to read our 'We don't do dumb' book - DHM London

We
don’t
do
dumb.

Historically, these pages were called endpapers, they stuck the cover to the bound pages. ‘Perfect bound’ books like this don’t need endpapers, but we like this colourful pause before a book starts. Some consider it wasteful. It’s unlikely to affect your opinion of this book. However, the accumulation of hundreds of details like this will. We approach everything this way at

We don’t do dumb.
We think people are smart. Not just here in Soho Square, but
in Solihull, Stirling and even in Snitterton.
They may not be academic, have fancy jobs or even a job at
all, but they are innately street smart. One thing’s for sure,
they’re not as dumb as the ads aimed at them.
To paraphrase advertising guru David Ogilvy – “the consumer
isn’t a moron, she’s my wife… you little shit!”
Advertising has spent decades misleading, over-claiming and
plain bullshitting. It simply doesn’t work anymore. It’s time to
start a new relationship.
Humour, shock, intrigue and all the usual tools are still vital
– but if we really want our messages to appear credible, we
have to be honest with the public.
If they buy what we’re saying, there’s more chance they’ll buy
what we’re selling.

Clients:

ASSETS
BRITAIN
CONVERSATIONS
DEVELOPERS
ELLE
FACEBOOK
GOOGLE
hIP
ICONS
JUMP!
KIDS
LUXURY
MYERS BRIGGS
NEW!
ORGANISING
PhONES
QUESTION
RESONANCE
STUNT
ThINKING
UNPAID
VERSUS
WhISKY
XENOPhOBIC?
YEOVIL
‘ZIDER’

ASSETS

In 2008 Smooth Radio was a national network made up of
different regional stations - and each had its own eccentricities
when it came to the playlist. For instance, the north-west dug
soul, but not Elvis. In Scotland it was the other way around.
While in London they favoured more contemporary hits.
So our task was to come up with a creative device that was both,
a) universal enough to appear everywhere, and b) flexible enough
executionally to accommodate the differing musical tastes of all
five regions.
The result was the ‘Sleeveface’ campaign.
We converted the core creative concept into a single executional
structure and a set of assets featuring individual artists, so that
each station could assemble the specific advertising line-up that
suited it best. The results were impressive: for example, within
a year of the campaign breaking, Smooth London’s ‘total listeners’
had increased by 40% (RAJAR) and the (now fully united) Smooth
network continues to go from strength to strength; Q3 2011 RAJAR
saw its total reach hit a new record high of 3.33m listeners.

Scotland – Rock bias
The North – Soul bias
London – Contemporary bias

Smooth Radio TV. 40” – “Sleeveface”
Music: “I Love Music” – The O’Jays
MVO: “Lose yourself in Smooth Radio– 102.2 fm”

The idea was integrated into radio
presenters’ idents and promotions.

BRITAIN

Any idea which is Britain’s ninth most visited website – a place
behind the BBC and one ahead of Yahoo?
Yep, it’s Rightmove.
That makes it not just the dominant portal but the beating heart
of how Britain does property today.
Whether it’s selling or buying, letting or renting, it’s fair to say that
Britain moves at Rightmove.
So we said it.
A week after the campaign broke, Rightmove’s market share hit
a new high of 62%.
And the number of sellers saying they would ‘insist my agent
advertises my property on Rightmove’ leapt from 48% to 59%.
(Source: Experian Hitwise)

Translation: If you’d like a lot of
people to look at your property,
go with the wiggly blue line.

