Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Extension IV

I’ve signed on for another month with Publicis.

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

English Copywriter Picks of the Week

Three spots with great music this week:

This is a beautiful spot - Crest – Catch

This is the latest Pepsi spot.

This will be another example, like with Bravia Balls, where the music becomes famous because of the ad.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Unusual Advertising This Week

Atheists and agnostics from the Freedom From Religion Foundation have initiated an online, print and talk radio advertising campaign to 'Keep God out of Government' in the States and to take on Bush and the religious right.

They could probably do some interesting guerilla stuff if they approached ad agencies for help...

In other news, Kobe Club in New York has taken out a full-page ad in the New York Times attacking their food critic's credentials over a lousy review.

Will this fight fire with fire tactic work? Or is it the wildest PR stunt of all time - you scratch up our backs, NYT, we'll scratch up yours...

Thursday, February 22, 2007

English Copywriting in Hong Kong – Another Day in the Life

Today I spent the first half of the day agonizing over a single word.

It is a very specific word to be used in the headline that sums up everything in the visual. I have hundreds written down in front of me, but they are all either too obscure, too zen, too energy drink, or too corporate. Hmm.

Racking my brains and dictionary.com for a word so upbeat and spirited it can carry an entire campaign has expanded my positive vocabulary and lifted my mood. This would be a good exercise for depressed people.

The next thing I know I am pulled over to production to determine the accent of a voiceover, then on to edit an email, then a quick ad here, a quick proofread here, another ad, some body copy, a headline, some design rationales, an ‘on-hold’ script (I always wondered who wrote those things), then on to trans-create something and draw a picture and help the Chinese copywriters and conceptualize something and write this and that and all of a sudden I am …I’m all over the map.

Now it’s 9 pm, two ads have cleared, one new voiceover talent has been brought in, several headlines have been written, many emails have been sent, and we’ve been briefed on a new pitch coming up next week, not to mention there’s a pitch tomorrow we need to prepare for. In the meantime, my single word has died a horrible death.

No two days are ever the same. But they are always frantic and quite fun.

If you would like to know more about life as an English copywriter in Hong Kong click here.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Monday, February 19, 2007

Chinese New Year Traditions

There are some endearing traditions in Hong Kong during Chinese New Year.

The whole celebration is based on a myth that once a year a beast named the Nian would come down from the mountains and eat people, so they would have to shoot off firecrackers and dress in red to scare it away.

And if frightening away a man-eating monster isn't a good enough reason for a fifteen-day party, I don't know what is.

Other traditions include cleaning, a bunch of strange sweeping rituals as well as alterntating good luck and bad luck days for totally random things. Feb 20th is a bad day for gardening, but Feb 15th is a good day to get a haircut and Feb 23rd is a good day for a long shower. So bizarre. It is also lucky to open windows (will let in good spirits), eat candy (for a sweet year), and wear red underwear (for gambling). It is bad luck to buy shoes, or pants (because the character is similar to the character for bitter, of course!), or wash your hair (washing away the good luck).

They also give out laisee fawn, or the red packet, which contains the most personal gift of all: warm, soft, cash - in even numbers.

I've been taking this time off to relax and check out some of the things CNY in HK has to offer. On Friday I went to the flower market in Victoria Park to move in an organized swarm of thousands of people and get yelled at by colourful strangers weilding inflatable nicknacks and balloons. Saturday I went to Macao to try my hand at Baccarat. Yesterday I went to see the parade in TST and watched the back of a thousand heads. Today is the fireworks I can check out from my apartment building and tomorrow is my chance to make peace with the Gods of Luck at the horseracing. It's an eventful holiday filled with the the two cornerstones of Chinese culture: family and luck.

Friday, February 16, 2007

Chinese New Year

Today the whole agency is going to see Borat.

Then it’s Chinese New Year.

Kung Hei Fat Choy.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Getting Organized

I am trying to make this site as Google-friendly as possible.

I am already #1 across the board for “freelance english copywriter” (msn, google, ask.com) and #2 and #3 for “english copywriter”, except for on Yahoo Search, which I’ve noticed has become strictly pay-to-play.

However, if I make it easy to navigate, I will have created a Wikipedia-worthy resource and thrown myself completely into the SEO arena…with “freelance copywriter” now in my sights.

This is going to be my project for Chinese New Year, seeing how we have four days off and it is impossible to catch a flight to the Philippines (which was my original plan).

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Freelance Copywriting in Hong Kong

This blog was designed, in part, to be a reference.

