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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, Copywriting, Hewlett-Packard, Marketing , trackback

Hewlett-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.

Hewlett-Packard (HP) Rules of the Garage, Invent campaign  

My salute to the writer who wrote this and the agency and client team that made this ad happen.

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@yahoo.com and I’d be happy to share it here with our readers. If you’ve worked on this ad, mail me the credits and I’ll put them up here.

Credits Update:
Special thanks to Mark Wenneker who’s emialed 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

Comments»

1. Lakshmi - February 7, 2007

Hey Farrukh,
Followed the Ryze roadsigns, and came into your site, quite by accident.. This is an advert that says it all…. :) Very inspiring…

2. farrukh: copywriter & journalist - February 9, 2007

Hey Lakshmi,

Welcome to where the signs led you. Sometimes, accidents can be good too ;-)
This is the kind of an ad I would like to pin up on my wall. And I love the copy.

farrukh

3. lirun - February 10, 2007

im impressed by their use of the word invent.. they’ve really taken ownership of it without even trademarking it.. very impressive.. very smart.. excellent brand revamp for a company that used to be perceived as much more conservative..

as a technology lawyer - makes me tickled by the thought of a job with them

4. lirun - February 10, 2007

i of course havent conducted a search on whether or not they have trademarked it but that is my assumption.. no one is permitted to rely on it hehe goodness.. so i alwaysg have tobe such a lawyer..

5. Stephen - February 12, 2007

Great copy. I’ve never seen this ebfore. Almost makes for a mantra for anyone running a strat up too.
Stephen

6. farrukh: copywriter & journalist - February 12, 2007

Hi Lirun and welcome to this blog - I remember you from the UAE community blog.

Isn’t it amazing if an ad inspires people to work for a company?

This is the kind of an ad that a copywriter would look at and say “I wish I had written that!”

farrukh

7. farrukh: copywriter & journalist - February 12, 2007

Hi Stephen,

Welcome!

Glad to know that you feel inspired by the ad too. Actually there are two ads in the ‘invent’ campaign targeted at entrepreneurs. One says “Go David” and the other says “Go Goliath”, meaning HP can help both the small start up as well as the corporate giants. Maybe I’ll put those up too :-)
farrukh

8. lirun - March 4, 2007

hi

took me a while to return..

thanks for the welcome
:)

9. Digant - March 11, 2007

HP way is a good ad, same goes with “Think different” Apple ad campaign. Well, some of you might disagree, but I did like Microsoft’s “Your potential, our passion” ad series. Truly delivering the message while keep it all simple.

10. farrukh: copywriter & journalist - March 11, 2007

Hi Digant and welcome to my blog,

So true - the ‘Think Different’ Apple ad is a legend of its time - I should put that up too - the copy is amazing!

Haven’t seen the Microsoft one - hope to see it sometime.

farrukh