Freelance English Copywriter

This blog is also finished, to read the whole story, scroll to the bottom and read upwards.

Here is the sequel:

English Copywriter in Hong Kong

If you are looking for a freelance English copywriter click this link.

"When You Reach For the Stars...

...you may not quite get one, but you won't come up with a handful of mud either."

That's a quote from Mr. Burnett. I like it very much. And it's so true. I took a shot at a pretty tough goal and perhaps this just wasn't my year.

No matter. I came up with a handful of some pretty cool work. So I'm really happy with that.

I learned so much, actually. And I don't regret a thing.

Either way, this blog is finished. I'm taking the next month off to write my novel.

Will I document the process? Of course!

You can read about my third mission, and the sequel to this blog, right here:

An English Writer in Hong Kong

Thanks for reading. Thank you for your support. Let's catch up on the next page.

Last Day

Today is my last day at Ogilvy and Mather.

I have decided to take the next month off to visit with my brother and write my book.

Yay!

Ogilvy won top honours at the MTR Awards last night, taking home Agency of the Year (Creative).

Our Disneyland work won the following awards:

- Gold - Favourite Campaign - selected by MTR passengers; sample size 1,200 (Disneyland)
- Silver - Best Tactical Campaign (Disneyland)
- Best use of Power Zone - (Disneyland)

Super Mouse

Thanks to a little SEO copywriting, Maria now has the #1 spot in the world on Google for Native English Teacher.

Check out her informative teaching blog, and if you need private lessons, let her know.

Long Nights

We finished up this morning at 8 a.m.

We ran into the CEO as he was coming in to work. Amazing.

Why am I working so hard when I only have 6 days to go?

That is the interesting thing about advertising. Everything you do is good for your portfolio. Everything creative is worthwhile.

Finishing Strong

Last night we were here until 5:30 a.m. getting ready for an internal meeting.

We have a great brief on our hands from our biggest client, and the chance to do something really spectacular. So that’s fun.

We have some great ideas for stunts. Big stunts. The stuff that would have the whole of Hong Kong stop and take notice.

It’s nice to put in a good solid week before my contact’s up. You never know, this stuff, if it gets produced, may just get submitted for Cannes next year.

English Copywriter Pick of the Week

As an expat in Hong Kong, I can really relate to this spot. I think it takes place right near our office here in Central.

But Wait...

Why am I still posting?

I thought this blog was over?

As it turns out, they have extended the deadline at Cannes until March 28th.

Another One From Brian

Brian wrote in to wish me: “Gambatte.”

It is the perfect expression.

A while back he sent me this gem.

It is an annual report for a food company that you need to bake before reading.

No Dice

Today is the submission date for Cannes.

Nothing of mine was entered.

What can I say? It was out of my hands.

And yes, maybe it’s true: While I couldn't have tried harder, I could have pushed more.

Either way, there is always next year.

What a drag.

So that’s that.

Now, I am going to do something I have been meaning to do my whole life.

I am going to write my book.

I’m leaving Ogilvy March 18th.

My plan is to spend some time with my brother. And take a rest. Then I will take a month to write.

After that, who knows?

(Probably another blog...)

Dreams, Visions, Wild Ideas

The nice thing about working in a creative industry is being able to put all your random ideas to good use.

English Copywriter Pick of the Week

This is one of the spots that made Howard want to do ads. Super cool.

Bjork in Hong Kong

I went to see Bjork the other night at Asia World Expo. It was exactly the spectacle I had hoped for. For some reason only a few thousand people came to see this incomparable Nordic star in action.

All of the eccentricities were out in full force. Visually, it was vivid. Hanging from the ceiling were medieval pennants adorned with pastel fish and amphibians. And beneath, she danced in a firecracker dress, smashing cymbals with her outstretched little hands. Wailing, writhing and wafting through eerie synths and spooky sounds and playful green lasers while an odd and animated horn section swayed with their shiny brass instruments under flapping and flagging red banners.

Her voice was a signature moan. The music ranged from soothing to savage, peaking with the growling, stomping, jungle war cry of "Army of Me."

