A Copywriter Writes

God, I love George Lois. Here’s a brilliant story about him I came across.

In New York, dozens of 1960 Renaults had to be sold to make way for the new 61’ models.

So normally the dealers would knock $500 off to try and shift them, but nobody wants to buy last year’s car. But everyone loves a bargain.

So legendary New York creative George Lois made a tiny scratch in the paintwork of each car, then covered it over with a Band Aid.

He then ran an ad with a headline saying

‘ IF YOU CAN SPOT THE SCRATCH ON ANY OF OUR RENAULTS, WE’LL GIVE YOU $500 OFF.’

Customers flooded in, clambering all over the cars, finding the plasters, peeling them up and being amazed how tiny the scratch was.

The Renaults sold out before close of business on the first day.

Getting Life Experience or, Watching TV Is Part Of The Job

My first (creative) partner was a girl in my ad school during my third year doing a Bachelor of Communications at AUT.

She was great, we did a lot of interesting work together.

There was one thing about her that I found odd.

She didn’t watch television.

Her family didn’t have one. She was raised like this. Instead of watching TV, she’d pursue hobbies like dancing, which is all well and good because she was an excellent dancer.

And her parents took her to different countries when she was little, so she was well travelled. Phenomenally so.

But she didn’t watch television.

And to me, this left a gap in her thinking.

Sometimes, I would suggest an angle we could explore or lines we could use based on popular culture originating from a TV show, and she would come back to me; expressionless.

I think there was one time I mentioned a TV character like Captain Planet.

“Who?”

“Captain Planet. You know, the Planeteers? Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Heart? Go, Planet?”

“Nope. Are you sure people know who that is?”

“Are you serious?!” 

Good advertising messages stem from insights. Insights about the product, where it’s made, how to use it, the people that use it, an so on.

The best advertising messages stem from life insights. Aspects of daily living that transcend language, age and gender boundaries.

And the best way to come up with these life insights is to experience life.

If you’re disconnected somehow, you’re not going to reach those crucial truths you need.

In a way, this means to travel; see different people and cultures and view life from a unique perspective.

In a more realistic way, this means to branch out from what you already do.

Just because Ted, Marshall, Lily, Robin and Barney hang out at MacLaren’s Pub all the time, doesn’t mean it’s cool for you to do as well.

Read a book you by an author you don’t normally read; see a movie you wouldn’t see; watch TV, a lot; go to a restaurant you haven’t been to and order something you don’t normally eat.

Every new thing you do gives you a new perspective and broadens your thinking.

You could notice how people who can’t handle spicy food look like they’re taking a Lamaze class when they eat, or how the majority of commuters read books on the train, or all the weird tips and tricks for picking out perfect produce you learn from farmer’s market patrons.

They can all birth interesting ideas that come from simple life insights.

Another thing I would recommend is to watch a lot of stand up comedians. All and any you can. Local ones, international ones, male ones, female ones, transgender ones, old ones, young ones, Irish ones, American ones, Spanish ones, Chinese ones, Nigerian ones, bad ones, really bad ones, all of them.

Especially those who specialise in observational humor.

What these people do for a living is take even the tiniest life insight, like the faces men make when we shave, and turn it into something relatable, funny and entertaining.

Gee, that sounds familiar.

And you can tell they’ve hit the nail on the head with these details of daily life because of the immediate laughter from the audience.

Young creatives could learn a lot from these people. The more you watch, the more perspective you benefit from - it’s simple.

As a creative (especially one working in advertising), you’re not just living life, you’re exploring it. And the best way to do that is just do something different from time to time.

A friend of mine, Iain Nealie, a creative at TBWA\Tequila in Auckland, once did something as simple as using a different mode of transport to go to work each day for a week.

He managed it (walk, run, car, skateboard, bus).

Simple as that.

Or just at least make sure you’re getting enough TV each day.

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The Year of the Dragon looks prosperous for me.

Loving Your First Idea or, A Ring After Two Days

In 1972, Elvis Presley said,

‘wise men say only fools rush in’.

Despite knowing this he couldn’t help falling in love.

Well, that’s all well and good for the romantics out there, but it’s bloody silly when I think about it.

