There’s no such thing as no. - Guest blog by Lucy Gabbie
“I first met Lucy a number of years ago when she was looking for advice in how to go from accounts into creative. She faced a real struggle without a typical creative background behind her, but her determination was incredible and I’m not surprised to see her doing such amazing campaigns. I’m sure she will be Creative Director soon enough.”
Straight out of uni with an art history degree, a creative passion and no job. It’s hard to know what industry is the right one to go into. I read a lot about advertising and liked the hybrid between art/graphics combined with business - so there I was applying to advertising agencies. I managed to win a creative pioneers intern in account management at an agency in Manchester where 20 of us were picked. That intern ended up being extended to 6 months. As soon as I started I found out about what the creative department consisted of. Ideas. Ideas. Ideas. Copywriters and Art Directors were partnered together and they came up with big conceptual ideas for campaigns.
I want that, I thought. But I knew the road ahead was going to be tricky.
After asking for a weeks work experience in the creative department, I knew I had to do this. On I went to peruse my day job in account management. My night job became building up a portfolio full of ideas and meeting as many people as I could, to get advice and feedback. I enrolled on a creative advertising short course at St Martins which helped me build up my skills and gave me the confidence that I could do this. I also managed to reach out to Nick, who worked in the creative department at my agency. Throughout the couple of years, he helped me massively. Giving me briefs on the side and guiding me in the right direction. I tried to move into the creative department but because I hadn’t gone down the traditional route of a creative advertising degree, I wasn’t taken seriously. I needed a partner. A book. Software skills.
Doors were shut. I was told no.
But one of the creative directors I reached out to for advice saw something in me and wanted to meet with me. He ended up taking me under my wing as he saw big ideas. I quit my job in accounts and went to pursue the start of my creative journey. I got trained in adobe suite, got to work on big projects and embraced my first role as a creative. I will always remember the kindness and belief that CD saw in me. I always had a dream to move to London; to go to the best and learn from those better than me. After getting a job offer at BBH, off I went to the capital as an art director. There I got partnered up with a copywriter. Together, we worked on big briefs for British Airways and Tesco. It was tough and brutal - but I’m so glad I had my time there.
Then, I decided to go freelance for a while and gained good experience at Oliver (and won a Chip Shop Award along the way), before going permanent at Wunderman with my fellow copywriter Georgie. We were bold, passionate and came up with fun and unusual ideas. We won a couple of awards along the way, and people seemed to love what we do. After a couple of years, I decided I wanted to go solo and explore working for a brand, rather than an agency. I wanted to work for a brand that I could understand like the back of my hand, a brand I believed in. I had had enough of insurance and supermarket brands that didn’t stand for anything.
Then came Heist. Heist is one of those brands that once you know, you know. It’s bold and challenging the status quo. for those that haven't heard of Heist, we’re disrupting the underwear industry, making woman’s underwear that's comfortable and actually works. After three intense interviews, I got offered the role and began my journey at London’s top start up and I love it. It's challenging, a rollercoaster at times, but super exciting. I’ve just come up with an idea for an OOH campaign we’re running at the moment called "Rip It Off." Shapewear is so uncomfortable, many women can't wait to take it off. The campaign allows people to psychically rip off an image of uncomfortable shapewear to reveal Heist's shapewear that you won't want to rip off. Hopefully this campaign will remind people to rip off their actual shapewear and replace it with Heist's shapewear that actually works.
Persistence and passion got me where i am today in my career. Don't let “no” put you off. It's not going to be an easy ride - you'll get knock backs, you'll get people telling you to pick a different career - all sorts. But if this is a career you truly want and believe in - go for it. You can do whatever you want to do. My dad once said to me, wherever there's a will there's a way, and that's what I live by. It may be an element of luck and timing so far for me, but mainly not taking no for an answer.
Last Night a Creative Saved my Life - Guest blog by Ze Anwar
“Ze has been a huge inspiration to many people including myself. He has fought through mental health issues and become one of the most consistent creatives of the OMB community. His ideas have improved massively and he always encourages others to do well. This has seen him win awards and force his way into the industry whilst fighting for diversity and inclusion within the creative world. This post is a privilege to be able to share.”
I remember when I first came across One Minute Briefs on Twitter about 3 years ago, when OMB were running a brief for the NHS choir. At that time I was a NHS whistleblower and I was campaigning vigorously on social media for justice for myself and other whistleblowers. Being a NHS whistleblower really destroyed my life, I had just recovered from a suicide attempt after losing my job and I was battling PTSD every day.
Finding One Minute Briefs really saved my life, it was like a beacon for me to try something new. I was really finding it hard to find a job as I was blacklisted from working in the NHS where I had a solid 5 years of experience within NHS procurement.
So I thought let me focus on something away from the toxic environment of whistleblowing, I had a family to support and wanted to start a new career path. I always felt I was a creative type of person, So on the next brief I entered, and from there I haven’t stopped entering and I don’t think I ever missed a brief since I joined.
The OMB community was really supportive of my work and I gained so much respect for every member of the community, who are a talented bunch and very competitive, which is a good thing as this pushes you to reach your potential and beyond.
In my first Year I won ‘Most Prolific Omble’ award at the OMB awards which was held in Manchester, and the following year I won OMB Omble of the year and just last year I won that award again, which was such a life changing experience for me as I also won a chance to work in a creative agency for 3 weeks, I had so many ideas and I was involved in some TV and Radio work, which was created by the wonderfully talented David Felton, and I had one of my ideas chosen for a car advertising campaign. Unfortunately this did not lead to a full time job, but I learnt so much I was thankful for the experience and plan to carry on fighting for a chance to express myself in the industry, which is crying out for diversity.