RADIO SCRIPT
CLIENT:Rightmove
TITLE: Door to Door Salesman VERSION: 5a
LENGTH: 40” JOB NUMBER: RM004
CREATIVE: Dave Dye/Sean Doyle DATE: 3rd PRODUCER:
Melissa Pike/ Nikki Cramphorn
August 2011
IDEA: Knock on front door. It opens…
SCRIPT
MAN: Hi, I’m Eric Smith from Dustbust Vacuum Cleaners.
WOMAN: (immediately) No thanks.
14 Newburgh St, London W1F 7RT 020 7494 9600
SFX: (Door is shut. Fade down. Same scene again. Knock on door. It opens.)
MAN: Hi, my name is Englebert Humpersmith, from Dustbust vacuum
cleaners. This is my monkey.
SFX: (Monkey noises.)
WOMAN: (gives him bit more time) Aw... But… er… no thanks.
SFX: (Door is shut. Fade down. Same scene again. Knock on door. It opens.)
MAN: Hi, I’m Englebert Caligula Humpersmith, Dustbust, and this is my
monkey.
MONKEY: Hi, how you doing? You alright?
WOMAN: Wow. He talks.
MAN: He hovers in mid-air too. Look.
SFX: (A gap. Quiet flapping.)
WOMAN: Wow. You don’t sell vacuum cleaners by any chance do you?
MVO:WHY BE SUBTLE? RIGHTMOVE HAS LOADS OF WAYS TO MAKE
YOUR PROPERTY STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD. ASK YOUR ESTATE
AGENT ABOUT THEM.WITH 10 MILLION PEOPLE VISITING EVERY
MONTH. BRITAIN MOVES AT RIGHTMOVE.
RADIO SCRIPT
CLIENT:Rightmove PRODUCER:
Melissa Pike/ Nikki Cramphorn
TITLE: Bar VERSION: 4 a
LENGTH: 40” JOB NUMBER: RM004
CREATIVE: Dave Dye/ Sean Doyle DATE: 3 rd August 2011
14 Newburgh St, London W1F 7RT 020 7494 9600
IDEA: 2 women sitting in a bar , chatting. Clinking of glasses etc. Door swings open…
SCRIPT
SUE: Wow, look at that guy.
MEL: (unimpressed) Oh… yeah.
(Fade down. Same scene again. Door swings open.)
SUE: Wow, look at that guy… with the red hat.
MEL: (more animated) Oh… yeeaah.
(Same scene again.)
SUE: Wow, look at they guy with the red hat… and the horns on his
shoes.
SFX: (A horn-honk with each footstep.)
MEL: (even more animated) Ohhhh… yeeeaaahhh.
(Same scene again.)
SUE: Wow, look at that guy with the red hat and horns on his shoes…
and the musical Hawaiian shirt.
SFX: (Lots of horn-honking this time.)
MEL: Wowwwwww.
MVO:WHY BE SUBTLE? RIGHTMOVE HAS LOADS OF WAYS TO MAKE
YOUR PROPERTY STAND OUT FROM FROM THE CROWD. ASK YOUR
ESTATE AGENT ABOUT THEM. WITH 10 MILLION PEOPLE VISITING
EVERY MONTH. BRITAIN MOVES AT RIGHTMOVE.

Rightmove TV. 60” – “One Nation”
MVO: “With 10 million people visiting every month, Britain moves at Rightmove”.

Rightmove 10” – “Neighbours’ Prices”
Rightmove 10” – “Draw-a-Search”
MVO: “Discover local property prices at Rightmove”
MVO: “Personalise your search with Draw-a-Search from Rightmove”

CONVERSATIONS

In 2002, Dave created the ‘Beer from the coast’ campaign at his
previous agency Campbell Doyle Dye.
When Adnams came to DHM in 2010 the company had evolved,
they were no longer just a brewery. They now had a chain of
shops, nearly a hundred pubs, a collection of hotels and a
growing spirits business.
With such a diverse range of businesses comes a diverse range
of messages.
Before we could start talking to the public, we needed the
businesses to start talking and dressing alike.
The question was how do we capture their unique personality?

This is how we put the new Adnams identity together:
Recycled papers were used to reflect their environmental stance.
The American Typewriter font was chosen for its friendliness.
We used cyan and magenta because bold colours add energy.
Subjective descriptors, like delicious or refreshing, were
replaced by more honest facts e.g. first brewed in 1901,
it tastes grapefruity or only available in May.
Sophisticated consumers need to be treated as such.
An irreverent tone of voice recognised that we were
aware that our news wasn’t going to shake their world.
Illustrations felt more contemporary than photographs.
Overlapping elements and non-geometric
layouts helped give a less corporate feel.

An ale produced to celebrate Kate’s big day.

1st BIRThDAY - 12-11-11
Adnams Copper House Distillery wanted
to use its first birthday as a good moment
to remind people of its spirits range.
A series of offers had been thought up –
it just needed an iconic idea to hold them
all together. Sales of spirits increased
900% that birthday weekend.

We felt the idea of a range of beers
from Britain’s Brewery of the Year
would be differentiating in store, so we
used the packaging like a billboard.

Why join our
little wine club?
(Apart from
that pink offer
below?)
ADN000 WINE MAILOUT LEAFLET 2pp A5v3.indd 1 16/11/2011 16:18
After years trying to be like those big wine clubs we
fessed up – we’re small and proud of it. We put over an
argument why small is best. Membership increased by
15% in the first week. Honesty is always the best policy.

DEVELOPERS

As you’d expect from the UK’s largest commercial property
company, Land Securities is a complex, multi-layered organisation.
So, when asked to build them an Organising Idea and corporate
advertising campaign, we set out to keep things simple.
What business was Land Securities in?
The development business. And what’s the development business
about? It’s about changing things for the better. So we
recommended that it declare itself the champion of ‘Evolving
Britain’ and run a series of executions telling the stories of their
most positive recent developments.

