Wieden makes jewelry out of charts, graphs
Wieden + Kennedy in London is the latest agency to wander off into the product world. Its take is jewelry inspired by sexy graphs. The idea for the PLOT jewelry line came from planner Lisa Prince, who saw a certain beauty in a jagged line from a PowerPoint presentation. She teamed with art director Nicholla Longley and jewelry maker Hannah Havana to make a product line melding data with design. First up are a bunch of necklaces with artsy representations of commodity prices over the years. Wieden managing director Neil Christie says it's all about getting away from that pesky business of making ads. "We're always looking for the opportunity to work in new ways that are beyond traditional advertising channels," he writes on the shop's blog. The jury's still out on whether these agency forays into product making are more than a diversion to keep the staff happy and maybe squeeze out a Fast Company profile suggesting they're "reinventing the ad agency model." One agency guy gave me a simple explanation for the spate of agency product projects: "That's because the ad-agency biz blows." —Posted by Brian Morrissey |
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Published on November 10, 2009 | Permalink
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Crowdsourcing leads to an ill-advised tattoo
Crowdsourcing is not everyone's cup of tea. Some find it a little insulting to advertising professionals who hone their craft only to see the unwashed masses debase themselves coming up with ideas for next to nothing. A new low may have been reached with a crowdsourcing logo contest run by Veer, a stock-photography brand owned by Corbis. Veer put a twist on its contest (the winner gets a Macbook Pro) by asking people to "re-create the Veer logo using real-world objects or materials." One eager beaver decided to use his arm and a tattoo needle. His submission is the video below. The best comment comes from the tattoo artist: "I ain't got to live with it." The fact that this dope is walking around with a stock-photography company's name on his arm alarms me. There's still time to top the tattoo, if anyone wants to literally get branded. The contest ends today. Thanks to @ijyoung. UPDATE: OK, it's a "faux" tattoo. |
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Published on November 5, 2009 | Permalink
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Sorrell to Ad:Tech: You're lucky to have me
Martin Sorrell is apparently much in demand on the conference circuit. While speaking at Ad:Tech in New York on Wednesday morning, the WPP CEO reminded organizers not once but twice that they'd asked him for three years to appear before he agreed to grace the assembled digital nerds with his presence. Sorrell used the occasion to stroll Oprah style into the crowd at the Jacob Javits Center and basically regurgitate WPP's three-pronged strategy of focusing on emerging markets, digital media and consumer insights. A couple pieces of good news: The economy is "less worse," and WPP now finds Google a "much friendlier frenemy." A downer for the agency world came when Sorrell talked about industries dealing with "overcapacity" by shrinking their cost bases. That means more procurement torture sessions. "I have never known clients more focused on cost as they are now," Sorrell said, noting he's been in the business 33 years. —Posted by Brian Morrissey Previously on AdFreak: |
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Published on November 4, 2009 | Permalink
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Latest book by Alex Bogusky gets roasted
Not everyone in the media is grooving on Alex Bogusky. The creative chief at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, who was likened to Our Lord just 18 months ago in Fast Company, has, along with now ex-colleague John Winsor, produced a load of tripe with his new book, Baked In: Creating Products and Businesses That Market Themselves. At least, that's according to a Los Angeles Times reviewer. Dan Neil performs a good old-fashioned evisceration of the book, shredding its premise as obvious, its tone as clichéd and arrogant and its conclusions as wrong, or at least impractical. Bogusky (who previously wrote The 9-Inch Diet, which advocated losing weight by eating off smaller plates) finds himself chuckling and giving a hat tip to the LAT for its use of "half-baked" in the headline of the Baked In review. Neil even looks down his nose at the book's literal thinness, noting it is a mere 150 pages of large type. Thank God he never got a hold of a Kevin Roberts book. —Posted by Brian Morrissey |
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Published on November 3, 2009 | Permalink
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Donny Deutsch gives in, gets a BlackBerry
Until recently, it shouldn't have come as a surprise if Donny Deutsch was late responding to your e-mail. The talk-show host and chairman of the agency that bears his name was a staunch technophobe who shunned the BlackBerry, he told the CMO Executive Summit on Tuesday. But Deutsch recently gave in to the inevitable, after a pretty incredible streak of going without a smartphone. Deutsch admitted he's ambivalent about technology. As a self-described "late adopter," he feels "we're too connected as a society." That's an interesting take from someone in the communications business. But Deutsch is a Big Idea man. He told marketers not to get caught up in all the latest and greatest technology. The fundamentals of marketing, he said, are still about coming up with an "anthemic truth" and plugging in the rest. |
