Financial – banking, finance, fund management, superannuation.
Retail – FMCG, telcos, pharmaceuticals, appliances.
Web – copy, concepts, editing.
Honest
My writing is nothing if not honest. That means I tend to avoid things like over-promise and exaggeration unless the tone is deliberately over-the-top.
Conversational
Everything is 'you' and 'us' rather than 'the company' or 'customers'. The tone is friendly and the attitude is inclusive.
Benefit-driven
I’m a great consumer advocate, always asking what’s in it for your target market. You may not always like this, but it will produce the best results.
Unpretentious
Sure, I studied Classics at Otago but you won't find me walking around quoting Greek philosophers or expressing myself in a sonnet.
Flavoursome
I like copy that is raspberry ripple…you know, that expresses information in interesting ways…although I can do plain vanilla quite convincingly too.
Paul Willetts
Here’s a super budget HTML site complete with SilverStripe CMS for a thoroughbred consultant. Paul wanted to keep the website dead simple so he wouldn’t have to spend much time maintaining it (definitely no social media!). The content provides a concise snapshot of Paul’s background, his point of difference in the market and successful track record. I provided the wireframes, content plan, imagery and copy while also directing the designer and web developer.
The Pond
Apart from digital, I also do a lot of brochure-type work to pay bills. This one, for The Pond's member recruitment drive, is apparently working gangbusters. Leighton wanted more of a soft sell approach so we created 10 practical tips to help freelance creatives get started. Call now if you need help with your below-the-line copy!
RFD
Despite not having a shopping cart, this RFD site is now one of the most comprehensive marine safety product sites in the world. Product sites may look simple but it’s still a good rule of thumb to budget one hour per page for a writer, to cover research and revisions. Hopefully we can add functionality for purchase online and user product reviews in the future.
Serious Fraud Office
The Serious Fraud Office is one client not to be messed with, that’s for sure! This job was a something of a luxury in that draft copy had already been written. All I needed to do was add a small amount of warmth, and, break down some fairly complex thought patterns into a simple, clear structure that most people could understand.
Bike 75 (Kookmeyer Institute)
After reading a Razorfish report that said 44% of Twitter users were online for deals I decided to test the waters with this site for local store, Bike 75. The idea behind the Twitter domination of the homepage was to engage users in a genuine two-way conversation from the beginning. This was part of my master plan to position Bike 75 as the friendliest bike store in town.
ACC Ride Forever (DNA)
This was a re-write of an existing site that took information overload to the extreme. We’re talking three A4-sized pages on what to look for in a leather jacket. Given the choice, I would have used a famous Kiwi rider such as Aaron Slight to front the website - for added credibility and cool factor. (I’m not sure the average guy likes being preached to by government agencies.)
BeST Design Awards
The sponsors of the BeST Design Awards, including major sponsor MINI, wanted a way to leverage their involvement, so we came up with what is essentially a fancy colouring competition to get designers excited. Inspired by an old Sid Vicious track, we tied the various elements together with the strapline ‘I wrapped it my way’.
Waxeye Surf Safaris
The guys at Waxeye have the skills but not the million dollar control panels to compete with big production companies like Digital Post. With this in mind, we decided to focus on their laidback personality, which makes working with them a breeze. The result was a loyalty programme complete with DM piece and bogus course certificate to explain any absence from work.
Telecom Mobile Store
Quote: “The new mobile section and its applications and tools have been universally praised by Telecom’s Senior Management. Visitors will find it far easier to complete the task they have set out to achieve and the Customer Experience (can’t be compared) to the mobile section that is being replaced. Thanks for the considerable part you have played in this change!” - Jonathan Morris, Online Channels Manager
RightLight (Saatchi DGS)
Do you have energy efficient bulbs in your home? They cost more but they do last longer and burn less energy. This site does its job well enough. And there are some useful tools. But I think you reach a point in web projects where less becomes more in terms of content. Wouldn’t you rather have 80% of people read all of a small site than 20% read all of a large one?
ANZ One (Tribal DDB)
Here’s a microsite for a new banking product from ANZ. In case you’re wondering, the video on the home page was signed off before I came onboard. Working from some rough copy points and previous brochures, I managed to produce a draft that was approved with no amends (none!). Trust me, this doesn’t happen very often.
John Hancock Observatory
JHO is an observatory in Chicago. Previous copy for the website was riddled with the type of exaggeration sadly found too often in tourism writing (‘best’, ’most awesome’, ‘superb’). So I focused on turning generic claims into specific reasons to visit, and, eliminating the formality that was at odds with the fun proposition of the brand.
Fruitrunners (Fracture)
I really enjoy working with small businesses, like FruitRunners. You just feel more involved, as if you’re making a real difference. Fracture is the masters of ‘flashturbation’ and there are a lot of fun things going on, from the spinning wheel to the various pop-up captions and hidden competitions for you to find (like win your weight in apples).
EMC Bikes
Of all the Australasian riders to have competed in the Tour de France only one, Eric MacKenzie, is now designing his own bikes. This gives EMC a point of difference I was keen to exploit in a communications plan that had Eric interacting with customers at bike stores, on rides and on Facebook. This was on top of a new brochure, magazine ads and designs for a new look website.
New Zealand Trade & Enterprise (Shift)
New Zealand Trade & Enterprise does a great job of helping local exporters and manufacturers succeed offshore. This site highlights the challenges and opportunities created by a newly signed China Free Trade Agreement. I was asked to slice and dice the original 80-page print document and video into something that worked online, meaning lots of new aggregate pages and intros.
ASB (Shift)
Iwantahome.co.nz was a very heavy content site that required huge amounts of research into everything from LIM reports to renovating for first time home buyers. Sometimes brands can create things online without spending the time or money needed to drive traffic to them. But Whybin TBWA did a top job of launching the site with a ‘Win a new home’ promotion that included lots of video content.