The Write Stuff

I remember when it was held as a truth that the written word was dying and the world would communicate visually. Luckily for writers, the Cannes film festival is there to remind everyone that in the beginning was the word. And not only are words essential to get a story moving, they are also there at every step of the way when it is pitched to a producer, who then pitches to co-producers and financiers, before pitching it to distributors and later the press. Read more »

I’ve been working on a few projects recently that can best be described as “personal branding”, coaches or consultants that decide to build their business under their own name. But “personal branding” has a very selfish ring to it. At its worst, it’s an exercise in ego-stroking. But as the “brands” in question were perfectly aware, there’s more to personal branding than “me-me-me”.

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MIDEM 2010 campaign image

In 7 years of creating the campaigns for Midem, we have seen the world of trade fairs transform at an unbelievable rate. It’s not unfair to say that many trade fairs until recently had been seen by their organisers pretty much a way of renting space to companies. Yet Midem, part of the Reed MIDEM group, has blazed a trail and is re-inventing the way trade fairs see themselves and engage with their audiences. Read more »

Countdown 100 leadership coaching

I was amazed when an art director at a major agency recently told me that on average, their contact with a client had changed every six months over the past three years. That’s quite a turnover, with the inevitable loss in productivity and continuity. Coincidentally, coach and consultant Serge Pegoff told me that between 25-40% of managers in new positions don’t meet expectations. The managers themselves claim that a lack of support was often to blame.

Pegoff and some coaching colleagues started a programme specifically to enable managers to get up to speed as quickly as possible – roughly 3 months. So when they asked us to develop a brochure and identity, the name Countdown 100 was an obvious choice. It stands out, as other programmes on the market are given horrendous manager-speak names. The visuals, developed by Pix&Com, play on the countdown theme. For details about the programme, visit Countdown 100.

Spare a thought for the music biz: over the past seven years, overall sales of recorded music have been slashed by 50%. Whole parts of the business, such as CD plants and retail outlets, are disappearing. Even professional users, such as video games and TV stations, are putting pressure on the rates to be paid. In fact, the very notion of a “record” business is no longer really applicable. Midem, as the worldwide music community’s annual gathering, has obviously been affected by this. Despite what you might think, the trade fair has been growing over the past few years (with the obvious exception of last January when it fell right after the credit crunch). How? By staying one step ahead of the game.

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When the going gets tough, the tough get out and meet each other – or they should do. I’m a firm believer in working trade fairs, having seen ones such as MIDEM and the Film Market from the inside, as well as writing for MIPIM, MIPIM Asia and the MIPCOM fairs. Although many of these have seen falling figures since January of this year, one has seen a substantial growth of 10% in sales: EAS. With the Belgian agency Tagora, I wrote the website, brochure and collateral for the 2008 and 2009 editions.

Their business is attractions and theme parks, a sector that is growing. The explanation for this growth seems to be that people are travelling less far on holidays and will therefore be spending more time at theme parks, museums, attractions and attractions. Check the EAS 2009 site.

Here’s a challenge. Take a shot of the client that actually means something, and will stop people in their tracks. The Tagora agency in Brussels did just that recently with a brochure for EAS, the European trade fair for the attractions industry. They put the owners and managers of attractions onto and in one case into their attractions. The two managers on the photo are actually on a ride, and it’s not Photoshopped either. They also got the manager of a water park to sit under a cascade with her laptop and in a business suit. It’s a simple, fun idea that makes for the best corporate portraits I’ve seen in ages. All you need is a good idea, a great photographer and clients that are willing to play ball.

I should also point out that the EAS was a success and The Write Stuff did the copywriting for the brochure of the next edition

I have a garden, and I actually enjoy mucking in and getting things done. I’ve also learnt from experience that thinking ahead is essential. If you want to laze in a summer garden (let me tell you about my hammock one day), you better make sure you have things planted and trimmed in time – and that means months in advance.

So it was nice working on a series of brochures for Fiskars for the RRCO agency in Antwerp. The idea is quite simply to give people a few seasonal tips and pointers, as well as highlighting the products that they sell. Fiskars make high quality garden equipment such as cutters and weed pullers.

When I look at the amount of text editing, trimming and pruning that goes into the average campaign, I think there probably is a case to be made for the copywriter as a gardener. It’s also nice to see strategy being developed over a period of time, and being able to sit under the conceptual tree that you might have planted years before. Here’s a thought from Fiskars website:

If a person cannot love a plant after he has pruned it, then he has either done a poor job or is devoid of emotion.
-  Liberty Hyde Bailey

What we should be aiming at, of course, is the same thing in copywriting.

It’s that time of the year again. MIPCOM, the world’s foremost content trade fair, will run from October 13-17 in Cannes. This year (like last year, in fact), we worked on the collateral with the Consorcom agency in Brussels, producing the brochure, key visuals and a few ads. MIPCOM also has a smaller event called MIPCOM Junior, entirely focused on kids’ and youth entertainment. You’ll find them at MIPCOM and MIPCOM Junior.

I think we have all heard that the music business is in pretty bad shape (and just today, it was revealed that figures are down 15% in France). As the foremost music trade fair, Midem obviously has had to reconsider what role it plays in the new music business. This has led to them providing a whole range of conferences and networking events that enable people to get new ideas about surviving and moving forward over the coming years. With this in mind, the concept we developed with Consorcom for this year’s brochure and ads is “Think Louder This Year” – reflecting the business’ need to be loud and brash, but with a little more brains. Incidentally, I’ll be in Cannes myself Jan 26-29. Look for me under The Write Stuff in the MidemWorld database.