
Winston Fletcher Fiction Prize 2016
The Winston Fletcher Fiction Prize
Issue 40 | September 2016
Agency
MullenLowe London
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officer Dave Henderson ECD Richard Denney Creative Director Dave Henderson Richard Denney Creative Team Dave Henderson Richard Denney
Production Team
Agency Producer Gary Wallis Photography MAKE Retoucher Pete Steadman Designers Augusta Lindquist Ryan Self Rob Hare Javier Leal-Olivas Elisabeth Bolzon Account Team Izzy Falcon Jess Bird
Other Credits
Client CEO Cliff Hudson Chief Marketing Officer & President Todd Smith VP of Marketing Sarah Beddoe VP of Public Relations Christi Woodworth Senior Director of Culinary Innovation Mackenzie Gibson Director of Content Burke Morley Director of Brand Advertising & On-Lot Communications Molly Brill Assistant Digital Marketing Manager Jackie Cyrnes
Date
April 2016
Background
Now in its third year, the Winston Fletcher Fiction Prize was created by a group of individuals from the advertising community in memory of one of advertising's greats, the late Winston Fletcher (1937 – 2012).
He was a prolific writer of fiction and fact, as well as co-founder of one of the agencies that was later subsumed into Mullen Lowe.
The prize is designed to encourage and recognise great writing amongst the advertising and related marketing community.
Some of the greatest fiction writers, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Salman Rushdie, and Joseph Heller started their careers in advertising.
The winner receives a cash prize of £2000 awarded by a jury chaired by Tim Waterstone.
Idea
Leading industry writers received a bespoke book from Tim Waterstone in the post.
But these are books with a difference. Inside they are blank, apart from a simple line of encouragement on the first page, "So, what's your next chapter?".
They were also personalised. The dust jackets had the recipients' name and the legend 'Title Goes Here', but were designed to relate to a famous piece of their work.
Jeff Goodby of Goodby Silverstein, who wrote the 'Got Milk?' campaign, received a book featuring a milk bottle.
Richard Russell's cover featured a beautifully crafted engine covered in butterflies, in homage to his Cannes Grand Prix winning Honda "Grrr" spot for Wieden and Kennedy.
Lee Clow's book featured a sledgehammer in reference to his famous Apple 1984 commercial.
MullenLowe also sent out books to writers whose work had been highly awarded in the last few years.
The DM campaign was supported by print executions running in relevant trade media.
Results
It's too early to be specific but entries are coming in.
MullenLowe has already received personal thanks from recipients of the books and promises that this has made them want to write an entry.
Our Thoughts
What a lovely idea. The late Winston Fletcher was a man of great integrity, his contribution to the advertising industry never given quite the credit he deserved. And he was astonishingly prolific as a thinker, speaker, and writer.
So the Winston Fletcher Fiction Prize is one way to mark his stamp on the industry.
If you’re going to solicit entries for fiction from some of adland’s great writers, it better be good – and, since fiction is a highly individualised activity, personal.
These book mail shots succeed on just about every level. They’re eyecatching, they’re witty, they make their point with great clarity. And they make an appeal to one quality that fiction writers and adland creatives have in common: personal vanity.