A bit about me My copywriting career started in 2007, building a portfolio while working as an agency-side

Business Development Director. I moved client-side to work with Mencap, where I learned the

invaluable skill of writing in their unique ‘easy-read’ style. This form of writing improves

understanding by people with a learning disability. However, the principles (simplify and clarify)

apply to how we all consume content: This is especially true of digital channels, where space is at a

premium and every word must be as engaging and effective as possible.

Blending this approach with a creative style and focus on results, I’ve worked with agencies big and

small, and some of the world's best known brands.

I’m easy to work with and as happy teaming up with UX or design people as senior stakeholders. I

form relationships fast, so can usually hit the ground running… assuming a ready supply of coffee

and biscuits.

Work samples

Brief

HSBC wanted to help people who were new to investing find a managed

portfolio, which met their financial objectives and appetite for risk. They

needed a welcoming voice and simplified content, that explained

investing to beginners.

Response

I worked closely with the UX and VD teams, as well as with HSBC

directly, to develop a journey that helped inexperienced users

understand risk, their approach to risk and how to invest in way that

suited that approach. I developed a straightforward voice that was

helpful without being patronising and wrote all the copy for the site.

Crucial to this project was taking complicated ideas around risk, and

introducing them to consumers, as well as making technical financial

data simple.

Result

The project was completed on time and to budget and has become the

foundation stone for many other projects.

Project: Investment site journey, voice and content Audience: Consumers Region: UK Channel: Web

Agency: Sapient Nitro

World Selection ISA

Brief

Invesco Perpetual is an investment house that historically has served its

clients through advisers. This project aimed to develop the company’s first

online-trading platform that clients could use directly, without an advisor.

Response

I worked closely with UX, marketing, operations, legal and external agency

partners, in an agile group, to develop the project. I also contacted the

client services team, to understand the typical Invesco client, giving me

valuable insight into their barriers and preferences. I helped define user

journeys that would serve both new and existing clients.

I then wrote all site content, ensuring complex financial data and ideas

were easy to understand. This included FAQs and marketing materials. I

also developed the corporate tone of voice to suit the new website. This

was welcomed by all senior stakeholders and adopted by marketing as

their standard writing guide.

Result

The site was finished on time and to budget.

Project: New Website Development Audience: Consumers Region: UK Channel: Web www.invescoperpetual.co.uk/uk

Project: Life insurance landing page rewrite Sector and Audience: Financial, B2C

Channel: Email and Web www.totallymoney.com

Brief

As part of a site revamp I was asked to re-write the content

for product landing pages. This included: life insurance,

mortgages, health insurance and utilities-comparison

products.

Response

Working with the design team, I developed the new layout

and copy for these pages. I used compelling headlines,

benefit-driven supporting bullets and a softer design, with

hand-drawn elements. Most important was to make

complex financial ideas, and risk easy for consumers to

grasp. I also worked closely with the in-house compliance

and legal teams to ensure all copy met FCA guidelines.

Result

18% increase in click-throughs

Brief

RBS needed to update their customer tax operations mini-site. They

wanted to explain FATCA (The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act)

and CRS (the new Common Reporting Standard) in a way that could

be quickly and easily understood by non-expert readers. Simple

guides were required, along with FAQs to accompany them.

Response

I researched the RBS tone of voice and applied a relatively relaxed

version, after clearing this with the client. I then took core content

and broke it down to its simplest form, reducing sentence and

paragraph length, cutting out jargon and using simplified

terminology where compliance allowed. I also worked closely with

the client and agency UX/design teams to ensure a smoothly-run

project.

Result

The work was completed within the allotted time frame and all

parties were happy. The site is currently live.

Project: Website Tax Content Audience: Consumers Region: UK Channel: Web Agency: Sapient Nitro

http://personal.rbs.co.uk/global/operational-tax-services.html

1

2

Project: Tone-of-voice guidelines, banner ads and product emails Sector and Audience: Financial, B2C Channel: Display Ads, Web

Brief

This price-comparison website also provides credit cards. I

was asked to write display (banner) advertising, landing

pages and tone of voice guidelines for their new credit card

‘Luma’.

Response

The creative approach was developed, working to an

already-established tone. I worked closely with the in-house

design and compliance teams.

All creative needed to explain the card’s benefits, as well as

the financial implications of taking up the offer, while

adhering to strict FSA guidelines.

Result The company’s most successful card launch

Email

Banner ads

Brief

Santander wanted to develop a revolutionary app that made it

easy to understand the state of your finances at a glance, with

simple, colourful graphs and a focus on how and where money

was spent. To accompany this new approach they needed a more

informal tone of voice and language.

Response

I developed a tone of voice that was relaxed and chatty, while

maintaining the gravitas of a trusted banking brand. I also

consulted with the UX and design teams on journey, colour palette

and style issues around the appearance of the copy.

Result

The app looks and ‘sounds’ genuinely fresh, unlike any other

banking app. It has been well received both by Santander and the

public, and is already receiving excellent reviews.

Project: Banking app

Audience: Consumers

Region: Worldwide

Channel: Mobile

Agency: Monetise Create

Product: Mobile payment app Project: Tone of voice and mobile content Sector and Audience: Financial, Mobile users Channel: Mobile https://chimpchange.me/#/

Brief

ChimpChange™ is a new mobile-payment brand based in Australia. I was

asked to develop the brand’s tone of voice, investor website and mobile

app copy, while consulting on the user journey.

Response

Despite the client being based in Australia, I developed a friendly working

relationship with the management team, using regular Skype chats. I

wrote both web and app content. Working with the UX team I evaluated

the customer journey and recommended changes that were adopted,

simplifying the user experience.

Result

All content was delivered on time and the app was rolled out as planned.

Brief

Develop the journey and copy for the online Personal Current account

application, to be used across all Lloyds brands, while testing a new

collaborative style of working.

Response

I consulted with senior stakeholders to help develop a new agile way of

working, bringing together UX, design and copy with representatives from

the wider business. I also wrote all copy for the application form. This

involved developing new tool-tip copy, re-formatting questions that proved

a challenge in the testing phase and ensuring the information flow was

logical and easy to follow.

As the form was to be used across Bank of Scotland, Halifax and Lloyds

Banks, I provided three copy variants, using the correct tone of voice for

each brand.

Result

As one of the first projects at Lloyds Banking Group to test agile working,

this one was heavily scrutinised but met with great approval from the senior

digital team.

Project: Re-development of personal current account application Audience: Consumers Region: UK Channel: Web Brands: Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland and Halifax

Clients say…

“Alex was excellent in turning projects around fast

and with great quality. We loved working with him

due to his dedication to the brand and his big

picture thinking, making an impact from day one.”

Michelle Crossan-Matos,

Head of Marketing, Vertu

“Though wildly creative, they are also extremely results-

oriented, embracing testing as a way to explore how

different creative approaches work. Always learning and

always teaching, Alex is a creative leader who inspires

creatives and other professionals to do better work.”

Kristen Brewe, Head of Brand, totallymoney.com (MediaIngenuity)

“...he had the formidable task of developing new

language for a campaign that needed to move on

from simple brand mark to responsive

communications, speaking to specific audiences to

drive (measured) response. With a such a high-

profile campaign the demands have been

considerable. He more than rose to the challenge

and has been a big part of the campaign’s success.”

Richard Yadgar, Client Director, Radley Yeldar

“Alex is a fantastic copywriter and a pleasure to work

with. Based on my experience of working with him, I

do not hesitate in recommending him.”

Jennifer Johns, Lead Games Developer,

The Disney Company

Thanks for reading.