She spoke to the crowd only little. At first to request that they turn off the hundreds of video cameras you see glowing above the bouncing heads of every show. (Amazingly enough, most heeded her wish.) And later to innocently congratulate Hong Kong on the Olympics and speak a little Cantonese.

The finale had thousands of white paper squares explode into the air and rain down like snow. She barked the words to "Declare Independence" and the chorus echoed in a wild chant over and over and the crowd joined in and the frenzy grew and the lyrics spat out from the wild-eyed few: "Raise your own flag! Raise your own flag!"

English Copywriter Pick of the Week

For a fertilizer.

A little poetic license never hurt anyone.

More Black Dogs

Ogilvy at it Again

Campaign Brief Asia has named Ogilvy and Mather the ‘Agency of the Year in Hong Kong’ for the 3rd straight year.

It’s all getting rather silly. I mean just look at this signature. I’m running out of room down there:

Status Update Number XXXX

Ideas. Ideas. Ideas. Ideas. Ideas.

You need a lot of ideas in this business.
Only about 1% ever get off the ground.

That’s why I keep pushing with new ideas.

100 headlines per head. 100 taglines per tag.

On the status update front, it has become near impossible for me to document this little endeavour of mine. At this point, it’s beyond my control. It’s up to the stars. So wish me luck.

Influential Speakers Take III

Talent Show

Wieden and Kennedy recently held a competition to find some new talent for its Portland office.

Here’s one of the winners:

WK seeking

He documented his progress on a blog and had a cool slideshow to go with it.

Good idea, eh?

Personally, I got a kick out of this guy. His schtick was to go to every advertising site to ask people for their ideas. He stirred up controversy. He sparked debate. And he had the most notorious online presence of the lot.

English Copywriter Pick of the Week

Lions and Dragons and Drummers

There are guys in bright red and yellow outfits running through the halls of Ogilvy banging on drums and clattering cymbals.

It’s a Chinese New Year tradition: The Lion Dance.

Outside a giant lion was engaged in a choreographed battle against some guy.

Very cool.

Stuff like this is why I love to work in foreign countries.

The 100 to One Rule

I stumbled across Sally Hogshead’s blog the other day.

She’s a very accomplished copywriter from the States with her own agency now.

Either way, she was talking about how she used to write 100 lines for every one that she kept.

Here are 800 lines she wrote for a BMW ad. Of the eight they used, three won awards, so that’s pretty inspiring.

I have three headlines due on Monday. It’s Saturday, midnight, and I’m in the office. I have 250 written so far, only 50 to go.

Skin of a Rhino, Soul of an Angel

Juniors, and students, from all over the world, find me through this blog.

They ask me things like, “How do I break into the industry? How do I find work in another country?” and, “What does it take to be a copywriter?”

I answer every email I get.

I think one of the reasons I am ranked as the #1 English copywriter on Google is because the site is useful for everyone. It’s a reference.

Either way, I usually direct them to ihaveanidea.org. It’s a great site. I tell them to read Hey Whipple Squeeze This, Pick Me, as well as Cutting Edge Advertising. And I point them here.

This is an excellent article by Suzanne Pope, a writer I admire: An Inconvenient Truth for Copywriters.

But what does it take?

1. Determination
2. Resilience
3. A sense of humour
4. Oh, and some skills help too

Personally, I have always seen impeccable spelling and grammar as criteria. After all, if writing is your craft, words are your tools. I have always felt that if one is a professional, they should know how to use their tools professionally.

When I come across something I’m not sure of, I look it up. I am constantly striving to improve. I have grammar reference pages bookmarked (sounds exciting doesn’t it?). I follow the lead of the New York Times (for American English) and the Guardian (for British).

Sometimes I look on ihaveanidea, the copywriters' watering hole, and I am a little dismayed.

Learn how to write like a copywriter, and edit like an editor, and you will be doing two jobs at once.

Just my two cents.

KISS

When we were in Australia, we made ads on shoestring budgets. This forced us to be inventive. And simple.

