It's reigning cats and dogs

It seems just as in real life, and all over the net - it's the cats & dogs that entertain the general public the most. They are care-free, silly, awkward, unpredictable, quirky and never fail to make even the most avid animal hater smirk. You could say it's an easy laugh, guaranteed to touch the hearts of many out there, but let's face it - you have no worries of discrimination. That's not to say achieving clever, funny shots of animals is easy. The best are often by chance. So how, I ask did they manage to get a cat to be a dog in the latest O2 ad? It's absolute genius! Every move, camera angle, slight look - the references to dog are so well observed. Hope there's a 'making of' video - I bet it's hilarious. I reckon even the Cravendale cat's would give it the Thumbs up.

Sisters are doing it for themselves

Monday saw Shesays holding the first of it's 'TEDx' style events at The Hospital Club for SuckerPunch - all about women making a change in how business is run.

Pamela Ryckman, journalist and author of The Stiletto Network, really set the tone for an energetic and motivating evening. In her book, she has researched and discovered mini networks of women all over the States and UK, gathering together and becoming a force to be reckoned with.
 She told how formidable ladies from a range of industries, formed natural friendships, through meeting for dinner, then going on to either provide support or form strong business relationships. These meetups were informal, friendly and open to whoever was interested. In an organic and female way. Women were genuinely seeking to help eachother out, form bonds, trust and create a more balanced working society.

She realised this was happening all over, with small groups thinking they weren't doing anything out of the ordinary, not realising they were part of a growing phenomenon.
By creating this sort of interaction, women were now feeling empowered to set up on their own, or challenge themselves in the workplace, not being afraid to move up the ranks. They now had someone they could call on they could relate to. Women could be professional, yet feminine - without trying to conform or fit into a male orientated industry. It became a strategic support network. She cited examples of the likes of Kim Moses - Founder of one of the most downloaded apps for Warner Bros, and other female leaders now at board level in their companies.
Pamela explained, by achieving this sort of status, women will change the way business is run. They have a different attitude. A different way of looking at things, and a different approach to business. they are the ones writing the cheques. They will invest in other women. They will donate time and energy to female related causes. They will push forward laws that see a more equal balance in the workplace, and in society. Women will change the world.


"We’re moving away from the corporate model. We’re coming into an era where women have the skill sets and core value systems. Being collegial, collaborative, leaving your ego at the door… being able to work in a non-hierarchical environment, listening, attuned to intuition." -THE STILETTO NETWORK


And this is exactly how Sarah Bradley and Karla Morales-Lee of The Art of New Business, approached eachother and came up with their company idea. Meeting through twitter, they found through a shared viewpoint and experience in various advertising and design agencies, that there was a massive yet obvious gap in the market when it comes to how agencies approach clients for new business. They found hours of sifting through client lists and cold calling was alienating and not the kind of strategic approach they would take. Their background knowledge, and cries from fellow new business professionals across the net all agreed things had to change. Targets cannot be met when you just bowl into a company and brag about how great your agency is, and how they should work with you. Even in this fast paced, changing industry, it seems inside agencies it is all still the same. And CEO's and board members aren't even concerned; in fact, they admit that their own self branding, marketing is crap. But why? Clients are even noticing it now. In a competitive market where budgets are tight, you'd think companies would be more strategic in their approach to new business. How can you boast your creative offering when your own communication is tired and blends in? Sarah cited W+K's attitude to new clients as an example. Neil Christie, MD of the London office has revealed to them how they approach new clients by really understanding their product, their business model & what needs to be achieved. They then present to them a unique creative offering in the form of a a personalised book, video or magazine. This way, clients really feel special, and above all, understood. 
Sarah and Karla have tapped into this, and now run workshops and events providing professionals with a better understanding of what needs to be done to make a change in their agency. They encourage networking, and helping others much in the same way as Pamela mentioned; this being a more fruitful way to get ahead.
If clients are conversing with each other & requesting case studies of effectivity, MDs really can't afford to change their ways. And financially, with the UK ad industry spending almost £780k PER PITCH - our economy can't afford it either!
So it's time to approach new business as an art form, and no longer a numbers game.

The third lady making a change for the better in the design industry is Emma Sexton, founder of Make Your Words Work. Her consultancy aims to show clients that design is not just there to 'make things pretty' as an afterthought, but that it really is necessary for adding value. We are visual beings. And we're surrounded by thousands of images on a daily basis - and we respond to those visuals on an emotional level much more than words. Through her design expertise and interest in psychology, Emma ensures businesses talks to their clients in the right way, using language they understand and using beautiful design in a meaningful way. That's not to say content still isn't king - it should just be captivating and inspiring so that people remember you.

As an art director who has worked on many a pitch all of this really rings true. the number of times I am asked to just drop in the 'creative' to a 50 page powerpoint presentation, that to me, just goes on and on. Don't get me wrong, strategic thinking and storytelling are key but MDs & planners really need to step back every so often & look at the bigger picture. No wonder clients in the pitching process are waiting for the 'exciting' creative bit. The whole thing should be creative surely? Being freelance it has not always been my place to say - however the sheer confidence of these three women has certainly inspired me to go forth and speak my mind. For when you really have seen it over & over & it's staring you in the face - it's time to make a change. And there's no reason why it shouldn't be the women driving that.

