The Great Escape

If it’s true that every advertising copywriter is a frustrated novelist at heart it is surprising that so few make the leap into the literary world. This is possibly a reflection on the writing abilities of the average copywriter; or perhaps it’s due to the fact that these days, copywriters are seldom called upon to actually write any copy.

One who has made it out into the real world to put his talents to better use is our very own Malcolm Price. Malcolm is a hugely talented writer who now boasts three successful novels to his name, with a fourth about to be published.

I say ‘our very own’ as Malcolm was, before his move to the rarefied world of literature, once part of the Naïve Network’s vast pool of talent.

So when we got the chance last week to hear the man himself do a live reading at the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok we jumped at the opportunity. Apart from the free wine, which is always guaranteed to pique our interest, we were looking forward to picking up some tips on how we too might escape the ad world and join the grown ups.

So we trooped into the Author’s wing of the Oriental to mingle with the throng of ‘fans’ who had turned up to see Bangkok’s finest expatriate writer in residence. (I can say this with confidence having read some of the work of Bangkok’s other feted expat writers in residence).

With the ghosts of Maugham, Conrad and Green possibly still inhabiting the suites upstairs, it must have been somewhat daunting for our old copywriting mate to hold forth on the charms and idiosyncrasies of Aberystwyth – the unlikely setting for his series of novels featuring private eye Louis Knight – in such venerable surroundings. However he pulled it off superbly and held the audience spellbound for an hour and a half with a mixture of self-depreciating humor and personal anecdotes. Even his ultra- cynical former adland colleagues were impressed.

Although, if truth be told, we were far more impressed by the female groupies who hung on the author’s every word and who rushed to the stage at the end of the talk to get their book signed by the man himself. Just one of the perks of fame I suppose.

For more on Malcolm’s books click here

Do Not Adjust Your Set We Are Still Here.

After a long hiatus the NN blog is back! This is in response to a comment from a reader (our first) who, quite rightly, pointed out that things have been a little quiet around here.

I would like to say this was because the Naïve bloggers were away joining the hordes of agency creatives who descended on Cannes last month. But unfortunately the Network’s budget doesn’t stretch to anything more than a weekend in Pattaya at the moment. Instead we, and some of our freelancers, have been hard at work covering for the multitude of freeloaders who, at their agency’s expense, trooped off to bask in the reflected glory and sunshine of Cannes. So many Asian creatives are now attending this event that many big agency creative departments are seriously stretched at this time of year. Stretched with real work that is and not the stuff you’re likely to see on the Croisette. And since it takes most of them a week to recover from the drugs and the booze consumed they are effectively out of action for 3 weeks!

In fact we are thinking of marketing our services to agencies whose ranks are depleted by these events: ‘Need some cover while your boys (&girls) are sunning themselves and getting blotto at your expense?’ would be the gist of the message. And given the number of award shows’ now proliferating we think the potential is huge.