Here are a few things you may be interested in if you're here from Wikipedia.

Freelance English copywriting
- What is it like?

How can I get myself a job as a freelance copywriter?

What is your personal story as a freelance copywriter in Hong Kong?

SEO copywriting - What is it?

Freelance copywriting in Hong Kong - What is it like?

Status Report V

I’ve been in Hong Kong for over six months now and I have been at Publicis as a freelance copywriter for five and a half. My contract is up in two weeks.

My whole mission in Hong Kong has been to land a permanent spot at a 4A's agency. Go to the first post to see what I mean - freelance copywriter link

I’ve been documenting the whole process for a few reasons.

One was to put myself to the top of the search engines as a part of my initial marketing plan freelance copywriter marketing plan.

The second was to hone my SEO copywriting skills.

The third was to offer some insight into the industry on what it is like to be a freelance copywriter based on someone who was trying to crack the big agencies. There are whole websites and several books devoted to this very thing, so here is an insider’s up-to-the-minute account if any of you are interested.

I’m having a ball in Hong Kong. The hours here are long and the pace is very fast, it is an exciting city to say the least and I love the franticness of it.

I'm a bit edgy though, maybe it's the city, maybe it's because my contract expires March 1st.

I really like working here at Publicis and I would love a permanent job.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Castles Made of Foam Core

Advertising is an ephemeral business. You can spend hours and days and even months working on something only to have it instantaneously disappear without a trace.

Ideas are finnicky things.

There are many more out there. The trick is learning how to wrangle them out of the air.

Monday, February 12, 2007

Hand Painted Animals

Artist Guido Daniele paints these interesting creatures and advertising agencies buy them.






At One With the Target Market

I’ve made it a habit of checking out a new place in Hong Kong every Friday. This week it was the brand-new Yellow Devil (let’s see how long it takes to get picked up by Google on this link). Next week it will be M1NT, with live sharks swimming around in tanks in the walls.

In Hong Kong, new places are popping up constantly.

The war games were super fun. No injuries to report, just aching thighs from all the squatting and running in the bushes.

Fittingly enough, I am now writing ads for people who like to make the most of every minute, be the first to try new things, sample everything that life has to offer and work hard and play harder.

Saturday, February 10, 2007

War Games

Tomorrow I am going to play war games in the woods. It's like paintball, but you use replica semi-automatic rifles that shoot plastic bullets.

Check it out Combat Games

Should be fun.

Friday, February 09, 2007

English Copywriting in Hong Kong – What It’s Like

Some days I am swamped with all of these little jobs. Every English ad comes through me at some point. Either I’m writing it to get trans-created into Mandarin, Cantonese or even Tagalog, or else I am trans-creating it from a translation (making it sound natural).

I also have to proofread, edit and solve some pretty strange English conundrums, such as the period placement in Washington DC, what letters to capitalize in title case, among vs amongst, the British/American spelling thing, hyphens, or whether flights should be pluralized if there is only one flight per day in the subhead ‘nonstop flights to New York daily.’

Did you know straightforward is one word, world-class is hyphenated yet fine dining is not? English can be bizarre. Anyway…

Every language has its weak points when translated into English that gives it away. Polish is excessively flowery, French has its endearing word substitutions (Do you want to listen to a movie? Get your hairs cut, etc.), Swedish uses d’s instead of th’s, Mandarin tends to leave out the article (the, a, etc) and with Cantonese, they have a hard time with plurals, so you will see things like ‘Conventions and Exhibitions Center’ or my personal favourite, ‘arrive at your door’s steps.’

They also like to use the possessive, ‘Las Vegas’ wonderful excitement’, or ‘singing operas’ gondoliers’. I come across these kinds of things all the time and the funny thing is, technically, they are not incorrect, there are many steps leading up to the door they’ve been built for, it’s true.

I’m sure when they see something that has been translated from English they can spot it a mile away too.

My phase of the day: Dim Sun Seen – “How to fix it?”

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Corporate Branding and the First Day of School

Advertising is a lot like your first day at a new school, or job, or environment. People don’t know anything about you, so you are going to be immediately judged by your appearance, be it your clothes, or hair, or stature, or in this case, your headline, typeface, or placement.

I figure this is why there is so much banal advertising out there. Most people, and brands, are quite conservative, so they don’t want to do anything outrageous on the first day of school and get branded as something they might not have the mojo to maintain.