ELLE

“ We’ve got a ‘use or lose’ opportunity to go on TV in two weeks
time. Problem is, we don’t have anything to run. Do you think you
could get something written, produced and supplied in that time?”
“Have you got any film at all we might use?”
“ Well, there is the footage from the recent Elle cover stars
fashion shoot…”
“Who’s in it?”
“ Keira Knightley, Alexa Chung, Cheryl Cole, Chloe thingy...”
“Do you think they’d allow us to use it?”
“We could certainly ask.”
“OK, let’s go for it.”
Some clever editing, colour washing and branding-focused script
writing later, Elle’s first ever TV commercial was ready to roll…
By turning each film segment first into
black and white, then into very strong
colours it not only knitted it all together,
it made it look very stylish.

Elle TV. 30”

The result: 70% of the target said they were ‘more interested in
trying Elle’ as a result of the advertising; 30% said they had
gone to the brand website to learn more.
(Source: client online research.)

FACEBOOK

“Our awareness is lower than our market share!”
How do you change that without appearing big and corporate?
After all we’re talking honey, one of the most natural substances
on Earth. (I’m sure most people would choose a local farm over
The United Honey Corporation.)
So we came up with an unusual solution.
(No it really is, stick with us.)
We discovered that Rowse first revealed their new logo by
organising a tea party for the staff on the lawn outside their factory,
during which they ran the new logo up a flagpole. Hurrah!
Everybody cheered. That’s unusual.
So we decided that the best way to represent this charming
English company would be to get this charming English
company to represent itself.
As a result of the campaign prompted brand awareness rose by
44% and sales were up 30% on the previous year.
(Source: Nielsen)
Rowse staff have
made their own ads.
We’re putting £3.5 million behind the campaign; that’s the
most anyone’s spent advertising honey in the last decade.
So look out for the TV ad in Feb, watch the staff’s homemade
ads at facebook.com/rowsehoney and stock up now!

STEP 1: Get employees to write, direct and star in their own ads.
“Bee Cam”
“Bee Dancing”
“Rowse As In Howse”
“Captain Rowse”
“Things We’re Rubbish At” “70 Years”

STEP 2: Build Facebook page to let public vote for their favourite.

STEP 3: Tell the public via 40” TV ad guiding them to Facebook.*
MVO: The staff at Rowse Honey…
Rowse 40” TV: “Staff Ads”
MVO: …have got together to make their very own TV ads. MVO: They’ve dreamt up the ideas… MVO: …operated the cameras, starred and…
MVO: …even clapped the little clapperboard thingy.
MVO: Happy Voting! MVO: Rowse. Howse of honey.
*Geek fact.
Over 50% of people watching
TV are also online.
MVO: To see their six ads and pick which one should become our next TV commercial, visit Facebook.com/rowsehoney

STEP 4: Tell journalists. (Via the medium of honey cakes.)

STEP 5: Tell current customers via the packaging.

STEP 6: Tell the trade.

Before the campaign started Rowse had 153 friends on their
Facebook page. When the campaign ended it had 21,521.

GOOGLE

No free lunches.
It’s just not very Google.
To engage London’s media folk in a Google appropriate way, we
needed to engage them with an idea.
Preferably a cool one.
Also, as it was in the run-up to Christmas, there would be a lot of
competition vying for their attention.
We decided to create the world’s largest advent calendar.
First, we built a mobile app and website, then used e-mail, rich
media banners, DM and print to lead them to live ‘calendar
doors’ across London, behind which there were various cool
prizes.
30% of the audience signed up to take part.

FIRST we hid gifts behind a range of doors in central London.

THEN we created an app that worked like the kids’ game.

NExT we let people know about it and invited them to sign up.

THEN we sent clues via e-mail, the app and MPU’s for each prize.

FINALLY, we filmed London’s media folk engaging.

Some other examples of our work with Google:
MPUs
Denmark
France
Netherlands
UK

A book to inform businesses that Google display ads get six times
more click through than the industry standard.
With such a powerful message we felt charm was important to
offset the possibility of it appearing arrogant.
Interesting fact: when we were briefed the book was called ‘4x’, by
the time it was completed two months later, the title was out of date.

A set of very bespoke blank pads, but with the
lecture title and the client’s name on the front.
(It’s a great desk talking-point.)

hIP

In fashion, image is everything.
Use the wrong language and start referring to clothes as ‘hip’
instead of ‘cool’ and you’re busted.
When we took howies into more mainstream media channels, like
TV and press, the danger was to appear as though they had got
‘marketeers’ in.
Their army of fans on their website and mailing database may have
thought they had sold out.
People who bought from
howies weren’t customers, they
were fans. Catalogues would
change hands on eBay.

By avoiding ‘we’re great’
chest-beating type
messages the ad feels
less like marketing.
By avoiding having a logo the
ad feels less like marketing.
By avoiding putting the brand
name in the usual place the
ad feels less like marketing.

howies Cinema. 60” – “Skateboarder”

howies Cinema. 60” – “Surfer”
Life is complicated.
Life is complicated. Sport is simple.
howies.co.uk

Some of our favourite T-shirts
we produced for howies.

