Author: JO BURGE | writing and editing
Buddha-Bar
Website for the Baku branch of international bar and restaurant chain Buddha-Bar. Please click here to view the full site.
Ukraine International Airlines
Cover story for Ukraine International Airline’s magazine Panorama, published in both English and Russian. 
Please click here to view the full article.
‘Baku’ magazine
INTERVIEWING A CITY PERSONALITY
Read the full interview here.
Virgin Holidays
writing | sub editing | editing
Unleash your Mojo! That’s what they say at Virgin Holidays and their customer publication, Rock & Roam, inspires travellers to do just that. An award-winning magazine, I’ve contributed over the past four years by promoting Virgin’s top holiday offers in a regular ‘Six of the best…’ column covering ski trips, golf tours, cruises, festivals and romantic getaways, finishing with a ‘Don’t Miss’ section highlighting the top restaurants, shops and sights so holiday-makers know exactly where to head for those once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
Rock & Roam is to Virgin Holidays is what Healthy is to Holland & Barratt and what Dare is to Superdrug – magazines existing to promote the brand and build a stronger connection with the client. Inside you’ll often be rewarded with reader offers, discount vouchers and news on the latest product line, innovation or event, urging you to ‘Book now’, ‘Sign up today’ and other calls-to-action which encourage purchases and participation.
If you want more customers to buy into your brand with written content, contact me at jo.burge@gmail.com
The Co-operative Travel
writing | sub editing | editing
PREPARING FOR A holiday is more than just booking flights and accommodation. You want the latest news and advice on when to go, the best options for your budget, and ideas for adventure, exploration and relaxation. The Co-operative has been taking care of holidays since 1920 as the largest independent travel agent in the UK, and builds a stronger, dependable bond with its customers through its magazine, Co-Op Traveller.
Published by The River Group which specialises in customer media, I was commissioned to write Co-Op Traveller‘s ‘Travel news for you’. After selecting five relevant stories for the latest news and advice for holiday-makers, the editor forwarded them to Co-Op who made the final cut. The editor then came back with the finalised brief: four news stories with headlines and intros, a rundown of romantic getaways (low budget to luxury), and one picture story on the sailing ground of Thailand.
Customer magazines are a great opportunity for companies to provide reliable, accessible content, to reach out to their audiences and give them more from their experience with the brand. Like with all other customer magazines, they connect with their customer on another level, beyond the supermarket shelf and customer service desk, in a rewarding two-way relationship which helps to retain customer loyalty well into the future.
If you want help building affiliation with your brand with written content, email me at jo.burge@gmail.com
Alison at Home
writing | sub editing | editing
ALISON CORK’S ‘HOMEMAKER in heels’ expertise lie in purchasing and renovating property and sourcing products and services for the home at bargain prices. Also a writer and broadcaster, as part of her new Alison at Home venture I went in-house to sub edit a run of seasonal supplements for the Daily Telegraph and one for the Mail on Sunday.
Within a year the supplement increased from 12 to 16 pages with tips on how to Get the Look, and a Q&A page with Alison herself, along with special features on up-and-coming furniture designers and more.
Not only that, but it was packed with reader offers, with websites and voucher codes, each one carefully selected to build the inviting world of Alison at Home.
If your copy needs some extra sparkle email: jo.burge@gmail.com
Hearty
writing | sub editing | editing
COPY IS EVERYWHERE. From the billboards in Kings Cross to the side of a juice carton, someone has carefully considered every word to communicate the right message in a given space, so that if you’re interested enough by the front of the box, once you’ve turned it over and read the back you’re guaranteed to stick it in your trolley.
Independent food producers Fridays Ltd tasked me with updating copy on their egg box – 40-50 words replacing what was already on the back of the box, including two main points: 1. The hens are free range; 2. The eggs contain omega-3.
We set the scene quickly by using imagery to convey the hens’ extensive free range run of trees and hedgerows, which keep them ‘bright-eyed and fine-feathered’, and chose to retain the existing phrase which effectively demonstrated that the hens’ health comes first – after the hens have topped up on omega-3 they ‘generously put some in the eggs for us’.
The updated wording was incorporated into the fresh design of the new pack, and the new Hearty eggs in brand new boxes are now available exclusively in Morrisons.
I am continuing to work with Hearty, developing their brand story. If you would like some assistance in developing your brand, contact me at jo.burge@gmail.com
Blue Ventures
writing | sub editing | editing
BLUE VENTURES IS a marine conservation charity taking volunteers on dive expeditions to coastal tropical communities. They wanted a new A3 z-fold leaflet to hand out at careers fairs to generate new interest and bookings to Madagascar and Belize.
They sent me an abundance of existing information from brochures and posters to web links and testimonials. After that and a phone call checking we were all on track, I got down to business.
With four sections recommended by Blue Ventures I set about dividing and chopping information, and split it further under more headings for greater momentum in leading readers through the leaflet, whilst allowing them to dip in at any point. I added interest by breaking the text into bullets under easy-to-read sections including ‘Get trained’ and ‘Why us?’, engaged the reader with more fluid paragraphs to give visualisations of ‘being there’, and selected appropriate testimonials, all with prospective volunteers in mind.
After a few tweaks, I left it with Blue Ventures while their designer got to work – as pictured in this post.
Need a marketing leaflet or company brochure? Drop me an email: jo.burge@gmail.com
The Angel Orchestra
writing | sub editing | editing
THE ANGEL ORCHESTRA wanted a concert programme for a series of unique exchange performances in London with an orchestra from Italy. It needed to contain not only the usual information (programme notes, conductor and soloist biographies, order of play, etc), but have a special touch to make it a souvenir.
The ‘Angels’ are incredibly friendly and sociable as an orchestra, and we wanted to tie this into the programme and add personal touches to help concert-goers get to know musicians.
With this in mind we organised a chat with Angel Orchestra Conductor Peter Fender, from which we wrote a special introduction to welcome the audience in first person narrative. We also ran an ‘In the spotlight’ question and answer column with each conductor. This provided an easy-to-read personality snapshot alongside their more formal biographies, revealing their inspiration, best – and worst – concert moments, etc.
By this time we had chased in the rest of the copy and images needed to hand to our designer, then it was down to the usual: final proofread and send to print!
If you need a concert programme or event copy, email me at jo.burge@gmail.com
Az Magazine
writing | sub editing | editing
Entry coming soon.