3 posts tagged “chris catchpole”
As every creative will agree, most of our best ideas remain as just that – ideas.
Cracking work, bang on brand, exciting, pushing boundaries, disruptive, intelligent, fascinating, thought-provoking, action-inducing but never get anywhere past the ‘no’ brigade. It never ceases to amaze me how many hurdles you have to jump through to produce work, let alone good work.
And how the hell does anything truly great get through? I believe it really only comes out of agencies who aren’t afraid to push back. And how many of those are there in this current climate?
See what you think to this. I’d be really interested in your thoughts. Submitted to both Shelter then St Mungo’s, I’ve had rejections from both even though it’s the offer of free work that’s cheap as chips to produce.
Strategy
Winter is coming. Life on the streets gets tougher and more dangerous. Whether it’s the elements that get you or the unsavoury characters who come out after dark, it becomes ever more difficult to survive out there. The trouble is few everyday people see where some have to spend the night because they’re generally gone by the morning. So, unless people are made aware of the hardship that some have to deal with night after night, they pass by oblivious.
Creative
A simple printed A3 or A2 sheet designed to look like a Police sign dramatically demonstrates that someone could have died there the previous night. The call to action is to donate to Shelter and help give a home to those who really need it. These can be stuck up wherever homeless people sleep rough. Very cheap to produce (perhaps just the price of a colour photocopy), they would be a very cost effective way to cover any city by the charity’s volunteers.
I’m going to go through my portfolio of gems that never were and post a few more here. Am I mad? Am I frustrated? Not any more. I’m really genuinely happy these days. I just fancy airing good thinking that passed by unnoticed, for whatever reason. Then again, perhaps it is all crap after all!
This article was written by Chris Catchpole. Go check out his impressive direct marketing portfolio
Everything we wear, the food we eat, the car we drive, where we live, the music we listen to, the people we hang around with speak volumes about us as individuals. We all choose very carefully each and every aspect of our lives. We all have an inner circle of brands that we want to be associated with – that we’re proud to be seen with. I call this Brand ‘Me’.
Read Chris Catchpole’s interesting thoughts about branding and more
I am what I say I am
People use clothing to define themselves. We are also judged by what we wear. I know that I get treated very differently in shops when I wear a smart suit to when I’m dressed casually. Exactly the same person but a different response depending on clothes. Weird, isn’t it? But that’s often how we get our first impression. This is how I explain the importance of art direction – it doesn’t matter what you’ve got to say if you don’t look right. More on this in another post though.
Occasionally, new brands come along or established brands get a makeover and they join our list of close ‘friends’. They may stick around for a while, perhaps just until the special offers run out. This is the true test of friendship. Once the honeymoon period is over, has enough been done to persuade the customer to stay? When the three months free are over, the 50% off is done, 2 for the price of 1 has gone, the free gift yesterday’s news, what’s the reason to stay. Apart from the handcuffs they may have had to sign up to that they now regret, what really makes this company’s offering any different to their competitor’s?
Why not ask people what they want not tell them what they want
Companies spend vast amounts of time and money developing products and services then even more time and money telling everyone how wonderful they are. Do any of them ever think to stop and ask consumers what they want in the first place then create around the need rather than try and create the need? Surely the best way to sell a product or service is to show how it would enhance someone’s life if they had it. Some of the hardest and least successful work I’ve done has tried to create a need where really none exists and probably never would. Why not make the new product ‘amazing’, the new service ‘revolutionary’? But first, ask the people what they want.
Love is…
Think about a company you love. What do they do right? Not only will they make a product that you think is wonderful (or a service that’s remarkable), I guarantee that good Customer Services will play an important role in your relationship with them. It’ll probably be a company that its customer at the centre and does all it can to make them feel special, appreciated and wanted. Why go elsewhere?
All the c&f ‘Rules of Friendship’ deal with precisely this approach for the mutual benefit of both sides. For more information on these, have a read of http://www.chriscatchpole.com/
This article was written by Chris Catchpole. Go check out his impressive direct marketing portfolio
The Slovenian Direct Marketing Association are inviting marketers to attend the conference day entitled “C2C Marketing: Momentary niche or overall future” in Ljubljana, Slovenia on the 18th. of February 2009.
The conference is part of the highly interesting Promarket combining three days of trade-show with three days of presentations. On Wednesday 17th. of February participants can enjoy presentations fitting the overall theme “Mentality shifts in Sales” and on Friday 19th. the theme is “Who is creating public relations - sales, marketing, PR or customers?”. A highly interesting concept, which - I am sure - will attract a lot of people to this beautiful city.
Marketing speakers include
- Chris Catchpole, a highly respected direct marketing creative, United Kingdom
- Sandi Češko, Studio Moderna Group, Slovenia
- Hrabren Suknajić, Google, United Kingdom
- Michael Leander Nielsen, Denmark