ICONS

What: Google Live Advent Calendar.
Idea: Logo becomes advent calendar.
What: Partners share surname at film house.
Idea: A printing error.
What: Campaign to stop Arctic oil drilling.
Idea: White on white = invisible.
What: Carbon footprint reducing company.
Idea: Show carbon receding.
What: Creatives & account bods swap roles.
Idea: Opposites assessing each other.
R
Creative Circle Role Reversal
What: Question answering text service.
Idea: Answers are printed upside down.
What: Campaign’s annual Cannes event.
Idea: A horrible pun.
What: Putting practice game.
Idea: Dot of the ‘i’ as a putted ball.
What: Adnams brewery tour.
Idea: A bottle cap looks like a badge.
What: Event where famous retailers speak.
Idea: Mix icons of retail and speech.

JUMP!

‘Crossing the Chasm’ was a book written in the ‘90s by Silicon
Valley marketing guru, Geoffrey Moore.
(Not to be confused with Intel’s Gordon Moore, of ‘Moore’s Law’
fame. Prolific theorists, these G Moores.)
His figurative chasm was the gap separating the early adopters
of a technology product from the more pragmatic mainstream.
And his observation was that many products with high potential
failed to make it across because their owners didn’t grasp that
the two groups have different needs and motivations: and that the
assets that made them appealing to the visionaries may not also
resonate with the mainstream. So before embarking on the
perilous journey across, Geoffrey advised, the wise brand owner
must first determine which pieces of brand baggage would also
resonate on the other side - and which must be left behind.
He initially applied his theory only to technology start-ups,
but over time came to see it as equally relevant to companies
in any category trying to transition from cult status to mass
market appeal.
We used it effectively as a workshop tool for:
– Howies, who wanted to figure out how to sell on without
appearing to “sell out”.
– Adnams which, as it moved from local hero to national player,
wanted help deciding which of its many brand stories were part
of its future and which only of its past.
What do I leave behind?
What do I take across?
Early adopters Mainstream

In order to make the crossing, Apple dialled
down the ‘maverick’ messages (‘think different’)
and stressed utility (‘1,000 songs in your pocket’).
In order to expand from morning bakery to all
day coffee shop it had to abandon its “comfort
food” values and reposition itself as a “fuel stop”.

KIDS

Whether you are talking to them or about them you can’t really
do it convincingly unless you’ve had them.
Only then can you draw on your experiences to offer insight
and empathy.
With Little Dish we wanted to let mums
know we knew they had a tough job but could
offer a way of making it fractionally less tough.

Mama Mio produces skin cream that helps
make stretch marks less likely. It sounds a
little fantastic, so we set out to normalise it.

The planners came up with a great insight: people who
buy a Volkswagen Sharan (frankly a van with
windows cut into it) are trading down from very high
end cars. But they do it for the good of their family.

Urban Fresh Fruit wanted to get kids
to consider eating dried fruit as a snack.

LUXURY

LUxURY BRANDS HAVE THE MOST TO LOSE BY ADVERTISING.
Here are some ways to minimise the risk.

Don’t spread your bets, put your money on one thing.
e.g.
AD: Dave Dye, CW: Tim Delaney Agency: Leagas Delaney
Ten years ago Patek Phillipe put its
money on ‘heirloom’. They stuck with
it and are now reaping the rewards.

Don’t sell, make people want to buy.
e.g.
AD & CW: Dave Dye, Agency: CDD
This is a Sir John Hegarty quote.
I’m using it because it’s true.
I’m crediting him because he’s
a Knight of the Realm.
You don’t want to mess with those
guys, you don’t know
what secret powers they have.

Avoid the language and behaviour of advertising.
e.g.
With Luca Loco, Paul Silburn and I made fun of the very advertising clichés you should avoid.
AD: Dave Dye, CW: Paul Silburn

Being fashionable today is a sure way to guarantee
you’ll be unfashionable tomorrow.
e.g.
AD: Dave Dye, CW: Sean Doyle, Agency: BMP/DDB
Dress appropriately,
otherwise your brand
could come across like
a Prada clad uncle going
through a midlife crisis.

‘Wasted’ space sends out a clear signal of luxury.
e.g.
AD:Dave Dye, CW: Sean Doyle, Agency: Legas Delaney
As a rule of thumb companies who sell on
price, like supermarkets, fill every millimetre
of space; companies who sell on brand
demonstrate they can afford not to.

