SPRING CLEANING
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…
VIRAL CAMPAIGN AND URL FOR THE EU
The EU's DG Health & Consumers have come up with a viral campaign produced by the Mostra agency to increase awareness about online rights for younger shoppers. They just needed…
Midam: crowd-sourcing gags
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.
CANNES 2009: THE HUNT FOR KILLER TAGLINES
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.
WISH YOU WERE HERE?
It's cold and damp up here in northern Europe. So here's something to look forward to: the ultimate wet dream for writers, a sunny swimming pool with a Wi-Fi connection! …
THE FUTURE’S NOT OURS TO SEE
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…