I would say OMB saved my life and I am eternally grateful to Nick, who I class as a very good friend/brother, who is supportive of all the Ombles and goes out of his way to help and nurture every aspect of Ombles creative learning experience.
My favourite brief I worked on was for Isabella, a young child who has neuroblastoma Cancer. As I had worked for the NHS, it made me feel like I was helping people again. My poster was chosen for a short video, which got over 30 million views and featured on TV raising a lot of money in the process.
I treat every OMB as a serious brief and at the same time have fun with my creative learning, which you don’t get to do at an agency. I recommend anyone who is creative to enter One Minute Briefs, no matter your level, as, by entering, not only do you get to enter briefs from world famous clients but you get to train your brain. We are no different to athletes and we have to train to stay on top of our game.
My final two points which are very close to my heart is to do with my mental health. I find writing traumatic (more so with my whistleblower experience). I was at very low point, I had lost all hope on life, my dad had just died and I had a new baby which I could not support financially. I did do art and design at college a long time ago and I found that exploring my creativity helped with my mental health, and One Minute Brief is a great tool to help, and I recommend anyone with mental health to give a go!
My last point about one minute briefs is about diversity, in all my time in the creative field I have found the whole advertising industry very negative towards black and ethnic minorities, but I never found this with One Minute Briefs as it is the most welcoming and diverse communities in UK advertising bar none.
Once again I would like to thank the following who have helped me along my journey Louise Chorley, Richard Bayley, Gary Lewis, David Fenton, Matthew Wyatt and many many more, and a big thank you to Nick Entwistle who has created such a vibrant community.
To all the newbies who are thinking of joining in OMB, have no fear and go create….
Follow Ze on Twitter.
How we helped Father Critmas create hundreds of book crits for junior creatives across the world.
“Currently in Barbados on a well-earned break drinking a Long Island Iced Tea on my lilo. A big thank you to everyone who helped with this year’s campaign. And, a big fuck you to those who didn’t.”
With all of the remaining book crits from our #MerryCritmas campaign now finished, we are proud to publish the results via the film above.
Although Father Critmas was difficult to work with, having written, produced and directed his own music video, we thoroughly enjoyed the experience and would like to thank Trunk, GAS Music, The Drum, Unity Radio and NABS for helping to make this happen with their support, as well as the incredible filming and music.
Putting together the campaign takes a lot of hard work behind the scenes and creatives David Felton, Louise Chorley and Lizzie Owen worked extremely hard alongside us to make it a success and do some good for the creative industry. It’s so rewarding to be creating campaigns that genuinely make a difference to help junior creatives get the advice and opportunities they need to further themselves in the industry.
This was the third year of running the campaign and our best one yet. Father Critmas wanted a music video and it wasn’t easy but we pulled a team together of One Minute Briefs student followers to be his backing singers and Federal Charm members appeared in his band. Mike Sweeney from BBC Radio provided the voice as Father Critmas sadly lost his voice on the day following a particularly scathing book crit the day before the shoot.
Once the film was finalised, it was shared through Father Critmas’ social feeds and was shared on publications around the world including Adweek, MPA, Shots, and The Drum. To coincide with the release, we ran a One Minute Briefs campaign asking our followers to share their ideas to promote this year’s campaign using Xmas song lyrics. This had huge reach across the industry. All of this activity resulted in masses of sign ups on the first day from both juniors and senior creatives. And from then, we had a strong stream of sign ups for the following 2 weeks whilst we shared a daily ad’VENT’ calendar. These included top creatives such as Rory Sutherland of Ogilvy, Victoria Buchanan of Tribal Worldwide, Mike Rigby of R/GA New York, Carole Davids of HeyHuman and Shaun McIlrath of Iris Worldwide.
Hundreds of junior creatives were then matched with senior creatives from major agencies around the world according to their location. Some were done by Skype and it was great to see lots done in person as we received plenty of Critmas selfies. We have since received messages thanking us for the opportunities we have created for them. Some have got placements at big agencies off the back of the campaign. Seeing stories like this makes it all worthwhile and, despite Father Critmas being the grumpiest Creative Director in the world, we’re sure even he would be happy with that.
We’re looking forward to Critmas 2019 and hope to make it even bigger and better than ever!
If you want to be involved as a participant or sponsor please email interest@bankofcreativity.co.uk
One Minute Brief of the Day: Create posters to encourage people to #BecomeYourBestSelf & get a creative job you love with @Become_UK
Today we've got a great brief and prize to be won with our friends at Become UK!
With the brief, we want the focus to be all about how to #BecomeYourBestSelf. Too many people are stuck in a job they don’t love. Particularly, in the creative industries, it’s important to be challenged and allowed to let your skills shine. Often you can end up settling in roles that don’t suit you with no real chances of progression. We want to change that. Don’t be stifled by bad clients, bland creative or boring work. #BecomeYourBestSelf with the job you really want.
That's where Become can help...suggesting great new roles and putting you forward for them, without you having to do anything, This means less stress, more opportunities, better challenges and, of course, more money!! We’re sure the OMBLES can bring this to life in some amazing fun ways.
Tweet your entries mentioning @OneMinuteBriefs and @Become_UK with the hashtag #BecomeYourBestSelf
Prize: £150 Amazon vouchers for the winner.
About:
become is a global recruitment agency specialising in recruitment for the creative, digital and media industries.
With expert teams in London, Manchester, Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Brisbane and Auckland we pride ourselves on matching top talent with the leading creative, digital & media agencies around the world.
We believe that ability is nothing without opportunity. We embrace innovation, new ideas and ways of working with our clients and candidates. We believe that a positive recruitment experience is all in the detail – the phone call, the face-to-face meeting, the connection, the opportunity.