If your ad feels intelligent so will its reader.
e.g.
Sometimes making messages as easy to grasp
as possible can make the message feel dumb.
The Economist has spent years making
messages harder to grasp – and to great effect.
AD: Dave Dye, CW: Sean Doyle, Agency: AMV/BBDO

Show your audience you know who they are.
e.g.
In certain categories, like sportswear, empathy can be a more powerful selling tool than selling.
AD & CW Dave Dye, Agency: Leagas Delaney

The fewer elements, the more confident the page.
e.g.
Confidence is crucial to luxury brands, they shouldn’t try to justify their price with rational argument.
AD: Dave Dye, CW: Sean Doyle, Agency: Leagas Delaney

MYERS BRIGGS

Take a look at the picture on the right for a few seconds.
What do you see?

If your answer was along the lines of ‘Venice/Venice’s Grand
Canal’, then the Myers Briggs personality test would have you
down as an ‘N’.
If it was more like, ‘two church domes, six or seven boats, a mix
of sky and clouds, several men pointing’, then you’d be an ‘S’.
It’s all to do with how you prefer to take in information:
– some of us like to roll up the individual details, to quickly form
an overall concept
– others prefer to stay on the individual details themselves
So what’s this got to do with advertising?
Well, 3 out of 4 of the UK population are ‘S’.
So when first shown a piece of advertising they will focus on the
specific details, not the overall concept.
Which probably explains why concept testing can feel like pulling
teeth. Or why ads often get remembered more for specific details
than their overall messages.
We think the insights from Myers Briggs can teach us a lot
about how to make communications more effective; and
regularly consult over new campaign ideas with a trained Myers
Briggs facilitator.
He always ends with the same piece of advice.
“Remember, it’s an ‘S’ preference world. You big picture admen
just live in it…”
Some brands could target by Myers Briggs preference type:
lastminute.com
‘P’ preference people like to keep all options open. Natural audience for lastminute.com?
While ‘J’ preference likes to get everything organised well in advance.
So the best audience to take advantage of the early bird discounts on Expedia?
‘S’ preference folk love DIY. And “does what it says on the tin” nails their world view.

NEW!

It’s estimated that twenty-six new fragrances are launched
globally every week.
New it seems, is king.
But what happens if you are old?
Really old?
The Official Perfumer to the Court of Queen Victoria old?
You don’t try to pretend you’re the new kid on the block, you
embrace your Victorian roots.
It’s not only differentiating but, mixed with a more knowing
modern sensibility, it’s very attractive.

An ad to launch a new fragrance – Juniper Sling. (It’s all fiction.)
…Lindberg even popped over for a case…
… Juniper Sling was linked to “The Perverse Pimlico Petting Parties’… …it was even used as a defence by a straying husband…
The term ‘flappers’ came from ladies flapping their hands in order
to waft Juniper Sling in the direction of the nearest male…
…it featured heavily in Friz Spiegel’s infamous Pinkie Plum cartoon…
… the bob haircut was invented to prevent anything
getting between Juniper Sling and a guy/gal…
…obviously the Government was forced to act… MVO. Brace yourself. Juniper Sling. It’s back.
…it was used to encourage
pandas to mate in ‘27…

The answer to most global communication
problems - be visual and avoid language.
Well, we used lots of language, in fact we used lots
of very English language in its most arcane form.
We dusted down words like ‘forthwith’ and ‘doth’.
The work went down well from Russia to Singapore,
because they were buying a bottle of England.

The posters were used to refresh the
store fronts regularly. A very
inexpensive way to signal change.

We could have just printed “Penhaligon’s store opening soon”,
but that didn’t feel like it would build anticipation or give a
flavour of this most English of brands in this Singaporean mall.

Embracing Penhaligon’s heritage helped us
make their discount vouchers very distinctive.

A mistletoe substitute for
Christmas; instead of pine, it
smells of Blenheim Bouquet.

ORGANISING

Before anything’s communicated anywhere, we first nail the
Organising Idea.
(Some call this the Big Idea – but we’re of the ‘it’s not the size,
it’s what you do with it’ school.)
The difference between an Organising Idea and a traditional
brand idea is that a good Organising Idea can guide the brand’s
behaviour in every channel it operates in - from the presentation
of its annual general meeting to the tone of its everyday tweeting.
According to a recent research study by Forbes Insights,
“marketing’s biggest challenge appears to be presenting a
consistent, unified brand across multiple touchpoints”.
If so, the Organising Idea is DHM’s solution to that challenge.
PR
Advertising
Events
Trade
Relations
Customer
Loyalty
Organising Idea
Sponsorships
Website
Customer Loyalty
Advertising
Trade Relations
PR
Events
Partnerships
Partnerships
Direct Marketing
Direct Marketing
Website
Sponsorships

The truth inside
The organising idea
The murmur outside
The process we use to get to the Organising Idea is a simple one.
We start on the inside, searching for the defining truth within the
company or brand that makes it special.
Next we put our ear to the ground, listening out for the consumer
murmur bubbling up that this truth can most powerfully satisfy.
A gentle shake of the two and the Organising Idea is ready…

