Wadds' PR Blog » Dick Powell

#creativeapprentice IV

Wadds — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 09:51:23 +0000

Now we are going to break off into groups and brainstorm a live new business opportunity with Alice Hunter from Branded. Before that, we are reviewing what what we’ve learnt and how we can weave it into our day to day practice.

Our thanks to Richard Williams, Dick Powell and Ant Lucas for some thought-provoking insight.

And thanks to Wadds, of course. I will now pass your blog back to you, hopefully unscathed.

(Follow #creativeapprentice for more updates from the team on our brainstorming session.)

#creativeapprentice II

Wadds — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 09:45:21 +0000

Ok, so Wadds leaves me in charge and I make a total balls up of it! I managed to copy my third post over my second post. Sigh. This is what the second one said…

Next to speak is the lovely Dick Powell, of SeymourPowell. His is, incidentally, also the Creative Director of the Loewy Group. Dick is giving us his 10 tips on creativity.

I managed to note down 11 tips. I think I must have made one up. But they all sound good, so I think I’ve got away with it…

His final thought which really should be our mantra when it comes to creativity – be different, be courageous and give yourself time.

Dick Powell named D&AD chairman

Wadds — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 21:26:03 +0000

Congratulations to Loewy colleague Dick Powell who has been appointed to the prestigious position of D&AD chairman. He succeeds Anthony Simonds-Gooding, who is stepping down from the role after 17 years.

Powell is co-founder of Seymourpowell with Richard Seymour. He’s a past President of D&AD and recipient of the D&AD President’s Award for his outstanding contribution to creativity.

D&AD represents the global creative, design and advertising communities. You will almost certainly have come across the work of its members in the recent weekly showcase feature in the Metro.

Here’s the announcement in full.

Pitch lessons from other marketing services sectors

Wadds — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 06:24:04 +0000

Payment-for-pitching is back on the agenda in the PR industry after PR Week reported last week that Confused.com offered to pay agencies for their ideas post pitch.

Mark Pinsent has done a great job of capturing the debate.

[…] the novelty of Confused.com’s action serves to highlight how happy the PR industry still is to give away what should be its most valuable assets: creative and strategic thinking. It really should stop, but when even the biggest, most successful firms haven’t got the bollocks to change things, it won’t.

Loewy Pitch Masterclass

By coincidence I was in the audience of Loewy agencies yesterday afternoon for a Pitch Masterclass at the Wellcome Institute in London.

We heard from a mix of agency and client speakers from inside and outside Loewy, including Branded, EMI Music, Seymourpowell, The Team and Wieden + Kennedy.

Payment-for-pitching

Richard Williams, founder of design agency Williams Murray Hamm said that his agency rarely pitches for work and only under well defined circumstances. When it does pitch, it charges for creative work.

It’s a bold approach. But as a result WMH has developed a phenomenal reputation and is a highly profitable business.

Dick Powell, founder of design and innovation company Seymourpowell said that his agency always charged for pitching.

Pitch porn

At the opposite end of the spectrum Neil Christie, managing director of independent ad agency Wieden & Kennedy shared some of his agency’s pitches for multi-million international accounts.

Like its contemporaries in the ad industry Wieden & Kennedy doesn’t charge for pitches but does have a rigorous selection criteria and process for work that it chases. As a result it has won four out five pieces of work that it has pitched this year.

Update: Wieden & Kennedy’s Neil Christie has blogged about the Pitch Masterclass.