Tired of Risky Creative Work? The ‘Bland Book’ Will Help You Play It Safe
Copywriter Vikki Ross and design director Paul Mellor of brand and ad agency Mellor & Smith have released a disturbingly familiar work of comedy.
Disappointed with clients playing it safe and agencies delivering uninspired creative work to meet "safe" briefs, the pair created a brand book that shows how it looks when we don't aim higher. You can download their Bland Book here in all its glory.
“I specialise in branding and write brand books all the time and am just so disappointed when brands don't have aspirations to be anything remarkable,” says Vikki. “They don't have to be big and bold and shouty, but they have to be something otherwise they're nothing and they go unnoticed. I knew Paul would agree when I approached him with the idea - his agency have an incredible series of events and a podcast under their Take Fucking Risks brand so we definitely feel the same way about our approach to work.
“I started the #copywritersunite hashtag to connect copywriters around the world. In my experience, copywriters and copywriting aren't valued in our industry so we needed a place to celebrate and commiserate. I've been challenged on how I call out bad copy and how that doesn't tie into the ethos of the hashtag but my goal is to push people to want more, aim high and do better - even if it's not what the client wants. Show them how to do things better and they'll be fools to disagree.
“I want people to read our Bland Book and recognise themselves in it - either through work they've done or people they've worked with. And I want them to see that they shouldn't produce guidelines like this - it leads to bland communications. And if our communications are bland, why on earth would our consumers be in any way compelled to act?”