Once the Organising Idea has been agreed we convert it into
a strategy card.
Because if your strategy won’t fit onto a credit card, it’s probably
not simple enough…
Truth inside
Better cars through better thinking.
Organising Idea
Think about it.
Volkswagen
We think about it – and deliver
a better solution.
Consumer
If you were to think about it – you’d
choose a Volkswagen.
Brand Tone
Provocative. Intelligent.
Human. Honest.
Brand Mission: To be the
UK’s best loved honey brand
Brand Values: Optimism,
Inclusivity, Simplicity, Generosity
Brand Personality: Sunny,
Friendly, Big Hearted, Fun
Organising Idea:
Sweet by nature
Target
House hunters (directly)
Estate agents (indirectly)
Objective
Elevate Rightmove to
‘pillar brand’ status
Drive site traffic agent enquiries
Organising Idea
Britain moves at Rightmove
Support
• 3 in 5 house buyers use Rightmove
• 1 in 4 first see their new home
on Rightmove
• Over 1 million properties viewable
on Rightmove
TargeT
The everyday folk who keep America
running everyday.
ObjecTive
Complete the transformation of Dunkin’
from morning bakery to all day ‘fuel stop’.
Organising idea
America runs on Dunkin’.
suppOrT
A full range of drinks and snacks to keep
your engine running on full all day.

PhONES

Vertu had established a strong reputation for rational elements
(such as quality of materials and manufacture) and was looking
to now deepen the emotional connection between the brand and
its users.
So we were tasked with developing a simple, globally meaningful,
creative vehicle which would reinforce the intimacy and intensity
of each user’s relationship with his or her phone. It was the
moment of first holding a Vertu that did most to convert
prospects into believers; and, given the timeless association
of holding something tightly in one’s hand with devotion and
connection, it made sense to make this our creative focus.
And if the hands doing the holding could belong to some of the
world’s highest achievers, admired by our prospects across the
globe, then so much the better…
Our campaign contributed to Vertu worldwide sales rising 50%
year-on-year in 2010.

Intelligent comments can sometimes kill a brand.
It’s hard to leave things out, but “less is more” is a cliché for
a good reason.
“ I love it.
Just one thing, could we see more of her face?
After all we want people to recognise her.”
“ Ooh… didn’t we have any happier pictures?
Perhaps we should put ‘Michelle’ in front of
‘ Yeoh’, just to be on the safe side?
We want people to know it’s her.”
“ Excellent.
Although… isn’t the phone a little hard to see?
What do you think about a packshot?
Elegantly done of course!
How do you feel about having a colour picture?
“ I had a bit of a panic last night… what if someone
sees the ad, loves the phone but doesn’t know
where to buy one? Aren’t we missing a trick?”
“ I’m more comfortable with that.
Oh and just one thing, it’s a bit silly but I’ll say it
anyway... Should we just say “Michelle Yeoh
loves her Vertu phone.”
Then support it with why she loves it?
We are fortunate to have lots of good things to
say about the phone after all.”
“Perfect.”
“ I wouldn’t change a thing.
Thanks guys.”

QUESTION

“I’ve been given hundreds of free poster sites, what should I do?”
Autism File magazine founder Polly Tommey spoke to us
passionately for hours about the misconceptions, treatments
and difficulties related to autism. The issues were quite complex
and nothing seemed concise enough to translate to posters.
Almost in exasperation she then told us that her dream would be
to speak to the Government as it was wasting lots of money on
short term solutions.
“How much is lots?”
“Millions!”
“How many millions?”
“Last estimate was 508”.
We decided to use the posters as an open letter to Gordon
Brown offering to save him hundreds of millions of pounds. Let’s
not hector him, that’s easy to ignore, let’s be very polite, human
and understanding. Like Polly.
Also, let’s not say who it’s from. Then we have an angle to
generate PR. ‘Who is this Polly and how is she going to save all
that money?’
Although this was aimed at a single person – ‘Private Media’ –
it was important to let him know everybody would see it –
‘Public Media’. (See ‘V’ for more).

The message

The reminder

The result

The coverage
I mentioned all this
to Gordon Brown when
I met him, and he was
incredibly supportive.
In fact, our meeting
couldn’t have been
any better.
He loved the billboard
campaign and said it
was ‘genius’.
Polly Tommey

RESONANCE

What drove millions around the world to weep for a princess
they’d never met?
How did a silent cowboy turn an also-ran into the world’s bestselling
cigarette?
And why did a German octopus become an international icon?
For Carl Jung, the answer would have been simple.
Archetypes.
Each character tapped into an archetypal identity that resonates
deeply inside all humans, of whatever culture, era or background.
At DHM we’re big fans of archetyping as a branding tool –
particularly for getting clients talking about their brands in initial
meetings or as an engaging brainstorm device at off-sites.
The great thing about archetyping is that it enforces singlemindedness.
If you want your brand to enjoy an archetypal
identity, you have to be disciplined enough to choose just one.
So archetypes are the antidote to ‘yetis’ (you know, those brands
that are ‘mature yet dynamic’, ‘intense yet calm’, etc.) and that
has to be a good thing.
We’re lucky enough to count among our clients a Magician, a
Jester, a Regular Guy, a Lover, a Ruler, an Innocent, an Explorer,
and a couple of Sages.
Now for the other four…
The
Ruler
The
Jester
The
Hero
The
Innocent
The
Caregiver
The
Regular
Guy
The
Outlaw
The
Explorer
The
Creator
The
Lover
The
Magician
The
Sage

