It was Punctuation Day on 24^th September which, I’m sure, was observed respectfully by you all.  No doubt you spent the day taking extra special care to ensure all your apostrophes’ were correctly placed… and tempered your use of ellipsis and exclamation marks!!!

This weekend also saw a surprise appearance from the interrobang on Q.I., and, believe it or not, I actually knew both the name and purpose of this peculiar punctuation mark – probably the first and last time I’ll ever know a Q.I. question outright. So after gaining my massive chufty badge, I began digging around the weird and wonderful world of obscure punctuation and uncovered some bizarre characters indeed.

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At the beginning of August I had the pleasure of judging the 23^rd SUN Awards (Shot Up North). Showcasing the best photographers north of London is now in it’s 23^rd year. The judging took place at Doug Curries studio in Leeds where I meet some great people all with different backgrounds:

Ed Horwich, photographer and organizer of the awards along with Doug. Seamus Ryan – Photographer, Rob Walker – Photographer, Vicky Munro from Brass, Clair Watkin from Comma Ca and Jon Cohen of Fuji Film (non-voting chair and adjudicator) oh and we couldn’t forget Woody the dog.

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Writing a radio ad is one of the few opportunities a copywriter has to work in a completely unique medium, and I love it. Radio ads can be really effective too, if you get it right. And really annoying, if you get it wrong. So when we were briefed to create an attention-grabbing radio ad to entice tall or large fellas into High and Mighty stores we knew there’d be some big challenges… excuse the pun.

The problem is, the kind of chap that needs extra long trousers or XXXL size t-shirts can be a little bit coy about his ample dimensions. This initially came as a surprise to me, but then I am the daughter of a 6ft 7 scouser with hands like bunches of bananas who’s very proud of his stature… and his ability to reach things on the highest of shelves. I suppose their self-consciousness can be likened to the way that long tall sallies like me shy away from describing themselves as having a ‘boyish’ figure because of its unfeminine and unflattering connotations.

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Every now and then you come across something so brilliant that it jumps out and demands your attention. When I was recently introduced to the concept of ‘cinemagraphs’, I had one of those moments. Read more…

Quite. And life is better with beautiful design.

I rarely get really excited about packaging these days. In fact, apart from Apple, Boden, Innocent and Jane’s Addiction’s Cabinet of Curiosities I can’t really think of much that has grabbed my attention in the last few years.

And that’s why when I received my vinyl wall graphics from Blik through the post I almost jumped for joy. Gorgeous package design fizzing with witty copy and a fab product to boot… pure joy from start to finish. Read more…

When Build Center (one of our clients at Wolseley) called us with an urgent brief to spread the word about their £3 loft insulation plus free delivery promotion, we knew we had a real challenge on our hands. Not only did we have just over a week to develop the campaign and roll it out… they wanted us to deliver something a little out of the ordinary to maximise the impact. Cue one Mini, one woman, 17 rolls of loft insulation, a 56-link chainsaw and a 2 minute viral ad. Read more…

I consider myself to be pretty lucky. My parents have a home in the South of France that I get to visit at least once every summer. I get to chill in the sun reading a good book, drink lots of local wine and sample the great cuisine. I call it my rehab time.

It takes less than 2 hours for me to get to my parents’ place. Cheap air fares and easy access to flights has made the world feel very small indeed. Yet it always amazes me just how different everything feels when I get there. Not least in terms of the advertising. Read more…

There’s something quite compelling about the lonely hearts section in newspapers and magazines. It’s like people watching in miniature. The ads are like windows into other people’s lives. And I must confess I’m quite nosy, so for me they make compulsive reading.

It’s mainly because I think they must be really hard to write. For a start, there’s the stigma. Letting the world know you’re (oh God) single and looking for love seems like an admission of failure – as if you’re saying “yes, it really has got this bad.”

Plus, it’s a pretty tough copy brief when you think about it: sum yourself up in 30 words, in a way that makes you irresistible to your target audience. I mean, where do you start?

Well just like writing a commercial ad for a real product, it’s no use resorting to tired old clichés or standard lonely hearts acronyms. For one thing you’ll just sound like everyone else that’s advertising themselves. But for another no one will believe you anyway.

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There has been a scandal at the World Cup and no it doesn’t involve a dodgy penalty decision or some kind of WAG swapping saga. Instead it centres on a group of around 30 scantily clad Dutch ladies who were removed from a game and arrested. Yet it wasn’t their lack of attire that got them into trouble… the crime was them taking part in the dark arts of “ambush marketing”. So what exactly is ambush marketing? Basically, it’s a marketing campaign that takes place around an event but does not involve payment of a sponsorship fee to that event. That means companies taking part in such sneaky tactics benefit from free association while also reducing the effectiveness of any rival brand’s connection to the event.

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Okay, I know what you’re probably thinking; geeky sounding TV show recommended by one of your geeky colleagues – but you are most definitely wrong – at least on one of these assumptions. And for those who are old enough to remember the cheesy 1970s version of the show please leave your preconceptions at the door. Battlestar Galactica is a revamped drama series that deals with terrorism, genocide, politics and religion. It has the weight and intelligence of the West Wing; enough dysfunctional and intriguing characters to engross any Sopranos fan; and a series of relationship issues that would fascinate any Sex and the City addict. Simply look past the spaceships and give it a chance – and you will be treated to one of TVs greatest triumphs.

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