Welcome to FiveMilesHigh* where Jean-Paul works on big ideas.
He knows how much words are worth. Ask him how he can make words work for you. He loves it when a plan comes together. Ask him how he can put your project into practice.
Check out the blog posts below for what he's up to, random thoughts, good advice and general info about what makes him tick.
A couple of images from some local watering holes. Pubs love apostrophes it seems!
I don't imagine bad punctuation is going to deter you from your favourite bar but good grammar on any notice or sign is a given, surely? What other mistakes can you spot?
[Part 1 of an infinite set.]
It pains me to do this but sometimes you just have to!
Good copy is an art. And without an expert, businesses pay the price later on. This ad for Brennan's mp3 hi-fi was live not too long ago on Last.fm for all the world to see. It's since been pulled, to be replaced by a series of three further banner ads. They're an improvement... but possibly only in that they now adhere to the rules of punctuation and grammar.
As products go, the Brennan JB7 is brilliant. Superb design and ease of use coupled with a focussed target market mean there's a waiting list for the JB7 and the rest of the Brennan product line. But an ad like this might have stopped plenty of folks from even making that all important click through to the Brennan website. Which just goes to show product isn't everything, marketing is.
What's wrong with this picture?
Examples of bespoke project work from my time at Nokia. Lots of clients here including E4, Meteor, Carphone Warehouse, Electric Picnic, News Of The World, The Irish Daily Star, NME, Caffé Nero, Screen Click, MTV and a variety of artists and their record labels.
These projects mainly consisted of working with a 3rd party client , a graphic designer, a terms and conditions lawyer and then customising template micro-sites and user journey testing before going live and running the engagement/retention campaign.
This was a fun multimedia project - point of sale materials ('table-talkers' and flyers) led customers to a micro-site to sign-up and and claim some free music from Nokia's digital download store. Five songs of the customers choice were on offer as well as a track from up and coming band The Floe. The group also toured Caffé Neros around the country promoting their music and the offer. BT Openzone provided the wi-fi to get customers clicking through as easily as possible and enjoying some new music in the comfort of the café.
Nokia sponsored a local music festival here in Bristol. This was great fun to run as it involved technology and music, two of my favourite things. I worked closely with Energy and T3, two fantastic creative agencies to bring the Nokia Music presence to BrisFest on a tight budget. With Energy, we were able to furnish a chill out tent with the then current range of Nokia's music phones and laptop stations to try out the latest software. We had video show reels running on loop to keep folks informed and to run demoes on. Nokia reps were on hand for any questions and I arranged for a team to roam the festival site distributing music via Bluetooth and generally keeping the Nokia branding visible throughout the event.
T3 provided the massive DJ desk and equipment that took up most of the stage in the Nokia Live tent. This was a pleasure to organise as it involved musicians I personally hold very dear and it was a great way to showcase some of Bristol's best local talent with the support of an international brand. A rolling roster of local DJs and bands kept crowds entertained for the day. Come the evening we handed over to another Nokia linked but Bristol based promotional team safe in the knowledge the tent was rocking.
This project was fantastically immersive and deeply integrated cross-platform so it was great to see all the elements come together. I handled the music side of things - as each episode was broadcast a new playlist of the songs that soundtracked it was released. As part of the bigger project, users could play games related to the show at Channel 4's website. Some of the prizes were download codes which could be redeemed at individual micro-sites for each episode that I customised for the campaign. The redemption was in exchange for a sign-up. Because the project was linked to an on-going TV series, it was great for acquiring new customers and even better for repeat visits to the web store.
I've blogged for a number of platforms. And it's not just the words that I get involved with. I've helped customise WordPress sites and run blogging teams as an editor. I can get stuck in with the technical stuff, edit content so the tone is true and follows brand guidelines, commission pictures and liaise with p.r.'s. Sometimes, I even get to do some writing...!
City Showcase artists were invited to perform at Nokia World, a huge trade event for Nokia to exhibit its current hardware and services and to share upcoming developments in the technology sector. Without a rightsholder agreement in place for any of these unsigned artists we had to work on a solution to get their products into the music store and available for download as part of a custom mobile application that was built especially for City Showcase. Working with a graphic designer, I was able to mock up artwork and collect the appropriate metadata to supply all the required assets to a 3rd party digital portal who already had a rightsholder agreement in place. As solutions go, it was great workaround for the situation we found ourselves in.
Very happy to have worked with Leyland Tile recently on some magazine advertorial to promote this excellent local business. The article has so far appeared in The Bristol Magazine with the possibility of more to follow.
Full text:
Leyland Tile studio is a fairly recent addition to the picturesque cascade of shops and businesses that make up the Christmas Steps Artisan Quarter. Set atop the summit of Christmas Steps along the thoroughfare that comprises Perry Road and Park Row, Leyland Tile sits comfortably amongst the luthiers and art spaces.
Tiling may not seem like the most adventurous of concerns for the savvy shopper or homeowner, but Leyland Tile’s proprietor Nicky Leyland’s expertise and outlook may change your mind. Nicky’s take on design places his newly opened studio very much at home with his creative neighbours.
The studio is a good sized room lit with tall windows. By the entrance, an ornate cast-iron easel supports a formidable portrait-sized tile that sports a vibrant copper green tinge. It’s a stunning example; Slimtech by Lea I’m told, and also very expensive. It looks fragile for its delicate grain but upon closer inspection I find, as you’d expect of a pressed piece of porcelain, that it is, in fact, solid as a rock. It’s elements of Nicky’s studio set up like these that seem to say he’s trying to do things a little differently.
Tiles and tiling are in his family. Nicky’s honed his craft the last fifteen years in business with his father. Although he specialises in the actual tiles that might deck your bathroom or hall, he has the hands-on experience (and a degree in Fine Art) to advise what will work well from a practical, as well as aesthetic, point of view. Read More
