Book crits in London Round 2

So this was much more recent, after 5 days in London, we returned on Tuesday, with a lot of work to do! The difficulty is finding the balance between working on our London book and our University book, yes sadly they differ tremendously! Evidently course requirements are not the same as industry requirements.
Core similarities, big ideas, great execution, interesting, different and clear communication.
So London town feedback?
Different book, different people. To name drop, one Graham Fink. Yes a fantastic name to see, but we had a little bit of luck that helped us get our feet in his door. Good old Comic Relief teamed up with Creative Review and Graham Fink, with the opportunity to win a 30 minute book crit with Fink himself! 'Wow, what an opportunity that would be' Anna and I thought, might as well enter, just on the off chance. Maybe our luck was in, evidently so!

So many opinions already cast upon the man, having done our research, Anna and I again, were pleasantly surprised with how nice he was. (Well in comparison to what we'd be imagining from reviews, not saying he's a pussycat...although he did have a fake cat curled up on his sofa, which took me by surprise!)
Anyway lessons from meeting the ECD of M&C Saatchi... offer up adverts with clear facts and benefits about each product you're advertising. Strive for something he hasn't seen before, much easier said than done. Know your stuff about him and Dave Trott. He loves Dave Trott. Obviously his own hero within the industry. Read up on his blog, he probably will mention it. Don't be disheartened by bad feedback, just come back stronger and persevere. Our most positive feedback ranged from 'interesting' to 'now you've explained it I don't mind it' to 'no'.
Such a fantastic and surreal experience to have gone through so early into our career, but we'd definitely want to do it again.

We saw various other teams on our visit, all slightly less daunting than Fink, not surprisingly. Again it's just fantastic to get a feel for all the different agencies, they all give off completely different vibes and it really is about personal preference and personalities in the end, some agencies, we're not too keen on, will be others favourites. Which is what I personally think is one of the best parts of advertising, if you want it enough, there really is something for everyone.

So if anyone we've seen in London so far is reading this, I'm sure we will have thanked you already, or at least I hope we have... but to show our appreciation for the time you set aside to see us, thank you so much, and you haven't heard the last from us!

B