Limbo

No idea what’s going to happen now. My contract is up. But we’ll see what happens after the holiday (tomorrow). I’ll keep you posted.

Celebrities

Workwise, I have absolutely no idea what is going on in my life right now. Who knows what will happen next week...

In other news, Maria is here. She's going to live in HK with me now. But they have just offered her a part in a movie in China, so it looks like I'll be dating a moviestar. Cool.

Freelance Copywriter Pick of the Week

This one takes a little while to load.

Freelance Copywriter link

Remuneration and Amenities Are More Than Just Hard to Spell

Do you work so hard that your fingers no longer have bones, much like a fish’s?

Do you have a smile warm enough to grow tomatoes?

Have the words ‘Impossible!’ ‘Not a chance!’ and ‘Hmm, that seems unlikely’ never crossed your lips?

Then we have just the position for you.



My first stab at a recruitment ad – I love my job.

Earth AD

My latest column is out.

From Casinos to Plastic Bags - Voluntary Self-Exclusion

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Freelance Copywriter

About two months ago I decided that I would try to take on the challenge of getting #1 for freelance copywriter (see here) in the google rankings. In a weird twist of fate, I have managed to get #1 and #2 for freelance copywriter on yahoo and msn respectively, but I am still nonexistent on google for those words.

Status Report VII

Okay, how am I doing?

Well, I’m still here in Hong Kong. And I’m still at Ogilvy and Mather, the biggest agency around. So that’s coo. But I’m still freelance, still at Step 8 and still looking to complete my mission. Hmm.

I am beginning to think that by cornering the freelance English copywriter market I have created a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Things were really hopping for two weeks as I was covering for the OgilvyOne writer on top of doing all the O&M stuff, but he's back now, so things have slowed down a bit. Not being swamped always makes me a bit edgy, as my contract is up at the end of the month...

Oh, nevermind, it looks like they're going to keep me for May as well. Excellent.

Extra Extra

My latest column is out.

Sustainability Advertising and its Vanguards

Within a few hours of it being published I received an email from a guy trying to set up a sustainable agriculture project in Leaf Rapids.

Shangri-La is in your Mind, But Your Buffalo is Not

With the Olympics in Beijing fast approaching, the Chinese government is looking to improve their level of English and put an end to their so-called ‘Chinglish’ signage.

English copywriter link

Sounds like a job for a Freelance English Copywriter in Asia does it not?

Wait A Minute, How Come I Never See Ads Like the Ones Below?

Creatives in advertising agencies are more often than not bound to briefs. These briefs are often very stringent in terms of how irreverently creative you can actually be (in the far-out sense of the ads below).

In an ideal world, if everyone in the agency and everyone on the client side are pulling together, the brief will be looking for a single piece of communication – just one message.

After all, it’s a piece of news.

Usually, this will be something like, hey, if you top up your account by x amount, we’ll make you an X member with no fees on your daily transactions, or, we have this new flavour of chip, you really should try it, or, this new gum blows the biggest bubbles there is, etc.

Then, there are the other variables.

It needs to speak in the same character as the brand. It needs to grab your attention in the right tone and manner to appeal to the target market. And it needs to be captivating, or form a relationship instantaneously with the consumer in one way or another, ie it is tactile, interactive, entertaining and/or thought provoking.

Then, you have to do something that appeals to the sensibilities of the client. Brand character or no, the lowest appetite for risk usually prevails – which is unfortunate but realistic considering people like to have jobs and it is generally easier to lose a job after taking a risk.

And let’s not forget who is paying for this ad in the first place.

But clients are not only ones who kill ideas – focus groups, partners, and more than anyone, the creatives themselves. I have to confess to killing millions of ideas over the years, please forgive me.

Either way, only when all of these elements are satisfied do you have a good ad.

This explains why there is such a huge gap between the ads you see in annuals and the ads you see on TV. A lot of the award-winning work creatives are exposed to doesn’t have to run this gauntlet.

The stuff that you see in mass production that has ducked, weaved, been stabbed at, trampled on and survived to break through at the end – that’s the truly great stuff, propped up by great teams. Believe me, it’s hard to get that many people in agreement, so when everything goes according to plan it truly is an achievement.

Example? Tetley Tea - Doctor's Office. This one of one Maria's favourites, and she's right in the target market.

