Writing about brands: a living notebook of analysis
This is my living notebook: copywriting, campaigns and the connections in between. It began at Kent Business School, where I started pairing strategic thinking with a more personal way of writing about case studies.
I explore the campaign, describe what caught my attention – the words, imagery, tone, creative idea or relationship with its audience – and share my own interpretation in plain language, not corporate jargon.
Each piece starts with a simple question: why do some brands stay with us long after the advert has disappeared?
Why do some brands stay with us after the advert has disappeared?
I’m not here to guess at results I can’t see. Instead, I stay close to the work itself: what the campaign seems to be trying to do, what feels distinctive, how the copy and creative idea work together, and what another brand or copywriter might learn from it.
Ink & Insights
Messages, Meaning & Misfires: a living notebook of brand analysis
What I think is not doing well
03 / The misfire
But many people were unsettled by the way the idea played out. The message talked about helping women feel comfortable in their bodies, yet the bottles seemed to ask women to match themselves to a particular product shape. Instead of feeling seen, some people felt reduced to packaging.
Beauty doesn’t come in one shape. There is no one shape to beauty. And no one way to be you.
Dove – When a good idea meets a complicated message
01 / Why this campaign
I first saw Dove’s 2017 Real Beauty Bottles campaign on social media, where the unusual bottle shapes sparked a mix of humour, curiosity and confusion. The idea was clear enough: a woman doesn’t have to be transformed by make-up, lighting and retouching into an airbrushed version of herself.
04 / What another brand could learn
The wider lesson is that a brand cannot control what its message means to the people who receive it. Good intentions are not enough. People are not props for an idea. The idea has to work for the audience, not just the brand.
When a campaign talks about real beauty, it has to remember that real people are listening – and they’ll decide what the message really means.
02 / Explore the campaign
This campaign is really trying to show that Dove believes bodies don’t have to fit one narrow ideal to be beautiful. The different bottle shapes were meant to celebrate difference and individuality.
Copywriting takeaway: if you’re going to talk about “real beauty”, remember that real people are listening – and they’ll decide what your words really mean.
01 / Why this campaign
Apple – Letting the work do the talking
I first came across this Apple work as part of a wider push to remind people why the Mac still matters. It wasn’t just another product spot – it felt like a quiet argument for a way of working.
03 / What it doing well
What this campaign does well is resist the urge to tell people the camera is brilliant. Instead, Apple shows photos taken with it. The audience can see the result and decide for themselves.
04 / The blueprint
“Shot on iPhone” is a simple idea that tells you exactly what the campaign is about. The photos act as credible evidence: they demonstrate the camera’s capabilities instead of relying on a claim. People see creativity and possibility, not just a piece of technology.
02 / What caught my attention
What attracted me was that the work leads with the image, not the explanation. The shot on an iPhone is the proof. You see the quality and design before you read the copy, and the audience gets to judge the result for itself.
05 / What another brand could learn
For other brands, the copywriting lesson is simple: don’t just tell people what a product can do. Show them what it makes possible, and let the audience feel the difference for themselves.
OctoNation — Give the audience a role in the story
I first came across OctoNation while looking for educational online spaces that might interest my daughter. What drew me in was the colour, the octopuses themselves and the sense that this was more than a science account – it felt like a place to belong.
01 / Why this campaign
What OctoNation teaches about copywriting is that education doesn’t have to begin with a lecture. By inviting people to be curious, it creates a personal route into a bigger story. The lesson is simple: don’t just tell people why something matters. Give them a reason to care.
03 / What it is doing well
04 / The blueprint
05 / What another brand could learn
For other brands, the copywriting lesson is simple: don’t just tell people why something matters. Give them a reason to care. Community-led brands work when the audience is not just watching — they are joining in.
02 / Explore the campaign
What caught my attention was the way OctoNation turns curiosity into participation. People can submit drawings and writing, join a members area and feel part of something that feels safe and welcoming online. I was drawn to the wonder of octopuses – their visual movement, the way they can camouflage, the sense that there is always more to discover.
Strategy: turn education into participation. Marine conservation made curious and social. Creative hooks: captions inviting participation, recurring community content, and email journeys built on wonder.
01 / Why this campaign
Farmdrop – When a good story meets a hard reality
I first noticed Farmdrop on posters in the Underground. In 2018 it felt like a unique concept: food fresh from the farm, delivered to people like me living in towns where the main options were the usual supermarkets.
03 / What it's doing well
Farmdrop is strongest when it turns its values into something people can taste, feel and enjoy – making ethical food shopping feel like a pleasure, not a responsibility.
04 / The blueprint
It falls short when the appeal of its values and advertising runs ahead of the practical realities of making a business work. The brand promise is compelling, but it still has to meet the harder realities of price, convenience and commercial sustainability.
06 / Reflection
A brand can make people believe in an idea, but the business behind it has to deliver on that belief. Farmdrop’s collapse doesn’t prove the advertising failed; it shows that powerful storytelling and a worthwhile purpose cannot, on their own, guarantee a viable business. In the end, every bold promise has to meet proof in the way the service actually works.
02 / What caught my attention
What caught my attention was the tone. Food should taste good. Producers deserve a fairer deal. Shopping could do some good. Customers could buy food they enjoyed while supporting independent producers and more sustainable practices. That sense of “doing the right thing” mattered to me, especially when I was building the hampers.
05 / Creative recommendations
Creative recommendations (from a copywriter’s view): write reliability into the headline; use proof points early; reduce overclaiming; add reassurance copy around delivery and availability; and turn the supply chain into content.
Copywriting takeaway: a strong promise is only as good as the proof that sits behind it.
Virgin Atlantic — A promise of belonging at 30,000 feet
01 / Why this campaign
I was drawn to this Virgin Atlantic work because of how real the crew felt in the images. Coming after the pandemic, it stylised that “free to be ourselves” feeling into air travel again. Being different is part of what makes the brand distinctive.
03 / What it's doing well
This campaign is strongest when it turns individuality from an abstract brand value into something people can see, feel and experience through its people, music and actions.
04 / The blueprint
“See the world differently” works because it’s anchored in what we see on screen: a crew and a cabin that look and feel different from the usual airline template. The line doesn’t have to explain everything – it frames what we’re already noticing.
02 / What caught my attention
What caught my attention was the charisma of the campaign – the crew, the styling, the music choice of “I Am What I Am”, and the mix of different styles and identities. It feels playful rather than like a corporate statement, and it offers a sense of belonging at a time when that felt more important than ever.
05 / What another brand could learn
For other brands, the copywriting lesson is clear: don’t just tell people what a brand stands for. Show them the words, images and stories that let them experience it for themselves.
