Any ideas? Send them in

Got an idea for an ad? Send it in and we’ll post it on our wall. It can be for any product, any medium. Something for Parfizz? Great! As long as it fits on one A4 piece of paper. Like any good ad it needs to be simple and clear. Write it up or draw it like a comic strip. Scan them
(max file size 2mb) and email as an attachment to
someone@mosquitoadvertising.com

Unlike lots of others in the advertising industry we’ll give you full credit! No money though, sorry – we don’t even make any ourselves … yet.

Here are some tips, some from Auntie Nancy, some we worked out our ourselves:

• Is it original? If it’s something people have seen before, think of something else. You can’t be surprising if you’re not new.
• Is it true? Even if it’s fun, you can only sell a lie once. If you tell people something that’s not true about a product they will feel ripped off and won’t buy it again. They will probably tell their mates not to buy it either.
• Don’t confuse a song, a rhyme, a celebrity endorsement or a technique (like animation) with an idea. It can be cute and still be crap.
• Even if your first idea is the best, you won’t know for sure unless you do a hundred. Keep them loose and rough so you don’t get bored and frustrated. You can always make the good ideas look better later.
• Don’t worry if you haven’t got any money to make your ad. Neither did we! If it’s a good idea — draw it up like a comic strip or write it like a story (but a SHORT one) and everyone will get it.
• Try explaining the idea to your friends in words. If they don’t get it straight away, it needs to be simpler.
• Be quick. If you are trying to come up with a 30 second ad (the most common length for TV), work to 15 seconds. It’s always better to say less but say it better.
• Keep your eyes open. Ideas don’t come out of the blue — they are all around you. A crazy old lady at the shops, a bad fall off a skateboard, a farting Labrador.
• Have fun. If it doesn’t entertain you, it probably won’t entertain anyone else. And you can’t bore someone into buying.