Links for more info:
Website - https://www.becomerecruitment.com/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/become-recruitment-uk/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/become.uk/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/become_uk
How One Minute Briefs' brilliance gave me resilience - Guest blog by Gary Lewis
“Gary has been a huge advocate of One Minute Briefs over the last few years and in this post he shares his story about how the community gave him something back when he needed it the most. ”
I’ve well documented my creative love affair with OMB. And yes, it’s still a life-changer and a game changer. But last year there was a new layer of depth revealed beyond the puns and banter, creativity and personal development. Some of the community I was part of and vociferously supported, gave it back in a time of confidence shaking personal uncertainty.
What? Why? Where? When? Who? Questions, questions. Well, let’s start with the why. Professionally, it was a rocky year, and as a freelancer you soon get to intimately know what the much proclaimed ‘feast or famine’ effect is like.
Like a resting actor, I was ‘between’ jobs, but my confidence had taken an absolute battering and the ‘between’ was stretching on. The daily LinkedIn trawl was starting to chip away at the soul. Leads stayed cold and recruiters were largely ineffective or unresponsive.
I doubted my ability as a writer. I reflected on certain situations that led me to that point in time, and wondered if I’d made the right life choices? (classic imposter syndrome).
Here’s the rub. I’ve met a fair few OMBles in real life now, and had plenty of conversations offline with them. I’ve offered advice and support. I’ve got some back, collaborated and simply shot the breeze with many. But it was one that came back to me and asked me to join her on a new venture.
Massive shout-out to Kate Crawford. She’s an inspirational figure – a fantastic creative, highly respected and skilled marketer, and having talked to her, a tirelessly devoted mum who’s seemingly managing to juggle everything.
Cutting to the chase (I do get there, eventually) she asked me to become an affiliate of her new company. She’d seen my OMB work and was looking to gather a crack team of copywriters (self-christened C-Team) from around the country to work with her.
I jumped at the chance. Not only was it a great opportunity when the wolf was taking a battering ram to the door, but because (after a fantastic hour long personal conversation) she ‘got’ me. And, I was soon to be in very esteemed company.
Dave Harland? Liverpudlian copy legend. Clare Jennings? From OMB copy ingénue to carving out a tasty career (Clare, you need to write about your career jump into copywriting for the BOC blog).
I worked with the C-Team on several projects over the summer of 2018, was referred to new clients along the way by the team, and we continue to support and inspire each other as a group (there’s still not a collective noun for copywriters!).
Yes. I’m proud to be a copywriter. But any creative role will be tough at times. The trick is not to give up on yourself. Resilience can come from unlikely quarters.
Use OMB to learn and be social. Be the best you and you’ll find the support you need when you need it. Just look at what happened to @ZedTrafficker last year…
Follow Gary on Twitter:
How I took a different route into the creative industry - Guest blog by Tommy Mason
“Tommy has taken One Minute Briefs by storm in the last couple of years with his unique ideas and he even rapped on stage at our last event!! That takes a lot of bottle and talent but he didn’t take a typical route into the creative world. Here he gives a refreshing insight into how he started out in the industry.”
When starting out in the “creative industry” it's all very mysterious, isn’t it? Let’s face it, as a designer you’re probably working on a project right now not knowing what the outcome is going to be.
It may differ from person to person, but my initial thought was something along the lines of “Shit, I don’t look like a designer.” The only designers I had ever seen before were on shows like DIY SOS and “60 Minute Makeover” and these were interior designers. Thankfully I didn’t opt to copy their dress sense so patterns neck chiefs and trilby hats were not in the wardrobe.
Knowing very little about the industry, I went off to college and studied Art & Design (I’m sat here writing this now and thinking how the f*ck did I wing my life). After completing the qualification I then had some understanding of the Adobe Suite and could go home and create some cool conceptual designs by “borrowing” one of the college MacBooks.
At this point, it was more about creating clever conceptual marketing designs. Purely because this was my strength and I knew I could create content for my portfolio quickly - so I could apply for apprenticeship interviews. So I now kind of had a portfolio (I’d hate to see it now) and had an interview for a local agency apprenticeship I found through Creative Alliance, if you’re a student designer in the West Midlands I 100% recommended you take a look at these guys.
https://creativealliance.org.uk/apprenticeship/
I mean, you won’t have the uni experience of drinking yourself silly, but you also won’t have the debt...and you’re learning on real client work, in real agency life and it gives you that “foot in the door” so to speak. Then you just have to make sure you’re trying your hardest for your creative output to be on par with the other seniors.
I remember being an apprentice at my first job and my work being pitched alongside other senior work, it made it down to the last two options. It didn’t win, but that second place felt like a victory, I didn’t stop smiling for a week. And from then, it became like a drug, I wanted to win every single time. I remember the first time one of my concepts got chosen over a senior work, it was for a local cleaning service company - I felt like I had just rebranded Nike or something. I still see it around today and I smile to myself thinking that a 17-year-old Apprentice Designer branded them and they paid for a Senior Creative...Lol.
So if you’ve made it this far into my article you have (A) managed to read past all my bad grammar and (B) heard enough about my challenges, you deserve some strong and professional advice, I can’t give you that, but I will give you some opinions. If I was to do it all over again this is what I’d ensure I do…
1. Surround yourself with other designers, I didn’t get this until I joined an agency and already had the job. Do it before, whether that be online community such as OMB, The Drum community or just the local art class. It really doesn’t matter, but surrounding yourself with other creatives will make you more creative. It keeps the hunger going.
