Copywriter attempts to get date - gets press instead.

Full disclosure, David Felton is our poorly geographically placed UK correspondent, and he's been bugging me with this idea for ages now. I kept telling him to work the word "træf" in, as some sort of pun, or at least write in Danish "Har du set denne fyr? Kunne du tænke dig det?", but David wisely stayed away from tedious puns and stuck with a language he knows. A few days before Valentines Day, David and his friends launched ValentinesDavid, and put posters up all over Copenhagen in popular shopping areas, cafés and even ladies restrooms. After a popular singer tweeted about it it started to spread, ladies tweeted when they spotted the poster in Copenhagen, and soon David was interviewed by both "Metro Express" and The Local: "Brit blankets Copenhagen with flyers to land a date". Since David is a Copywriter by day and he used old school advertising to get attention it was inevitable that he would end up in Adweek as well.

Better still, with a cute "Danglish" turn of phrase - "I'm fresh" a direct translation of "Jeg er frisk på" - David has gotten interest from a cute redhead named Jeannet. He's new in town, she's new on twitter, they have so much in common already.

@valentinesdavid I read your story today. I'm too late to be your valentine. But I'm fresh on a date if you're still looking ;).

— Jeannet Friis (@FriisJeannet) February 15, 2016

Dabs: You've clearly ridden the wave of topical and 'quirky', the feelgood news story, the 'fun' news. So, is your advice to creative to find such an angle of themselves, to attach to a topical theme, in order to get some press? How would you approach getting less easily slipped in topics, into the news?

David Felton: "I would say the most important thing is to know what kind of story you're telling... and that timing is everything. Stories can gather momentum, and your job is to keep the ball rolling. I.e. if a Danish newspaper writes about you, then it might be worth approaching different news sources the next day. It's all about building momentum and appreciating that timing is everything. A good story on one day might be a dead story the next day. So when approaching journalists keep it very brief and approach at the right moment!"

David Felton: "(My advice is) be prepared to do an interview anywhere. I did one in a coffee shop, and another in a laundromat. When the phone rings drop everything and make sure you give great quotes and tell an engaging story!"

David Felton: "Also yes: riding the topical wave is everything. Agencies do it every year with their 'Christmas Cards'. Why can't we and shouldn't we aspire to do it as invidiuals. This is the advice I give to any grad team looking to break into the business. Find a way to get noticed and to show off your creative thinking. It could be something as simple as sending novelty Xmas cards. My partner and I did this and it got us half a dozen book crits at top agencies. Not because it was a great idea but because no one else was doing it."

Meanwhile, post Valentines Day, David has learned why media companies get paid also to remove a campaign....

Spotted earlier today in Copenhagen; can't believe there are still a few of these hanging around. #ValentinesDavid pic.twitter.com/aRuC4aELf6

— David (@valentinesdavid) February 16, 2016