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Ad Breakdown: London Transport’s ‘Simple’
“’Making London Simple‘ won the pitch, and several D&AD Pencils. And ran for many years.” says Ewan Paterson, one of the copywriters from today’s ad.
Why Your Business Needs a Freelance Copywriter: Unlocking Growth Through Words
It can often be tempting for business owners to take on the task of creating all of the copy their business requires. After all, they
Ad Breakdown: Weetabix’s “Withabix”
Welcome to the next part of an unintentional 2-part series of baby ads. You can catch “part one” here. Today’s ad isn’t about baby food,
Ace Your Freelance Copywriter Hire: 5 Top Tips
After reading my previous blog posts and case studies you’ve decided it’s time to hire a freelance copywriter? Fantastic. To make sure that you’re able
Ad Breakdown: Cow & Gate’s ‘&’
This one’s going to be fun. A copywriter breaking down an ad without any copy. Today’s ad is for Cow & Gate, and it was
Mastering the Art of Digital Copywriting: From Landing Pages to Sales Funnels
In the good old days of billboards and large magazine circulation numbers, copywriters had to produce hard-hitting headlines and snappy standfirsts. In the current age
Ad Breakdown: British Airways’ Yo-yo
Most of you have seen Uncommon’s British Airways campaign. Advertisers – including myself – thought it was pretty special. But, flicking through the 1998 D&AD
Sales Funnel Copywriting: An Inside Look at Turning Visitors into Customers
In a perfect world, the only copywriting that business owners would need to pay mind to would be a single sales page. This single landing
Ad Breakdown: Sony’s Fruit Bowl
Today I’m setting a new “blog rule”. It’s a bit of fun for me but it means you’ll get more for less. And that’s what
Dodge the Pitfalls: Top 5 Mistakes in Website Copywriting
The saying goes that everyone’s a critic, but it could easily be said that everyone’s a writer. It is, after all, something that we all
Ad Breakdown: Kiss FM’s “He’s listening to Kiss 100FM”
How many times have you heard “the medium is the message“? Probably a lot. It’s a well-known line from Canadian communication theorist Marshall McLuhan. And
Working with a Freelance Copywriter: What to Expect
The idea of working with a copywriter can often be a daunting one for business owners. It does, after all, require an enormous amount of
Ad Breakdown: Kellogg’s All-Bran
I found this Kellogg’s ad in the 1989 D&AD Annual, and it immediately drew me in. From what I can see, the photo opens a
Ad Breakdown: Pirelli & Carl Lewis
No matter how good you are, you can always be let down by poor equipment. That’s the crux of today’s ad from Pirelli. What I
Ad Breakdown: Polo’s “Show your tongue you love it.”
Did you know ‘the mint with the hole’ wasn’t actually the first mint with a hole? Allegedly, George Harris, the man behind the Polo, saw
Ad Breakdown: Sainsbury’s “Oil Change”
This is technically car ad breakdown number five. FIVE! That’s a significant portion when you consider this is only #15. Of course, it depends on
Ad Breakdown: Reebok’s “Postmen”
Did you know that 7 postmen and women are attacked by dogs every day in the UK (according to Royal Mail – and this article)?
Ad Breakdown: Altoids’ “Metal Box”
Breath mints. How many of those are out there? A damn lot, that’s for sure. Today’s ad is a great example of how you can
Ad Breakdown: Stella Artois’ “Reassuringly expensive.”
Over the past 40 years, there have been some great ads for alcohol brands. Heineken. XXXX. John Smiths. Boddingtons. To name a few. And as
Freelance Copywriting: Is it better to be introverted or extroverted?
What an interesting topic. After seeing it circulate recently, I thought I’d share my 2 cents. Because even after ~4 years, it’s something I still
Ad Breakdown: Araldite’s “It also sticks handles to teapots.”
Ad breakdown number 11 already. Wow. And another really cool one this time – with a few different elements to consider. Here’s the ad: It
Is Learning to Become a Copywriter Hard?
Copywriting is a skill. And like any skill, requires practice. Some people have a natural talent and pick it up quickly… some have to work
Ad Breakdown: Linguaphone’s “You old trout”
Leagas Delaney have done their fair share of great work over the years. From Harrods to Patek Phillipe to Dom Perignon. And many, many more
Persuasion in Copywriting: The Long and Short of it
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” — Carl Jung We humans, we’re odd. We like
Ad Breakdown: Citroën’s 2CV Comparison
Today’s ad is from Citroën. I couldn’t find who wrote it, but I’m pretty sure it’s from the 80s. Here it is: Quite possibly one
Ad Breakdown: The Economist’s “Keyhole”
Taking it further this time. The last breakdown had a little bit of copy. This time we’ve got none. So, without any copy to break down, I’ve
Ad Breakdown: MLHSBC’s “Invisible”
So, I’m going to try a different style today. Usually, my ad breakdowns are quite copy-heavy. But this one is not. Not only does this
Ad Breakdown: Volvo’s “If the welding isn’t strong enough, the car will fall on the writer.”
A David Abbott classic today. His ad for Volvo in 1983 during his time at AMV. For those that have read D&AD’s “The Copy Book”,
Ad Breakdown: Chivas Regal’s “When.”
How do you build and advertise a premium brand? In today’s breakdown, I’ll show you. This ad was written by Tony Brignull in 1969, during
Ad Breakdown: Fisher-Price’s Anti-Slip Roller Skates
Plot twist, even in today’s society, ads like this have more respect for their reader than many ads from today. Why? Because they respect their
Ad Breakdown: Sainsbury’s Olives
If I had to pick an all-time favourite copywriter, Richard Foster would be near the top – if not at it. For those that haven’t
Ad Breakdown: Volvo’s “Drive it like you hate it.”
In 1962, Volvo’s sales were struggling. After entering the US market in the 50s, they’d not really got any traction. And competing with the likes
Ad Breakdown: The Man in the Hathaway Shirt
Here we are… ad breakdown number 1: David Ogilvy’s ‘The Man in the Hathaway Shirt’. The breakdown went live on LinkedIn some time ago, so