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Published on November 3, 2009 | Permalink
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Digital shop enjoys slaughtering magazines
Carrot Creative, a digital shop in Brooklyn, is using Halloween to celebrate the media industry's woes. It posted this photo on Twitter, showing "digital" stabbing to death magazines like Domino, PC Magazine and Blender. Granted, I doubt we'll find many mourners for Cookie. I'm completely biased considering my job, but the glee with which digital people welcome the supposed demise of "traditional" media is perturbing. Yes, the industry is going through a wrenching transition and paying a heavy price for a business model that should have been transformed many years ago. That's meant lots of layoffs and even magazines and newspapers with storied histories shutting altogether. It's a sad picture. I'm not suggesting we hold a candlelight vigil for Condé Nast or get the government to bail out newspapers. Still, it can't hurt to keep the giddiness in check just a bit. |
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Published on October 30, 2009 | Permalink
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DDB presents an 'asstounding' Reebok spot
Kudos to M&C Saatchi DDB Chicago for billing its new butt-centric Reebok spots as "asstounding." The shop doesn't monkey around with what it's after in promoting the EasyTone, a sneaker Reebok has targeted at the baby-got-back crowd for its leg- and caboose-toning capabilities. The spot above, called "Wandering Eye," stars a shapely spokeswoman who can't get the camera operator from coming in for close-ups of her backyard, although she seems quite flattered by it. The inspired tagline: "Better legs and a better butt with every step." Reebok is running the spots on broadcast and cable TV over the next four weeks, marking the brand's first major TV effort in two years. What a way to come back. UPDATE: DDB, not M&C Saatchi, did the creative here. M&C is the PR agency on the campaign. —Posted by Brian Morrissey Previously on AdFreak: |
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Published on October 30, 2009 | Permalink
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Creators of anti-Droid ad unmasked (sort of)
It turns out pros are behind the Apple-fanboy spoof ad (above) of the Verizon Droid ad spoofing Apple ads. The Wall Street Journal's Digits blog has an interview with the creators, described as staffers from a "Boston-area ad agency." The creative director, "Shawn" (they declined to give their last names), doesn't go out of his way to refute the notion that creative directors can sometimes act like jerks. He says the most controversial line in the spot, "iDon't buy brands who bash other brands," is pointed out as being hypocritical within the ad itself (by showing a Mac and PC clip and the line, "i… oops"). "Apparently even in fake advertising, you can go wrong estimating the intelligence of your audience," Shawn says. Ouch. The question remains: Which Boston-area ad agency is it? —Posted by Brian Morrissey Previously on AdFreak: |
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Published on October 29, 2009 | Permalink
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Use Bing, and get chomped on by a vampire
As I've noted in regard to infomercial spoofs, you can always leave it to advertisers to seize on a cultural trend, typically six months late, and beat it to death. Or in the case of vampires, suck all the blood out. No less than Microsoft, which has been called worse things than a bloodsucker by its rivals, is playing into this with the new Bing spot above. It shows the typical vampire type guy—greasy, long hair, severely manicured goatee—about to feast on an unsuspecting fawn after she uses Bing to find a place to eat that's suitably dark for his tastes. I'm actually surprised more advertisers haven't gone vampire for the Halloween season. —Posted by Brian Morrissey Previously on AdFreak: |
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Published on October 28, 2009 | Permalink
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BBH staffer's Mrs. O blog, now in book form
Everyone in the ad industry loves stories where agencies do things for themselves rather than clients. The success of these projects can be debated. See Honeyshed. Now, BBH New York is celebrating the fruits of its labor with the release of Mrs. O: The Face of Fashion Democracy, a companion book to the Mrs. O blog that BBH account planner Mary Tomer started last fall to celebrate the style of Michelle Obama. The blog has remained popular. According to Quantcast, it gets about 27,000 visitors a month. Brain Pickings has an interview with Tomer. —Posted by Brian Morrissey |
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Published on October 28, 2009 | Permalink
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Apple fan strikes back at Verizon Droid spot