Now just imagine what it must be like to get a movie made…


I’m lucky at Ogilvy, because right now I get to work on a client that believes in, and readily publishes, ads that are a testament to the power of clever creative. It’s a great opportunity for me.

Ok, back to thinking…

Freelance Copywriter Picks of the Week

A Purina Ad Waiting to Happen

The Year Was 2081, And Everyone Was Finally Equal

Strangely enough, I had a dream about Kurt Vonnegut last night. I dreamt that he had come up with the premise to Harrison Bergeron, my favourite short story, while working as a copywriter for an advertising agency.

The story is set in the future, and the law of the time has allowed everyone to be equal. To maintain the equality of the citizens, a Handicapper General keeps those with talent, or brains, or good looks down through means of weights and annoying noises and masks.

Anyway, Harrison is this great looking, strong, smart, talented dude and he is weighed down with all this stuff, including annoying noises that go through his head every few minutes to prevent him from formulating a solid thought (that would make him superior to the rest). Either way, he falls for this ballerina who is also uglified to an acceptable level by the Handicapper General.

He runs off with her, they tear off all their shackles to normalcy and float to the ceiling in a beautiful dance before being blown away by the Handicapper General, this time she’s wielding a shotgun, however.

It’s a great story. I haven’t read it since I was a kid, but it still sticks with me.

I figured that Kurt Vonnegut must have come up with the concept when he was attempting to craft beautiful copy against the chaotic backdrop of an advertising agency, where there are crazy noises and buzzing buzzing and new distractions every minute to try to throw off your concentration.

So long Kurt, R.I.P.


p.s. Checking it out now, I can't find the agency he worked for, but he did write press releases apparently.

Believing Your Own Hype

One of the strangest phenomenon about being a copywriter is when you start to become persuaded by your own writing.

I am halfway through writing about a product and all the while I am thinking, this is great, this product is fantastic! Here’s a company that really understands my needs, and they are speaking my language. Where can I get this thing?

And then I’m like, oh yeah, I wrote that, of course they understand me. Hmm.

Either way, I’m going to buy it.

A Holiday in Zhuhai

I just got back from five very relaxing days in China.

Zhuhai is deemed the ‘romance capital’ of China, and it is a beautiful place indeed, with a nice beach and plenty of green. The pollution there, however, was outrageous. A cloud of smog covered you from head to toe everywhere you went like an ominous mist. There was no sign of the sky at all, and if there was a sun, it was nowhere to be seen.

There were some amazing restaurants as well, which would have been perfect little crab shacks on the water, but when the rats ran by and no one seemed to care, we decided to move on.

At least I got to live large in a deluxe suite for about $20 CAD a night, which was great.

Now I'm back at work - as a new first, I'm writing for credit cards.

Homework

It's nice to have a five day weekend for Easter, however I have six ads for three clients due on Tuesday, which means I will be working over the weekend.

I like learning about new clients. To write for them you need to be well versed in what they are all about. I enjoy finding out the background on why they are communicating with their target market in the first place.

It's always fun to get briefed on a campaign, analyze its objectives, and think, yeah, that will definitely work.

Clients would be amazed to see firsthand how many clever people are working away at solving their problems.

Consumers would be absolutely shocked to know the mechanics behind the ads they flick through without a second thought...this is such a strange industry.

Happy Easter.

High Performance Copywriting

I wrote about ten ads today for three different clients. So busy! I am jumping back and forth between Ogilvy and OgilvyOne so I'm swamped.

There's a five day weekend coming up. Hong Kong may have long hours, but they know how to enjoy their holidays.

So Far So Good

I'm at Ogilvy now. I like it. I didn't have much to do for the first few hours so I just read up everything I could get my hands on about the brand I will be working on. I absorbed the website, its blogs, the template guidelines, old ads, current ads, everything I could find to get a feel for the voice of the brand character.

It is one cheerful character, that is for certain.

Suddenly, I was swamped with six assignments at once. OgilvyOne is in the same office, so the next thing I knew I had work coming at me from every direction, on very short deadlines.

Everyone here is very nice, and the creatives are mixed in with the suits. There are no partitions, the whole place is like a giant star and I have a great view of the city from where I'm sitting.

It's coo. I do miss the people at Publicis though.

