Belgians prove bus advertising can be simple and effective

why good writing is like music

Every wondered why some people write stuff that is so obviously more interesting than that of their colleagues?

This little quote not only explains why, but does so in a way that is highly relevant to the subject matter.

Pure literary, musical gold from Gary Provost and his book 100 Ways to Improve Your Writing.

"This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together are monotonous. Listen to what is happening.

The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It's like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety.

Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length.

And sometime, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals - sounds that say, listen to this, it is important."

You can buy the book here if you would like to find out more.

Stagecoach and First working together in Sheffield

Ever wondered what could happen when bus operators put aside their competitive streak and decide to work together for passengers' benefit?

A few months ago, the mhd partnership was approached by South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) to write communication material for the new Optio scheme, being run by First and Stagecoach in Sheffield, ensuring that the simplicity of the project was reflected in words as well as actions.

The result?

Bus passenger levels have grown strongly on routes in the city with shared ticketing and service arrangements between operators – against an overall decline across South Yorkshire.

Figures released by SYPTE show the total journeys made in the 12 months to March 2011 was 109 million, down 0.75 per cent from 110 million in 2009/10.

SYPTE said that during the last three months to January 2012, there has been ‘significant’ passenger growth on Sheffield’s two routes covered by the Optio scheme, on which First and Stagecoach share operations and accept each other’s tickets.

On the ‘red’ corridor – the 52 route between Woodhouse, Darnall, the city centre, Crookes and Hillsborough – there were 5.16 per cent more journeys made than in the same period a year ago. The ‘orange’ routes, between Halfway and Fulwood, saw a 1.9 per cent growth.

Shared ticketing arrangements were backed by people living along the routes.

One person commented “It certainly makes life easier, especially when coming back from town in a hurry – you don’t have to wait for a particular company’s bus.”

With quality contracts being touted as the way forward in many parts of the country, this approach of operators working together for the benefit of passengers may be a way they can stay in control of their own financial destiny.

I guess only time will tell.

Paddy Power bid to make Cheltenham a chav free zone

If there was ever one advertiser (well, two if you include Ryanair) that wasn't afraid to rock the creative boat it has to be Paddy Power.

Throughout all media channels their ads have a habit of being current, engaging and memorable. Something that can't be said for most of the work we see about these days.

So if you are planning on going to Cheltenham races next month and are a little worried about the clientele the Festival seems to attract nowadays, don't worry Paddy Power have found the solution.

Unfortunately for Paddy Power, and unsurprisingly to almost everyone else, the ad below won't be making it to our TV screens.

I'll leave it to you to work out why!

long copy makes a comeback

If you've got an engaging story to tell, have you ever considered ditching the catchy headline stuff and turning to a long copy ad?

They're difficult to do, and with only 17% of people ever reading adverts past the headline, perhaps it's no great surprise that clients shy away from them. You rarely see them, or at least, see them done well.

Long copy ads have to be exceptionally well crafted and delivered. They have to tell a story that leads the reader on a journey from beginning, middle to end. When done well, they work brilliantly.

Much like this one.

Ryanair's sexy calendar only gets 8,000 complaints

Ryanair's risqué charity calendar, featuring a new line-up of scantily-clad female cabin crew, has received over 8,000 complaints from members of the public, while an ad promoting it is being investigated by the ASA for being "sexist".

Ryanair released the 2012 calendar last November, promising to donate all proceeds from the £10 calendars to the "butterfly children" of the Debra charity, which helps people suffering from the skin condition epidermolysis bullosa (EB).

It has drawn 8,610 complaints from members of the public with a petition on change.org started by "cabin crew against sexism", accusing the airline of being sexist and calling it to drop the calendar.

The calendar, which Ryanair first started selling in 2008, is available from ryanair.com, on board Ryanair flights and from Debra's Irish and Spanish charity shops.

A spokesperson for Ryanair said: "This proves only that there are 7,000 prudes, but thankfully there are 10,000 charitable people that have bought the calendar each year, raising €500,000 for charity."

Something tells me Ryanair will be pretty disappointed with only 8,00 complaints. I wonder what they'll try next year?

what does convention know?

Joanne started writing her first book many years ago in Edinburgh.

It was mid winter and she was an unemployed, single mother of one.

She was on benefits and child support payments, and visited her local cafe during the day to write her book long-hand, while her baby slept. She would then go back to her flat and use a manual typewriter to put her work in a more professional format.

Joanne's book had lots of words and no pictures.

She sent the first chapter to publisher after publisher, and one by one they turned it down. Experience had told them that children had a short attention span and wanted few words and lots of pictures. 

However, one publisher didn't go along with convention. She didn't read the book herself but gave it to her eight year old daughter to see what she thought of it.

A few hours later the girl emerged from her bedroom wanting to know where the rest of the book was so she could find out what happened to the characters.

Her mum decided that children should decide whether the books were readable, rather than convention, so decided to publish the first book. 

Fifteen years later the books have sold over 400 million copies worldwide and have been translated into 65 languages. They are the best-selling book series in history.

When the fourth of her books came out, it sold 3 million copies in 48 hours. The sixth book sold 9 million copies in 24 hours. 

The seventh book sold 11 million copies in the same period.

Joanne Rowling is now a billionaire.