I spent the year mainly at iris or at the Old Bailey following a murder case for a book I was writing. Outside of advertising, we bought a flat in Cricklewood and I became secretary of Cricklewood Baptist Church in NW London.
Milk and More
The Dairy Crest client refused to buy any of the ideas that I threw at them - the only one that landed was 'the little store at your door' - a line that sums up the modern day milk float cum traveling grocery store.
FA: White scarves
Bullying was big news in football in 2011. Not just among professional players but in amateur leagues too. Some of the worst offenders were the 'football dads' who harangue referees in little league games. Wearing this white scarf meant that you stood against bullying in football.
Oasis: Keep lunchtime real
I briefly teamed up with creative wunderkind, Jim Eyre. This was another pitch that didn't go our way. We wanted Oasis to champion lunchtimes and wrote some TV scripts based around a works canteen. "Ooh, Geoff's gone all coffee" is a line that the world sadly never got to hear.
Krusovice: the Brewmaster
Another failed pitch. This fifteenth century Czech beer needed to launch in the UK. We hit on the idea of the brewmaster being some kind of eccentric genius who only wanted the best. He wore knights' pointy metal shoes; his wife was a leopardskin-wearing diva and he drove a yellow Bentley. So just imagine his beer! Created with Mark Dickens.
Sony Ericsson: Walkman
The brand that is now Xperia wanted to bring back the Walkman brand with three new phones. Our idea was to print these posters on fluorescent boards and place them on roundabouts to make it feel like a club night - with the phones as DJs. In the end, the media buyers got us a digital 'deal' and so the ads appeared on websites, reducing their impact by around 1000% Created for iris with Jim Eyre.
Sony Ericsson: Champions League
Sony Ericsson earned iris a fortune without ever creating any ads that shook the world. It was bland, global cliche after bland, global cliche, but not for a lack of effort on the agency's side. This effort didn't rock the boat either.
Church ad: Fashionista Nativity
In 2009, Churchads bought our slogan 'Christmas starts with Christ' and we simply ran the Nativity bus stop ad with the new line. By 2011, 'Christmas starts with Christ' was here to stay and all roads led to it. To make the point, we turned to high fashion to reimagine the Nativity.
