Need a fire starter? A fire fighter, maybe? A writer you can call upon anytime to help you impress? No client has ever worked with me just once – because I provide the talent, professionalism and responsiveness that wins trust.
I can ease the pressure you’re under with:
Great copy – compelling, customer-centric, tonally spot-on
Conceptual starters – everything from ‘safe’ to ‘out there’
Brand support – missions/visions, naming, tone of voice
Presentations – humanised, distilled, purpose-driven
Start small if you like and let me show you what I can do. Digital, print, motion, personal promo – let’s get those words working for you. Home-office-based in Sussex, ready to support you now.
Email me at: iammattcunningham@gmail.com Or at: responsecreative.mc@gmail.com
Or call me on: 07973-343060
Ask yourself “why them and not you?” I remember my mum teaching me that years ago as a way to pass a moral compass over any unkind or dismissive opinions I had of other people. It’s a deceptively simple yet powerful question, and the moment it came back to me I knew it had to be the question I posed on behalf of The Prince’s Trust.
The story that followed, the alternating experience of two deeply contrasting lives, began to tell itself after that. All I had to do was let my own childhood memories come flooding back: of feeling protected when I was small; of being encouraged as I grew up; of feeling frightened walking home alone (thankfully just a handful of times).
I remember one of the younger account handlers rushing in, beaming. “The client just called, all tearful”, she said. “They’ve just their biggest ever one-off donation from a couple who’d been moved by our ad.” Moments like that don’t come along often enough.
EVER WONDERED WHY THEM AND NOT YOU?
“My dad was always there to guide me” “My mum is on her own”
“It was a healthy place to grow up” “I’m frightened to walk home”
“I was always encouraged to do well” “People look at me like I’m scum”
“My older sister went to university” “My big brother is in prison”
“My school was one of the best” “I get bullied at school”
“I had sports and drama too” “There’s nothing to do around here”
“I always wanted to be a doctor” “I’m worried I’ll be homeless when I leave care”
Maybe I was being set up to fail. “Give the new kid the hardest client and he’ll know he’s arrived at a proper agency.” Whatever the truth, I still show this piece from early in my career because it tells a story about me and the standards I set for myself. That statement: “Be warned. They’re very snooty about copy.” Okay, I thought, let’s see.
I was nervous (all these years later I still feel nervous whenever I start a new project). But I was confident too, because I knew that I could and would make that copy superb. I worked at my desk. I worked on the train. I worked at home into the night until I knew what I had would leap high over whatever bar they’d raised.
It went through unamended. It turned out they weren’t snooty about copy after all. Neither am I. We just happened to share a passion for good writing – and a recognition that it takes a mix of talent, passion, and hours of bloody hard work sometimes to make it happen.
ET TU, AMERICA?
As world leaders converged on New York for the United Nations’ 50th birthday celebrations, The Economist ignored the hype to reveal an organisation suffering a severe mid-life crisis. America itself now heads the list of disgruntled nations either refusing to – or unable to – honour financial obligations to the UN. Would bureaucratic reform bring them back into the fold? Or are the divisions symptomatic of a more entrenched disillusion?
Assembled with clarity and precision, The Economist’s regular Special Reports are invaluable for keeping track of key events as they unfold.
It’s in the natural order of things. Designers getting fixated about their warm colour palettes and organic lines. Strategists obsessing over their hierarchy of needs and diagrams that look like Greek temples. Writers monologing about the changing meaning of ‘meme’ over the years. David Attenborough could make a programme about us.
We all need to work in silos sometimes, going deep on the things we do best. But it’s also true that much of the best stuff gets done when the borders between skillsets are blurred. That’s why I can often be found filtering the industry-speak out of strategy documents – humanising them – so the insights they contain can be better appreciated, or adding a back story and why-now rationale to design presentations to help those organic lines find their buyer.
“Can you capture the flavour of the brand in words?” (beer) “Show them what a homepage might say?” (coffee) “Attract sponsors to bring founding Ghanaian President, Kwame Nkrumah, back to life in hologram form?” (banking)
The requests are legion. The answer is always, “Definitely.” Even the time I was briefed with “Shit, we forgot to do a tone of voice!” – I found a way to make it happen.
ARTISTIC FLAIR
Crafted with bohemian passion for enigmatic style and sensuality, Aba Shawel (East Africa’s finest beer) is inspired by the energy and flamboyance of the Asmara neighbourhood that shares its name.
“One of the best writers I’ve ever worked with.”
Emma Perkins, Head of LEGO Agency, EMEA (formerly ECD, Mullenlowe Open)
"A powerful writer – an exceptional creative talent. He also has a natural wit which lends a lightness of touch to even the dullest subject matter."
