When I was invited onto this blog tour and read they
synopsis of this book it really interested me, as I studied Graphic Design at
university and copywriting was one skill I never got to grips with. I
constantly see adverts that I think 'I wish I thought of that' and asked Joan
to give me her top 5 ads she wish she had thought up and campaigns she was
proud to have worked on herself.
Five ads I wish I’d done and a few I’m glad I did.
If an ad’s not memorable, forget it. It’s not always the
slogan that sticks in your mind - think Cadbury’s gorilla. Here are just some
of the ads I wish I’d done.
1. The one with the
kittens piling out of a pack of biscuits. If you like cats, you’ll love it. If
you prefer dogs, there’s one with puppies. Congrats to the creative team for
coming up with the idea and good on McVitie’s for buying it. Have no clue what
the slogan is or even if they have one but thanks to ridiculously cute cats,
the brand is on my shopping list. Job done.
2. The late, great
David Abbott wrote one of the best campaigns ever for The Economist. Big, red,
in-your-face posters with beautifully crafted lines, each one a master-class in
copywriting.
“I never read The
Economist.” Management trainee. Aged 42
The lines were smart.
You had to work at them. Not hard but when you got them, you gave yourself a
pat on the back, convinced you were suddenly bright enough to be an Economist
reader. Clever stuff.
3. Beanz Meanz Heinz.
Cheesy but easy-peasy to remember with product and brand name inextricably
linked in three words. Written almost fifty years ago in 1967 by adman Maurice
Drake, slogans don’t come much better.
4. I wonder how many
men have forgotten the ‘Hello Boys’ poster. Not many, I bet. In 1997 the line,
accompanied by a close-up of Eva Herzigova wearing a big grin and a black
Wonderbra adorned poster sites across the UK. Developed by Trevor Beattie, it
was iconic, groundbreaking and most importantly, it got talked about. And we
all know there’s no better advertising than word of mouth.
5. ‘Should’ve gone to
Specsavers’ slips off the tongue so easily it’s passed into everyday language.
Whenever I hear it, I picture that poor collie, sheared in error, by a
short-sighted shepherd. The expression of shame and embarrassment on that dog’s
face would put a Botoxed actress to shame. And, if you’ve never seen it, you
know where to go.
I’ve been lucky
enough to work on brands with long-established slogans like ‘All Because the Lady
Loves Milk Tray’, and ‘The Milky Bars Are On Me!’ But what I loved was the
opportunity to initiate something new.
Here are a few of my
favourites:
First one without
words. If you’re familiar with Absolut vodka you’ll know the bottle has no label
instead the name is printed directly onto the glass. There’s an old saying in
Adland: Less is more. I hit on the idea of simply printing the bottle on
acetate to demonstrate the purity the product is famed for. The resulting ad:
‘Absolut x-ray’ was shown by British Design and Art Direction during the 1995
Festival of Excellence Exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery. You can see it at
www.joan-ellis.com.
Talking cats are all
over the internet. But back in 1990 no-one had taught them to speak. My
art-director and I changed all that with an award-winning campaign for
Spiller’s Purrfect cat food, casting a couple of moggies as John-Cat-Wayne and
Humphrey-Cat-Bogart. It was long before lip-syncing but thanks to the
linguistic talents of actor, Enn Rietel the cats were word perfect. Discover
what cats really want to say to their owners on my blog: www.joan-ellis.com
Usually ads are
designed to attract mass audiences. Not this one. It was written to one person,
the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the mid 90s, Gordon Brown. The Budget was
looming and Greenpeace wanted him to put money aside for a green fuel fund. The
next day a full-page ad appeared in his paper of choice the Guardian. He
couldn’t miss it. Above a shot of his face was a halo, above that the line:
Think of the mileage you’ll get from a Green Fuel Fund, Mr
Brown.
He never did get back to me but the ad was nominated for a
Campaign Press Award.
Thank you for this Guest post Joan, I hope you all check out
my review which will be available later today :)
About the Author
A career highlight was casting a black and white moggie as
Humphrey Bogart for her award-winning cat food commercial. Other great
performers who brought her words to life include Penelope Keith and Harry
Enfield.
As a lecturer, Joan taught comedian Noel Fielding all he
knows about advertising before encouraging him to showcase his creative talents
on a wider stage.
Working for The Press Association, she tutored Wordsworth's great-grandson
in the art of copywriting: Buy a host of golden daffodils and get a blue one,
free!
Suffering from swine flu and sweating like a pig, she moved
from London to the Isle of Wight where she lives on cream teas with her beloved
husband, daughter and two cats.
About the Book - ‘I am Ella. Buy me.’ Written by Joan Ellis
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