From Creativis print collection, a project of the students from the Communication schools at the University "Al. I. Cuza" form Iasi, Romania.

The collection will be showcased in a print exhibition, between 12-19th of June, in the Hall of Lost Steps, at the University.

Made by JWT, Madrid and Framestore CFC

Benjamin Franklin to brand managers:

"Tell me and I will forget,
Show me and I might remember,
Involve me and I will understand."

Copy: "Is your brand part of people's life?"
Agency: Propaganda, Bucharest
Self-promo

1. lots of small ideas, not one big idea; whether it be an ad campaign idea, an attempt to make all your marketing materials or business plans look ‘consistent’, any overarching mission or ‘brand essence’…
2. ‘they mean it’: ie people who work there individually ‘get it’ and want to achieve similar things. And you dont have lots of people who think ‘going through the right process’ is actually doing anything.
3. little is written: lots of conversation, video, imagery, design etc. as the medium of sharing thoughts.
4. it’s the company that sets the limits/or lack of them; the quality of individuals is perhaps less of an issue than many people think it is - it’s all a matter of giving people enough coffee and latitude
5. they have unusual (but authentic) ways to learn & keep in touch with people’s lives & reality in general
6. they have instincts and they trust them; ‘if 20,000 of us think who are close to our markets think it is good, then it might well be’
7. they are fast, impatient with detail, keen to get on with things and see how they go

Discovered during a chat, over a coffee, between Russell Davies and John Grant

Designed by Joshua Murphy, the iBall looks amazing, both aestetichally and functionally.
It's spherical shape makes for a good grip instead of the conventional box type for video cameras. You can also place the iBall on top of a table without the risk of tipping over. This will lessen the possibility of shakes in your video.

via feeder

Successful agencies are run much like other successful companies.
Success starts from the top and these agencies have people in top
management who feel a sense of ownership of their agency; they have
clear business goals, coherent values, and a defined culture, and they
give a strong lead.

Many of them put the quality of their people at the heart of the business,
believing in a service/value/profit chain.

via creative classics

I love this.

"Retailers change the landscape. Planners build new worlds."

Found here

Designed by Nicholas Lovegrove & Demian Repucci

The Concerto Table is designed to be an integral part of the evening's experience. In addition to its iconic status the table also fills the room with music from within the conversation.

Simply open the sound lid in the center of the table to reveal two surface mounted speakers that ensure that every course will be accompanied by the perfect choice of music without ever having to leave the conversation. Paired it with music through an ipod to create a modern dining experience to be shared with friends...

A few relevant insights are better than many.
They are like salt in food - too much is bitterness and absence is blandness.
Define the target group well, both in hard numbers as well as softer aspects such as where and how they live. What do they think? How do they behave? Consumer immersion by observing them and living with them can be very useful. The key here is to not get too close to consumers to get sucked in, nor stay so distant that you do not understand them.

Then there are two choices. One, develop a bank of insights around a product, user or usage and leave the creatives to choose from them. A single insight may not always result in a good creative. So, the creatives should have the freedom to choose an insight to make a creative leap.
Two, combine the most relevant insight with the differentiated product attribute to give a focused brand proposition - from which the creatives can easily make a creative leap.

However, all these are not formulas for sure-fire success. Sometimes, a creative idea may not emanate directly from an insight, but a good lateral connection that will resonate well with the consumer. If this creative is based on a differentiated brand proposition, it will work.
For better use of consumer knowledge, we must get away from reams of numbers, trite verbatim and superficial observations. A search for deeper consumer truths with wider interpretations and relevance to life is needed. Current mindsets and research methodologies need to change to do this well.

Conventional interruptive marketing no longer has the benefit of authenticity and therefore retains very little credibility. The messages have no real substance and the format is defective - marketing is 'interruptive', it can make customers angry and increasingly such messages get screened out. The result is the damage to the perception of marketing and to the communication between companies and their customers. There needs to be a closer link forged between strategy and operations.

The future for brands, should really be about the creation of branded content and assets, that are unique to that brand. Which create Marketspace, generating new revenue streams, providing a greater return on investment. Creating value for customers via information, entertainment, experience, speed of delivery, flexibility of distribution.

It is increasingly likely that the traditional marketing emphasis on creating effective brand communication strategies will need to be extended and dimensionalised to create effective brand experience strategies which allow the customer to meaningfully connect, experience and interact with a brand. The rapid acceleration of these will be crucial to success in the marketplace.

Alan Moore - CEO of SMLXL a next-generation creative marketing company

An the Agency of the Year is...........for the 4th year on the row

Leo Burnett & Target

Inca unul si se implineste promisiunea lui Bogdan

Se cuvine sa felicit GMP pentru prestatie!

