The last thing you want to do is write 'ads'.

Tony gave me some great advice on Tuesday. And it hit me like some sort of revelation.

First of all, he gave me some simple tips which I took on board.

My book was too robotic; Brand - Proposition - Executions.

I was simply writing the strategy as a visual ad.

There was no 'vehicle' - no intermediary idea to carry the message.

It needed to be Brand - Proposition - Idea - Executions.

Then, crucially, he said that with it was clear that I was sitting down and trying to write 'ads'.

He said "The last thing you want to do is write ads"

And it hit me... I've been trying to imitate that which I admire, rather than originate.

I've been mimicking the kind of ads that find their way into Luerzer's Archive, the kind of ads you see on I Believe in Adv.

I've been doing things how I think they're done.

Big visual - logo - tag. Or some combination of the three. Product demos. Too formulaic.

At first I thought to myself: didn't VW get the strategy It's small, but it's also tough - and just write visual ads which dramatized it?

Adding the tag 'Small but tough'.

Wasn't the copy simply restating the strategy?

But then I realised: that kind of ad is not what Tony is looking for.

He wants to see something more.

Something that can take on a life of it's own.

Something that looks no ad he's seen before.

Something that looks like nothing he's seen before.

Take pretty much every idea that Droga5 have come up with. Each one looks like no idea they, or anyone else, has ever come up with before.

That's exactly why they picked up 2 black pencils last year.

That's what I need to be aiming for.

Like Vik Kayno, a current student at Watford, told me - I need to push my thinking, get it to the next level. I need to stop writing ads, and start having ideas.

What a revelation to have!

Anyway, I've got more work to do than ever.

Tony said there was such a thing as a third shot (even a fourth and fifth), but he'd let us know how we did next week.

In other news, Uber Agency got back to me. They said I could come in for a crit session with the CD and/or go on a one week placement sometime in April. So that's nice news. Also, the Saatchi & Saatchi facebook recruitment scheme is well under way and after two rounds I'm in the last 250 or so. Excited for the next brief.

There's light at the end of the tunnel.

Get Fresh Kicks

With one week to go before heading back to Watford I've made a few new ads to go in my book.

They're pretty much all visual.

An image, with a logo, and a tag line if needs be. Like the one above!

What's more, I've displayed each set along side a simple Luke Sullivan style 'Brand = Adjective' explanation. It expresses in words, quite literally, the benefit or selling point I've chosen to dramatize. Hopefully this will make my book much easier to present in the two minutes they give you at Watford.

In other news, I recently discovered that the top billing agency outside London is actually based here in Sheffield! Uber Agency have done work for Netto, DFS, Morphy Richards and some Xbox and Wii games. I dropped them a line, asking if they'd look at my book. They said yes, so I sent it over. Any feedback from them would be just greaaat as I've never sent my book out anywhere. Some respectable criticism is just what it needs. I might get in touch with an agency called digforfire too... they were ranked 5th and are also Sheffield based.

Finally, I did my first ever graffiti session today in my back garden on some wood stolen from a skip. It's slightly illegal to do graffiti, so I'll let you know now... I'm certainly not practicing so I can get up early one morning this week and let loose on this old building they're knocking down in town. Certainly not.

Heg out.