`Cause nothing compares
Nothing compares 2 u (Depressing principle, opposite of inspiring principle) Repeat the same format then leave on I know that living with u baby was sometimes hard
But I’m willing to give it another try (Call to action)

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