2. Focus on your strengths and develop your weaknesses, this may seem a bit of a weird one because you’re thinking “well if I have weaknesses I need to improve on them” well yes, but that will come naturally by doing more and more of that type of work. Initially, to get an interview and have a strong interview you need to show your talent, and make your craft the best it can be. Create stuff that you think is cool initially, if you think it’s good then you can stand by your creative and have reasoning. Make it clever, don’t just create something because it looks nice, that’s art.
3. Lose the haters - there will be a few. Especially in today's world of social media, let’s face it every fucker on Instagram is apparently a designer and photographer. Just keep doing what you love, and if you love what you do enough you’ll keep going anyway even if you do get haters along the way.
4. Self-branding is everything. By this, I don’t mean you need to create your own brand and logo etc. Companies these days are having brand strategies to be more personable and human, well you’re already this, you aren’t a company such as Nike, you are Tommy Mason or John Smith etc. Just be you and talk about what you love. A great example of this is a local Birmingham designer called Luke Tonge from Birmingham. Now, I don’t know Luke personally but I know of him because of events and talks he puts on throughout the year all about graphic design. Being famous in your own division is the best type of famous.
5. Remain humble. Even if you win a few awards along the way, that doesn’t give you the right to go jumping on Twitter to criticise other work without being constructive. ]
6. Follow BOC obviously ;)
Follow Tommy on Twitter:
One Minute Brief of the Day: Advertise the #HomelessWorldwide Music Track with @JENR_PR supported by @SHELTER @SALVATIONARMYUK
I was contacted yesterday by Jenny Roberts who shared her story about her brother. It really resonated with me and I thought that myself and the OMBLES can help her great cause.
Tweet your posters along with this link https://apple.co/2Ilu8p2 to @OneMinuteBriefs and @JenR_PR with the hashtag #HomelessWorldwide You can also mention @Shelter and @SalvationArmyUK who are supporting the campaign.
Please download the track (it’s only 99p) retweet as much as possible today to help spread the word and encourage others to download the track too. Let’s make today’s OMB as big as possible… tag celebs, MPs, sports star… anyone you think can make a difference.
Here are some Twitter feeds of people singing on the track to help:
@Mrpeterandre
@Newtonfaulkner
@NatashaOfficial
@AndyAbraham
@NonsoAnozie
@AlexanderO_neal
@Mpeopleheathers
@raylewis
@Officialleeryan
Prize:
The winner receives a signed T-shirt by an artist of their choice singing on the track.
Music video link https://youtu.be/WtD1WUkqOLY
Download/stream links: https://listnin.co/HomelessWorldwideandFriends
ITunes version:
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/he-aint-heavy-hes-my-brother-feat-peter-andre-lee-ryan/1451223396
@JenR_PR
Facebook:
facebook.com/homelessworldwide
Website:
About:
Former Big Issue Seller That Died On London’s Streets Is The Focus of 50thAnniversary Release Of ‘He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother’
Homeless Man Was Dead For 3 Months Before Anyone Told Family
* Homeless Man Who Died On London Streets Always Wanted To Record ‘He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother’
* The Hollies Give Their Blessing To 50thAnniversary Release Of Beloved Track
* Chico Slimani is joined by Peter André, Atomic Kitten’s Natasha Hamilton, Blue’s Lee Ryan, Heather Small, Lead singer of M People, Newton Faulkner and Alexander O’Neal
* Homelessness in UK has shockingly increased by 165% In Last 8 Years
* 320,000 Brits are Homeless, 4,700 ‘sleep rough’ on the streets
* Everyone is just one payday away from Homelessness
The founder of Homeless Worldwide, Jen Roberts, wants to stem the rising tide of homelessness in the UK and across the world – in the memory of her dear brother Darren James, who died on the 23rd Dec 2017 sleeping rough on London's streets.
Since his passing, 597 people have lost their lives homeless in Britain.
On any one night, 4,751 people sleep rough in Britain, according to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (Jan 2018). The total number of Homeless is currently estimated at 320,000, according to Shelter (Dec 2018). The number of homeless in Britain has increased 165% since 2010. Globally, 100 million people are estimated to be homeless (UN 2005).
UK celebrities including Chico Slimani, who has just made a comeback after suffering a stroke in September last year; Peter André; Atomic Kitten’s Natasha Hamilton; Blue’s Lee Ryan; Heather Small the lead singer from the M People; Natasha Hamilton from Atomic Kitten; and Alexander O’Nealhave put their heart and soul into recording the 50thanniversary release of The Hollies classic ‘He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother’ recorded at Abbey Road in 1969. The London Community Gospel Choir were supported by David Bratton from the New York Gospel Choir directed along with Basil Meade on the track. The Producer of the single is Ivor Novello winner Pete Kirtley.
The Hollies have offered their wholehearted support for the 50thanniversary release of He Ain’t Heavy. Original Hollies drummer Billy Elliott, speaking on behalf of the band, said: “When Elton John, Tony Hicks and I played on the original track of ‘He Ain’t Heavy’ in Abbey Road recording studios back in 1969, we not only created the Hollies anthem but a song perfect for Homeless Worldwide. Their welfare is our concern. They ain’t heavy, they’re our brothers and sisters. Our very best wishes as the dream becomes reality”.
All proceeds from the sale of the single are going to Shelter, backed by Prince William, The Salvation Army, The Ciro Orsini and Armande Assante Children’s Fund and smaller homeless and veteran charities.
Jen Roberts’ brother, Darren James, died at 49 years of age, on Goldhawk Road, Shepherd’s Bush, London in December 2017. Eventhough his identity and family contacts were on him, family weren't informed about his death for 3 months until March 2018. He had been rough-sleeping in the capital for 2 years.
