Brilliant advertising copy for a brilliant client – Hewlett-Packard (HP) the company of inventors November 21, 2006
Posted by Farrukh Naeem at copywriterjournalist.com in : Advertising , 14 commentsHewlett-Packard is a dream client to make ads for. In fact, most IT brands are great to work for, specially if you are a techie like me. I have written for HP, Compaq and Microsoft and I just can’t get enough.
There’s one ad by HP which is a part of its memorable ‘invent’ campaign that I would love to hang as a poster on my wall. It has what HP calls “Rules of the Garage“. The copy is simple, powerful and inspiring – it works for any team, in fact, not just a bunch of IT wizards.
My salute to the writer who wrote this and the agency and client team that made this ad happen.
And for the art directors who are wondering what the visual is all about – it’s the actual garage in which the HP company was born. It is now a national monument.
What do you think? Do you find the copy inspiring? Have you written an ad like this? If so, mail it to me at farrukh.copywriter(at)gmail.com and I’d be happy to share it here with our readers.
Credits Update:
Special thanks to Mark Wenneker who’s emailed me the credits. So, the guys behind this amazing ad are:
Client: Hewlett Packard
Agency: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners
Creative Director/Writer: Steve Simpson
Art Director: Mark Wenneker
Perceptgulf’s vacancy ad for copywriter, art director and account manager November 16, 2006
Posted by Farrukh Naeem at copywriterjournalist.com in : Advertising , 46 commentsThere was recently a flood of recruitment ads by advertising agencies in Dubai looking for copywriters and art directors. Perceptgulf’s ad made me smile a wicked smile.
I talked to Prashant Sankhe, the Creative Director at Percept Gulf who made this ad happen.
“I think nobody has portrayed the pencil like this before,” he said.
As you can see, this ad shows a pencil labelled with ad vacancies on its various parts. The lead tip invites English copywriters and proofreaders to apply, the sharpened end calls art directors and graphic designers, the middle part is labelled for production coordinators, and the punchline…
The eraser is labelled ‘client servicing’ – Arab and European – for account manager and account executive posts. Clever!
And he’s been asked more than once: “Why did you put the eraser like that?”
“That’s the interesting point,” is Prashant’s answer. You bet!
Perceptgulf is affiliated to Hakuhodo which is among the top ten advertising groups worldwide. You can mail your CVs to prashants@perceptgulffz.com for creative positions and to cheriank@perceptgulffz.com for client servicing positions – you erasers (sorry, couldn’t resist that.)
If you are a creative reading this – tell me why this ad makes you smile. And if you are a ‘suit’ reading this – tell me why you don’t love me anymore (wicked me). The comments are open.
Technorati Tags:
Advertising, Marketing, Copywriting, Art Direction, Client Servicing, Copywriter, Creative Director, Jobs in Dubai, Advertising Jobs in Dubai, Copywriter Job, Art Director Job, Percept Gulf
Campaign ME Conference in Dubai: Looks like the party’s gonna rock! November 1, 2006
Posted by Farrukh Naeem at copywriterjournalist.com in : Advertising , 3 comments
Campaign Middle East magazine, the media sponsor of this year’s Media & Marketing Show being held in Dubai in November, is organising its inaugural Campaign Middle East Conference on 27 and 28 November 2006 at Al Multaqua Ballroom, Dubai World Trade Centre.
I talked to Tim Addington, editor of Campaign Middle East, and asked him how this conference is going to be different than any other. “Usually, what you get in such events is people standing on a stage giving speeches and Powerpoint presentations. There is no interaction or engagement with the audience,” Tim said.
The Campaign Conference will have a different format. The conference would feature panel discussions with international and local professionals from the media, marketing and PR industries discussing and debating the hot issues relevant to the region. Participation of regional decision makers and the audience would be key.
“It’s not only about people speaking but also about the audience,” said Tim and added that the focus would be to have as much local participation as possible for the panel so that the issues discussed would make sense to the audience. I’m all for local flavoured debates and discussions.
Earlier this year, at the IAA World Congress held at the same venue, I remember the animated discussions that had swung from the panelists to the audience and back on burning issues like auditing of publications in the region. Throwing the discussions open to the floor worked well and at times the views of the panelists were challenged to good effect. Much work got done this way as more thoughts and ideas were discussed than would have been with panelists alone.
I am hoping to attend the conference and if I do, I’d be happy to share the proceedings on this blog – but I am just wondering about the warning on the event’s website about requiring a permission to do such a thing. Anyway, this is what is lined up:
Panel discussions planned for the Campaign Conference
- Relationship building: How effectively do media agencies and marketing departments work together
- The demise of print advertising. The future is online?
- How can PR command a larger slice of marketing spend?
- Getting inside the head of consumers
- The future of free-to-air TV in the Middle East?
Speakers at the Campaign Conference
Max Clifford, One of the most influential PR practitioners in
Britain whose past and current clients include Jimi Hendrix, Muhammad Ali, Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando.Hala Badri, Vice president of corporate communications, Du
Antoine Choueiri, Chairman, The Choueiri Group
Joseph Ghossoub, Chairman and world president of the International Advertising Association and chief executive officer of The Holding Group
Jan Zijderveld, Chairman of Unilever Middle East and chairman of the GCC Advertisers’ Association
Alex Andarakis, chief executive officer, Aujan Industries
Matt Blackborn, chief executive officer, Publicis Groupe Media, MENA
Gabriel Chahine, principal, Booz Allen Hamilton
Peter Einstein, chief executive officer, Showtime
Ramzi El Hafez, editor-in-chief, Business Week Al Arabiya
Chet Galpin, chief marketing officer, National Commercial Bank
Nassim Ghrayeb, chief executive officer, YouGovSiraj
Karen Hargreaves, director of marketing, MasterCard International Inc., MENA
Imad Kublawi, chief executive officer, IK Consult
Dimitri Metaxas, director, OMD Digital
Ahmed Nassef, vice-president, Maktoob Group, general manager, Maktoob.com
Fergi Varghese, director of corporate communications, Siemens, LLC
Kunal Wadhwani, Senior Vice President, Zawya
As you can see above, the line up of speakers is interesting. I would love to meet the guys from research and online industries most. What would you like to catch up on at the Conference? For more info, visit the Campaign Middle East Conference 2006 online here.
Technorati Tags: Advertising, Marketing, Campaign Middle East Conference 2006, , Advertising in Dubai, , PR in Dubai
