During my first year in advertising, a shiny new book turned up at the agency (Brooks Legon Bloomfield). Weirdly, some in the creative department referred to it as ‘the bible’. It’s actual name was The Designers & Art Directors Annual. I was told it showed the best advertising and design from the U.K. Although, also at this point, the U.K. arguably produced the best advertising and design on the planet. This was the 1986 version. The advertising featured was judgedRead more
Posts tagged: #Alan Parker
PODCAST: Derek Day Pt. 1.
Being one, I’m very aware of my fellow double d’s out there in advertising. Dave Droga – met once, gave him a lift after judging D&AD together. Donny Deutsch – never met, seen him on Morning Joe though. David Denton – did a few ads with him at BMP, did Cointreau ‘Ice melts’, amongst many others. Don Draper – never met, seems cool. And Derek Day – less known than the first three, but well worth checking out. I’d hearRead more
PODCAST: JOHN WEBSTER & IDEAS – Dave Trott
British advertising may have had more successful businessmen. More accomplished creative directors. Bigger award winners. But never a better Creative. No one has more ideas living in British people’s heads than John Webster. They didn’t gatecrash either – they were invited in. Singing and dancing their way past the barriers and into the national consciousness. One big, happy conga line; Smash Martians, Cresta Bear, Honey Monster, John Smith’s Arkwright, the Prize Guys, the Humphreys, and on and on. Born acrossRead more
BLOG/CAST: Graham Watson #1
In the style-obsessed 80s, no agency was more obsessed than BBH. Everything that came out of the place reeked of it. Including the staff. Their men’s toilets were stocked with tubs of hair gel (What? It was the eighties!) Their AAR reel, a tool for agencies for clients to compile pitch lists, didn’t follow the template the rest of the industry did (pasty faced public schoolboys using big words, diagrams interspersed with clips from their ads). BBH’s simply showed endingRead more
PODCAST: Adrian Lyne
In 1969, fourteen years after the first commercial aired in Britain, colour arrived. The bar was raised. Ambitious ads could now go beyond the over-lit, creakily acted black & white output from adland. Ads, well, the good ones, started to look like they could’ve been snipped from a movie. But they were still pretty formal. A couple of years later, a young producer decides he wants to stop producing ads and start shooting them Rather than chase the formal perfection,Read more
WHAT I LIKED before I knew what I was SUPPOSED TO LIKE – Paul Burke
My childhood, to put it mildly, was not a middle class one, so I was spared that haughty parental diktat to watch BBC and not ITV. Thames and LWT were our channels of choice which meant that I grew up watching Opportunity Knocks, Benny Hill, Man About the House and The Sweeney. Good job too because watching the commercial break during every episode of On the Buses turned out to be the perfect preparation for my future career. I mustRead more
PODCAST: Dave Brown
When I put these blogs together I build up a file. Work for every client goes into a file, that goes into the appropriate agency file, the agency are numbered so that they come chronologically. It sounds a faff, it is a faff, but the only any way I can do it. Anyway, the last file is generally ‘P.R’ – all the news clippings, interviews and pictures that the individual has accumulated over the years. It helps me get aRead more
PODCAST: HORRY
You can’t advertise a product unless you can get attention. You can’t get attention without standing out. You can’t stand out without being different. You can’t do different if you think the same. If you think different, you’re are different. But, being different is a problem in ad agencies. A BBH Planner once complained ‘the problem with this place is they can’t accommodate black sheep’. Equally, I doubt TBWA embrace disruptive people to create disruptive work. Why hire people who challengeRead more
PODCAST: Orlando Wood
‘I’ve just done a Volvo ad with no car in it, it doesn’t get any better than that!’ Those were the first I heard on day one at AMV/BBDO. It was the Art Director’s way of saying ‘it’s good here’. I appreciated the intent, but thought it was weird. Who cares if the ad has a car in it? Is it a good ad? But that’s how a certain group of creatives think. For them wins are – running anRead more
WHAT I LIKED before I knew what I was SUPPOSED TO LIKE – Mark Denton
A funny thing happened the other day…I saw an advert on the internet and I went out and bought something. Don’t laugh, IT’S TRUE! The advert was for a TRIO bar and after seeing it I urgently needed a toffee/chocolate hit. Of course I couldn’t find a Trio anywhere (do they still make them?) so I had to make do with a Toffee Crisp. They (I bought a multi-pack) were very nice. I can’t remember what their advertising was likeRead more
PODCAST: Alan Brooking.