“We still don’t know precisely why he died, but we’re very sure it was also of a broken heart,” says Jen Roberts. “The love of his life, Claire, who he met on streets, died in 2015. After she died, Darren simply struggled to go on”.
Jen has just returned from a fact-finding mission to Helsinki, Finland, which has a zero-tolerance policy towards Homelessness. “A lot of critics thought that giving housing to everyone in Finland would see an abuse of the system. Instead the opposite has happened as homeless people fully engage in support services and turn their lives around," she says."The biggest crime in British society is the complete lack of social housing. It simply doesn't exist," she says. "Also, the fact that there are currently 13,000 Veterans - who fought for Britain in war - left homeless is an outrage" she says.
Jen has her own story of Homelessness. After a breakup from her ex, in 2017 she was left without a home or her furniture and possessions having to instead sleeping on the sofas of friends for 4 months while she tried to get her life back together”.
“I don’t want the loss of the life of my brother to be another life wasted. Darren was truly loved by everyone. His humour, good nature and kindness will live on with this single”.Darren used to constantly sing He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother to Jen as they grew up in Essex. “It was always his dream to one day record it in a studio and release it,” she says. "Now that dream has posthumously come true".
Quotes:
Chico Slilani says:
“Homelessness should not happen in a First world country like Britain, but it could happen to anybody. For each one there is tragic story, be it loss of family, marriage, drugs or alcohol. And it is our duty as human beings to look at them with empathy and realise that life can throw us a curve ball at anytime and turn our lives upside down”.
“It’s never been more important to truly LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR and help a brother, hence why “He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother” is the most befitting song for this most tragic but solvable situation”.
“The solution is we all need to get together behind this and give our unconditional love to help”.
Alexander O’Neal says:
“I grew up in Mississippi with very little and watch everyone around me have something, I understand how difficult it is so when my good friend Jenny Roberts contacted me I wanted to help her immediately and give back
Peter André says:
“I met this amazing woman called Jen Roberts last month who lost her brother Darren on the streets of London and his death went unreported for months and it caused her and her family a lot of grief and distress. He died and his death was never reported or fed back to her which is terrible. To channel her grief, she decided to set up the charity Homelessness worldwide in her brother’s memory and to raise awareness. So when she told me that she was going to record a version of the classic Hollies’ track He Ain’t Heavy, He’s my Brother, with the likes of Alexander O’Neal and Heather Small on it, I couldn’t not not be involved”.
EnnisEl (London Community Gospel Choir) says:
“If we can we must all bring to the table hands of expertise in dealing with the homelessness. The government don't seem to care. So it's left to us to do what we can”.
EnnisEl (a member of London Community Gospel Choir) went to the site where Darren James died at Goldhawk Lane, Shepherds Bush and Jen Roberts. EnnisEl a member of London Community Gospel Choir has ironically experienced homelessness with his brother at 15. The crunch came when Newham admitted him to temporary accommodation, but not his brother, who at 15 was estranged from his parents. Because of this, Crisis in London who housed him until social-funded lawyers were able to get them reunited. The harrowing experience has kept homelessness front of mind ever since. Since November 2016 he's been looking after a homeless Albanian called Rado. He’s liased with authorities @NewhamLondon to help him, but still to no avail.
How to conquer your fears & write your first ever blog post in the process - Guest Blog Post by Louise Chorley
“Through our talks, workshops and One Minute Briefs platform, we like to encourage people to share their ideas, thoughts and fears and encourage others to help build their confidence and yours. This post by Louise Chorley shows how she defeats her fears & we hope it will inspire you to too.”
Shut up Elsie
Mistakes. Been there, done that, analysed them, I’m over it. Most of my mistakes involve third parties - I wasn't in complete control, so it’s easy to let them go.
Missed opportunities due to the paralysing fear that I’ll make myself look like an idiot, well, they’re a different story altogether. It's with them that my biggest regrets lie. Those opportunities were missed solely by me, listening to me, when I told myself that I wasn’t good enough. I listened to fear and I let fear win.
I am quite often on the receiving end of kind words, endorsements, and words of encouragement, and yet fear barely remembers any of them, but you can be sure that bitch can recite every single negative comment, criticism and put-down, word for word, dating back to my days of morning milk and knee high socks, with added venomous tone of voice for dramatic effect. It can be hard to ignore the voice of fear when she’s so bloody convincing.
As someone who works in the creative industry where stand out is the holy grail, and fortune most certainly favours the brave, I need to shut this voice up, or at least turn down her volume. So, in an attempt to disarm her I’ve named her Elsie, because for all intents and purposes she’s an inferior, lesser version of me (full marks if you get that link). I’ve visualised Elsie too; she wears a yellow velour tracksuit and blue Tesco trainers, with a high pony tail and far too much hairspray.
Confidence is Elsie's nemesis so I do whatever I can to keep my confidence up. I remember the good stuff, the compliments and good feedback. I make mental notes, write them down, screenshot them, I even share them on social media. I know it's in Elsie's interest for me to be humble, so I do the opposite - I celebrate the good stuff. I also challenge my creativity by entering One Minute Briefs every day. Some days, OMB acts as a warm-up, it greases the mind which helps the ideas come quicker for the day job. Other days, it's a much needed boost, a little reminder that whatever the challenge, I will find an answer and most of the time it'll be a good one.
Elsie has been pretty active today. Snide comments. "You are not a writer, why are you writing a blog post?" "What could you possibly have to say that anyone would want to read" "You are NOT a writer" "You are NOT A WRITER" "YOU. ARE. NOT. A. WRITER." She's been doing her best to get in my way, but I've succeeded in getting her to pipe down. I mean, she's a teenager with dreadful attire and the attitude to match - and I refuse to be beaten by an under-ripe, velvet banana wearing blue shoes.
