The best creative copywriter in Suffolk. Probably*.
I’ll help you work out what your business or organisation should really be saying. Then I’ll find the perfect way to say it.
* In a survey, 75% of respondents agreed that I am the top creative copywriter in the county. The number would have been higher but my son had gone out for the day.
So what’s the difference between someone like me and a plain old copywriter?
Creative copywriters are typically much more handsome. We also approach the task of writing from a broader, marketing-centric perspective.
A traditional copywriter focuses on producing words to order. Sometimes that’s enough, but very often it is not.
My approach is much more holistic. The first step is to listen and learn: what kind of organisation do you aspire to be, how and where do you want to be seen, who is your audience and how will they encounter your messaging?
The writing materialises as the product of this process. And If I do my job properly (which I always do) you will have a style and tone of voice unique to your organisation which adapts seamlessly to all of your marketing communications.
Creative judgement is the bit you can’t buy by the word and it’s what, ultimately, makes the difference.
Sound familiar?
We get someone in the marketing department to write all our copy.
Not uncommon. But ask yourself whether that copy is absolutely as compelling, informative and succinct as possible, because nothing loses an audience faster than bland, verbose writing. The words you attribute to your brand form its foundations. They matter. A lot.
We know what we want to say about our business, we just can’t work out how to express it.
Then you are on the brink of success and for two reasons: firstly because you acknowledge the disconnect and secondly because you have signalled your desire to overcome it. Objectivity and fresh perspective open doors you didn’t know existed. Great writing leads you through them.
Our business isn’t sexy. Creative thinking and nice writing feels like an unnecessary luxury.
Is that how your audience feels too? And how would they feel if you surprised them with something unexpected — entertaining, witty, dramatic — while at the same time delivering salient information about your business? Would they say it was an unnecessary luxury? (I once promoted the launch of a new plain paper fax machine (yawn) by staging a paper aeroplane design competition. It made the national news.)
Work snapshot
PokerStars
Cementing a brand’s market leadership in just three words.
Bookstart
You, baby, book, magic.
Ruddles
A beer with nothing modern about it, in a category selling nothing else.
A little about me
I’m very tall. I’m very creative. I’m a very fine writer.
I love my wife, children, dogs and fishing rod (although the order is prone to change).
Apparently I spend too much time watching sport (see above).
Discovering in my twenties that I could earn a very decent living by coming up with ideas to sell stuff was a seismic shock from which I am still recovering.
Over a twenty-five year period I worked in a bunch of London advertising agencies, the names of some of which you may know. I also worked in several others, the names of which not even I can remember.
I don’t like Australian cricketers or reality TV shows.
A few years ago I was a guest on Radio 4’s Saturday Live with Reverend Coles alongside champion rower Sir Steve Redgrave. I learned he has six more Olympic medals than I do.
I have a slightly gammy left arm, a wobbly right leg and some very good stories to tell about them.
Anything else you’d like to know, you only have to ask.
During the many years I worked with James, I learned more about being an advertising creative than any other person. James is funny and fiendishly clever. It’s lucky for us he focuses his mind on marketing and not something more unsavoury.
Ian E., Creative Director
James is the most strategically aware creative director I have worked with. That’s not to say he steps out of his lane, just that he has a quiet empathy for how to integrate his thoughts and ideas into those of the team around him which, in my experience, is how the best marketing communications is produced.
Lisa S., Marketing Director
You tell me what you’re trying to do. I ask questions, listen carefully and tell you what I think.
Sometimes the issue is very obvious. Sometimes the obvious is evidence of a deeper issue.
Once we know what needs doing, I give you a price. Then I get to work, share it with you and use your feedback to refine.
No disappearing into an obscure process. No mysterious invoices. On time and on budget.
It starts with a conversation
Get in touch
A chat costs nothing, but the rewards may be huge.