Scriptwriting and Concept Development for PwC (via MerchantCantos)
Brief
MerchantCantos is a creative communications agency that I work with sporadically and PwC, a consultancy, is one of its biggest clients. I was hired for several days for corporate film scriptwriting: to develop the concept and script for PwC’s short film on the theme of disruption. Climate change, urbanisation, global power shifts and technological developments are all contributing to economic uncertainty. The brief was to highlight PwC’s position on disruption and make it clear why businesses must act.Thoughts
The client wanted a script, and a film, that would make people sit up and take notice without terrifying them. There are startling predictions about what might happen in the future, but no one knows exactly what will occur. So the script is based on current trends and where they might lead. It uses punchy language that complements the fast-paced visuals featuring actors and stock footage.Result
The script went through several drafts until it was just right. Once it was signed off the footage was shot. The result is an engaging and genuinely unsettling short film. The last line is a nod to one of my favourite rap albums — The Future is Now by Non Phixion. It’s funny where inspiration comes from.Konica Minolta — Print Ad Copywriting
Brief
Jack Morton—a global brand experience agency—is one of my favourite agency clients to work with. They always get cool gigs. This one was a US print advertising campaign for Konica Minolta. The Japanese technology company is 150 years old, but very much focused on the future and how tech will reshape the world of work. The aim of the campaign was to drive people to a new website.Thoughts
The concept for the campaign was to celebrate individuals — the hardworking entrepreneurs who are the backbone of the economy. They wanted copy that spoke directly to the reader, focusing on the challenges and opportunities they face and linking those to the services Konica Minolta provides. The trick was to pack big ideas into the small space allowed by a print ad.Result
The result was four beautiful ads printed in trade publications across the US. The categories—doers, makers, innovators and up-all-nighters—are distinct but complementary. As was the tone and style of the copy. I’ve included the surfboard dude below because I harbour (not-so) secret dreams of riding tubes in my downtime.Fabrik Brands SEO Copywriting
Brief
Fabrik Brands is a London-based design agency. They’ve been using their marketing expertise to help businesses succeed for more than ten years. Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a major part of their own marketing strategy. They turned to me for help writing long-form SEO website copy: landing pages designed to rank organically in search engine results and drive traffic to their website. Great content, essentially, with strategically chosen keywords woven naturally throughout.Thoughts
SEO copywriting isn’t magic, but I still like to wear a cloak when I’m writing copy that pushes Google’s buttons. Working with Fabrik’s co-founder, I set up an efficient briefing process that allowed numerous pages to be produced quickly. First I mined Fabrik for their unique insight. This is not as painful as it sounds. I fleshed out their insight with my own research. Then I wrote it all up in an engaging style, in keeping with Fabrik’s jaunty tone of voice.Result
Wow. The Fabrik Brands’ website is now ranking organically for hundreds of important long-tail keywords. Several of the landing pages have made it onto the first page of Google search results. Others are steadily climbing towards the promised land. The company is experiencing an increase in enquiries, and approaching 1,000 website hits per day. Would you like to read examples of the content I’ve written for Fabrik? Here’s a page about marketing companies in London, one about integrated marketing, and another on internal communicationsFitXR Tone of Voice Development and Copywriting
Brief
Virtual reality (VR) hasn’t taken over the world yet. But it’s about to. FitXR is a tech startup that makes really cool fitness apps for VR headsets. You’ve heard of FinTech, right? Well this is FitTech, the new frontier. FitXR needed a copywriter to help develop their tone of voice and write copy for their new website.Thoughts
Immersed in the day-to-day it’s not always easy to see the big picture and grasp how to make your business appealing to an online audience. But when you hire a copywriter you benefit from their objective opinion. I worked with the FitXR brand team to focus on the reader and craft copy that serves two audiences: gamers, who make up the bulk of customers right now, and, let’s call them people who shop at John Lewis, who FitXR want to reach in the future.Result
The new website looks and reads beautifully. The FitXR team are much more confident about how they should write online. The company is growing fast. I’m happy to have played a small part in that. And watch out — VR really is coming.What the client said: >
The Bear Kitchen – Web, Flyer and Poster Copywriting
Brief
Food is a subject that’s very close to my heart. Or should that be stomach? Either way, I was thrilled to be contacted by The Bear Kitchen: an ambitious young company that wants to change the world by changing the way we eat. Co-founder Jens called me in need of web copy, as well as copy for a flyer and a poster.Thoughts
My challenge was to turn Jens’ vast knowledge and undeniable passion into effective web copy. You have only limited time to convert a visitor to your website. You can’t say everything so you have to make tough choices about what goes in and what’s left out. The Bear Kitchen vision is huge—to reduce the risk of ecological meltdown by encouraging the rich world to eat less meat—but their requirements at the time were simple. Jens needed a tone of voice that would convey enthusiasm but also the seriousness of what they are trying to achieve.Result
The website did its job and the supper clubs were sell-out affairs. I went to one myself and deeply enjoyable it was too. The web copy concisely communicates what they’re all about. Making the bear female was a nice touch. Just a tiny way of sticking it to the patriarchy.Huckle the Barber Blog
Brief
Huckle the Barber is a smart, gents barber with two shops in London. Chris Ward, founder and owner, wanted interesting, light-hearted content to help raise the brand’s online profile and engage their high-earning clientele.I devised a content marketing strategy and began writing a fornightly blog. Recent posts include an interview with Oliver Spencer, a guide to clippers and trimmers, and a rallying cry for bald men everywhere to embrace their inner super villain
Thoughts
Huckle is smart but not stuffy, so my approach was to create sophisticated posts, written in an informal and witty voice that speaks directly to the audience. You can find the blog here.What the client said: >
The Flower Appreciation Society
Brief
The Flower Appreciation Society has been making flowers lovers happy for almost a decade. They are pioneers of the fresh, wild style that has helped drag floristry from its formality-dogged stupor. When they needed a new website they called me to write the lot.Thoughts
The floristry market is super competitive, especially in London. The challenge was to help The Flower Appreciation Society stand out, communicate their passion and expertise, and highlight the fantastic brands they’ve worked with. All done with engaging copy as warm as the personalities of the founders, Anna and Ellie. No problem.Result
The new website is receiving more traffic, bookings of The Flower Appreciation Society’s renowned floristy workshops have increased significantly and the site is now ranked third on Google, organically, for one of the company’s most important long tail keywords.What the client said: >
Rolls-Royce Copywriting at Goodwood
Brief
Who hasn’t heard of Rolls-Royce? It’s an iconic brand no doubt, but few people know the story of the risk-taking, ruling-breaking pioneers who founded the company. Charles Rolls was an aristrocratic daredevil, Henry Royce a working class engineering genius. Together they made history.I was hired by ENERGY for Rolls-Royce copywriting at Goodwood Festival of Speeed in 2017. The stand was showcasing the Black Badge range; Rolls Royce’s menacing alter ego and their most powerful cars to date.