Ken Muir, Founding Partner, Mohawk
“Great source of fresh ideas, really strong writer – I've pitched with Matt many times and wouldn't hesitate to recommend him."
John Foenander, Vice President, Publicis Sapient
"Matt is 80% creative, 80% planner – more valuable than just one guy. Super-smart, almost architectural copy that delivers on every KPI he's ever been thrown."
Penny Dinmore, Board Director, Iris
“Brilliant output … and always enjoyable to work with.”
Terhas Berhe, Owner and Founder, Brandcomms
"My fave 'creative guy' of all time ... (Really)."
Nikki Constantine, Strategic Marketing, Liberty Global
For clarity, this project pre-dates The Greatest Showman by several months. Clearly the thieving toerags caught sight of my work for Sky Movies and thought, “There’s an idea here, fellas. Get Jackman on the phone.” Or maybe they just shared my fascination for that golden age of jaw-dropping wide-eyed wonder. I’ll leave that one with you.
The brief, from one of Sky’s incumbent agencies, was to help it (the agency) break out of its box and gain some respect for being creative, not just shifting product. It was a big pressure pitch – the bread-and-butter client grumbling, jobs on the line – but also one with a clearly discernible eureka moment when, in a mock Victorian tone, I declared the Sky+ box to be ‘The Most Astonishing Time Machine.’
All the playful language and wonderful art direction that followed came easily after that – spanning everything from old-school door drops to leading-edge augmented reality. The moral of the story? Sometimes it pays to be subtle, and sometimes you have to give it the old razzle-dazzle to get noticed out there. After all, who doesn’t love a little melodrama once in a while?
THE MOST ASTONISHING TIME MACHINE
FANTASTICAL MOVING PICTURES BEFORE YOUR VERY EYES
OUR FESTIVE PHANTASMAGORIA
IMPOSSIBLE TRICKERY!
For a born-and-bred city slicker, I lead a fairly muddy life these days down in Sussex. So when the opportunity arose to write for Kramp, Europe’s No.1 agri-supplier, I actually knew some real-life farmers I could tap for insights. Livestock farmers think crop farmers have an easy life and spend half the year skiing, apparently. Who knew?
I suspect most farmers work a lot harder than that. Keeping all us supermarket-lubbers fed and watered comes with a degree of stress that ought to command more respect. And that’s the point really: respect. Copy should always be written with heartfelt respect for – and empathy with – its target audience. I think that’s what they were getting at when they said “It just needs some love.”
I got a buzz from engaging with a subject matter that was new to me. I had the experience to approach it with rigour and confidence, but also that first-time fascination that can make all the difference.
GENERATIONS OF WORKING THE SOIL
For 70 years, Kramp has made life easier for farmers. While you’ve worked the soil, watched the skies, tended the crops, we’ve been hard at work too, making sure you have all the technical equipment and support you need.
That’s how we’ve grown into Europe’s largest agri-supply specialist with more than 500,000 easy-to-order products, ready to deliver fast, to help you keep farming.
KRAMP | We Keep Farmers Farming
Agency: mReaction
“Why should we trust a rich white man in England to write about girls and young women far away in remote African communities?” The question was friendly but serious. “I’m not rich,” I almost replied. I’m glad I didn’t. Because let’s face it, I am rich, obscenely, stinkingly rich by any standard that was relevant to that conversation. Instead I said, “Because I’ll give my heart to it,” and thankfully they gave me the opportunity to prove it.
Since that first encounter with the Batonga Foundation, the trust has grown. I’ve now written their inspirational tone of voice guidelines; edited their newly rebranded website; written guidance scripts for their telethon presenters; and helped them to find myriad ways to connect with donors, mentors, and the young women themselves.
The much-beloved project of multi Grammy-award-winning singer, Angelique Kidjo, Batonga is a bold and courageous organisation working passionately to impact young lives for the better, and I feel privileged to be playing a small part in helping them.
WE ARE BATONGA
We are here to champion Africa’s hardest-to-reach girls. With the right knowledge and skills they will become agents of change in their own lives and communities. We want every girl in every village to have a burning belief that her life is important, that her ambitions can be realised, that she can take control of her own destiny.
“What time is it there? Are you wake?” An account team making my phone bing at 5am occasionally was one downside of spending months writing in the UK for Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways. Everything else – the quiet late afternoons, relaxing on Muslim holidays, seeing the world through the bright eyes of an airline born in just 2003 – all that, I enjoyed very much.
