B2C concepts and copywriting

My writing and ideas help brands connect with consumer audiences – whether that means driving sales, building engagement or changing brand perception. Across video, digital, experiential, social, experiential and print, I make sure brands are saying the right things to the right people.

I’ve helped change the public perception of Madame Tussauds, shown that a bank (Barclays) can understand football and brought a bit of depth to a zombie apocalypse among many other projects.

Madame Tussauds – changing perceptions

The challenge: I’ve worked on many Madame Tussauds campaigns where the challenge is to reframe the visitor experience, moving away from the traditional idea of a ‘look but don’t touch museum’, and towards a more modern, interactive, ‘yes, you can touch’ experience.

The thinking: For this featured campaign, research showed that visitors nearly always had one ‘star-struck’ moment. I built on this to create The Madame Tussauds Moment, using different popular waxwork figures to bring these moments to life.

The output: Whether it hits when they twerk with Lady Gaga, hug Captain America, or hold hands with a Royal, no visitor would ever forget their special moment. By defining a range of moments, accompanied by images showing visitors cuddling and interacting with their heroes, we showed that Madame Tussauds was an unforgettable experience for everyone.

Barclays – helping a bank sound less like a bank to sports fans

The challenge: I led high-profile fan-engagement campaigns where the challenge was to talk to non-Barclays customers, most notably across Premier League and ATP properties. The problem we needed to solve was: what does a bank know about football/tennis?

The thinking: The key was to position Barclays as a fan, just like the audience. It simply wanted to enable the best fan experiences for everybody. This was all about Barclays the fan, not the sponsor.

The output: From ticket giveaways to match-day ads, fans were always centre stage. Whether we showed that with an army of fans, or fan-centric thinking and habits, we showed that Barclays understood fans and their sense of humour. Very unlike a bank!

For non-sports Barclays work, take a look here for films and scripts, or here for comms.

Resident Evil – giving audiences stories to sink their teeth into

The challenge: Operation Raccoon City was a different kind of Resident Evil game – I needed to ensure that fans would still connect to its non-traditional take on the game world.

The thinking: I knew that RE fans like me would want more info on the characters, locations and world of the game… and I also knew I could make them work for it!

An online treasure hunt would give me the structure to present stories as clues and as rewards at the end of a successful hunt. Most importantly, I knew rabid gamers would race to be among the first to solve each clue, then take to social to tell the world about it.

The output: I planned and wrote a 10-week interactive, transmedia campaign combining video, social storytelling and community activation. 

Each clue was delivered via video by a mysterious Insider who was desperate for help to bring down the evil Umbrella corporation. Content included clues, fake websites, audio and video clips, a range of social posts from characters and of course stories, biographies and context for characters, locations and incidents in the game.

As the campaign grew, I had the opportunity to alter it dynamically, adding several of the most prominent community ‘hunters’ as targets for the nefarious Umbrella, shifting it from a game-world campaign into the real world and creating a new layer of buzz around what we were doing.

MINDBODY UK launch – a welcome distraction for busy commuters

The challenge: For MINDBODY’S UK launch, we needed to cut through the noise and reach busy London commuters who were short of time and attention.

The thinking: We could give commuters very, very short stories that not only distracted them from the hustle and bustle, but also showed how a gym or beauty session could help them in their current commuting situation. Primarily OOH, I acknowledged where the audience was, whether that was on the underground, the bus or waiting to cross the road.

The output: The creative focused on speaking to the audience in context, and showing them a motivational, positive, MINDBODY solution.

I wrote a whole UK Tone & Voice guide to help MINDBODY’s team understand the UK audience, which I delve into in branding.