The Regular Guy
The Innocent
The Jester

STUNT

If you have a very limited budget, building your communications
platform around a stunt can be a great way to stretch it.
With Ginger Joe alcoholic ginger beer, the bullseye for our target
audience was the skinny-jeaned, endamame-munching, opinionformers
who work around Silicon Roundabout – or Old Street
roundabout to you and me.
We took the biggest poster site in the area and built a 70 foot
ginger moustache on it.
It was unbranded.
(We put a QR code on it for the very curious.)
Before long, blogs and Twitter began buzzing with questions
and pictures of this oddity that had turned up on their turf.
Two weeks later we ran a campaign of 10 second TV ads in which
people who had donated hair to the giant ’tache told their
stories. These ranged from a man pointing at a square ginger
bald patch on his chest – “I donated the love rug” – to a confused
lady who “thought it had to be eyebrows”.
The ad directed viewers to Ginger Joe’s Facebook page to see
more donors and to sample the product for free.
Ginger Joe’s Facebook profile went from under 200 before
the campaign started to over 30,000 within the first month.
(20,000 of those sampling the product.)

Ginger Joe TV. 10” – “My Bit” “That bit… …that bit’s mine.” FVO: “See more from Ginger Joe on the Facebook”
Ginger Joe TV. 10” – “Eyebrows” “But I was told it had to be eyebrows.”
Ginger Joe TV. 10” – “Curly Ones” “I did donate, yeah… …but it’s weird, I don’t see any curly ones.”
FVO: “See more from Ginger Joe on the Facebook”
FVO: “See more from Ginger Joe on the Facebook”

Ginger Joe TV. 10” – “Clippings” “So I got these from my girlfriend… …when she was asleep.”
Ginger Joe TV. 10” – “Love Rug” “My wife tried to stop me…
…but I donated The Love Rug.”
Ginger Joe TV. 10” – “Cat” “Oh I didn’t donate… … Mr. Fritto Misto did.”
FVO: “See more from Ginger Joe on the Facebook”
FVO: “See more from Ginger Joe on the Facebook”
FVO: “See more from Ginger Joe on the Facebook”

ThINKING

“Fuel for ideas”
Its reputation for delivering information and analysis had long
made The Economist one of the first names on the plan for
‘serious’ advertisers like banks and corporates. But it was also
limiting its appeal to ‘indulgence’ brands which felt the
environment (and audience) too earnest for their messages.
In response, The Economist’s global trade comms team had
launched an initiative to reposition the magazine’s readers as
“The Ideas People” – creative, not just analytic, individuals. DHM’s
task was to carry that message to media planners and buyers
in the UK, utilising whatever channels we thought best.
Our take was that the best way under a sceptical audience’s radar
was to flatter their own creativity, implying that they were just as
imaginative, lateral and original as the “Ideas People” we were
ostensibly informing them about…

Ideal for people who think up lots of ideas, a pad with
pre-printed patent office forms on the back of each sheet.

UNPAID

Working for free.
It’s a weird concept, especially to our Finance Director. But lots of
pennyless people ask for favours and we like doing what we do.
Greenpeace wanted to run an ad
in the business section to warn
investors of the financial risks
involved in Arctic oil exploration.

Tim Delaney. 1987
Tim Delaney. 1989
25 years of the world’s best
agencies in one place.
LUERZER’S ARCHIVE ONLINE
BBH. 2006
BBH. 1999
BBH - 285x205.indd 1 14/04/2011 11:50

25 years of the world’s best
art directors in one place.
LUERZER’S ARCHIVE ONLINE
Paul Belford. 1998
Paul Belford. 2004
BELFORD - 285x205.indd 1 14/04/2011 11:51
Nadav Kander. 1993
Nadav Kander. 1999

Luerzers 60” film – ‘Glazer’

This was for a website that had digitised 1000’s of old ads.
The issue was – how to make it relevant to people who weren’t
even born when the ads originally ran? You tell them they can
now check out the stuff that influenced the people they aspire to be.

We heard that there had been letters and calls by people
feeling offended as if we were talking to them and calling
them a jerk, instead of re-running the first ad again to try
and sell the remaining tickets we wrote this as a response.