I was engaged initially to help them launch Etihad Guest – their new and multi-tiered loyalty programme (so multi-tiered, I suspect there’s a secret super-elite tier above platinum that hangs out in a lair inside a volcano – I hope there is, anyway). Regardless, they liked what I did and soon had me writing ‘destination inspiration’ for them too.
It’s interesting to package parts of the world for other parts of the world – to tap into the mores and sensitivities of contrasting cultures. And fun too to evoke more familiar attractions. Hampton Court, for example. As a child I got lost there once in the maze with my lived-through-the-Blitz Aunt Agnes. “Never mind, dear,” I remember her reassuring me, “We’ll pause for a wine gum, then try again.” I think that counts as ‘destination inspiration’ – don’t you?
WALK IN HENRY VIII’S FOOTSTEPS
For history lovers, nothing beats exploring the favourite royal residence of Tudor England’s notorious King Henry VIII. Stroll through the majestic State Rooms. See the vast kitchens that once fed his equally vast appetite. And to complete the perfect visit? What else other than losing yourself in the world-famous maze? Etihad Airways flies to London.
SAVOUR THE FLAVOURS OF BROADWAY MARKET
WASTE TIME BURNING THE CLOCKS IN BRIGHTON
Despite being an enduringly successful and highly regarded presence in the luxury hotel and resort sector, Macdonald Hotels – when I first got to know it – felt like a dour and slightly grumpy brand that could do with being chased around the lobby and tickled.
Could they be convinced to show a lighter side to cross-sell their range of specialist weekend getaways (murder mystery, romantic and golfing) and other leisure facilities to midweek business customers? “Within acceptable parameters,” apparently they could.
We managed to swamp their corridors, lobbies, bars – and anything else they left unlocked – with exactly the kind of tongue-in-check messaging we wanted: from testimonials you’d be unlikely to find on Tripadvisor, through to a series of faux rules and regulations adorning the walls in moody-looking wooden frames. Job done, I reckon. It felt like we’d got the kilted laird to do a little jig on the coffee table.
“Suspense, murder, pools of blood, it helps me to unwind.”
“From Friday night ‘til Monday morning, just call me m’lady.”
——-
Management accepts no responsibility for anxieties lost or misplaced on the premises.
Due to a shortage of accommodation, guests may be required to stay in rooms over five hundred years old.
Online grocery shopping certainly has its quirks. Like the time we somehow ordered seven cucumbers (that was a crunchy week). But with a nice little pandemic to chase it into the collective consciousness, all that clicking and collecting and whatnot is now definitely a thing. My concepting and writing for Sainsbury’s how-to-do-it online video has started to feel like a gesture of public service.
It serves as an example anyway of when less is definitely more, when writing isn’t about doing everything you can do, but doing just what you should do to meet the brief – this time just keeping it simple, family friendly, and absolutely authentic to the tone of voice for the brand.
The pop-up books I bought to study the genre still reside among my two daughters’ books, much loved and mauled now – the old lady who swallowed a fly has certainly seen better days. Though on the plus side, she can now order whatever she wants to eat (except fly, spider, cat, dog and horse) at sainsburys.co.uk and have it delivered.
SAY HELLO TO SAINSBURYS.CO.UK
When you shop online with us you’ll enjoy great perks and bags more free time with convenient one-hour delivery slots that run from eight in the morning all the way round ‘til eleven at night … Our online running total means you’ll stay on top of your spend, and once you’ve placed your first order, shopping with us gets even easier as we’ll keep all your favourites saved ready for next time … No heavy bags, no waiting in a queue …
I like that. Don’t just make risk management fun. Make it more fun. Like it already had a built-in springboard of hilarity to leap from. So why do I include such a seemingly thankless task here? Because sometimes there’s no better way to prove yourself than to make a turkey fly.
I’ll admit, I did sigh internally during that briefing. Take an incredibly dry and complex topic and make it pre-watershed funny for gravitas-laden bankers while also successfully navigating the nuances of African/Middle-Eastern gender politics and multi-faith sensibility. And what’s that? You need it by Friday? This Friday?
The six-part Riskbusters series of comms I conceived and wrote over the course of that week had a lot of work to do. But by employing three universal types (multi-tasking boss, go-getter and geek) to punctuate and bookend the dull stuff, it managed to hit all its markers – and none more important than making an under-appreciated corner of that organisation feel like they’d been given some TLC for once and the chance to take centre stage with a smile.
RISKBUSTERS
“Risk culture means living on the edge, Mission Impossible style, am I right?” “No, it means working with a clear set of core values.”
——-
“Philosophy is great! Can we dress like ancient Greeks?” “A suit and tie will be fine, thank you.”