So, Elsie, this one’s for you. My first ever blog post. I am a writer.
Elsie?
Elsie?
Has anyone seen Elsie?
Follow Louise on Twitter.
One Minute Brief of the Day: Advertise the #YoungLifeWriters project with @YoungLifeWriter & @TeamHighSheriff
Today we’ve got a great brief with our friends at @YoungLifeWriter. They are launching their new project #YoungLifeWriters with an all-new Twitter feed. That’s why we have teamed up to spread the message to our talented creative audience and beyond. Please give them a follow too!!
Prize: £100 Cash Prize for the Winner!!
Tweet your posters to @OneMinuteBriefs, @YoungLifeWriter and @TeamHighSheriff with the hashtag #YoungLifeWriters
Please tag in people between 16-25 who would you think would like to feature/get involved in this great initiative. They can send their submissions to: entrieslifewriting@outlook.com
This is the perfect opportunity for young copywriters out there to have their work published for a great cause!!
About the Project:
Exciting opportunity for aspiring young authors!
The Haven Greenfield is launching the #YoungLifeWriters project and collaborating with Creative Locations Publishing based in Saddleworth and Sacred Stories Publishing based in USA to create a compilation book featuring the short stories and poetry of aspiring young life writers aged 16 to 25 from the Greater Manchester area and looking to expand this into other areas of the UK as the project expands.
Are you a young life writer with a story to tell?
Maybe you have something that you feel needs to be shared, discussed or could create positive change for your community?
Could it inspire and unite people? Do you want to share your story of the challenges you have faced?
If your story is a reflection of a personal experience, we would love to hear from you. It can be in the form of a short story or poem.
Our vision for this project is to offer 16 to 25 year olds the opportunity to share their voices through writing. Sharing our stories is a powerful way to inspire and create positive change for ourselves and others. We hope to engage our audience of readers with messages and life experiences written from the hearts of our young people.
We are now open for entries and the final closing date is midnight of 19th March 2019
It is free to enter and all manuscripts will be read by a panel made up of representatives of The Haven Greenfield and Creative Locations Publishing and shortlisted before selections will be made and the authors offered the chance to feature in the compilation book to be published and marketed world-wide by Sacred Stories Publishing in paperback and e-book formats.
This project is being supported by the current High Sheriff of Greater Manchester, Dr Robina Shah and more information about her work can be found on the Team High Sheriff website.
Our belief:
We are doing this project because we feel that writing can be a powerful means of self-exploration which is often overlooked. It can be a way a young person can understand themselves, their lives and empower others to believe in themselves too.
Our aim is to really find out what young people have to say and for us to listen. The short stories and poems will be published in a book and promoted and distributed globally. Proceeds will go into a project of their choice.
Send your submissions to: entrieslifewriting@outlook.com
Example poem: Written by Young Life Writer - Emma Sykes
I sit here in silence
With no thoughts in my head
Seeing a poem
Which only lays dead
Because of the fear,
The struggle, the pain,
To allow anyone
To even know my name.
And the persona I choose
Lies close to my heart
As a way to protect
The fire destined to start
The fire that burns
Every bridge in my soul Sealing the approval
Of my ultimate goal.
Freedom to ride
On the waves painted black
With choices so endless
You never look back
I see the elements
As they live within me
And the ‘Mother’ as she returns
And continues to be
My greatest teacher,
In times such as these
When life becomes
A little more than a breeze.
But to all my Mothers,
As we continue to grow
I ask for your guidance
In this world down below
To ignite the flames,
The passion, the power,
To rise within me,
The Great Purple Flower.
How I went from History & Politics student to writing films for Jaguar in just two years - Guest Blog Post by William Baxter
“We’re delighted to share this guest blog post by William Baxter. In just two years he has transformed his career path with the help of the Bank of Creativity community, but more importantly his own drive, determination and talent. Keep reading to see his inspirational story.”
How on earth do you advertise a company that specialises in hair restoration? Go on, take a minute to think about it…
This was the brief that started everything for me. It was January 2016 and I was a few months into a History & Politics degree at The University of Birmingham. I didn’t know a thing about advertising. All I knew was that the £100 prize would make excellent beer money.
So I entered. My first OMB was a rather hastily written bit of long-ish copy composed on my iPhone’s Notes app. It got a couple of likes over the afternoon before I more-or-less forgot about it and headed to the pub.
I was rather surprised to see my entry announced in the shortlist on Saturday morning alongside a host of rather more qualified people than me. If that had been the end, I’d have been a happy man.
But it wasn’t the end. I won, and took the hundred quid prize. Along with it, I’d caught the OMB bug. For the next six months I entered as often as I could. I won a couple, but more importantly learnt an absolute ton from the Ombles, who embraced me as a member of the community very quickly.
Of course, so far I didn’t have any faces to go with the Twitter handles. All this changed at OMBLive3, my first chance to meet the Ombles.
It was here that I met Adam Britton, co-host of OMBLive. He took a chance on me and gave me my first placement at Big Brand Ideas, Macclesfield. This first taste of agency life cemented that this was what I wanted to do.
My next university reading week, in February 2017, wasn’t spent in the library. Instead, I headed up to Manchester to work for Nick Entwistle, the founder of the Bank of Creativity himself.
All through this time I was still entering OMB, and still improving every day. It’s true that nothing makes you better than practice.
Over Easter I spent two weeks in the Birmingham office of Spark44, the company I now work for full-time. Working on a variety of projects for their clients Jaguar and Land Rover, it certainly helped sharpen my skills.
I returned to Spark for three months in the Summer between my second and third years at Brum. To make my life even easier, I also took up the challenge of being Editor-in-Chief of Redbrick, the university’s newspaper, over the final year of my course.