Some years ago, it was mainly the United States that counted in the world of internet(near 70%), we now notice that they only count for about 20%. The rest of the internet use is more spread over the rest of the world.

With the boom of internet and technology, a Morgan Stanley report shows even that the number of engineers that graduate in the USA is less important than that of India let alone China. This doesn’t withstand that the salaries are completely different between Asia and the USA.
It is also in Asia that the evolution is clearly taking big proportions:

1. South Korea is having more than 70% of broadband access
2. Japan sends more emails by phone than by PC
3. China counts the "youngest" internet users: their proportion of under 30 years is the highest in the world

When you have a look at the image above, it will probably make you smile. Many have heard about Maslow’s theory.
In reality though, there are still masses of people who have never heard of Maslow but are still definitely in the initial pyramid of needs. What is also remarkable is that in the study the main actors are Asia and USA, followed, supposing, by Europe but no word about Latin America.

According the survey, the future will move internet and technologies even faster: "You ain’t seen nothing yet". The different uses with the technologies are numerous and the game is being played on different levels:

• Video
• Voice
• WiFi
• Broadband
• Storage
• Open Source

Though the spending on internet are finally rising, after quite some years of hope, the way companies use advertising on internet is still not very well developed.

I shouldn’t be saying this but, when will marketing people use internet adequately in their action plans and take all the benefit they can from this?

Nearly everybody likes to win awards.
Awards create glamour and glamour creates income.

But beware

Awards are judged in committee by consensus of what is known.
In other words, what is in fashion.

But originality can't be fashionable, because it hasn't as yet had the approval of the committee.
Do not try to follow fashion.

Paul Arden-"It's not how good you are, it's how good you want to be."

"Word of Mouth means a whole lot more to me than advertising. If the product is really good, people will talk about it. It'll get around. I trust my friends before I'll trust an ad agency. Ads can be cool, but they don't necessarily tell me what I really need to know."

via

virility to create virality

Great stories succeed because they are able to capture the imagination of large or important audiences, say Seth Godin in an article published in Ode Magazine

A great story is true
Great stories make a promise
Great stories are trusted
Great stories are subtle
Great stories happen fast
Great stories don’t appeal to logic, but they often appeal to our senses
Great stories are rarely aimed at everyone
Great stories don’t contradict themselves
Most of all, great stories agree with our world view

A story can teach you and change you. Of course. But only if it STARTS with something that people already buy into.

According to a in-depth study made by
IBM Institute for Business Value,


1. "Customers have different value drivers for different shopping occasions or missions"
2. "Shopping missions can evolve"
3. "Mood plays a major role in the shopping experience"
4. "Customers want convenience"


Traditional, largely demographic classifications of retail customers are inadequate in a marketplace that has become increasingly complex, competitive and polarized.

Today’s well-informed consumers have far greater expectations of the shopping experience than previous generations – and if retailers are to fulfill those expectations, they need a much better understanding of their target customers than ever before.

A inceput a sasea editie a festivalului de publicitate Ad'Or.
Anul acesta s-au inscris in festival 21 de agentii de publicitate : ADDV Euro RSCG, Brands&Bears, Capricorn Advertising, Foote Cone & Belding, gavScholz&Friends, GMP, Graffiti BBDO, Icon Advertising, Imager, Leo Burnett & Target, Lowe & Partners, Media Biz, Mercury Promotions, OgilvyOne, Publicis, Publicis Dialog, Saatchi & Saatchi, Scala JWT, Team Advertising/ Young&Rubicam, Utopium Advertising, Webstiler. Lipseste McCann Erickson.

May the freshest idea win! As usual

The Australian reports that Unilever set up communications planning and digital advertising operations last year, as part of efforts to respond to the declining impact of television advertising.

"The ad industry is struggling at the moment in pulling all the components of brand communication together". "There is a struggle to have traditional media and digital and content and public relations all brought under one roof under the agency side."
says Alan Rutherford, Unilever's global media director

He is not alone. Jim Stengel, global marketing officer of Procter & Gamble, agrees with Rutherford that "the job of media planner - the person who decides where to place advertisements - should be combined with that of creative planner, who helps decide what kind of ads to run."

Uh oh! What is going on here? Is this a warning or what?

Glue London has produced a viral for Mini UK aveaword.com, that lets users put together a personalized video message for their friends.

Very nice work

MPreis, a chain of supermarkets in western Austria, bills itself as "The Seriously Sexy Supermarket".
The company's stores literally stand out because of their unusual and progressive architecture.

MPreis has been commissioning up and coming architects for the last fifteen years, encouraging them to design buildings that make the most of their settings in the Tyrolean Alps. Which is in stark contrast to most chain retailers, who find a formula and repeat it, regardless of location.