Howard and I came up with another ad the other day. Absolutely minimalist. It would cost peanuts too.

March 7th is hanging over my head like an anvil in a Road Runner cartoon.

Happy Valentines.

English Copywriter Pick of the Week

Sure, it's not an ad. But I laugh every time I see this.

Back from Bangkok

It’s been a while since I’ve posted but I’ve been busy exploring.

I went to Thailand for Chinese New Year.

I rode colourful tuk tuks through clamoring streets and haggled for ill-fitting Ts. I had a chance to lounge out by the pool. I had a chance to think.

Now it’s back at it. I’m hoping we can shoot this week.

English Copywriter Pick of the Week

My One Show Volume 29 just arrived in the mail. I've seen most of the ads before, but there were a few new gems.

This spot took home a merit, but it's awesome.

Super Bowl 2008

Well, every year it seems that I lose my bet against my dad. How the Pats could drop the ball at this point is beyond me.

Pssah. So much for football history.

Anyway, more to the point are the Super Bowl ads.

If this Cannes business ever pans out, I think that this would be a great mission for next year: To make a Super Bowl spot.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.

Either way, there were a few good ones this time around.

Here are some of my faves:







My parents absolutely love Night at the Roxbury, so they’d like this ad.




If you want to see them all, click this link.

Chatter

Argh, it’s cold. 8 degrees. 98% humidity. You can’t shake ‘the chill.'

Sure, scoff away.

It may be -43 in Canada, but in Canada, there are a few key differences.

-They don’t blast the air conditioning on the subway, in elevators and in office buildings.

-They have things like, you know, insulation, and windows that close all the way.

-Long underwear.

-A sense of hibernation.

In the land of the ice and snow, you know it’s going to be cold for a long, long time, so you buy winter clothes and heaters and whatnot.

Here, all month I’ve been hearing, ‘Oh, it will only be cold for a few more days.’ But it’s been a month now, and I’m still cold, sick and heater-less. Ugh.

Steady Progressin’

Well, things are shaping up pretty nicely.

I just picked up a bunch of supplies for the shoot next week.

The idea is sound, I reckon. And the client’s keen.

Now, I’m thinking, “Why stop here?”

So I’m into creative mode again. I’m writing and re-writing from the brief in front of me. I think it would be interesting to have a solid long copy ad in the mix.

Also, I’m racking my brains on how to produce something good, simple and cost-effective for our biggest client.

If all goes well, we’ll be submitting to the Clios as well as the Lions. So let’s see.

A Checklist for Insomniacs

Can’t sleep? Neither can I.

To put my extended waking hours to use, I have composed a helpful little list of some things that you can do while pacing the floors at 5 am.

1. Shave. (You might as well. It will save you some time in the morning for when you finally wake up.)
2. Put out your clothes for the next day. (See above.)
3. Work. (Eh, why not?)
4. Pace the floors. (It’s better than just lying there.)

Cake and Cognac

It was my birthday over the weekend. I celebrated with a little get-together at my pad in Causeway Bay.

On the initiative front, it appears as though we have found a photographer.



In case you were wondering, of course it is Hennessy.

To quote Mr. Ogilvy once again, "I always use my clients' products. This is not toadyism, but elementary good manners."

I like that one.

English Copywriter Pick of the Week

An Ode to Corporate Poetry

Perhaps in Hong Kong it’s a trend,
Perhaps, it’s worldwide,
But more
And more so
I have found,
A request for copy
That’s not choppy,
But flows with rhythm and rhyme.
Like whimsy gospel
Binding spin.
It’s fun to write such ways.
In fact it seems not work at all,
But dreamy holidays.

Client Approval

Today my creative director and I went down to show our concept.

The owner of the chain, he got it right away. He loved the idea.

It matched his branding beautifully. And we now have a client.

Next step: The photo shoot.

So Far, So Good

Okay, this weekend I met with the owner of my favourite haunt here in Hong Kong. He was keen as anything to go along with this ad of ours. After all, like I said, it’s great concept. Whoo.

However, the perfect fit would be with another chain here in Hong Kong. Brand-wise, man, it’s ideal.