By the Autumn of 2017 I certainly felt a bit more established as an Omble. I’d done four big placements, had won my fair share of OMBs and worked out what I wanted to do post-graduation.
And that was when Nick thought I was ready for my next big challenge – making a One Minute Talk to a rather big room full of rather important ad-people.
Armed with only my skint-student-spec handwritten business cards and a couple of fortifying cans of lager, I travelled down to London for OMBLive4. Somehow, the speech went down okay, and I had an absolute blast with the always-party-ready Ombles.
With my confidence high, I decided that Christmas to enter J.Walter Thompson’s YES Awards scheme. With a roughly mocked up OMB entry advertising Bin Bags, I didn’t have a great deal of hope about winning the placement.
Yet my OMB luck continued, and I managed to bag myself six weeks at one of London’s oldest and biggest agencies. Teaming up with fellow Omble Joe Clark, working at JWT was a cracking experience.
Not only did we get to work on big brands such as Kit Kat, we also got to watch the World Cup from the comfort of their Knightsbridge terrace. The agency’s summer party also coincided with my 21st birthday, culminating in me learning another valuable lesson about the industry; how to work with a ferocious hangover.
Then, in September last year I took the big decision to uproot my life and move over to Frankfurt, Germany, to work in the lead European office of Spark44. With about three quid in my bank account and not speaking a word of German, it was certainly a bold move.
Working on brands like Jaguar and Land Rover has been an amazing experience. The highlight for me has to be writing my first big TVC, promoting the new Jaguar F-PACE SVR. Seeing my ideas come to life is something I don’t think I’ll ever grow tired of.
Looking back, it seems mad to think so much has happened in what feels like no time at all. If you’d asked me three years ago, I definitely wouldn’t have thought I’d end up working nearly 1000km away on two of the world’s most prestigious brands.
From writing ads on my Notes app, to writing ads for Jaguars, I think it just goes to show where the OMB and BOC community can take you.
Follow William on Twitter.
One Minute Brief of the Day: Create #Valentines cards to share the love of chicken with @KFC_UKI
Today we’ve got an amazing brief with a great brand and a brilliant prize. We’re looking for the OMBLES to share lots of ideas for this fun subject this Valentine’s Day.
Tweet entries to @OneMinuteBriefs and @KFC_UKI with the hashtags #Valentines and #ValentinesDay
Prize:
It’s Valentine’s Day, so what better way to celebrate with someone you love than over a month’s worth of free buckets of finger lickin’ chicken courtesy of the Colonel!! You could even have the chance to work with KFC on social activations in the future.
Brief:
We want you to help us share the love of chicken this Valentines day by creating a series of cards perfect for someone who loves southern fried chicken as much as we do.
The winning design/s will encapsulate KFC’s tone of voice and distinctive style. We’re not about cheesy pick up lines or inappropes innuendos... But we could definitely be won over by some witty one liners.
Social Link:
@KFC_UKI - twitter.com/KFC_UKI
The hardest thing to advertise...
As we all know, the hardest thing to advertise for people in advertising to advertise is themselves. Luckily, we’ve got an incredible community of creatives to help us do that.
Today we ran a campaign to advertise the Bank of Creativity through our very own One Minute Briefs platform and our followers blew us away with so many amazing ideas which we have posted to our Facebook page and featured in the album below. It was also a great test of how the launch of our website is working to communicate with the creative industry and every single submission gave an great insight into the work we do through visual or copy.
We’ll be choosing a winner over the weekend who will win free tickets to our 6th annual One Minute Briefs event! Check out all of the entries below and if you want to run a One Minute Brief like this for your brand or agency and get social reach in the millions like we did today then please get in touch!!
One Minute Brief of the Day: Advertise the #BankOfCreativity @BOC_ATM
Some of you will already know that One Minute Briefs was recently incorporated into the Bank of Creativity. To coincide with the launch of the new website, we are looking for the OMBLES to submit ideas to advertise the Bank of Creativity and what it does.
Tweet your ads to @oneminutebriefs and @BOC_ATM with the hashtag #BankOfCreativity
Prize: 2 x free tickets to the #OMBLive6 event.
About:
We decided to do this to streamline all of our projects and services into one place and give OMB it’s own page. Take a look around the website and you will see our work, accounts, mission statement and the interest we’ve received around the world.
We create engaging campaigns that convert brand investment into big interest rates.
Our Statement:
The Bank of Creativity brings together the perfect balance of creative professionals to generate big interest rates for brands by capturing audiences with engaging campaigns.
By doing away with typical agency overheads, we can pass on savings to our clients and bring ideas to life quickly and effectively, whilst delivering a strong return on investment.
Flexible accounts mean we can work on a project-by-project basis or offer longer term content plans at a fixed rate to suit you.
Our speciality is in film and social media, however our extensive range of close contacts allows us to branch out into animation, design, events/PR, radio, print & more.
And, as a bonus, we have 50,000+ followers on our various social channels, which means we can maximise the reach & power of our work.
In addition to all of this, we host creative events, workshops, and deliver talks for agencies, universities and businesses such as the BBC, Lloyds Bank and SKY. We also have several books published and have featured in articles and won awards across the world.
One Minute Brief of the Day: Create posters for #LyttleMoments on #WorldCancerDay with @LyttleFight
I am very sad to be writing this on #WorldCancerDay but I saw a post from Isabella’s family at the weekend and felt that OMB could once again help Isabella. We had previously done a campaign that resulted in the video below starring the amazing Isabella herself.
Unfortunately, Isabella’s Neuroblastoma has spread and the family have been informed the following by doctors.