Maria came to town last week (thus the lack of posts) and we had a great time at the Peak and Stanley and Repulse Bay. Now, she's in China taking her English teaching course. I think I'll try to visit her this weekend.

Moving On

Today is my last day at Publicis.

Next Stop: Ogilvy and Mather.

Air Pollution and Martinis

My latest column is out. It is something of a rant this week, but very topical.

Air Pollution and Martinis in Hong Kong

Cantonese 101

Meh Lih Gah – What’s that?
Lee goh – This one
Duk la – it’s good
Ho ah - good
Dim Seem – How’s that?
Tie Gwaila – too expensive!
No motcheen – I have no money
Lay doh – Here
Naw ho ko – I’m poor
Yee ga – Now
Leh – good
Lap sup - rubbish
Dim sun seen – How do you fix it?
Mmm Gee ah – I don’t know
Wu suei – refund
Ho Sauk mong – big disappointment
Lay wok ley – so you say
Ho sun fu – Work harder
Sue meh – what are you smiling about?
Yee. Gom fan gah – Trouble
Chew fa na – super trouble
Fie dee la – Faster!
Ho goy – very tired
Lay sun deem – What do you want?
Mm gwan aussie – Not my problem
Fun gow – sleeping
Lay ding cho min ho king go mong – your Cantonese is good, teach me
Choy soy – talk shit
Gung hei – of course
Heng gay – crashed
Die ga lychee – bless you (when you sneeze – you have to say it)
Ng Ho Yee Cee – sorry
Hung bo – horrible
Mo jay jo – Why? Nothing.
Yok soon - disgusting
Sow gong – go home
Gaht – get lost
Sow pay – don’t talk

English Copywriter Pick of the Week

For the Canadian Film Festival.

I think these are great.

Status Report VI

Ah, the monthly status report.

Where am I in terms of reaching that elusive goal?

I’m still freelance. Still in Hong Kong. Still at Publicis. The contract is up at the end of the month. So basically this status report is the same as the others. I was hoping for some better news, hey, that’s all I’ve got.

Alex, KC and I are going to run around doing a guerilla campaign on Sunday. Should be fun. It reminds me of Australia when Kristian and I shot on the street, out of shopping carts, with no permits. We had lights set up everywhere at 3 am, and I drove my car right up on the sidewalk. When the cops stopped us we would exclaim, ‘but we are filming an ad for Adidas!’ and they left us alone. Yes-ah.

Watch it here: Adidas spec 3

Writing vs. Copywriting

I had an interesting discussion today about the differences between writing and copywriting.

Is copywriting a series of compromises on your own unique voice? A submission of unique vision?

Is writing supposed to be an expression of the author itself? Impossible to mask if done purely from the core? A consistent pure voice that rings through no matter what character they choose to take on?

Is it individual style that makes each unique copywriter unique, and that is the talent that they bring to the table? Or is it the very opposite – their ability to mimic and speak from a voice not their own?

I suppose it depends on who is doing the hiring.

SEO Copywriting – Today and Tomorrow

I have had several offers from companies looking for SEO copywriting.

They have found me through this site.

At this moment in time, SEO copywriting is seen as filling page after page of words with little regard to content (or spelling or grammar) to essentially trick Google search engines.

It is fairly common to hire someone who will just rattle off copy without any regard to branding or content.

It’s effective in the short term, but it will only hurt a brand in the long run.

Proper SEO copywriting is best done by a professional copywriter. If the content is just keyword-loaded nonsense, it is bound to backfire sooner or later.

Professional copywriters cost a premium, but they are worth it.

News Flash!

My little mouse is coming to Hong Kong to see me.


Yaaay.

New Faces

David Szabo has come to Publicis from M+C Saatchi.

He’s one of the CDs I spoke with way back in August when I was first looking for a job here in Hong Kong. Actually he helped me at the time with a referral or two. He’s something of a legend here in HK.

He’s excellent to work with. We are putting together on a global incentive campaign at the moment.

And he can speak Cantonese like a local…

Falling In Love With Your Own Fingerprints

I was walking through the metro the other day when I saw a great ad.

It was a very effective ad for lozenges, and it stood out from all of the other subpar Hong Kong MTR advertising like a sore throat.

How pleasantly surprised I was when I realized it was from our shop.

