Nobby Hill
Think • Write • Speak • Make
Hello...
I'm Nobby - like Prince or Cher I prefer to go by one name.
I'm a freelance thinker, writer, speaker and more than a few other things.
I strive with every ounce of my energy to bring to life ideas that mean something from original thought, to pen on a page/keys on a computer, at the pitch, or during creation and execution.
WORK
Here's a small preview of what I've done over the last few years. From live work, pitches and even some branding - click on a picture for a bit more detail. If you want to have a chat about any of it just give me a shout at thisisnobbyhill@gmail.com and I'll pop over quicker than a cheetah who's worked out how to use Heelys.
HEINEKEN - HEINEKABS
Whilst at RPM we pitched for a huge piece of Heineken experiential work, focusing on getting people to explore their city. My AD and I created the concept of Heinekabs - buy a pint, tweet about it, get taken to a totally new pub somewhere and get a pint for free! This opened up the city, got people drinking Heineken and was a large part of their huge 'Star Treatment' campaign.
CADBURY - WIN A JOYNORMOUS SURPRISE
In late 2015 you may have seen one of many millions of chocolate bars with this promotion on. Whilst at Initials we pitched for, won and executed this wonderfully punny on-bar promotion. It was the first promotion in Mondelez history that didn't tell you what you could win! We built the promotion and the website and this went on to inform experiential, social and ATL. Oh, and of course spread an incredible amount of joy.
DAVE - TOUR DE FARCE
This Detour De France was all about getting Dave to add wit to the world. Along with a whole roster of other ideas we presented a group of lost riders, actually riding around London the day the Tour came through. We ended up creating our own sponsors, our own kits and our own characters. They were released, toured the capital asking for directions, were featured on ITV cycling and got a police escort onto the closed course. Nine lycra-clad blokes who wouldn't shave their legs ended up on The Mall and at the official finish. This is probably one of my favourite days ever and later went on to be nominated for "Outstanding Creative Idea Of The Year" by the Event Awards committee.
JEEP RENEGADE
We pitched to win three different Jeep jobs in a matter of months, the rule was you couldn't take all three - so we brought home two. Both were experiential launches of their new flagship car: the Renegade. The first was all about showing off the urban side to the car, and the second it's off-road heritage in a fun new way. Everything needed to appeal to a younger, more adventurous consumer and bring Jeep to the front of their mind. Take a look at the two sides to an incredible introduction.
WAGON WHEELS - EPIC ADVENTURES
This Wagon Wheels pitch was a win, but unfortunately lost it's budget at the last minute. The reason it's still in my book? I put the video was together to show off the idea in the best way possible and i'm still proud of it. It isn't the best video I've made, or maybe the most groundbreaking idea but to this day I still think it fulfils the client's brief of making Wagon Wheels "the Bear Grylls of snacks" and would engage kids, mums, families and more.
SOCIAL AND DIGITAL
Social and digital are usually integrated into every idea, with a hashtag there or a micro-site here. However I've had the chance and pleasure to work solely in these channels often. I've live-tweeted for Monty Python (and got incredible experience and a brilliant story from it), transformed a small sampling campaign for Captain Morgan Black into a world first and even broken UKTV records for Alibi's Facebook page.
BRANDING
From plasterers, to skateboards, boats and coats there are now more than a handful of brands out there who I have helped become whatever it was they wanted to be. These are just a couple of logos, but each of them a fully formed identity. From our first meeting right through to manifestos, brand books and websites I like to think of it as storytelling - showing the world who you are and why you're here.
My motto?
"If you're not falling over,
you're not trying hard enough"
SKILLS
Not including skateboarding, home/office DJing and my pub prowess here's a little bit about what I can do...
THINK
"Conceptual creation is the key
to everything"
Whether we're looking for the best way to use 140 characters or a huge integrated campaign everything comes back to the origin of a thought. This is my first true love and passion.
WRITE
"Turn skill into craft and craft
into something magical"
As I've progressed I've focused a lot of my attention really crafting what I do.
So now if I need to put down exactly the right words I've got a bit more of a clue what they might be.
SPEAK
"There's no point having great ideas if other people can't see them"
I love telling stories, talking about ideas and getting people excited! I've pitched to some amazing companies (Heineken, Mondelez, PepsiCo, Fiat etc.) and to me, it's one of the best feelings in the world.
