It’s the oldest conundrum in marketing, and the reason most agencies exist. Clients have a product to sell, in which they are (usually) justifiably proud. But is the exclusive display of that product’s virtues enough to draw a demand response from its market? Maybe it isn’t. But the budgets and investment…
Who says Tube workers won’t co-operate with management?
As everyone knows, industrial relations in the London Underground tend towards the sensitive. Yet the…
The most commercially successful dogfood commercial ever.
Butchers from i2i on Vimeo. No-one else comes close. In 1995, a client agency asked…
You’ve made a better potato. Now sell it.
Tell the whole story, before you can say ‘once upon a time’. If an ad’s…
How precious should you be with your strapline?
Straplines come in all shapes and sizes and with every conceivable internal dynamic. Some work…
“Oh, I do like working with you – I don't need to rewrite any of these,” Stephen said, looking over the new scripts.
Amazing as it seems now, I had to promise my client that Stephen Fry was…
Launch a national lager brand, entirely on radio; here’s £35,000.
Cider company HP Bulmer, UK owners of Jamaican lager brand, Red Stripe, had a budget…
Sandeman White Port. When inspiration strikes sooner, later belongs to you.
I was sent to Portugal, with a packaging designer from Michael Peters Associates, on a…
Sometimes, being different beats being good
In 1986, the London agency I was working in was bought by a group representing…
Small ads have to work much harder than big ads
At first glance, the banner space at the bottom of your local paper may not…
Outstanding corporate identity
Rosser Reeves and Ted Bates came up with the concept of the Unique Selling Point…
Cuprinol. Saving a wonderful old brand from the scrapheap.
Cuprinol from i2i on Vimeo. It began almost costing my job and ended with an…
Why was Ken Livingstone hanging on my words?
1985. London’s future mayor, Ken Livingstone is paragliding outside the Houses of Parliament,in a vain…
How to beat attention fatigue with staff safety notices.
Behind the scenes, there may be more safety notices to the yard in the Underground…
Before he became the darling of American late night television, we turned Craig Ferguson’s life upside down.
I got a call from a media pal to ask me to meet the Bembom…
You’re never so big you don’t need help (sometimes)
You’d think a group the size of Royal Dutch Shell would have suppliers coming out…
Energy industry comms is a high wire act.
The energy industry is global, literal and extremely sensitive. It is also vibrant, exciting and…
Try the window cleaner on your kitchen floor
When a client goes safe the upshot is often sorry. For years Colgate-Palmolive had produced an…
Which is more important, talking to your brand or your customer?
It’s the oldest conundrum in marketing, and the reason most agencies exist. Clients have a…
How boring can a corporate inter-departmental newsletter actually be?
They are almost hard-wired as tranquillisers, comprising, as they tend to, a mishmash of sales…
Big ideas call for big headlines.
No-one wants to read your ad, sorry! No-one wants to know what you’ve got to…
Variety is the spice of retail advertising
Retailers who believe advertising is entirely about content are not just barking up the wrong…
Rebranding a children's charity
The Pace Centre, Aylesbury: thepacecentre.org Based at Stoke Mandeville, the Pace Centre provides physical and…