I’m guessing you’re not as familiar with that name as were with others I’ve posted? But you’ll be familiar with his work. Saatchi’s ‘Pregnant Man’? BBH’s ‘Black Sheep’ poster? CDP’s ‘Wolf In Sheeps Clothing’? Yes? All shot by Alan. Because they’re such a fantastic ideas, they look as though anybody could’ve shot them. The images are so simple and clear you can’t imagine done them any other way. But each is the end result of a series of choices. TakeRead more
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
SELLING BREAD FROM A BIKE. Mike Everett.
FINALLY, A POST ABOUT AN AD THAT’S CAN BE SEEN TV TODAY. CHAPTER 2 OF MIKE EVERETT’S BOOK ON ADVERTISING. The famous Hovis ‘Bike Ride’ commercial was relatively easy to write. But, boy, did it take perseverance to find somewhere to film it. In order to understand why the famous Hovis campaign was created it is necessary to return to the dark days of the early seventies. This was a time when Britain was in a mess. Its slow post-warRead more
PODCAST: Sir Frank Lowe.
“Frank Lowe single-handedly cajoled a whole generation of writers, art directors and film directors into revolutionising British and world advertising.” – Sir Alan Parker. It seemed a bit over the top. I know he was very good and had a big impact on the business, but ‘single-handedly’? I guess Alan is his mate, so probably bigged him up a bit. Having just spent three hours nose to nose with Frank, I got a taste of what Alan was talking about. I can’tRead more
Len Weinreich’s corkboard.
One of the side-effects of putting out this blog has been the people I’ve met. Take Len Weinreich, whilst trying to find Paul Leeves work for an upcoming podcast, I came across Len, it turns out he lives down the road from me. Alan Parker had referred to him as ‘the bloke who taught me everything I know about advertising’, Dave Trott said he gave him the best piece of advice on advertising he ever got and Paul Leeves simply saidRead more
INTERVIEW: John O’Driscoll.
Where were you brought up John? Before I answer that question are you sure about this interview? I don’t give short answers and have a tendency to go on a bit! Ask my family! Yeah, I’ve heard that. I was born and bred in a Surrey village called Hersham. Birth place of Julie Andrews and Jimmy Pursey of Sham 69. What was the first ad you remember? It wasn’t until I was 13 that I remember seeing an advert thatRead more
INTERVIEW: Mike Cozens.
Where were you bought up? Farley Road, Catford, S.E.6. Mr Smiths was where the Richardson Gang had their 1966 Gangland slaying. My Mum worked there. Frankie Frazer used to escort her up the Road. He famously said ‘I’ll take you home Lilly, you meet some dodgy characters around here’. That’s where I was dragged up. Was advertising your first choice? Not exactly. I was invited to leave Haberdashers Askes at the age of sixteen. Fortunately the only teacher whoRead more
LESTER BOOKBINDER: Advertising.
The third and last post on Lester Bookbinder, unless by some miracle I get to interview him. If I thought finding the pictures was tough that was nothing compared to finding the words. But here’s what I’ve managed to discover. a) He was born in New York City in 1929. b) He trained with the photographer Reuben Samberg. c) He opened his own studio in 1955. d) He moved to London in 1959. e) Long before the New York Police Chief Bill Bratton started talkingRead more
IN-CAMERA 4: Max Forsythe.
Where did you grow up? I grew up in Newry in Northern Ireland, a great place to live before religion destroyed it. When did you take your first picture? Probably in my teens, my uncle was a wedding photographer, so I used his half plate camera. I took a lot more serious pictures on a trip to the US when I was 18. What was your first job? I was an Assistant Art director at what was then Hobson Grey.Read more