MAKE
APPROACH
"Let's do something great"
I'm more than just a creative and one of those various personalities is someone who loves making up words, and another is being an 'ever-achiever': I want to learn, create and conquer forever - and have fun doing it.
In our modern lives so much is seen, absorbed, and enjoyed I think none of us really 'own' anything. The second we release it to the people it's their choice to take it, ignore it, manipulate it or make it famous. So let's do something great, let's put something wondrous and wonderful into the world - because we live in a hive-mind looking for something new, exciting and GOOD.
And I know that just sounds like a few of the right words in the right place and probably nothing new but here's the truth:
I can't stop myself from getting wildly excited about great things (no matter the format), and I'm just looking for other people that do too.
If you fancy having a bit more of a chat or just want to have a pint and laugh, it would be great to hear from you (not just if you're looking to hire - let's just go have some fun, and I'm totally serious about that).
Let's learn something...
"Every day is a school day"
EXPERIENCE
Educated and restless
2:1 in Advertising and Brand Communication
I'm not entirely sure why it matters, but it's the kind of thing people ask sometimes:
11 GCSEs, 4 A-Levels and a pretty good 2:1 in Advertising and Brand Comms.
I've studied to be an engineer, an actor, a director, a suit, a creative and many more things (including a qualified sailing instructor).
A placement or two
A real education
We've went around the houses, but a couple of personal favourites:
Rufus Leonard: myself and my AD turned a 2 week placement into 3 months and a job offer.
Guinness Storehouse: myself, my AD and a friend were offered the chance to go over to Dublin for 48 hours and make a film about the country's biggest attraction and their latest award.
We turned up with a camera, a laptop, and a vintage skateboard, left with 100Gb of footage and a mighty hangover. I ended up having to not only edit the whole thing, but also write a score! I learnt a lot and it was aired to over 1,000,000 people.
The first 'real job'
RPM LTD, 2011 - 2013
After a placement I was hired along with my AD to be the new young team in RPM. We learnt more than I could ever write down and created campaigns for the likes of Smirnoff, Captain Morgan, Sour Patch Kids, Coca-Cola, Heineken and so many more.
One of my favourites even got people seeing a new side to themselves in a
world first: facial recognition based drink sampling that went live in a lot of
Eastern Europe, Canada and Mexico.
Moving, shaking and developing skills
Initials Marketing, 2013 - 2015
My second 'proper job' and an amazing opportunity. This small agency has a big bite, and they constantly push to be best in class. Working with the same AD from RPM, and a bit on my own, we put together an incredible body of work that I'm massively proud of.
Working with for huge clients such as Walkers, Club Med, Cadbury, Monkey Shoulder, UKTV and had some seriously cool highlights. The first of which being a campaign I was heavily involved with (and my copy line) going live on MILLIONS of Cadbury bars. Secondly, live-tweeting for Monty Python's final farewell show and finally managing to convince London that the Tour De France had lost 9 riders - and getting them a police escort onto the closed course, right up The Mall to the finish (which was then nominated for "Outstanding Creative Idea" of the year by the Event awards).
Time to try something new
Vivid, Publicis, 2015 - 2016
After a fantastic career working in teams, in a few similar agencies, I had the opportunity to branch into something new. An old friend phoned me to inform me that he had just become creative director of 'this shopper shop' and would I be interested? I was. I joined Vivid as a Senior Conceptual Copywriter a little while later.
In the time in Publicis I worked on Purina, Maggi, Nivea, EE, Nescafé, and more. Working across big ideas, and little ones; full campaigns to wobbler copy. Vivid's strategy-based approach taught me an awful lot about consumer behaviour, messaging rules and my own personal goals. A couple of personal wins are bringing full Nescafé toolkits to life and reinventing daily moisturising globally.
Going solo
Freelance conceptual copywriter, 2016 -
In the last few years I've bought a house, got a cat, and even tied the knot. These adventures have lead to many more, and I'm certain there's even more to come.
So, I'm now freelancing to try and find as many of those adventures as possible. I want to meet new people, have new challenges and constantly push myself to work harder, smarter and in more creative ways. It feels like all this history I've had has prepared me and my recent future has put the fire under my belly.
If you're looking for ideas, words, presentations, or anything - I'm available to give it my all.
Take a sneak peek at my Instagram - fair warning, it will mainly be pictures of my dog.
Is this the end? Of the website - yes.