It was inevitable. The Verizon Droid spoof of an Apple commercial (below) has now been spoofed by an Apple fanboy in the video above. It just changes the copy with jabs about ripping off Apple and the interesting claim that "iDon't buy from brands that bash other brands." This makes my head hurt. We can only hope a Droid supporter doesn't spoof the spoof of the spoof. A hole might open in the universe. Via the WSJ's Digits blog. —Posted by Brian Morrissey |
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Published on October 27, 2009 | Permalink
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Isn't it time to retire the infomercial parody?There's no doubt that cheesy infomercials are quite funny. Look at the popularity of the Snuggie or the outpouring of interest following the demise of Billy Mays. But really, how many advertisers must go the tired route of running fake-infomercial spots? Fred Willard is getting a second career out of it. Microsoft rented him for the Bingathon that ran on Hulu, and then he did a similar act for FedEx, as seen above. Below are three other examples: Colgate channeled the Slap Chop for its Wisp toothpick thing. Subaru is picking up the conceit with its "Outback Detergent" ad, as is Bud Light with the "Tailgate approved" stuff. It might be time for a break. Why not spoof cheesy local TV spots? Start with the Carmel Car Service ladies. —Posted by Brian Morrissey |
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Published on October 23, 2009 | Permalink
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Junket does a number on MediaVest staffer
Media buyers are used to being wined and dined. Rarely do they wind up with more than a raging hangover. One unnamed MediaVest staffer, however, apparently got more than he bargained for. He spent the weekend in Jamaica as part of Thrillist's JetMystery junket. All was going well until the Sunday-night party, when around 9 p.m. a huge strobe light crashed onto the dance floor and took out a half dozen people. (Obama Girl Amber Lee Ettinger escaped with minor cuts, according to the New York Post. A nation breathes a sigh of relief.) The ad guy got the worst of it, suffering a broken collarbone that required him to stay over an extra night. Thrillist CEO Ben Lerer called the incident "terrifying," but noted that uninjured partygoers were able to get over their trauma and still have an awesome time. Another silver lining: Lerer was able to work in a plug for sponsor Trojan into the Page Six writeup of the incident. —Posted by Brian Morrissey |
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Published on October 22, 2009 | Permalink
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New Balance running in the wrong direction
As a runner, I'm regularly amused by advertisers' attempts to tap into the zeitgeist of an activity that can at times border on the masochistic. Now, New Balance is writing another sorry chapter in the history of running-shoe advertising. The brand's new spot has a guy running around with feet coming out of his forehead. You see, it's a crazy metaphor for runners thinking of their achy feet all the time, rather than losing themselves in the simple pleasures of a jog. An ER doc fixes things with a brand-new pair of New Balance shoes. This is pretty disappointing from New Balance and BBDO. Their previous "Love/Hate Anthem" nicely captured the complexity of an activity that's addictive yet features inevitable discomfort and the struggle against the understandable impulse to stay put. It would have been nicer to see New Balance take the production budget for the silly feet-on-forehead spot and pour it into "Chasing Kimbia," a Web documentary series the brand has sponsored that puts the spotlight on the often-anonymous lives of great Kenyan runners. That's stuff that will connect more with runners than obtuse metaphors. —Posted by Brian Morrissey |
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Published on October 21, 2009 | Permalink
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No lie, Tony Stewart does love the Whopper
Today, Crispin Porter + Bogusky rolled out a 50-minute Web show for Burger King at TheTruthAboutTony.com. The brand promoted the show heavily during sports games over the past few weekends, saying it would prove once and for all that Nascar driver and BK endorser Tony Stewart really does love the Whopper. The setup mimicked the old TV show Lie Detector, with Stewart hooked up to a machine and asked questions. The site had a Digg-like system to collect questions from fans, who could vote them up or down. Stewart was deemed to be telling the truth when asked whether he's done a doughnut on public property (yes), whether he likes musical theater (no) and whether he's read a book in the last two years (nope). He was caught lying when he said he's never gone commando under the fire suit, cried after a movie of the week, had a special blanket or toy as a kid or checked out hot chicks during races. Burger King showed admirable restraint not making it all about burgers. There was a BK bag on the set and a logo on Stewart's shirt. Of the 30-odd questions, five came from the brand. The entire program led up to asking Stewart whether he really loves the Whopper. He does! All in all, it was pretty entertaining, even for someone who has never watched a Nascar race in his life, though it probably lasted a bit too long and at times seemed contrived. No doubt there's a novelty factor at play here with the live Web video, so I'd guess we'll see more. If you missed it, BK is replaying it tonight at 9 p.m. ET. —Posted by Brian Morrissey
