KIDS' TV PROJECT

Here's a rough visual from a project I've been working on with Henry Coate at Studio Cheese, Brighton. 

Henry's been busy putting himself about London, and the BBC, in the hope of grabbing some more animation commissions.

From a huge number of submissions to CBBC, this one has made it down to the last few. So right now we're official contenders.

It's been a really interesting project for me - writing for tv is an altogether different challenge to writing a 30-60 second ad... especially when you're dealing with savvy 8 year olds. 

To put some manners on the project, I've just finished outlining the ten, ten-minute episodes. This was fun to do because it helped us define the characters and develop their stories within the series' arc. Fingers crossed it all works out.

IDMA GOLD & BRONZE '09 - WHO'S THE MAMMY?

The polymath Jason Morgan, of Javelin fame, emailed me back in May with news that he and I had won a shiny gold gong at the IDMA's for a DM version of this cheeky press ad for John O'Connor at Independent Radio Sales. 

I also discovered I'd won a bronze for a direct response tv campaign I'd worked on with Cathal O'Flaherty for the National Adult Literacy Association (NALA)* - another clever initiative taken by Mr. Barney Whelan at An Post.  

Anyway, for the Gold - we retained our IRS 'Housekeeper' press copy, packaged it on real wooden spoons and sent it to a selection of media buyers. Simple! We must've piqued plenty of interest because IRS were inundated with calls. 

I miss working on that IRS account with Jason - they're a great client with a heart-warming           attitude to shin-kicking their competitors.

*You can see that series of ads in the tv section of my website: www. cultured-insolence.com. 

  

THE SUN: CANCELLED THIS SUMMER

It's always a pleasure to get a call from Jimmy or Adam at The Hive.

Back in March they gave me the opportunity to have some fun working on The Sun's GAA Championship campaign with fellow Dub's fan Marius Herbert (the Ciaran Duff of art directors to my Joe McNally). 

The positioning we came up with was 'Keep it County with the Irish Sun'. 

For us the line gave us a great platform to demonstrate The Irish Sun's understanding of the GAA and all aspects of inter-county rivalry/mania. 

In short, something unexpected and 'knowing' from what might be described as a  'blow-in' tabloid in hardcore GAA circles. 

Anyway, the press and radio recordings (CSI Louth* - featuring 'The Town's' very own Pat McDonnell) ran for a weekend before getting pulled almost as quickly as a nurse in Copperface Jacks...

*I'll post the mp3 as soon as I can figure how!

I'VE A PAIN IN ME BISCUITS...

I pitched this direction with Kick Communications back in February. 

Luckily, they won the business and the campaign proved really effective for the client. 

Here's what the Sunday Business Post reported: http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=MEDIA+AND+MARKETING-qqqs=m

ediaandmarketing-qqqid=41926-qqqx=1.asp

If I'm honest, I think they're fair in their criticism of the lines. 

I can't help feeling that the ones the client chose to campaign were about as flaccid as Jeremy Beadle's right hand.

So what did I learn as a newbie-freelancer?  Well, just as in agency life, there's often a disparity between what's pitched and what goes public. Secondly, when you're freelancing, campaigns don't always take the direction you prescribed or reflect the positioning you intended... but of course all that's forgotten if the client gets a result - in this case, a bump in sales by 30%.

NEW RECRUIT

A quick sketch of the nipper, Senan. He's three weeks old tomorrow. I didn't have a camera when he popped out, so once I got home I drew this character. Right now he's into disruption in a big way, but the TBWA icons would've looked rubbish on his babygrow so I went old-school and chose Anarchy instead.