A keen eye for aesthetics continues inside the stores, which feature sleek café's and carefully chosen materials. And the experience goes beyond design – MPreis also understands the value of storytelling, emphasizing that the company is family-owned, and was founded by an entrepreneurial woman (Frau Therese Mölk) in the 1920s.

Surprisingly, price levels at MPreis aren't higher than at competing supermarkets in the region. Although award-winning design comes at a slightly higher cost than generic structures, the buildings look more expensive than they are.

The key of the matter is that everything can be upgraded, and creating a richer customer experience doesn't necessarily require raising prices. Plenty of opportunities for big-box retailers across the world to become patrons of good architecture and bold design!

via Springwise

Which File Extension are You?

The World Cup is almost here.
Linotype has a very good feature on football jerseys fonts

Theatergoers Sit Through 'Live Ads' Before Plays

When theatergoers at Piccadilly's Comedy Theater settled into their chairs last week to catch the comedy, "Steptoe and Son," they first witnessed a unique pre-performance "live advertisement."

The commercial, which took the form of a mini-play, got just one run, but it will live on as the cast hits Dublin, Madrid and New York theaters in the spring.

via Kottke

Ah, insights, everybody these days talks about insights.
A consumer insight is like God - present everywhere but not seen, felt or easily understood. Verbatim judgments, linearly-observed consumer behaviour, or simply aphorisms for life are often passed off as insights. However, to get insights, you need deeper thinking.

An insight is what connects the advertising idea to brand attributes via consumer life.
And insights into consumer life cannot be obtained via noisy Focus Groups relying too much upon consumers to talk about their own world. Consumers tend to talk about the obvious.
So, we get past and current playback, not what can possibly be. New insights cannot be unearthed through this method alone. Marketers have to delve deeper, and not rely upon consumers to define everything for them, which is really just lazy marketing.

The deep insights come from one-on-one, in-depth interviews, observation at home or consumption points, sociological studies, or by just observing life keenly. Focus Group discussions, at best, can be one of the methods. Meeting more consumers is not the solution. More reliance on indirect methods and deeper interpretations is required.

Adevarat!

via Gapingvoid

Sony Bravia spoof, filmat in Swansea, Tara Galilor, pentru Tango.
Se pare ca locuitorii sunt foarte nemultumiti de faptul ca strazile le-au fost umplute de fructe!

P.S. Site-ul este facut de cei care au facut si spotul, so is part of the plan!

When Professor Lisa Jardine and Annie Watkins of Queen Mary College, asked hundreds of British female academics, teachers, writers, publishers and literature students what book had changed their lives, many respondents wondered whether there would be a male version of the survey as well. Jardine and Watkins complied: The results were fascinating in their own right, and more intriguing when juxtaposed with the findings for women. Not only did men and women find different books to be meaningful, but they approached reading in divergent ways.

Men's Fiction

Top Five

1. "The Outsider," Albert Camus

2. "Catcher in the Rye," J.D. Salinger

3. "Slaughterhouse Five," Kurt Vonnegut

4. (tie)"One Hundred Years of Solitude,"Gabriel Garcia Marquez

"The Hobbit," J.R.R. Tolkien

5. "Catch-22," Joseph Heller

Women's Fiction

Top Five

1. "Jane Eyre," Charlotte Bronte

2. "Wuthering Heights," Emily Bronte

3. "The Handmaid's Tale," Margaret Atwood

4. "Middlemarch," George Eliot

5. (tie)"Pride and Prejudice," Jane Austen

"Beloved," Toni Morrison

Other findings:

• No male authors made the women's top five, and no female authors made the men's top five.

• Only four books made both top 20 lists.

• Six male authors broke the women's top 20, but only one book by a female author made the men's top 20: "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee.

• Older men were more likely to cite female authors as influential.

• Men were most likely to have read their formative books as adolescents.

• Women were more likely to read books to cope with difficult times.

• Men were more likely to cite particular authors as "mentors," particularly, among these British residents, George Orwell.

• Women liked shared, hand-me-down books; men liked new books and hardbacks.

• Women had a more diverse list of favorites — 400 women named 200 books.

• Men answered the question of what book marked a watershed moment more reluctantly than women.

MooBella is where taste meets technology. Their vending machines allow you to mix your own flavors of ice cream in less than a minute. The machine itself has a touch screen display that shows an assortment of flavors and mix ins available at that time.

When a flavor runs out its taken down off the menu and the onboard computer sends a message to MooBella’s headquarters telling them that machine needs to be re-stocked with that particular flavor. The machine also sends sales data back to the headquarters wirelessly. The vending machine is perfect for parents and those sunny summers or just Florida. As the old saying goes, I scream you scream MooBella screams for ice cream.

As their slogan says, it's "Quick, Fresh, Now. Wow!"

