Andrew Boulton’s Post

Once upon a time, I took myself down to Reading in the very early morning, donned a pair of rather natty pyjamas and presented myself at the ...Gasp! Books studios to record a promo for the book Giles Edwards and I wrote about a little girl who writes an ad in order to save her copywriter dad from a bout of writer's block - Adele Writes an Ad. The idea for the whole thing was that there are about a million or so (not a real stat) copywriters out there - and a good many of them have spawned. But those infant copywriters have precisely no interest or respect for what their mums and dads do to pay for all that milk, mushed up turnip and Hey Dugee merch, and instead choose to bury their ignorant little faces in stories about fire fighters and train driver and monkey dentists. So we decided to create the world's very first (we think) children's book that celebrates the glorious business of scribbling down silly thoughts for shiny shiny coins - in the hope that every one of those million copywriters agreed with our thinking and bought a copy, thus lining the pockets of our ragged trousers and sticking an inky finger in the eye of David Walliams and his ilk. Anyway - we are deeply proud of Adele and had an enormous blast writing it , illustrating it and bringing it into the world. So if you are a writer of any sort, or perhaps even a monkey dentist, I hope dearly you will consider picking up a copy from your nearest book seller. #copywriting #writing #WritingCommunity #CopywritersUnite #marketing #book

My daily mooch through the latest film poster page of IMDB is one of my most fruitful distractions from what I should really be doing - not least because you find lines of copy like this. The best movie taglines I find are always the ones that don’t try to hard - or even really at all - to ‘sell’ you the film. They’re simply intriguing (and amusing) enough to make you want to find out for yourself. And yes I have watched a great many rubbish films on the back of a superb tagline. (Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the posters are so darned handsome to look at too.) #copywriting #writing #WritingCommunity

Reposting a repost of a post is probably poor LinkedIn etiquette, BUT my excuse is that there’s surely no higher praise than this for Giles Edwards and my children’s book ‘Adele Writes an Ad’ - the world’s only (we think) children’s book about copywriting. Cheers Prof Byron Sharp for the kind words and the support - and for any copywriting and marketing folk out there who are bored of reading stories to their kids about train drivers or zookeepers or chicken masseuses then please do give Adele a go ...Gasp! Books #copywriting #writing #CopywritersUnite #WritingCommunity #marketing #book

Fix Fest is Glastonbury for copywriters, only instead of wading about in the slop, you’re up to your gullet in inspiring speakers, fresh ideas, heartfelt chuckles and just the great big sense of belonging you get from being in a room (or crypt) full of oddballs just like you. I had a superb time speaking there last year and the line up for this edition is on a par with Wrestlemania VI (🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner is the LinkedIn Hulk Hogan, Dave Harland is the scouse nephew of Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Glenn and Nick are Bushwhackers for the craft ale generation. I don’t know Heather Murray well enough to assign her a 90s wrestler yet but I’ll give it some serious thought). I believe *a few* tickets are *just about* still available, although you should be prepared to thump a fellow copywriter in the ribs to get one of the last ones. OH... and if you happen to be a Head of Copy, Creative Director or agency owner reading this then dig your hand deep into the pockets of your £300 Icelandic jeans and treat your copy team to a truly valuable day of learning. (P.s. attending is also a chance to admire the glorious branding from the excellent Lee Davies) #copywriting #writing #WritingCommunity #CopywritersUnite

On a mooch around the shops this weekend I exhausted my blurry old peepers by gazing at a couple of hundred different products in search of superb copy. And I reckon the best product name I stumbled upon was this eye-catching gem from Fewe. #copywriting #writing #WritingCommunity

Pencils break, pens leak, quills smell like a goose's anus and chalk is for snooker players and perverts. So how on earth do you decide what to scribble out your thoughts with? With this handy scientific guide is how. #copywriting #writing #WritingCommunity #CopywritersUnite

I enjoy a clever way to say a thing that everyone else is always saying in dull ways - like ‘our thing will last a long time.’ This line, which is a little older than I am, is a superb example. #copywriting #writing #CopywritersUnite #WritingCommunity

I’m a big fan of those theatrically intriguing lines that LinkedIn types open their posts with in order to hook a gullible reader. Stuff like ‘I fired my gran today’ and then it goes on to reveal that she was just ironing his pants for him even though he’s in his mid-fifties.   Anyway, if you want to be similarly mysterious but don’t know how to go about it, then help yourself to any of the below:   -      My kids live in a barrel.   -      Today, I throttled a mole. -      I start every day by screaming into a urinal. -      I’ve just sent a fax to a crab. -      I lost my first business because of LL Cool J. -      I’ve never seen my own armpits. -      I’ve just hired a photocopy of my own face. -      A magical cabbage recently beat me at snooker. -      My most valuable employee isn’t a person – it’s thirty squirrels in a raincoat. Then, just follow any of these with something like ‘let me explain’ or ‘here’s why’ and bingo, you’re a leader of thought. #copywriting #writing #WritingCommunity