Mind you, I think about it with a degree of hindsight. I’m reminded about the silliest thing I’ve ever done in my young love life.

I was on a school field trip in Rome. One of the girls in the group and I grew close.

Skipping past all the awkward talking about each other to our friends and each other’s friends, I asked this chick out in St. Peter’s Basilica, as you do.

She was the first girl I had ever asked out.

So, naturally, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing.

We spent the first day holding hands and sitting in the same chair together.

Her friends jokingly asked me what my intentions were.

“Oh, long term. For sure. She’s great.”

I guess I meant it at the time.

On the second day, we were walking down the Via Nationale and we got the idea to buy each other gifts to commemorate the wonderful event of us finding one another.

I thought I’d be suave and go with jewelry.

No necklaces. Nothing was more important than her Virgin Mary necklace her mother gave her.

She didn’t like bracelets, either…

We stopped by a jewelry store to have a look. We spotted a diamond ring that was going for €89 (NZ$250).

(cringe)

I bought it for her.

*NOTE*
Can I just say, that at the time I was a tourist and had lots of money in my pocket, so I had no real sense of value.

I said to her,

“I know this cost a bit, but it just shows how cool* I think you are and how I think this is gonna last a long time.”

(facepalm)

I told my friend about it.

“You’re a dumbass.”

“Why?”

“Dude, you don’t just give a chick a ring after being with her for two days.”

He told my other friends.

“Wow, that was stupid.”

“It’s not what it looks like! It’s just a present.”

“That was stupid present.”

Eventually, my parents found out.

“Oh, for Christ’s sake, Daniel…”

Long story short, I realised about a month or so after coming back from the trip that the relationship could’ve been something more akin to a holiday fling and I broke up with her.

Thankfully, she gave the ring back** and I was able to get (most) of my money back.

The point is, I made the mistake that a lot of creatives tend to make.

I committed to the first good thing that came along, as soon as it came along.

Thinking about why we creatives do this and thinking about my past romantic ineptitudes, I can gauge an understanding:

A lot of the time, creatives go a long time without a great idea. Even though we put the effort into finding one, it usually doesn’t come our way. Then, when our minds do start to come up with something decent, we get excited.

We get so amazed by the fact a good idea had come our way, we jump to use it. Usually never stopping to consider how good it really is under the glamour of the initial reaction.

Others around us, like our colleagues, might say,

“Yeah, it’s a nice idea, but don’t just go full on with it, you’ve only known it for a few minutes. Try out other ideas, look elsewhere, see what else there is.”

And you come back with,

“Nah man, this is it. I’m pretty happy with this one.”

It takes someone higher up, more experienced, whom you respect, like your boss or Creative Director to point out,

“The idea just doesn’t work. Sure, there’s flare, but it doesn’t have depth.”

That’s when the illusion shatters for you. And you slowly start to realise the things the idea lacks. Pretty soon, you’re sick of the idea and the thought of working on it repulses you. You finally make the decision to dump it.

Because you were so infatuated with this first idea, you didn’t consider others and all your precious time was put into nothing with nothing to fall back on in the end.

And so you have to start again, alone, without an idea.

Sure, there are those times where people come up with a great idea and everything fits, first time around. But you never use that as a model to follow, that’s just a moment when the stars align and people call out buzz words like ‘fate’ or ‘serendipity’.

It’s always good to make sure you’ve assessed all your angles and options before going with an idea to go all the way to execution with it. You may not invest as much as a diamond ring, but then again, you won’t always get it given back to you.

Creatives should heed Elvis when he says ‘only fools rush in’.

No, it’s not romantic if you can’t help falling in love with it.

*A word to young guys in love with someone. Never buy jewelry for a girl you think is ‘cool’. If that’s the only adjective you can come up with, put your wallet back in your pocket.

**She threw it at me.

Jogging In Kuala Lumpur or, Fighting Your Instincts.

Came up with this post while exploring the KL wilderness. Had to be a video; writing doesn’t do this justice, I don’t care how good you are.

To me, one of the best ways we can push ourselves to do great things, no matter what you do, is know the things that stand in our way, so we may bypass them easily.

A blog post and travel diary entry all in one.

Enjoy.