In Pursuit of Great Copy

We love nothing more than getting out and about, experiencing the way our clients work. But when we started a special project with an existing client and the Home Office, we weren't expecting to end up chasing criminals.

But that’s exactly what we did, all thanks to the team at Colindale Police station. They took us on a ‘ride-out’ for the afternoon, flashing blue lights, sirens, stab vests and all. It was eye-opening, exciting and massively useful for our much more peaceful day job. Over and out for now.

D&AD Short Form Copywriting for Impact, Revisited.

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Tamara spent a day at D&AD last week, checking out their Short Form Copywriting course. She shares a couple of nuggets from the day here.

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“There are two types of writer. Those who write, and those who talk."

Workshop leader Will Awdry puts himself in the latter category, and after a day spent revising ‘Short Form Copywriting for Impact’, I think I do too.

As Writing Club, we use words to deliver action. As its newest member, I figured a day spent in the D&AD basement would be as good a place as any to immerse myself in the art of using less for more.

It’s phenomenal what you can do without a WiFi log in, and actually talking about ways to use words taught me far more than an average day spent in front of a screen.

For example: have you ever noticed the amount of collusion in medical advertising? Though it’s a way of avoiding responsibility, remedy pushers give questions, never answers. Making you come up with a response is guaranteed mental rental – for an extra second at least.

Pair that with the knowledge that the average Londoner remembers 1 in 13.5K adverts a day, and you’re looking a whole load of question marks.

Did I leave with an idea that’ll make the next Writing Club ad that 1 in 13.5K? A day of learning from peers and mentors left me feeling closer. My work was challenged and given new legs from fresh eyes, praised and questioned in equal measure.

Writers learn to work in solitude, which meant that sharing ideas proved both invigorating and challenging. No-one could remember the time when open plan offices actually encouraged collaboration, and it made feedback all that more potent.

As with all good ideas, I’ve been mulling over the ones this particular D&AD session left me with. They’re sinking and swilling, sure to be dredged up when it’s time for our next 1 in 13,500.

Full-Speed Advertising with EE

EE found out on Friday afternoon that they’d been named the Sunday Times Best Big Company to Work For 2018. It’s a big achievement, and well deserved.

They were given an ad on the back page of the paper to celebrate. We were given the brief: something celebratory, but not too braggy. And they needed it fast.

At times like this, EE’s in-house creative studio (that we form part of) really comes into its own. This ad was written, designed, reviewed and signed off in a matter of hours, ready to land in the newspaper on Sunday morning.

Congratulations, EE. Number one might just be the beginning, but it’s no bad place to start.

Spotted in the wild: Mallow & Marsh packaging copy

Marshmallow confectioners Mallow & Marsh came to us a year or so ago for some interesting ways to remind their wholesale customers to handle their products carefully.

We wrote them some ideas, and then blammo! We've just spotted our headlines in action, gracing the Instagram page. It's nice to see them again. 

Selling With Style

We often hear that the best way to actually sell stuff is to cut out the words and just put price slashes in huge red letters.

So sunhats off to Virgin for their “Seize the holiday” campaign. A bright spot in an otherwise samey sales season and further proof that good writing can sharpen the pointy end of the process.

Writing Club Surf Club Surf Trip 2017

Here at Writing Club, we’re experts in the sport of talking about surfing. There’s nothing we like more than telling tales of early morning paddle-outs and fearsome charging barrels. You should see some of the waves we’ve spoken about riding in our time. They’re enormous – we’ve said so ourselves.

But this summer, we put our boards where our bellies are, and held the first ever Writing Club Surf Club Surf Trip in Cornwall. Naturally, we’re all more used to riding bigger waves– you know, really, really big ones– but still. Two days of clean breaks and perfect sunshine was just the salty inspiration we needed. And all without a single fatality.