Insight into Writing
Emily Gosling, Editor-at-large at Elephant, Avril Delaney, Senior Copywriter at Boys + Girls, Nick Eagleton, Co-founder of Saboteur, copywriter Nathaniel Lawlor, and Francesca Tenenbaum, Head of Words at Here Design, discuss their favourite work from this year.
Eagleton chose Channel 4’s hilarious Complaints Welcome ident which sees the channel’s stars quoting complaints that have been sent in about them. “It was our favourite use of words in 630 entries,” he says. “They used their own words against them in the most wonderful, funny, warm, playful way.”
Tenenbaum speaks about the We Compost – Feed the Worms rebrand by Seachange, applauding the less-is-more-approach to copywriting which saw the brand enriched with some key words and phrases plus a sweet worm-themed font. “It’s an incredibly harmonious way of bringing something, which on the surface is incredibly small and verbal into something much bigger and visual, but elevating it and enriching it and not letting it become a missed opportunity,” she says.
What’s really remarkable is that they got real brands to buy into the idea of their ad being taken over by another brand
Mind Control by adam&eveDDB for Unilever, in which subliminal messages were put into other ads to lure Marmite haters to the other side, was Delaney’s pick. “What’s really remarkable is that they got real brands to buy into the idea of their ad being taken over by another brand, which is so bold,” she notes, also praising the use of radio advertising.
Lawlor chooses the D Double E-voiced IKEA Silence the Critics ad, which sees a family's home critiqued by animated household ornaments in the typical style of a grime diss rap D Double E is known for. “It’s a lighthearted twist on a diss track. Also, CG can be really unfunny, I almost always will try to go practical over CG in any case that I’m trying to be funny, but it’s really well done here,” he explains, noting that it’s a nice antidote to a traditional Christmas ad.
The panel draws to a close noting that the role of words and their place in the world of modern advertising is changing but the flipside of this is that writing is awarded in tangential ways through recognition in other categories. While there is a stronger focus on images, roles for writers often pop up within categories such as Craft and Impact.
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