I have a horribly overactive imagination. This is unhelpful in terms of my day-to-day life, but an absolute bonus when it comes to thinking up marketing campaigns.
I’ve created campaigns for enterprises, SMEs and start-ups, across lots of sectors – from property to logistics, retail to technology. Clients have included TalkTalk, M&S, Samsung and DHL.
FYI: As well as pristine copy, I can also do 6/10 art, and my scamps have graced dozens of pitch decks. It makes campaign-concepting a lot faster, and allows me to work as an all-in-one copywriter-and-art-director.
1. Here’s the messaging I created for Marks & Spencer Corporate Gifts’ Christmas campaign.
I also helped establish and define the personas you see here, by overseeing workshops with M&S stakeholders.
The campaign was wildly successful, with over £4m revenue generated – a 60% YoY increase – and a weighty 1,375% ROI.
Above: Campaign messaging framework
Above: Campaign messaging framework
Above: Campaign messaging framework
Above: Campaign messaging framework
2. Here’s a campaign I devised for ClassVR.
This was a 2023 campaign I devised for ClassVR, an edtech product that brings affordable, accessible VR learning to classrooms. This campaign was designed to increase ClassVR sales to schools in the US, and particularly to schools in economically disadvantaged areas.
I worked on every aspect of the campaign, from strapline and messaging to visual concepting and content planning.
Above: From initial proposal deck
Above: From initial proposal deck
Above: From initial proposal deck
Above: Campaign-themed collateral distributed at trade shows – postcards and luggage tags
Above: Campaign on display at international edtech trade show
Above: Whitepaper devised and written as part of Take Them There campaign – click to read in full
3. This is a campaign I created for TalkTalk Business.
TalkTalk Business wanted a campaign that could cut through in a very samey marketplace. With telecoms so ferociously competitive, there are often only minor differences in the products, services or packages offered by competing providers.
Following an intensive insights process, I found an angle that TalkTalk Business could truly own. It was a defiant vote of confidence in UK business, at a time when doomsayers were predicting a deep recession and a decline in the UK’s global standing.
Below are a few slides from the campaign deck.
Above: From detailed campaign plan
Above: From detailed campaign plan
Above: From detailed campaign plan
Above: From detailed campaign plan
Above: Example email headers, including sector-specific variant
4. Next, some creative routes I mapped out for ride-sharing app Bolt.
This multichannel campaign was intended to promote Bolt’s B2B offer.
Above: From initial pitch deck
Above: From initial pitch deck
Above: From initial pitch deck
Above: From initial pitch deck
Above: From initial pitch deck
Above: From initial pitch deck
Above: From initial pitch deck
Above: From initial pitch deck
Above: From initial pitch deck
Above: From initial pitch deck
Above: From initial pitch deck
Above: From initial pitch deck
Above: From initial pitch deck
Above: From initial pitch deck
Above: From initial pitch deck
Above: From initial pitch deck
Above: From initial pitch deck
5. Finally, some eccentric bits.
This deck contains my ad-making at its most untethered.
School of Thought is an annual, eight-week course for creatives looking to level-up their skills.
Each week, 12 of us visited a different Manchester-based agency, including TBWA\MCR, McCann and BBC Creative.
On Monday, that week’s agency would set a brief – ‘sell Krispy Kreme to teenagers’, for example. On Thursday – 72 hours later – we presented our responses. The deck below contains all eight of my ideas.
I’ll devise an on-target campaign for you, too. All you have to do is ask!
Joe Madden Copywriter 