Reviews

The reviews are in…

December 22, 2010 – 1:34 am

The people have spoken and pointed their thumbs in a general northerly direction. Thanks to everyone who’s weighed in on The Idea Writers so far.

Some reviews to date:

The Luke Sullivan, author of seminal copywriting book, Hey Whipple, Squeeze This, gave The Idea Writers a nod on his blog, calling it a “must read.”  From the post:

“I highly recommend it.  It’s the first book I’ve seen that thinks through what passes for “rules” in the new digital world. She uses many great examples, mostly campaigns you probably know about, but they all help her build a map, a way of looking at this new three-dimensional chess set.”  Read the post on Hey Whipple.

The Idea Writers was also reviewed in the Wall St. Journal. From the piece:

“Ms. Iezzi… aims to appeal to professional ad writers and those aspiring to their ranks. Both groups might profit from a look at “The Idea Writers.” Behind the cheeky tone and insider references is a useful guide to navigating in the digital wilds of online marketing and promotion.” Read the whole review on the WSJ.

Writer Mark Trueblood wrote a thoughtful review on his Posterous:

He sums up: “I’ve read a fair number of books on the evolving nature of advertising, and I’d rank The Idea Writers near the top.” Read Trueblood’s whole review here.

From Twitter:

@McCann_NY says:

Reading “The Idea Writers” by @tiezzi. Great content for young creative person starting in, or trying to break into, ad industry.

North Kingdom’s @danielilic says:

Finally some bright light (shed) on the craft of writing in digital media. A must read by @tiezzi

Creative director @Barkach says: @tiezzi great book! a new must in advertising

The lovely @SoSaic calls it “a wonderful read,” and has posted many kind words about the book including these (in a  comment on Hey Whipple): “I finished it last night, and all I kept thinking about was: Ogilvy on Advertising, Hey Whipple, Squeeze This… and The Idea Writers.”

Aw shucks.

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Excerpt

Idea Writers Excerpt in Ad Age

December 6, 2010 – 6:23 pm

Well, here we go. The first pale, naked bits of The Idea Writers come blinking into the sunlight of AdAge’s pages.

The excerpt, from Chapter 5, gets at one of the book’s biggest points:

“First, forget about making an ad;” instead focus on  creating something useful, entertaining or beautiful (or all of the above) on behalf of a brand.

(Now, if all the comments are as nice as Alex Santiago’s, I’m all set).

Ad Age link.

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Creative Process

From the “Forget About Writing an Ad” Files..

December 2, 2010 – 8:47 pm

Matt Creamer’s got an excellent piece on conversation marketing (or whatever you want to call it) in Ad Age, “When it Comes to Facebook, Relevance May be Redefined.”

A great look at how brands are having a new kind of dialog with consumers about stuff they (the consumers) are actually interested in.

From the piece:

“We’re so used to advertising and marketing being highly reviewed, high-production-quality creative on which you spend a lot of money and time, and there’s a whole flow built on creating and approving it, said Michael Lazerow, CEO of Buddy Media. “All the sudden, a very simple question, like ‘What’s your favorite movie?’ is engaging your customers and that’s your creative. People say ‘Whoa.’”

AdAge

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Creative Process

Call it lazy – or call it “creative stewing”

December 2, 2010 – 8:38 pm

In The Idea Writers, several creatives, including Gerry Graf and Jeff Kling, talk about their creative process in terms of stewing – taking in as much information about the brief as possible, then letting your subconscious work its magic. The best ideas have sometimes arisen when the writer is doing something completely unrelated.

Dave Bedwood of Lean Mean Fighting Machine talks about the stewing phenomenon (in his own inimitable way)  in his latest “Digital Shoehorn” post for Creativity’s CAT blog, Those Lazy Bastard Creatives.

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The Work

See the Work

November 24, 2010 – 5:43 pm

On this page, see the work discussed in The Idea Writers.

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Chapter 1

Tap Project

November 14, 2010 – 11:57 pm

In 2006, Esquire named David Droga to its Best and Brightest list and asked him to create an ad to run in the issue. Droga’s answer to the brief was Tap Project.

With Tap, Droga created something that engaged people on their own terms, encouraged participation and sharing and involved a range of platforms; something that, rather than having a start and an end date, like an ad campaign, was a living, breathing, open-ended enterprise. The initiative speaks of the monumental changes in the ad industry and the potentially limitless scope of the copywriter’s job.

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Chapter 1

iPod Touch by Nick Haley

November 14, 2010 – 11:52 pm

In 2007, British student Nick Haley created his own interpretation of an Apple ad for the iTouch. His creation caught the attention of Apple, who had their ad agency TBWA Chiat Day L.A. contact Haley and bring him to its Los Angeles HQ to help make a broadcast version of the spot

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Chapter 1

United Breaks Guitars

November 14, 2010 – 11:49 pm

And the digital, consumer control era broke advertising.

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Chapter 2

The Man in the Hathaway Shirt

November 14, 2010 – 10:24 pm

One of David Ogilvy’s most famous creations. Though known as a creative legend, Ogilvy was hard-nosed on the subject of advertising and creativity.

“Originality,” he said, “is the most dangerous word in advertising. I occasionally use the hideous word creative, myself, for lack of a better…”

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Chapter 2

VW Think Small

November 14, 2010 – 10:14 pm

The Bill Bernbach-led DDB New York spared the “creative revolution” with ads like this one.
Bernbach on creativity: “I think the most important thing in advertising is to be original and fresh… Because you can have all the right things in an ad, and if nobody is made to stop and listen to you, you’ve wasted it. And we in America are spending so darn much money for efficiency, to measure things, that we’re achieving boredom like we’ve never achieved before. We’re right about everything, but nobody looks.”
(DDB has assembled some of Bernbach’s many quotes here.)

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