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Published on October 20, 2009 | Permalink
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Bikes rescue lonely, isolated Ogilvy staffers
Ogilvy & Mather recently moved its New York offices from Worldwide Plaza on Eighth Avenue to the site of a former chocolate factory on the far west side of Manhattan, way over on Eleventh Avenue. For non-New Yorkers, let's just say Ogilvy is now in the hinterlands, closer to the Intrepid aircraft carrier than a subway stop. Grumbling, of course, ensued. So, what can Ogilvy do to keep employees peppy? Get them bikes. As part of a companywide effort to encourage bicycle use, the agency has purchased 50 commuter bikes for employees to borrow so they can pedal to that client meeting or find somewhere decent to eat. I guess the days of having the fleet of town cars at the ready are over. Welcome to the new reality. The shop hopes to build enthusiasm for the biking program a week from Tuesday with a citywide scavenger hunt, which naturally has a Twitter twist—teams must post photos to Twitter of each stop along the route. |
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Published on October 19, 2009 | Permalink
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A proper goodbye to your media-agency job
The trick to having a viral hit is to tap into the zeitgeist. That helps explain why an agency staffer's double-middle-fingers resignation letter ricocheted around Twitter over the weekend, garnering more than a few knowing smiles from those in the trenches. The so-far-unnamed media planner, who worked at a shop in Chicago, skipped the usual farewell e-mail for this brutally honest top-10 list of the reasons he's leaving. My favorite: "When you guys were 'right-sizing instead of downsizing because of the economy,' you fired all the cool people." The resignation came with a link to the clip above. It's only a matter of time before the identity of this hero to the agency downtrodden emerges. —Posted by Brian Morrissey |
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Published on October 19, 2009 | Permalink
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Sir Martin, your advertising machine is here
WPP Group CEO Martin Sorrell's commitment to creative has frequently been questioned. He made fun of his reputation himself in Cannes a few years back by jokingly wishing there were a machine that could take care of the creative process without the pesky creatives. Hope is on the way. The Ad-o-matic is an all-in-one ad generator sure to appeal to smart, penny-pinching CMOs. It was created by Miami Ad School students who are clearly set to enter the business with jaundiced eyes. —Posted by Brian Morrissey |
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Published on October 19, 2009 | Permalink
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Amp isn't the only brand on a quest to score
Of the many complaints that rained down on Amp Energy's "Amp Up Before You Score" iPhone app, a couple of common ones involved the notion of "scoring" with women and the creation of crude female stereotypes. It's sexist, many claim. But it's not like the PepsiCo brand is the only marketer using this rather common expression. Take Spectrum Brands' Remington shaver. It has kicked off a promotion to win a crazy weekend in Las Vegas. The effort includes an online game called the "Face of Success Challenge," which asks: "Think you can master the perfect look and slickest moves to score big with these lovely ladies?" The game then asks you to select from among, yes, five female archetypes: fitness instructor, retail consultant, paralegal, pharma sales rep and waitress/actress. Players choose pickup lines to test their success with the ladies. Will it meet with the same outrage? My guess is no, if only because "Spectrum Brands" isn't exactly "Pepsi" when it comes to name recognition. —Posted by Brian Morrissey Previously on AdFreak: |
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Published on October 16, 2009 | Permalink
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Media buyers urged to gun down sales reps
Life as a media buyer isn't just strip clubs and steak dinners on the dime of publishers. It's also about a torrent of ad-sales people with really nice teeth and expensive shoes bugging you 24/7 to close a deal. That means far too many pestering phone calls and e-mails, along with vapid presentations and the same idiotic questions. Games publisher Intergi hopes to curry some favor with the media-buyer world with a casual game called Media Buyer's Revenge, which invites you to play the role of a deranged media buyer who guns down sales reps when they pop up with questions like, "What kind of CPM are you looking for?" and "What click rate do you think is good?" |
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Published on October 15, 2009 | Permalink
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How will fallout over 'Amp Up' affect R/GA?
