The Write Stuff

I couldn’t resist giving the website a little spring cleaning. I’ll be playing around with the layout over the coming days, and trying to get the Twitter posts onboard as well. If you have a Twitter account, check The Write Stuff’s account.

UPDATE: For those that visited the site yesterday, do not adjust your set! After playing around with the new layout, I decided this one was easier to read. I simply integrated the Twitter updates.

I dropped by the Entreprendre fair yesterday for one thing, a talk by comic strip artist Midam. If you have kids, you might know him better as the author of the Kid Paddle character. He gave a fascinating look at how he runs his business – as a business it is. Despite claiming he couldn’t really draw (modesty, modesty), he is applying a model for anyone involved in the creative industries.

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With the Cannes Fest (and its market) coming up, I’m reading a lot of blurbs, pitches and write-ups at the moment. These are the one- or two-line – sometimes only five-word – summaries that people use to grab our attention and perhaps give a little flavour of what the story is about. I always remember “Alien” being sold under the warning that “In space, no one can hear you scream“. The producers of “Speed” showed remarkable focus when they were pitching the project as “‘Die Hard’ on a bus“. That’s five words, folks. Considering the millions of profit it generated, I’d say that’s pretty effective writing.

So I thought I’d start a collection of killer taglines as I come across them. The opening salvo comes from the British company Swords & King.

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Couldn’t resist plugging an old acquaintance who will be visiting Brussels late January. I met Simon Alexander a few years ago. He has a rather particular job: he sees the future and has made a number of sensational predictions over the years (notably “something sad” about The Beatles just days before John Lennon was shot).

I couldn’t help asking him about the current turmoil. He said it was bad but we would recover quickly, but added that the big one would come in 2012. I’m not sure whether that’s encouraging or not. But then, who said the future would necessarily be better? You’ll find more about him on Simon Alexander.

The European jazz label Igloo is celebrating its 30th anniversary at the end of the month. To announce this, we helped put together a press release that presents the core values of the label while announcing an anniversary concert on November 28 at the Marni Theatre in Brussels. They will also be featured in a special 2-hour edition of the radio programme “Crooner” on Belgium’s La Premiere radio on December 6 at 8pm.

Igloo have released first albums from artists such as Melanie De Biasio, Pascal Schumacher Quartet as well as work by Philip Catherine, Steve Houben, Manuel Hermia and Majjid Bekkas.

To check the press release, visit Live.pr. To listen to some of their music, visit Igloo on Last.fm. To visit their main site, check Igloo Records.

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We occasionally find music for games and audio-visuals. The most recent track is the dotty electronic track “Kwaai Techtic” from the eloquently-named Tone Deaf Junkies. This South African electro team are part of one of the most exciting scenes at the moment and are featured in the new “Facebreaker” game from Electronic Arts.

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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.

Advertising is supposed to engage us on more than one level these days. It’s also supposed to be entertaining. So here’s a winner from the Cannes Lions festival, produced by WCRS for Transport for London. I won’t say anything more.

I’ve nothing to do with it, so you can safely tell me what you think (but no spoilers, please).

Actually, this is just a little plug. Last year, I worked on the subtitles for a documentary called “Where is the Love in the Palm Grove?”, produced by Iota Productions. Jérome le Maire spent a year in southern Morocco, and decided to ask the locals how young people meet in this remote area, where the social norms are hyper-strict. The result is a fascinating look at the relationship between love and marriage – and not just from their point of view. It will be shown at Munich’s Dokfest festival on May 2 and 5. I highly recommend it.

Maybe it’s a bit optimistic. Maybe it’s just plain wrong. But I’ve been speaking to a number of copywriters in Europe these past few days. None have a spare minute. All are struggling to keep up. What does this mean? Do I know the only successful copywriters in Europe? Or – as one of them suggested – are we an indication of the way industry in general is headed? I’d like to think it’s the latter. I’m currently working for two very large companies and a hotel. All are very upbeat in their sectors. They are all confident about picking up extra market shares and have the plans and processes to do so. Significantly, this involves new products, applications and – in the case of the hotel – a totally new way of talking to people. So it’s a time of innovation and working together with customers – the type of things copywriters love.