Top TV

Well BETC & Evian had a job on their hands to better their dancing babies ad of last year, but I think they've done a good job with the latest 'Evian Baby Inside'. This one uses a stop frame technique of adults waering t-shirts with babie's bodies printed from the neckline in various positions, giving the illusion that these people with 'young' bodies are dancing around. Ending with the famous 'Live Young' strapline. Well resolved.



Another fav I have put up for my own purposes is the 'Cats with thumbs' ad for Cravendale released earlier this year. I must've missed it as only by chance saw it through a youtube link. But it did make me laugh out loud:



By W+K London

Arr-yoo-spee-king cl-ee-er-lee?

I'm loving the phonetic ads scattered around for Google Voice search - they really make you stop and literally 'speak' the words in your head. The campaign is based on the insight that when you usually speak to automatic search technology on the phone it normally takes three attempts for the woman in an extremely posh recorded voice says - "Did you mean Lancashire?" when you were clearly saying 'Leicester Square' in your best Queen's English. And so with Google voice search for mobile, you have to say it to get -phonetically, in order to get the right result.

My Favourite:

neat stuff

This rather neat deskstop app for Ikea by Hungarian agency Laboratory uses a very similar idea to that in my Muji 'Obsessive Compulsive Order' campaign. Only they have the technical know-how to make it happen. Neat.

Don't Bin it, Bring it!

Nice little stop frame animation by Rubber Republic for Recycle Now, letting people know they can recycle electrical goods across the UK. A battle between a bin and printer takes place, ending in a Star Wars style finale.

Advertising has shrunk

Following from my post below about advertising in small places I spotted the other night an "i-Ad" on my phone - it's literally a banner ad for the iphone. I mean, is it me or is this small space advertising getting ridiculous? I wonder how much they charge the client for this? Up until now I actually found it quite refreshing to be able to read an article without some irritating flashing ad around it. And as an Art director the pixel space can't give you much to play with.  Is this really the best way to serve clients?

Daft Vader

This spot for VW made me laugh so had to put it up here. A successful collaboration between Lucasfilm and DeutSch LA agency. May the force be with you!

Advertising is shrinking

..in scale as well as monetary terms. It seems the dedicated consumer now has to look closer to spot the clever use of small spaces appropriately used to advertise a brand. Two great examples are these below. More can be found at The Coolhunter and Creative Social blog.

A Guiness Dartboard

A straw for a very bendy yoga studio.

The Landrover spot 'Claymation' launches on TV this month - an animated ad of the classic car travelling through challenging terrain but cleverly using the changeable nature of clay, reworked and moulded into an urban city, a jungle and mountains. There is an elegance and charm about the story, that features a man transforming onto a stag, and a mountain melting to become a person surfing on the sea.
But I quite like the side project released alongside it: A viral featuring the main character "Clay Mason" talking to camera about his experience of filming the ad. Very personable.

Pushy Advertising

This ambient piece created by ad agency Mudra West in Mumbai, India reminds me of Chris Offili early works (of which I am a big fan) but still it is eye catching & gets everyone involved in what is a relevant piece of push pin art for Big Bazaar stationary sale.

Advertising in of the year 2010

Felt I should do a quick round up of advertising this year. Except all the booze & mince pies has put me in a carb coma & I have definitely killed some brain cells. So my top ads to mention are those that sit at the front of my memory for now..


The year can't go by with out a mention of the use of technology brought to consumers outdoors. From digital posters, augmented reality, apps on the go, and gps technology, advertising found many new ways to speak to it's target audience. One of my favourite was the use of 3D & 4D projection mapping as hyped about by the Ralph Lauren launch and this visual spectacular for H & M Amsterdam. For me, it really presents the consumer with a piece of theatre so that the brand communication does not even feel like advertising. Here an old historic building was transformed into  a magical dolls house filled with surreal toys and fashion.

Another to mention was the very realistic creation of the Evian babies by Euro RSCG which had the viral hits reach millions.
I also have to mention the very real focus groups filmed for the Sony Xperia phonesets which I covered here. Still find the whole campaign very clever and funny.
But commercially, to top the year off would have to be the rap for Yeo Valley! with the hip owl rotating it's neck.
Happy New year peeps!

Making the invisible visible

Such a nice use of media here in a campaign for Amnesty international by Brothers and Sisters. Posters show the face of Troy Davis, a man who has been on death row in the USA for 19 years. But being displayed on railings, the poster is on visible from a certain angle : supporting the campaign line 'Making the invisible, visible'.

