DNA Advertising Blog » Copywriter Rant

Our impressive brains

paul mabin — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 10:39:30 +0000

I recently came across this. It was conducted as part of a brain study to see how our brains interpreted words when written with numbers. If you can read it, you have a strong mind:

Article by: Paul Mabin, MD

The plight of the Greek ‘Economist’

paul mabin — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 10:22:31 +0000

I was Christmas shopping in Exeter at the weekend, popped into WH Smith and happened to glance at a magazine cover that caught my eye. I have always admired the Economist for it’s bold, simplistic approach to design. Quite often using great creative copy and exquisite typography. The cover that caught my eye fell into this category. Simple, yet clever – playing on the plight of the Greek economy. Let me know what you think.

Article by: Paul Mabin, Managing Director.

California Misconception TV advert

paul mabin — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 09:00:33 +0000

At DNA we regularly discuss TV adverts we have seen and critique them. One that I have seen recently that caught my attention, not so much for the visual aspect of the advert, but for the script writing was the California – Misconception TV advert. It’s fantastic. It plays on all the ‘stereotypes’ that we all associate with California, but conveys it as a ‘misconception’, when in fact we all know that these things are true, or believe them to be true. It’s very tongue in cheek, but it is delivered in a way that conjures up a sense of fun, excitement and also shows off what is wonderful about California. The only criticism (if there is one), is that the advert is great in itself and would have worked just as well without the need to use so many celebrities. Let me know what you think, or send us links to any adverts that you have been impressed with.

Article by Paul Mabin – Managing Director

Clever advertising for Spitfire

paul mabin — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 11:07:18 +0000

As it is the festive season, I thought it timely to post an article relating to real ale, as I’m sure many bottles will be consumed (especially in my household). The brewer Shepherd Neame has been running the ‘Bottle of Britain’ advertising campaign for around 12 years now. On occasion they have been taken to task by the ASA for pushing the boundaries of good taste and humour, but fortunately they have always been cleared. A number of the adverts poke fun at the Germans in particular, but are meant as light- hearted fun and are not meant to cause offense. They try to evoke the British World War II spirit, similar to that used in the TV programmes ‘Allo Allo’ and ‘Dad’s Army’ and I feel that they have captured the essence really well. The use of clever copywriting is what makes the adverts work so well. The website is great too – take a look. Let me know what you think.

Opinion: Paul Mabin – Managing Director

BMW Used Car Adverts

paul mabin — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 09:00:59 +0000

After doing some recent research for one of our clients, I came across some advertising produced for BMW. Believe it or not, these adverts were actually used, but mainly in Greece. I’m not sure that we would get away with them in the UK. If you dig deeper into these campaigns and read forums and blogs, they have been causing outrage and controversy for years, with claims that they are ‘demeaning’, ‘sexist’, ‘chauvinistic’ and ‘degrading’. However, whether we like them or not, BMW must be having the last laugh. The very fact that people are talking about these adverts all over the world, whether in a good light or bad, can only be more publicity for BMW. As the old adage goes, their is no such thing as bad publicity – however, not quite sure BP would agree with that statement at the moment.

Opinion – Paul Mabin (Creative Director / Managing Director)

Check out the new AOL.com

Simon — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:47:26 +0000

AOL launched their new look site today and, all in all, it looks pretty good. Have a look what they’ve done with their visual identity – they’ve given it life by creating a family of backgrounds against which the logotype can sit (you can choose one at the top of the page). It’s a novel approach. Hit refresh and you get a different look.

It’ll be interesting to see what they do with this – I wonder if they intend to keep the variety or if they’re using the new site to see which of their new logos generates the most clicks and repeat visits. In the past we’ve launched sites with different Home Pages to see which ones work best, but that’s always intended as a selection process and eventually we pick a winner, based on visits, click throughs, purchases etc. We’ve also given our own visitors some interaction on the DNA site, enabling them to choose a background (but that’s just for fun).

We’ll be watching this space…

(Opinion: Jim Green – MD)

Nice bit of writing

Simon — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:26:44 +0000

I spotted this poem on the London Underground. It’s called “This Is Just To Say” by William Carlos Williams and took me back to my uni days in York. I love the ambiguous balance between apology, confession and teasing…

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

(Opinion: Jim Green – MD)