Reflections of an English Copywriter in Hong Kong

I was looking through my portfolio the other day. It has improved tremendously since I have been in Hong Kong.

In my time at Publicis, I’ve written ads for the some of the world’s biggest banks, airlines, casinos and hotels.

I’ve had the chance to work on massive global accounts and some of the world’s most powerful brands.

If nothing else, these last seven months in Hong Kong have steeled me to work like a maniac on a massive workload against impossible deadlines. Aye-ah.

It has also taught me a handful of esoteric Cantonese phrases, like Joe Maya and Choy Soy.

But for what purpose (in the grand scheme of things)?

I have no idea.

I’m reminded of the auction house back in Vancouver.

My writing has improved. Undoubtedly. Commercial writing improves overall ability and being tapped in creatively as a profession only increases the frequency of ideas. I don’t care what people say about the threat of damaging your own creative style. Being tapped in is good. It keeps the synapses firing.

I’m on Chapter 53 of my book. I wanted to be at Chapter 100 by September, but it’s not easy to keep writing through the weekend. We are in Montreal right now.

In other rambling, I checked out Second Life. It’s a bit boring, but, yes, it’s true, I can see how it will be the wave of the future. People leaving their house, or even getting dressed before they go to work will be old news.

I’ve been going to a lot of client meetings lately. I enjoy presenting my ideas in person.

Okay, back at it.

The Man Asia Literary Prize

The Man Asia Literary Prize has been announced and local Hong Kong residents will have a chance to showcase their talents to the world by entering a recent novel, in English.

It is one thing to present a limply translated version of your work to judges and the international community.

It is quite another thing to unveil your passionate masterpiece, trans-created, to sound as potent in English as it did when you originally wrote it.

English Copywriter Pick of the Week

So simple it's good.

Copywriters From A Mixed Background

If you are in the market for a freelance copywriter, you might want a writer that has experience working for both large and small agencies.

Why?

A blended background provides a balance between the results-focused urgency of a small agency and creative perfectionism found in the larger shops:

1. You are getting the best of both worlds (see the two posts below)
2. You have a well-rounded professional with a dynamic understanding of your business needs (see below once again)
3. You will be working with a writer with a healthy dose of entrepreneurial spirit, offering an authentic, passionate voice to your product.

To find out more click here: English copywriter link or contact mike_catherall (at) yahoo (dot) ca.

Copywriters From Large Agencies

If you are in the market for a freelance copywriter, you might want a writer that has experience working for a multinational 4As agency.

Why?

Large agencies act as a filter. They only hire the best that there is, so the quality of the writer is assured. This will work to your advantage because:

1. Your project will be handled by a professional
2. You will have a writer that is familiar with the same tactics used by some of the world’s largest brands
3. Your writer will have a strong understanding of good creative

At a large agency, writers are also pushed to produce ideas that break from conventional solutions to produce creative work that can do the job of ten ads.

4. Innovative thinking

Copywriters at big agencies are also familiar with big clients. They have worked on global accounts, so they are familiar with the freedoms and restrictions of large brands with big budgets.

6. They get you

So if you are looking for a copywriter for a project with 4As agency experience under his belt - click here for my email address (off to the left) - English copywriter link

To find out more, click here: English copywriter link or contact mike_catherall (at) yahoo (dot) ca.

Copywriters From Small Agencies

If you are in the market for a freelance copywriter, you might want a writer that has experience working for a small agency.

Why?

At small agencies copywriters often handle more than just the writing. They have to wear many hats, including production, strategy and accounts. A bit of experience in these departments is nice because:

1. Your project will get finished on time and on budget
2. You will have creative that reinforces the strategy and not the other way around
3. Your writer will have a better understanding of what the client wants
4. Client-focus and reliability

At a small shop copywriters also have less luxury to be offbeat, so they focus more on concepts that will build business, immediately.

5. Results, results, results

Copywriters at small agencies are also familiar with small clients. The demands of a startup are much different than those of a multi-national, and their communications has to be as well.

6. They know where you are coming from

So if you are looking for a copywriter for a project, click here to send me an email (off to the left) English copywriter link or contact mike_catherall (at) yahoo (dot) ca.

Woofbags

This was one of my first freelance copywriting jobs in Hong Kong:

Woofbags.com

I wrote this website months ago, when I first arrived, Warren now has the site up - it looks good!

