Welcome to Welcome Cottages
by Joseph Reaney
As everyone here at Red C knows, I like travelling. Almost as much as I like writing, in fact. So when the opportunity to write a holiday brochure came into the agency I grabbed it like a spoilt brat. And I was particularly chuffed when I was told that the client, Welcome Cottages, wanted to do something very different with their 2010 brochure.
The brief contained lots of words that copywriters like me love to hear. I was told to make it “warm, honest and fun – and maybe a bit quirky.” Now, quirky isn’t a word that pops up too often when you’re taking a creative brief, but it’s a rare visitor I greet with open arms. Quirky is right up my street.
My first quirky copy job was to write a series of regional intros, so I started with the most popular holiday region in Blighty – South West England. It began…
“Ah, the Great British coast – sea breeze, cream teas and knobbly knees. And nowhere in Britain does seaside fun quite like South West England.”
…and continued in a similar vein. I also incorporated some brand new features like See. Do. Eat, which offered regional highlights for sightseeing, adventure and gastronomy. And after the remaining eleven regional intros (I particularly enjoyed describing Jersey as “brimming with bankers”) there were a long series of brochure fillers to do, covering everything from promenades to pig farms, golf courses to gingerbread. They even let me quirk up some of the techy stuff, so the entire job was extremely enjoyable.
The art directors did their thing too, I s’pose, so I should really mention them. In fact, there’s no denying it – the new logo is great, the layout is fantastic… well, the whole brochure looks amazing. It really stands out from the crowd too. I just hope that when a customer picks it up to take home with them, they’ll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Tags: Art Direction, Brochure Design, Copywriting, Design, Graphic Design, Holiday Cottages, Quirky Copy, Travel Writing, Welcome Cottages