Therapy Short Film Festival Cinema. 40” – “The Green Inch”
Music of appropriate genre matches titles throughout.

VERSUS

Public vs Private Media
A few years back the death of broadcast advertising was
confidently being forecast. Why buy many to reach a few, when
new tools meant you could now talk only with those you actually
wanted to?
But just as the coffin was being prepared, data came in from the
world of neuroscience showing why broadcast had been worth it
all along. Man, it shows, is not an island, but ‘the social animal’,
basing decisions as much on the assumed opinions of others as
the individual needs of the self.
This ushers in an exciting new era for communications planning,
where each channel can now be asked only to perform the
specific role in the overall psychological mix that it does best.
Broadcast, or ‘public’ channels – ones, like TV and outdoor, that
you know as you consume others are too – can concentrate on
the socialisation part, suggesting that others will think well of
you if you buy this brand.
And the more narrowcast, or ‘private’ channels - like targeted
e-mails – can then exploit that ‘air cover’ to advance specific
arguments as to why it’s right for you.
What’s the right balance? Depends on what you’re selling.
For luxury brands, where status is the driver, an emphasis on
‘public’ channels makes sense.
While for, say, OTC medicine – where what matters is whether
it works for you – ‘private’ ones should be over-weighted.
All
Brands
Luxury
Brands
Key: Public media Private media
OTC
Medication Brands

WhISKY

How did The Macallan rise from niche status to become, by 2010,
the world’s second best-selling single malt?
By a simple, but game-changing, piece of reframing.
The brand was withdrawn from the malt whisky category.
From now on it was to be a member of the luxury category.
That just happened to be a malt whisky.
So instead of worrying about Glenfiddich or Glenlivet, the
marketing question now became ‘What would Gucci do?’
This opened up an exciting new sandbox for us to play in - from
creating prestigious global photography events to running some
suitably understated, super-confident advertising.

XENOPhOBIC?

International advertising awards used to come in a variety of
flavours. The Americans, for example, liked funny, the
Singaporeans liked crazy, the Japanese preferred the minimal.
Then one day, they decided that if they made their awards
scheme global, like Cannes, they could receive entries from all
over the world.
Kerching! Kerching! Kerching!
So, to encourage that, they got jurors from all over the world,
because that way the jurors helped spread the word.
The problem became that the same jurors went from awards
scheme to awards scheme, awarding virtually the same work.
All schemes lost their idiosyncracies, merging into one big
Cannes-like mass.
We needed to create an anti-global argument to celebrate
The Creative Circle’s Britishness.
It not only survived, it thrived.

First we needed to put our case:

The DVD case
(It’s possible you may not even remember
what a DVD was by the time you read this.)

YEOVIL

There’s an issue that arises when a company sponsors all the local
sports teams – how do you make your marketing relevant to all
of them?
First you go in search of what unites them.
Then you get the answer: nothing!
They hate each others’ guts.
So most then put out a generic message like ‘Good luck guys!”
But surely the whole point of sponsorship is to build a deeper
connection? Those kinds of generic messages come over like
you’ve bumped into someone in the street and tried to disguise
the fact that you can’t remember their name by saying ‘Hi… chum!’
It repels rather than attracts.
We felt the way to make the most of the sponsorships and make
fans feel closer to their clubs was to prove we knew them.
This meant our creative teams researching and researching.
We gave the campaign a consistent framework, but made the
contents of the programmes bespoke.
It paid off.
Fans stole the posters, the clubs asked for copies to put up and
Blackthorn heard from fans saying how much they liked them.
please drink responsibly.
Come on Pirates! Let’s make it a season to remember.

please drink responsibly.
Come on Glovers! Let’s make it a season to remember.

please drink responsibly.
Come on Robins! Let’s make it a season to remember.

please drink responsibly.
Come on Robins! Let’s make it a season to remember.

please drink responsibly.
Come on Reds! Let’s make it a season to remember.

‘ZIDER’

The west country was in revolt.
Someone had changed the recipe of their beloved Blackthorn to
better suit the delicate palate of those London types.
Triggering a sales boycott, a 2,000 strong Facebook protest
group – and a PR headache for the brand’s owners.
In the autumn of 2009 they decided to bring back the original
and asked DHM to mastermind the presentation of its return.
Our counsel was to come clean about mistakes made and treat
the Facebook rebels like brand heroes rather than enemies.
We privately told them the good news first, so they would
positively spread the word and then used “public media” to
celebrate their courageous stand.
By the end of 2010 Blackthorn sales had risen 12% year on year.

THE END. You’re very diligent, this is is an unusually thick book. Why? We value consistency. We would take ‘good’ a a hundred percent of the time over ‘amazing’ occasionally and ‘poor’ the rest. Choosing an agency shouldn’t be a complete roll of the dice. A book this thick should give you a really good understanding of what DHM is all about. It’ll either reassure you – or save you a trip.
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