We were sat down and told the words we have most feared hearing since October 2010. We were told that we need to make some memories with Isabella. The scan results from Tuesday has shown significant progression in just three weeks and the neuroblastoma is showing up in new places.
That’s why today we want to create posters of positivity for Isabella and encourage donations to the #LyttleMoments cause to help her and her family make some amazing memories together.
Please enter and share the work of others via retweets as much as you can and share the following link in your tweets. https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/tony-mccormack-1
Remember to read all of the links to fully understand why we are running the brief to help the family and get involved.
Tweet entries to @OneMinuteBriefs @LyttleFight with the hashtags #LyttleMoments and #WorldCancerDay
Thank you.
One Minute Brief of the Day: Advertise #DECHOX with @TheBHF
One Minute Brief of the Day:
Advertise #DECHOX with @TheBHF
Following our brilliant previous briefs with the British Heart Foundation, we have got another one for their new cause. A subject that we just know the OMBLES will want to get their teeth into!!
About:
Dechox is our nationwide challenge to give up chocolate throughout February.
Anything with cocoa in it is off limits - from the sprinkles on your cappuccino, to that 3pm chocolate bar. By stepping up and getting your friends, family and colleagues to sponsor you, you'll be raising money to fund our vital research.
We’re asking people to go chocolate-free for a month for both the challenge and the cause.
The satisfaction of completing Dechox is reward in itself - especially if you're competing with family and friends! Plus, every donation you raise, no matter the amount, helps to power our life saving research into heart and circulatory diseases.
Web link: bhf.org.uk/dechox
Twitter: @TheBHF
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bhfdechox/
One Minute Brief of the Day: Create posters for any brand/product/service featuring @PiersMorgan
One Minute Brief of the Day:
Create posters for any brand/product/service featuring @PiersMorgan
Today we've got a fun brief to advertise ANYTHING. But there's one rule. It must feature Piers Morgan. Lately, we've seen brands looking to provoke Piers and he has even been ganged up on by brands. His responses have given these brands huge exposure and PR when he has shared his opinion, with a lot of people attacking him for sharing them.
However, this brief isn't about an attack on Piers. We want to see some funny posters that aren't aggressive or derogatory in their approach. Who knows... you might even get a retweet off him yourself if he likes your ad.
Remember to put your twitter handle in the corner of your entries and tweet them to @OneMinuteBriefs and @PiersMorgan with the hashtag #PiersPressure
Prize:
Winner receives the OMB Book. (If you've got both you can pre-order the 3rd for free)
@JohnGeeMcCarthy from @TheDrum created this graphic below to show the type of marketing happening at the moment which inspired this brief, so you might just want to tweet them too with your posters!
One Minute Brief of the Day: Create #BereavedValentines Cards with @thortful
One Minute Brief of the Day:
Create #BereavedValentines Cards with @thortful
Brief:
In
the anticipation
of
Valentine’s
Day
thortful
would like to ask OMBles to
design a Valentine’s card for a friend or family member who has lost their partner.
The idea behind the brief is that some people who have lost loved ones might find Valentine’s day particularly hard.
S
ending a card shows someone you care and
whilst acknowledging the difficult time
they’re
going through
.
A card could be bought
for a friend
or family member
who had recently (or perhaps not-so-recently) been bereaved, and so wouldn’t have a person to send a card to or anyone to receive a card from.
Tweet your ideas/
designs
to @OneMinuteBriefs with the hashtags #
bereavedvalentines
Include
@thortful
in your tweets too. Feel free to tag in any celebs etc or do what you can to get these messages shared!!
Prizes:
The winner and three runners up will become part thortful’s growing community of
independent creators.
The top three winning designs will be produced into greeting cards and sold on
where creators are paid an industry-leading royalty rate for each sale of their design (30-50p) per card.
The overall winner also receives £50 prize and a year’s supply of cards from thortful.com
Good luck
,
we hope you can help us spread a very important message with today's brief.
One Minute Brief of the Day: Advertise @CheesyFMUK
- Free radio ad campaign for you or your company
They play your guilty pleasures and monster favourites! Boybands, girlbands, one-hit wonders, novelty hits and the best sing-along pop music from all decades!
Wedgy, their mouse and mascot often makes an appearance on air too!
And yes, they have some cheesy jingles!
Cheesy FM has no long ad-breaks, making it a better all-round listen for everyone. Their advertising model will stir up the business side of the industry.
Their tagline, simple...Cheesy FM, guilty pleasures, and proud of it!
Back in 2014, The Big Cheese quietly created Cheesy FM as a web/app based radio station for his own entertainment. Little did he know where the journey would take him.
Fast forward to today, and Cheesy FM has won a start-up business competition for a new commercial radio business model and has attracted a huge and loyal audience.
Cheesy FM is now on air as a new, fun format radio station for the UK. Test broadcasts are now live and they will soon be broadcasting on DAB with transmitter switch-ons planned for 2019. You can listen at cheesyfm.co.uk, via the mobile app, TuneIn and more.
Long commercial breaks are a no-no for their listeners – but for their advertisers, they have turned this into a new advertising model that will work harder for them.
The presenters will be amongst the very best in the industry and they'll play all the cheesy tunes that you know and love, but may not always admit to! Don't worry, you'll be among friends.
#SpreadTheCheese
One Minute Brief of the Day: Advertise @Wal_Logistics #WalthamLogistics
Advertise @Wal_Logistics #WalthamLogistics
Today we've got a brief to create fun and funky adverts for what might not typically be the most exciting sector...but we're excited to see what the OMBLES come up with as we know they can make anything amazing and bring to life our great service!!! We've got some great prizes for the winner too!
For our clients in Europe and beyond…