So all weekend I was hitting the bricks. I called, I asked around, I called some more, and after dropping by each of his shops in person and gorging myself each time, I figured email would be the safest thing for my sanity (and waistline).

Sure enough, he got back to me today. I’m meeting him tomorrow. Hopefully he likes it as much as my haunted friend on Friday.

English Copywriter Pick of the Week

Cantonese 401

Cho leedo – sits here

May ah – what?

Mo lui – saying nonsense

Lan get – bad joke

Sie jing ah – waste of my time

So hi – dumb guy

Sow pay – close skin (get lost)

Choi mei – what are you going to do? (in your face)

Dew lah sing – damn the star!

Hong ngyan wahh soy (red face trouble water) – women are trouble (a girl with makeup is like a flood of trouble)

Die lan wok – big trouble

Siu siu – a little bit

Faay – fat

Die jyan – muscular (big object)

Poh tong – ordinary

Ho lan moon – very boring

Mah sing – hanging rope

Jew sing die ha – Paterson guy

Ho tscha – very cheesy guy

Ho luung – very unhip girl

Li ling – super handsome man

Li leng – super hot girl

Doh yeww – wasting time with unnecessary stuff

Chun ji (spring know) – who else knows?

Meet Your Match

Sometimes you can have a great idea for an ad but you don’t have the right brief to execute it.

Sometimes you can have the right brief but you don’t have the right client.

So as opposed to letting good ideas die, it’s better to take initiative.

Here’s an example of an interesting idea that had to be carried out as an initiative ad. It’s for a drain cleaner.

Back to the Basics

I’ve returned to the very origins of advertising: the cold call.

To find a client to run with this ad we’ve got in mind means systematically going through the phone book. Making lists. Making calls. Making meetings. Making connections. Making things happen.

It’s tough. I mean people have a hard enough time trying to understand what I’m saying in Canada.

As my parents (and Howard) say, ‘Speak slowly, Mike.’

English Copywriter Pick of the Week

Knowledge. Who Wants Some? Come Get It.

Okay.

The brick hitting has been put on hold until we can do a bit more internal research on the subject.

This entails watching a lot of movies and scouring the internet for answers and such.

In the words of the man, David Ogilvy himself:

"We pursue knowledge the way a pig pursues truffles."

And in the words of Kool Moe Dee:

"Knowledge is king."

Either way, I get to keep my sweet red beard for another day.

Haunted by the Entrepreneurial Spirit

So far, my success in this business has come from a lot of hustle.

I imagine that if you are enormously talented, that success just falls in your lap. This has never been the case for me. I’ve had to be tenacious as hell. Luckily for me, advertising requires a lot of this get-up-and-go kind of initiative.

When we were in Australia we had to find the right clients to make the ads we wanted. When I was in Vancouver, same deal. It turned out to be a good way to build business. Now, here in Hong Kong, I am about to go out and do the same thing.

We’ve got the concept for a great ad. Now all we need is the right fit in terms of a client, and we’re rolling.

I have just the place in mind, so tomorrow I hit the bricks.

Prepare for the Fantastic Five

One of the fun things about working in this business is starring in ads.

We’re doing a photo shoot this afternoon and I get to be the talent, so that’s kind of cool.

Since I’ve been in advertising, I’ve been in about four ads.

Oh, and did I mention I am also in the Fantastic Four?

This is my claim to fame. My two seconds as a paparazzi photographer. Look for me when the Thing gets into his confrontation with the Human Torch and throws his Porsche across the street.

That’s right. That’s me, in the background.

I tell ya, it’s not easy being famous.

Snappin’ Cracklin’ Pop Culture

What would happen if the Street Fighter guys reunited?

I'm not sure whether this is a viral teaser for Capcom or a film school project (or both), but it’s pretty amusing.

There are seven in the series so far.

Tick Tick Tick

It's 2008.

I'm stoked to be back at work.

However, deadlines are looming.

I was checking out the Cannes Lions site the other day.

If we're going to make this happen, we have to act fast. We have until March 7th to get our ideas submitted.