So they blend in. That’s the suit and tie of the business meeting, the jeans and sneakers of the schoolyard, or an ad that looks like an ad. Plain, emotionally flat, inoffensive and instantaneously forgettable.

But by not breaking through the clutter does this mean it’s a terrible branding ad? No, not really. It just means that they are making an appearance that is easy to maintain, because like at the first day of school, just showing up is half the battle. It’s absence that raises the eyebrows, and exclusion from the market.

But who wants to make friends with the most boring kid in school?

Branding is about presence. You don’t need to be outrageous or shocking to have presence. But you do have to have a certain charisma that brings people to you.

These last few posts have been general musings - you may or may not agree, my readers, but comment either way. Discussion is always good.

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Appetite For Risk

It’s a financial term, but I like it. It has been floating around in my head quite a lot lately in regards to the creative process and relationships that exist within creative teams and between agencies and clients. To share the same appetite for risk as your client and team is a great thing.

Although it is a preconception that the client has the lowest appetite for risk (the most to lose), then the agency, and finally the consumer, I think sometimes agencies underestimate how far a client wants to push their brand. But most times I think we underestimate how much the consumer thirsts for something new. Something insightful, inspiring, informative or shocking. Something that requires some risk to produce.

However, the Snickers Spot with the mechanics kissing (and then tearing out their chest hair in an act of manliness) pushed a few buttons at the Superbowl amongst pride groups. Something about the innocuousness of it makes me think the whole thing is just a brilliant PR move though…

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Monday, February 05, 2007

Superbowl Ads

You can see all of the Superbowl ads from this year on this link.

superbowl ads

If you ask me, the best are the Bud Light ‘auctioneer’ and ‘slapping’ ads, but I’m also biased because I used to work at an auction.

The Careerbuilder ‘office jungle’ spots are funny and the Doritos Consumer Generated Ads are actually not bad.

Heaps of terrible ads though, especially the Pizza Hut spot, but it does have Jessica Simpson, so it gets a free pass.

Best Ad of the Superbowl - Viewer's Choice

The viewers have voted this ad as the best of the Superbowl.

Bud Light - Rock Paper Scissors

Superbowl XLI

The Colts have just won the Superbowl, which means I have lost yet another bet to my dad.

The Superbowl the biggest day of the year for advertisers in North America. This year, it was watched by 131.7 million viewers, making it the 5th most watched program in US television history. To buy a 30 second spot cost approximately $2.4 million.

Was it worth it?

Definitely.

Many watch the Superbowl for the ads alone and they are talked about just as much, if not more than the game afterward. If you look for the Superbowl in the Google News, it is easier to find discussions about the ads than the actual score.

In a previous post about Consumer Generated Ads I showed you the winning pitch for the NFL spot. Here it is, as it was shown today.

NFL Superbowl spot

Doritos and Chevy also jumped on the CGU bandwagon.

CBS has been leveraging the ads to get more viewers on its news programs and websites are getting hits through the roof after directing traffic immediately after the ad, most notably the GoDaddy.com and Budweiser sites.

Friday, February 02, 2007

The Consumption Shot

I watched an ad for 7-11 the other day and the whole time I was fixated on how the characters were drinking beer throughout the commercial.

For one thing, Hong Kong has it figured out in the sense that you can buy cold beer for about 80 cents Canadian at any convenience store, but what really blew my mind was the fact that they were drinking the beer.

In Canada, and I think the States as well, it is illegal to show a consumption shot in alcohol ads. If my memory serves me right, I think it is even forbidden to show someone with an open bottle.

In other briefs I have worked on for soft drink manufacturers, the consumption shot is always mandatory. And it makes sense. If something has proven effective enough to get it banned, then it must make a difference.

The same goes for cigarette advertising. It would be interesting to know how dramatically their sales were affected when they were forced to pull all of their TV advertising in the 80s.

Most recently, China has banned the use of pigs in any TV ads during this coming Year of the Pig, as to not offend any Muslims.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Sustainability Copywriting

My latest article is out.

Global Warming - Who can you trust?

One Track Mind

My copywriting style is changing.

I find I have started to abandon mercurial flow for a more subdued but single-minded focus. This is partially because Hong Kong necessitates such a transition.

When you know someone is going to translate your work into Chinese, you can’t hinge your concept on flow, because idioms or wordplay don't translate well across languages.

While I personally enjoy a lyrical style, in Hong Kong you have no choice but to be faithful to one core idea.

My next step, then, is to make my single-mindedness lyrical.