See it in action here.

notanyoldorangead

Thought I'd pop this up here as I enjoyed creating my own mock ad of the familiar Orange 'I am' campaign that ran a few years back. I was sitting waiting to be briefed all morning at the agency I was freelancing, had researched all I could, and while I had access to all the lovely artwork, I decided to do my own 'I am'. It was my own little way of introducing myself & saying "I'm here". Made them smile anyway.

Really?

At first I really liked the new ad for Windows Phone 7  - it taps into the fact that all of us walk around mindlessly, engrossed in our phones, ignoring those around us. (not a new idea I know, but well executed). Then reading further I discovered that their strategy was intended to imply that the users of the phones in the ad were not in fact using Windows 7 phones, but other models, and Windows 7 will allow you to now 'Look Up'. This was only clear when the UK version changed the VO, adding: "Designed to get you in and out and back to life again". This is a pure example of the insightful thinking actually being lost on the public as I thin consumers always assume the company's product to be featured in the ad, unless it is made blindingly obvious. Not so in this case.
Anyway, we are to watch out - apparently, this is the operating system set to lead the way in a new generation of smartphones. Apple, hope you're working on the rival..

Cosy Car

I came across these on a piece about art installations being used more & more for brands. (Think BMW kinectic scuplture). And I have to say, if it produces creations such as these then bring it on!

La la la

Simple & fun. Just like online should be.

Rip Off!

Yes it has been a LONG time since I posted something here - that's partly to do with my new job & adjusting to being a full-timer & partly because I forgot my password to get in!
Anyway, several posts missed, I have yet another rant to share - This is relating to my first discussion back in Nov 07 about advertising creatives ripping off artists ; an ongoing debate that I think will continue since creatives naturally look to the artworld for inspiration. The solution I think to making sure you are always original is to be aware of all this stuff, but keep your self interested by anything and everything going on in the world. Expose yourself to not only art, but to literature, politics, talks on the science world, articles on Ugandan garners and their crops. Everything feeds the creative brain subconsciously - it's how you dip into it that is the clever bit. i am a of course a hypocrite of my own words, as I tend to follow my main interests and fall into a trap of reading the same blogs & visiting familiar websites, but I do try to venture elsewhere.
So back to the reason I have brought this up again - the recent BBC trailer for Radio 6 as created by RKCR/Y & R. In it, an animated character graffitied on the wall grows ears and gravitates towards wherever there is music. All fine. Concept relates to the client. Except it
uses EXACTLY the same technique, if not style of the well - known artist BLU, who I showcased here back in June. His work spread around the net like wildfire, basically because it was so great. So to see it replicated for an ad frustrates me so. Basically because the creators of Radio 6 get all the credit for being innovative and groundbreaking creatively, while the artist doesn't receive such acclaim as he deserves. That's why we have to spread the news on blogs like this!

Goodbye Cellulite

Spotted this in Cr, and thought "cool". It's quick, clever and good use of media.

Unfortunately while searching for the Nivea image, I was disappointed to discover someone had got there first two years ago in Russia. It's hard to know if the creatives at TBWA NY knew of this, and one could argue they have made much better use of the idea. However, it spoiled my initial "ahhh.." reaction.

Some Colourful Ads

I've had hardly any time to devote to my little Blog since I started at Tribal and felt increasingly out of touch with all things creative so have a done a little trawling on some of my favourite blogs, and good ol' advertising sites, just to remind myself what business I'm in.
It's often quite frustrating when you see an ad in print or on Tv that has used an idea you came up with yonks ago, but got ditched somehow, and the latest Saatchi ad for NSPCC is a good example for me. And I personally don't think the tool of the butterflies work as well as we had in our concept. I'm referring to the coloured butterflies that flutter about around children's playgrounds, weaving in and out of children, then one comes up against a glass window and can't get in. On closer inspection you can see that the butterflies are actually two ears flying - representing the counselling service that the NSPCC offer.
Years back while working on a brief for the COI, my partner and I had an idea for a campaign against fraudsters who cheat the system and don't pay their taxes. The Inland Revenue were setting up a hotline for people to call up and 'dob' these people in. (I know, a REALLY effective way of catching tax evaders!) So we had these sweet butterflies fluttering about while some guy was blagging to his mate how to always pay cash, that way you don't have anything on paper to catch you out.. These innocent cute butterflies were actually conniving ears flying about. I think we may have even ended with them splitting apart and smacking themselves onto an earwigging neighbour...! Anyway it used the whole thought that if walls had ears - watch out.
A much stronger strategy don't you think?
Oh well.
An ad I do like at the moment is the Ford Fiesta ad created by Ogilvy.



I was reading in Creative review the other day that they commissioned 20 artists/designers to create the films on the tv's that move about. They are really cool, but it is so quick you can't appreciate the hard work that probably went into them. The reason it caught my eye when I first saw it was it reminded me of the cut and paste style animation they used to use on Sesame Street - you know, sometimes for learning the eight times table, or sometimes for no reason at all. They were always really eighties and graphical. The endline 'this is now' has recieved a lot of criticism within the industry e.g 'What is it saying?' But I like it. How deep can you be about a new car? This is now. Done.