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Introducing the Generosity Journal

Quite often during interviews I’ll get a comment like this: “Off the record, but I thought *insert direct competitor here* did a really good job.” I often ask why they don’t just harden up and put it on the record, because being willing to praise the good work of a competitor seems to be a laudable, more human attitude that generally seems to earn respect. There’s obviously a whole heap of competitive pressure in this industry and probably a few corporate gagging orders in place, so I can understand the reluctance to do it publicly. But we wanted to gently nudge people in a more positive direction. 

Originally, Josh Moore and James Hurman from Y&R floated the idea to write a regular column about work they liked. But we had recently hooked up with a charity called The One Percent Collective, which aims to inspire generosity and simplify regular giving, and asked if we could expand the idea and open it up to everyone. Thankfully they said yes so, with a nod to the charity’s soon-to-be-launched publication The Generosity Journal, we decided to launch this new section.  

Obviously, we get a fair few snarky comments on StopPress, most of them anonymous. The discussion underneath the stories can be extremely entertaining—and quite revealing—but things often veer towards the negative, so this is a way to balance the ledger somewhat and create a channel for agencies, clients and anyone else from within the wider marcomms industry to celebrate the good work of their competitors. It also follows on nicely from the very entertaining Axis ‘Share the Love‘ campaign and the ‘Silence Anonymous‘ Effies campaign and extends the question we ask about ‘favourite work that isn’t yours’ in our year in review series.

So if you’ve seen something you like and you’re keen to write about it, get in touch at [email protected]. We’re aiming to put up a new piece every couple of weeks. 

As for The One Percent Collective, it’s all about a lot of people giving a little to make it easier for its selected charities (and charities in general). It could be, for example, donating one percent of your total income, one percent of the door takings from an event or one percent commission on a month’s sales. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be financial. It’s also looking for people to donate time, expertise and awareness to the cause, so check out some of the ways individuals, artists and businesses can help here 

And if you haven’t seen the kooky ads they made with the help of The Sweet Shop and a host of other generous souls, check them out below. 

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