The creative brief. It’s the cornerstone of any successful marketing campaign. And yet, many marketers don’t use it effectively — or at all. Well, now there’s no excuse. Download this
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Author: The Cranky Creative
Copywriter. Ad critic. Blogger. Head crank at The Cranky Creative.
Good, fast, cheap. Pick two.
Creative professionals are talented people. But all too often, we copywriters, graphic designers, animators, videographers, and composers are asked (*cough cough* required) to do the impossible. Worse, we are expected
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LIVE-BLOG: Super Bowl LVI commercials
Heads up, Cranky readers! Tune in at 6 p.m. Eastern Time as I live-blog all of the commercials from Super Bowl LVI. Watch the Cincinnati Bengals take on the Los
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Why I love graphic designers (and why your brand needs a good one)
Plus, do’s and don’ts of working with your graphic designer. Light some candles, put on some music, and slip into something comfortable, Cranky readers. This Valentine’s Day, I’m sharing with
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Sling TV’s ‘falling waitress’ commercial is not funny
Oh, Sling. I like your live TV streaming service, I really do. But your brand’s TV commercials . . . Holy shit, your commercials. What on earth made you think
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Should you think twice before becoming a copywriter?
A few weeks ago, while researching career stats for a client project, I stumbled across an article at The Balance titled “Think Twice Before Becoming a Copywriter.” The article subhead: “For
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What happened to white people in TV commercials?
If you only watched TV, you might think that white people (including fumbling, bumbling white males) are a minority in the United States. Depending on the commercial break, you might
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A personal update and a heartfelt thank-you to end 2021
What to write for my last Cranky post of 2021? Rather than end the year lambasting another dopey TV commercial, how about we spend some time getting personal? Come, Dear
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Why the hell is everything so broken?
Is anyone else experiencing a complete and total breakdown of everything that used to “just work”? I’m talking about placing an online order, or getting a car repair, or speaking
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Review: Marcus by Goldman Sachs ads can moron
“You can money,” says the slogan for this commercial for Goldman Sachs. A good first clue that the rest of the campaign is a disaster, too. There she was —
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How copywriters are like doctors, lawyers, psychics(!) and more
As I started out as a young copywriter in the 1990s, one of my biggest influences was Ivan Levison, a freelance copywriter in California. He published a lead-generation e-newsletter called
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