R/GA has a stellar reputation in the ad industry. Nike Plus is still a staple of presentations about the future of branding in digital. For the most part, the agency has not been a lightning rod of much controversy in the vein of a shop like Crispin. But it's in a new role this week in the aftermath of the uproar over Amp Energy's "Amp Up Before You Score" iPhone app, which has been slammed on blogs (including this one), Twitter, CNN, Fox News and NPR. Pepsi, which owns Amp, has been on the receiving end of most of the ire, but it was R/GA that created all those stereotypes and the brag list that's gotten everyone bothered (and the video above, done in the style of the iPhone ads, which has been handy b-roll for TV segments.) If the shop was courting controversy all along as a strategy to raise Amp's profile and its cred with the young-male target audience, it's done a good job of hiding those intentions. Jay Zasa, the creative director on the project, told me before the controversy erupted that he was surprised the app got a 17+ rating and thought it was lighthearted. No matter where you fall on the issue, there's no doubt that controversy sells. "Amp Up" is now the No. 2 most-popular free app in the iTunes entertainment category, and No. 11 overall. It's safe to say this is probably the most attention the Amp brand has ever gotten. A separate question is whether, in the long run, this will add to R/GA's reputation or live on as a blemish. What do your think? —Posted by Brian Morrissey |
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Published on October 15, 2009 | Permalink
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Dyson perfects art of teaser for new product
Never underestimate the power of a good, simple teaser. Dyson, maker of bagless vacuum cleaners and nifty hand dryers, ignited a ton of online buzz Monday, ahead of a product announcement Tuesday. The video above, which was posted to the Dyson site, shows focus-group participants' incredulous reactions to something Dyson is releasing. This is how the company puts it: "Now we've turned our attention to another familiar device—and made it work better by removing something you might have thought was essential." Twitter was alive with folks at work solving the mystery. If nothing else the breathless reaction of many confirms Dyson as the Apple of the appliance world. And what did Dyson make? Ahh. |
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Published on October 13, 2009 | Permalink
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Egos claw and scratch for Andys-jury votes
The idea of electing the jury for the 2010 Andy Awards is commendable: Instead of picking the same creatives who judge all the awards shows, open up the process to new voices. But come on, this is advertising. It means egos are at stake. While some ad guys are playing it cool, other heavy hitters are taking to social media to drum up votes among the faithful. Will McGuinness of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners put it this way to his Facebook network: "I was nominated for the Andy's jury. If you really value our friendship you'll vote for me." Ogilvy chief digital creative officer Lars Bastholm has urged his 2,200 Twitter followers not once, not twice but three times to vote for him. He even promised that, if elected, he wouldn't blow up the moon. Not to be outdone, TBWA\Chiat\Day chief creative officer Rob Schwartz is Twittering for votes and has set up a Posterous site, Andy Potential, to collect work he feels might be worthy, to show his serious side. Arnold's Twitter account is pushing executive creative director Pete Favat. But the best campaigns so far have to be the dueling text-to-voice animations from Crispin Porter + Bogusky ecd Andrew Keller and R/GA North America cco Nick Law. (See below.) Bastholm has also done one. It's all in good fun, although the end result will probably be a jury that's not that different from years past. Still, early returns hold out some hope for non-advertising people. Graffitti artist Banksy, former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne, designer Marc Jacobs and graphic artist Shepard Fairey have cracked the top 20. —Posted by Brian Morrissey
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Published on October 12, 2009 | Permalink
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New York subway riders, Dr. Zizmor speaks!
Anyone who rides the New York City subway is acutely aware of Dr. Jonathan Zizmor. Dr. Z is a dermatologist and ardent believer in catchy subway advertising. The typical ad features Isabel R.'s grotesque complexion made slightly less grotesque via chemical peel, along with Dr. Z giving a serene gaze. He's possibly the most famous man on the New York subway. But it appears Dr. Z makes TV commercials, too. The spot above, sure to be a top contender at Cannes, features a catchy tune, psychedelic rainbows, Isabel R.'s before-and-after shot, and the man himself speaking to the camera. As someone who has looked at a silent Dr. Z for 10 years, it's somewhat unsettling to finally hear his voice. (And not to be rude, but what's up with his skin?!) Further research reveals that this is actually a return to TV spots for Dr. Z, who made some classic ads, like the one below, back in the '70s. Via Business Insider. —Posted by Brian Morrissey |
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Published on October 8, 2009 | Permalink
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Watch everything the Dachis Group folks do
The current vogue on ad-industry Web sites is transparency. Rather than post simply case studies of your work, you show off what people are saying about it and the agency. This is the approach Crispin Porter + Bogusky takes with its recently relaunched site. Now, the Dachis Group is taking it to a new level. The "social business design" firm, started by Razorfish co-founder Jeff Dachis, has built the Collaboratory, which is a feed of employee activities, keeping track of when they update Twitter and their blogs and even when they send e-mails. Sadly, the transparency stops at letting visitors read the e-mails. Still, it makes for fun viewing. Take this recent update: "Jeff Dachis sent an e-mail to someone at whitehouse.gov." —Posted by Brian Morrissey Previously on AdFreak: |
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Published on October 7, 2009 | Permalink
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