I personally like the customer service section.

English Copywriting in Asia

The difference between translation and trans-creation...

(courtesy of Engrish.com)

Extension IV

I’ve signed on for another month with Publicis.

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.

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...

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.

Freelance Copywriter Pick of the Week

I like the concept behind this ad.

Levis - Dangerous Liaison

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.

Chinese New Year

Today the whole agency is going to see Borat.

Then it’s Chinese New Year.

Kung Hei Fat Choy.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?”

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.

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…

But He Has Bud Light....

My favourite of all the Superbowl ads.

Bud Light - But He Has Bud Light

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.

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.

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.

English Copywriting in Hong Kong

A big difference between Hong Kong and Canada is the speed at which people work here. I usually have between four and six briefs on the go at any given time and usually the deadlines are within a day, sometimes by the end of day, but most often a few hours. But it I like it, actually, when you are writing constantly you get pretty quick and incisive.

My word of the day: Fie Dee Lah.

Faster!

And in Health

In Hong Kong it’s not uncommon to see people walking around in surgical masks as if they were in a budget sci-fi movie or punk band. Obviously it’s to keep the spread of infection down in a place where people are packed in heel to nose like sardines.

So it’s a good idea. But something you would never see in Canada (unless you were in a punk band or budget sci-fi movie). But anyway, half the office is sick.

Or at least my section is. We’ve all got it and we are all sick as animals. Sneezing, coughing and grumbling.

I wasn’t the first, so I can’t take all the blame, but I wasn’t the last to get it either, so I’m certainly not blameless. I hate being sick. Grumble.

Brilliant Street Advertising

This guy is a chalk artist. His work is amazing.

Why Do People Go Into Advertising?

Read this:

Jingle Girl

Freelance Copywriter Picks of the Week

This ad is great.

AGF - Lens

I like this one too, it's sssssmart.

Invisible Man

These are some of the most creative concepts I have seen in a while.

Recruit Ireland - Beep

Recruit Ireland - Creak

More Ridiculous Pop Culture

The final scene of Star Wars, but done with hands.

Very amusing.

Star Wars Hands

This is pretty funny too.

Spock Cribs

The Readers Have Spoken

As I keep on carrying on here at Publicis, the blog has become a little less focused on my mission and more on my random day-to-day musings.

The readers have spoken and it appears that they want more ads to look at until I have updates on my goal to get a permanent job here in Hong Kong.

So, fine, here are a few. (sent in courtesy of a reader)

The rest of you can always leave comments you know…

USA Today - Tomorrow the World

The experiment has been a success

Kristian asked if I could get him to #1 in the world for Oslo Webdesign.

It took about a week, but BAM! there he is, right on top.

The Power of a Symbol

Red Cross is in the process of phasing out its distinctive red cross insignia in favour of something more universally neutral (than Switzerland).

Here is the Western version, the Arabic version, and now, the Red Crystal.

Old Man and the Birds

Today is my birthday, I'm going to go for HotPot tonight to celebrate.

Freelance English Copywriter Pick(s) of the Week

Two fun ads this week.

Courtesy of 'How Advertising Spoiled Me'

Make You Famous

My friend Kristian has his own website design company in Oslo called Stream Digital Communications. He has found it impossible to get himself listed on Google, so I told him I'd try to shoot him to the top of the category for 'Oslo webdesign'.

Stream Digital Communications has just released their first press release.

Oslo Webdesign Company Stream Digital Communications Goes Green.

He's already #1 for Oslo webdesign in the Google News.

He hasn't seen any of this yet, either...

English Copywriter Pick of the Week

It's an older one. But I love this ad. It's for a gym.

7 out of 10 Ain’t Bad

I started this blog up 5 months ago to get online dominance on Google for ‘freelance english copywriter’ in hopes it would land me a job. It has worked better than I expected. Now I have 7 out of the top 10 on google, including the top 4 spots.

It looks like even the China Daily has scooped one of my english copywriter ads and is running it in their magazine! How bizarre. I thought people had to pay to advertise in newspapers these days…

The Beat Goes On

It’s Tuesday night, well it’s actually 7 am and it is another all-nighter here at Publicis. Same pitch. More scrambling. I ended up working a 26-hour shift on Sunday, slept a bit, then I was back at it today, and so far it is shaping up to be a 24 hours shift as well.

