In Case You Ever Needed Proof That There Is No One Way Of Doing Things

Daft Punk’s 5 year teaser campaign and Beyonce’s shock overnight album launch on iTunes - Both awesome, both causing massive spikes in internet search traffic, although Beyonce is of course starting from a much higher base.

My 5 Favourite Adverts Of 2013 (Not Made In 2013)

Rather than contribute to the endless roundups of this year’s ads all over the internet I thought I’d share my 5 favourite ads that I’ve been inspired by this year. In no particular order;

Starting with the product is pretty brave and this gorgeous piece of film is now on permanent display in the Louvre as an example of modern art in advertising.



I dare you to find a 20 second advert you love this much. Straight to the point, hilarious and memorable. What more can you ask for?

The craft in this is just outstanding. Goosebumps don’t lie.

Still as fresh as the day it was made.

I struggle to think of an advert that understands the people it is talking to more.

P.S. What are your favourites?

3 Books Everyone In Advertising Should Read

I'm sure I'm not the only person in advertising that has been recommended about 3 million must-read books about behavioural economics, strategy, thinking differently, problem solving, social anthropology... the list goes on. So it's with a bit of trepidation that I'm writing this post. Having said that these three books all made a big impact on how I work fairly immediately and I think that's worth sharing.

A Technique For Producing Ideas

This book is 45 very small pages long,  you can read it in half an hour. That alone almost makes it worth reading. However the legendary Bernbach makes an even more compelling case than that - 'James Webb Young conveys in his little book something more valuable than the most learned and detailed texts on the subject of advertising.' 

Project Colour

 “Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it… Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.”

- Steve Jobs

In 1997 the Government’s  ‘Excellence in Schools’ report argued that unlocking the potential of every young person was of vital importance and concluded that Britain’s social stability and economic prosperity were dependant upon doing so.1

Following on from this the National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education (NACCCEE) published a report concluding that “a national strategy for creative and cultural education is essential to that process.”2

It argued that the importance of creativity in the workplace had become paramount and that this coupled with the Education Reform Act’s emphasis on the need for education to equip young people for that working life, meant that developing creative abilities should be seen as a general function of education as it would benefit all children.3

Project Colour #2

So last week Project Colour kicked off at Ashburnham Primary School where over 150 kids painted their version of the World’s End Estate onto our digital billboard. As week 2 of the project starts and we begin to turn their paintings into one giant collage I’ve had some time to reflect on what was a truly exciting and uplifting day. 5 things stood out for me in particular.

1. First of all it was truly impressive to see how immediately these kids got to grips with the technology and immersed themselves into painting.

Project Colour

On the 16th July 2013 children from Ashburnham Community School on the World’s End Estate were able to draw straight onto a 15m2 digital billboard overlooking their school via our Project Colour App, installed on iPads set up in their playground. A collage of all their drawings is going to be exhibited on billboards across London over the coming weeks. Photographs of their work in situ will then be used to create posters for the school noticeboards and hallways with each child also receiving a poster of their individual artwork to take home.

Got To Love A Good Slide

If you’re anything like me (or any other planner I've ever met) you’ll get all hot under the collar over a good slide. Sometimes it’s because it’s a really useful or interesting piece of information. Sometimes it’s a masterclass in how to present something and other times it’s just because it’s pretty. Anyway I thought I’d share my favorite slides with you.

1. Lest we forget how much TV people are actually watching and are tempted to buy into the ‘TV advertising is dead it’s all about social’ hype…

2. This slide has probably affected the way I work more directly and immediately than anything else I've read.

This might be a crazy idea…

We love making brave, exciting, innovative ads. Why?

Because it works. We know it in our hearts, we know it from our own experience and extensive research has proven that creatively awarded campaigns are much, much more effective than non awarded campaigns.¹ They can even shape and become a part of popular culture.

We also know what will make a creatively awarded campaign. The work has got to be evocative. Emotional advertising is far more effective and profitable than rational advertising.²

So why is it that we make so much derivative and rational advertising? Why does everyone from Martin Weigel to David Droga think that the vast majority of what we make is shit?

Because making great advertising means taking risks. ‘Safe’ and rational (or crap) advertising is unfortunately often capable of meeting the short term sales and business objectives that pay our client’s wages and bonuses³. So most clients don’t often take that risk. Why would they? Would you?

And if we are being brutal, they don’t trust us enough to take that risk. Otherwise they would.

So how can we persuade them trust us, to take that risk and go from derivative and rational to brave and emotional?

I think it’s us that need to change.

Talent Imitates, Genius Steals?

The rise of 'circle of life' advertising in reverse chronological order;

Vine, Brands and Advertising.

Vine

I’ve been a big fan of Vine ever since I first discovered it a few weeks ago and although it is clearly still in it’s infancy I’m going to call it now – Vine is going to be big and it’s here to stay. I’m willing to bet it becomes a part of mainstream culture. It is the natural progression of social video. I believe this for several reasons but the three most compelling to me are:

Great Minds Don't Think Alike

Utterly Brilliant. That is all.

Game Changers from the IPA Modern Briefing: 2

Last night’s IPA Modern Briefing (2: The Clients Talk Back) conference was an exceptionally insightful follow up to this summer’s game changing talk on the agency briefing process. There were about 500 things you could've learnt last night but five of them stood out for me in particular.

They stood out for me because they can and (hopefully) will immediately affect how I try to work with my clients.