Olympic Dreams Book Cover by James Dodd

Having realised that most of my ‘we like’ articles are about photography, I started work on a lovely little article about illustration. But that all came to a stop as soon as I saw ‘Olympic Dreams’ – a beautiful series of photographs by James Dodd – that I just had to write about. So it’s photography again!

When I first saw them, these beautiful black and white shots really stopped me in my tracks. I’m now kicking myself that I missed the exhibition in Sheffield late last year. Read more…

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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50+ women would like to have fun with fashion again. That’s what JD Williams discovered when they conducted a research panel with prospects and customers of their That’s My Style brand. So when it came to creating the DRTV ad for the Spring/Summer 2011 collection, making customers feel confident with fashion again was something they were keen to push.

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We’ve cracked open the Champagne already in 2011 after finding out that we have beaten over 100 other advertising agencies in the UK to win the Diva Magazine billboard competition. The competition brief was to create a a poster to promote the 2011 Endangered Species International Summit, which celebrates diversity and challenges the culture that teaches girls and women to hate their own bodies.

The competition required Red C’s Creatives to submit ideas for a billboard advert to communicate the Endangered Species’ message: save future generations of women and girls from hating their own bodies. Our winning entry will be seen at 11 sites across London for 4 weeks running up to the Endangered Species summit in capital on 4^th March. The sites have been given to Endangered Species and DIVA courtesy of global advertising company Clear Channel.

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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…

When the good people at Hoseasons asked us to come up with ideas for their flagship new TV ad for 2011, I was pretty excited. This was going to be the first time I had ever seen a TV ad all the way through from concept to execution. And to be fair, it didn’t take us long to come up with some ideas.

The main challenge was how to convey the breadth of the Hoseasons proposition in just 30 seconds. We started as most creatives do by asking ourselves a very simple question: just what is it that we’re trying to sell? The answer was more than a little daunting.

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I’ve worked on lots of interesting projects in my short time at Red C, but none have been more exciting than the viral campaign I’ve just finished working on…

I was part of a team that was challenged to promote an offer of free delivery on £3 insulation rolls from the Build Center. Due to the ad being viral, comedy seemed the perfect route, so as we do here at Red C Towers, we scratched our chins until we came up with an idea. Ours focused on one hapless individual with the impossible task of trying to get huge insulation rolls into her car. Rather than give in, this woman’s determination pushes her to incredible (if not a little insane) lengths to ensure she packs her car.

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I’ll be honest with you. I don’t normally read the Creative Review. I always feel a bit out of my depth flicking through its pages, like the people who have contributed to it are somehow on a higher creative plane than I am.

One thing I do know a lot about though is the Pet Shop Boys. So when I saw that the special vinyl edition of their most recent album “Yes” – created in collaboration with Farrow and The Vinyl Factory – has made it into the 2010 Creative Review Annual I was delighted.

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Sometimes the best ideas are done down the pub scribbled on the back of a fag packet. Or at least that’s what I was told when I started in this business. Who would have thought that someone would take that idea and turn it into a lucrative business… well that’s just what Hugh MacLeod did back in 1997.

When he first arrived in Manhattan to undertake a 2 week freelance Copywriting gig he had no friends and spending an evening back at the YMCA where he was staying did not appeal. So he basically sat in bars doodling on the backs of business cards just to give himself something to do.

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Like a lot of agencies, at Red C we have some great ideas that never see the light of day… sometimes I think it would have been great to have saved up all the politically incorrect, subversive and downright funny ideas we’ve come up with over the years and put them on Youtube… but since we didn’t, I thought I’d make you smile and highlight some incredibly funny joke adverts that only a very brave client would dare to try and run.

First up has to be this classic Yellow Pages advert from the very funny 70′s film ‘The Grove Tube’. The ‘Groove Tube’ is well worth checking out for the hilarious Kramp TV Kitchen and the KoKo Clown Show, which if you have young children, will make you think twice about leaving them alone watching a friendly Clown on TV… think twice though before watching ‘Brown 25 from Uranus’.

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