Remember Alessandro Volta? Douglas Engelbart? What about Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis? Thought not. Even if I asked who invented electric light, the computer mouse and social media, those names are still unlikely to come up. More likely, Thomas Edison, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg will spring to mind. They didn’t invent those ideas, they either stole from those guys or ‘built on their thinking’.But although now virtually forgotten, their work was crucial, take away their thinking would be likeRead more
Month: July 2019
THE LOOKY-LIKEY AMALGAM.
I few months back I recorded a podcast with Richard Shotton, one of the brightest people in the business. Whilst preparing I read Richard’s book, The Choice Factory, it’s great, full of fascinating insights and observations on human behaviour and how we respond to marketing. Whilst taking in all this intelligent insight an interesting theory occurred to me; why don’t we just create ads that people like? Granted, it’s no theory of relativity, but it’s odd that it’s barely aRead more
Hands Up Who’s Heard Of GEOFFREY SEYMOUR?
ADVERTISING’S OSCAR WILDE. An appreciation of the work of Geoffrey Seymour. By Mike Everett. It is one of the great ironies of the advertising business that one of its most talented writers is better remembered for his salary than his work. When he joined Saatchi & Saatchi in 1982, Geoff Seymour was paid £100,000 a year, a sum of money that soon became known in advertising circles as a ‘Seymour’. It may have been as an eye-watering amount at theRead more
How to write good.
“What the public has been free to peruse in pieces since parts began running in 1979 is now selling en masse for $14.95.” That’s how the New York Times greeted the publication of the book ‘How to Use the Power of the Printed Word’. (Looking at that sentence they may have benefited from reading it.) The reason for that flowery comment was that the book was built around fifteen ads created by Ogilvy & Mather for the International Paper Company. Why wouldRead more
PUSHING WORDS AROUND. Pt 2.
‘I’m trying to do a deal with the guys at Piebury Corner.’ Former boss, mentor and mate, Mark Denton continues ‘If they supply pies for my book launch I’ll supply ads for free. Can you do me some free ads?’ Mark has lined up a photographer to shoot them for free ‘So we just need a few idea, hopefully with nice pie shots in.’ Piebury Corner? That’s right up there with Exmouth Market hairdressers Barber Streisand. Puns make me wince. Anyway,Read more
PUSHING WORDS AROUND. Pt 1.
Pictures are great. As everyone knows, they’re worth a 1000 words, but they offer so much more; emotion, drama, humour, shock, surprise, information, style, etc, etc. So what do you do if you can’t use one? If you’re an art director it’s especially tough, because your job is to make people engage against their will. So the temptation is to overcompensate with graphics. But it’s a risk, as Bill Bernbach warned ‘Merely to let your imagination run riot, to dream unrelatedRead more
GREEN BOOKS: New Yorker Ads 4.
The Advertising Standards Council wouldn’t let that title pass. I guess it was my intent when I cello-taped it to the cover. There are a few old New Yorker ads in there, but the majority are English, from the early seventies. It’s odd collection, looking at it now is a bit like wandering through a car boot sale. There’s the finds that have famous attached, so may be worth something: 1. Illustrator/Artist Glen Baxter’s Gilbey’s Gin ads. 2. Photographer ArtRead more