Thoughts
The challenge was to digest a huge amount of historical information in a short period, choose the most compelling anecdotes, then retell them for an event audience. The copy was displayed on panels around the beautifully designed stand.Result
The production was very well received by festival goers, Rolls-Royce’s top brass and the wealthy individuals who placed orders during the festival. Rolls-Royce had a target for the number of Black Badge rollers they wanted to sell over the six months following the event. Thanks to the powerful impact of the stand, and the way it invoked the bold spirit of the company’s founders, that target was smashed in four days.Rolls-Royce sold almost 30 new cars as a result of their Goodwood display, and the stand won a gold award at the Field Marketing and Brand Experience Awards 2017.
What the client said: >
The Toronto Star
Brief
I was commissioned by the Toronto Star to write several pieces on skiing in Europe. On a press trip hosted by Best of the Alps, I visited Lech, Austria, and met an Olympic legend.Sample Copy
Lech – the Cradle of Alpine Skiing
I’m gazing into a cabinet packed with medals and trophies, including gold from the 1962 world championships and 1964 Olympics, well-polished and arranged in neat rows on the green baize. As I admire the haul its owner, Egon Zimmerman, appears wearing a huge grin. At 76, he looks quite different from the airborne figure painted 15 ft high on the outside of his hotel—the luxurious yet cosy Kristberg, in Lech, Austria—but his handshake is firm.
Lech is one of a group of resort towns that evolved from farming communities in the Alrberg, named after the massif which dominates the landscape, and known as the cradle of alpine skiing. In nearby St. Anton more than a century ago Hannes Schneider pioneered the techniques that became the foundations of the modern sport. I’m here for my first runs of the season and, as an intermediate but somewhat rusty skier, I can only hope there is something in the water.
Lech-Zürs (as the ski area is known) now has 283 km of groomed pistes of all levels and 200 km of free-riding. If the mooted lift connection between Zürs and St. Anton is made it will create the largest network of slopes in Austria. A short walk through the pretty town (sophisticated without being flashy) brings me to Strolz, fabled maker of custom ski boots, where I collect my (off-the-shelf) gear. When Egon sped to victory at Chamonix and Innsbruck he did so in Strolz boots.
Transplanted from the city to this lofty perch I feel an anticipatory burst of adrenaline as the Schlegelkopf I chairlift whisks me up the mountainside through the ice-fresh morning air. I had planned to ski the White Ring, a 22 km circuit of groomed pistes with 5,500 m of vertical connected by seven lifts, but snowfall has been light and not all sections are open.
At the top of the Kriegerhorn lift the view is spectacular. Carolin, my guide, names each peak in turn as we look north towards Germany and then south into Switzerland. The valley here starts high, at over 1,400 m, which means the vistas are expansive and, as Carolin explains: “There is more sun, so the people are happier.”
The weather is indeed glorious and we carve down uncrowded blues and reds until lunchtime before sweeping into Oberlech, a tiny ski-in ski-out village, to refuel on the terrace of the Hotel Goldener Berg. Austrian food is hearty, perfect for active appetites, and the mountains are sprinkled with delicious eateries. The generous portions might go some way to explaining why European ski culture is a little more relaxed than North America’s. As one Canadian I met put it: “Back home it’s all about clocking vertical. You adjust to a different pace here. It’s slower, more sociable.”
After an espresso to cut through the calories it’s back on the piste. South facing slopes and manmade snow make for icy conditions and I scrub my way down the steeper sections. I imagine Egon as a boy in the 50s, with no formal training and second-hand equipment, charging down these mountains on his way to glory.
A session without a major wipeout is a victory for me and it’s with sore legs and soaring spirits that I put in the final turns of the day. Back at the Kristberg Egon is waiting with a glass of schnapps and a nugget of wisdom. “Talent is paper thin. It’s hard work that counts.”
With skiing this good on the doorstep, you won’t find me slacking.