A solid brief = great creative = smooth production = meeting deadlines = shifting product or perceptions = meeting business objectives = everyone looks good = we all win.


A shit brief = fucked creative = re-brief = missed timings = rushed production = low production values = bastardised completed piece = failed to meet business objectives = we all look shit (until the Agency exposes you to senior management) = we all lose.

So let's all get our shit together and deliver.

Entuziasmul nu este de ajuns pentru a reusi in publicitate.
Sustin un seminar pe Strategii de comunicare si PR, la Comunicare Sociala si Relatii Publice, anul III, Fac. Filosofie, UAIC.
95 % dintre studenti isi doresc sa lucreze in publicitate. Din nefericire, pentru ei, nu cunosc mai mult de 2 agentii de publicitate din Romania. Nu stiu ca exista in Iasi agentii de publicitate. Nu cunosc nici macar o agentie de PR.

Ca sa nu mai vorbesc de faptul ca nu au idee despre cum functioneaza o agentie de publicitate, cum este organizata. Toti vor sa faca spoturi!!!!! Si se plang ca nimeni nu le da vreo sansa sa arate cat de creativi sunt ei!

Cand le recomand sa citeasca, sa se informeze, ma privesc oarecum mirati. Nu par entuziasmati de perspectiva lecturii.
In general dupa ce le povestesc despre ce si cum este publicitatea in realitate, se mai lumineaza. Reusesc ca in urma exercitiilor practice pe care le lucram impreuna sa le starnesc si mai mult interesul. Isi dau seama de lacune si pentru a veni mai bine pregatiti, se apuca de citit.

Dar e jale......Facultatile sunt fabrici de facut bani si nu prea le pasa de ce cunostinte livreaza studentilor. Si nici daca specializarile propuse raspund cerintelor pietei.

"Marketerii care se bazeaza in segmentare doar pe criterii sociodemografice risca sa ajunga la concluzii inselatoare; segmentarea dupa stilul de viata este mult mai relevanta pentru comportamentul de cumparare al oamenilor."

"Sylvester Stallone si Woody Allen. Ambii sunt barbati, au aceeasi profesie (actor), aceeasi varsta (60 de ani), acelasi venit (peste 10 milioane de dolari). Daca te-ai baza pe aceste criterii, ai spune ca sunt persoane asemanatoare, cu stiluri de viata similare. Dar, in realitate, sunt complet diferiti: unul se duce in timpul liber la sala de gimnastica, celalalt viziteaza muzee; unul voteaza cu Bush, altul cu Kerry; unuia ii place sa se uite la televizor, celuilalt sa citeasca ziare; unul bea bere, celalalt vin etc. - iar toate aceste aspecte sunt fundamentale pentru un marketer, fiindca sunt cele care influenteaza comportamentul de consum."

In profunzime, in revista Bilant

"The lesson for agencies is that our old product (advertising) tells consumers what to expect from the brand—but the real equities are created by experiencing the brand in action.
The good news is that while brands are universal, experience is personal. In a world where the consumer’s perception of brands is that they are increasingly similar, customer experience is an ever more valuable source of differentiation."

Cathy Clift, Chief Planning Officer of Rapp Collins Worldwide

Pe larg, despre importanta account planner-ilor, despre comunicare personalizata si cum afecteaza schimbarea, produsa de noile tehnologii, atitudinile si motivatiile consumatorului
la Adotas

1. "I am not creative."

2. "That's a stupid [or daft, or silly, or ridiculous] idea."

3. "Creative people always have great ideas."

4. "Constructive criticism will help my colleague improve her idea."

5. "We need some new marketing ideas for the upcoming product launch.
Let's get the marketing people together and brainstorm ideas."

6. "In order for our innovation strategy to be a success, we need a system of review processes for screening ideas and determining which ideas to implement."

7. "That's a good idea. Let's run with it."

8. "Drugs will help me be more creative."

9. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

10. "I don't need a notebook. I always remember my ideas."

Toate astea nu fac decat sa inhibe procesul creativ. Gasiti o cale de scapare daca in timpul procesului de creatie apare unul din aceste mituri.

Jeffrey Baumgartner ne ofera mai multe solutii in ultimul newsletter Report 103 de la jpb.com

via Creative Calssics

"The landscape is changing.
Agencies and advertisers who fail to recognize that are going to get lost in the shuffle."

Phil Dusenberry, CD of BBDO

More about the subject, with Phil and David Lubars, in an interview on Fast Company website.

"Pants"
Agency: BBH
Client: Axe Boxer Shorts

"A sultry pouting brunette struts down a darkened corridor and begins to size up the muscular man before her. She tantalisingly allows her hands to explore his torso, her hands reaching further and further down, until with a raise of her eyebrows, she makes a discovery..."

view ad here: Glassworks