It is insane.

This has been the most frantic two weeks of my life.

Can The Work You Do Build A Better World?

Here is an article that talks about the ability of advertising to be used for the greater good.

One Exhausted English Copywriter

Good god, I am one tired cat.

It’s 7:30 am and I am still at work. We (the writers) are just finishing up now. The poor studio guys will probably have to push through until the pitch at 3 pm.

I’ve prided myself in the past on working some ridiculous hours, but never anything like this. We put in about a 70-hour week, plus 14 hours yesterday and 21 hours today. So that is well over 100 hours on this pitch. Madness. Basically every second of my life this week was work.

Banksy

Anonymous underground anarchist(s) that run around spray painting their own ads through stencils and hanging their own art in galleries, like the Louvre. You’ve got to love it.

The James Earl Jones Effect

When Sesame Street first came out, every episode was focus-grouped to death.

They would conduct meticulous experiments on the children watching to see if they were more interested in the live characters or the puppets and in which situations they actually learned more.

As it turned out, they loved the puppets, but were not learning much from them.

There was an exception, however, and this was when it came to puppets voiced by James Earl Jones (most famously known as the voice as Darth Vader). When JEJ spoke, kids listened. And they absorbed.

James Earl Jones' kids must be some of the most attentive kids out there.

Either way, the power of the commentator should never be overlooked in an advertising campaign.

Here is a great one:

Allstate - Odds

Consumer Generated Ads

This is a trend that has started to pop up in the ad world. Essentially, it involves companies looking to their consumers to come up with ad concepts for them.

The logic is that it makes more sense to ask your target market directly what they want to see/think is funny than pass it through layers of advertising folk who are apparently totally detached from the emotion of the brand, and who water down the ad at every turn with their own bias.

Also it’s free.

So it’s not a terrible idea.

However advertising copywriters aren’t really too concerned about being displaced anytime soon.

Consumer generated ads have had mixed results. While there is a lot to be said about truck drivers making ads for truck drivers, the main problem is that writing ads isn’t as easy as it looks. Most of the stuff consumers come up usually fails to address the mechanics of advertising communications in a strategic way, such as maintaining brand consistency, tone, voice and manner, or creating an original concept which highlights the unique product feature, or conceptualizing in a way that can be integrated across several mediums.

Not that there is anything wrong with ads that depend purely on talk power. In my opinion, for startups and new products, talk power is the way to go.

Either way, the NFL has recently jumped on the bandwagon – and here is the result.

NFL winning ad

(the grapevine has been suggesting that the concept came out of an ad agency anyway)

Status Report IV

Well, I have been in Hong Kong for just over five months now. In this time I have managed to land a job here at Publicis, on contract anyway. I’ve been here just over four months, and so far it is going great. I have been working on huge global brands and getting the chance to do TV, as well as national branding campaigns.

I am still living in my little shoebox out in Causeway Bay. I have another six weeks on this contract and I am hoping to renew it. I really like Hong Kong and despite offers to go elsewhere, I am thinking I might stay here for a while (if I keep getting work that is).

I still haven’t completed my mission, and the point of this blog, that being securing full-time work at a 4As agency here in Hong Kong. But I’m close. At least I am in a position to pay off my debts now.

In other news, it's taken a bit of work, but I have managed to restake my claim as the #1 freelance english copywriter in the world (according to google that is).

How to Become A Freelance English Copywriter

If you’ve come here from Wikipedia, as I know many of you have, the first thing I would suggest is to learn spelling and grammar.

I know this may sound boring, but if I were an employer, I would never hire a copywriter who couldn’t spell or put together a sentence.

Sure there is plenty of ATL (above the line) work out there, and I am lucky enough to get to do a lot of it, but if you don’t have the bread and butter writing skills on top of the big ideas, you will always be in a precarious position.

There will always be banks and banks will always be the biggest clients of advertising agencies. So use it as an in. If you can write a DM piece or bill insert for something as dry as a credit card upgrade, I would say that is lesson one in learning the craft.

From there, jump to this link to learn more: Busting in as a freelance copywriter

New Years

Here’s a picture of Maria the Mouse and myself on New Years.