sparking curious mind

David Lubars is Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of BBDO North America, and this year's Titanium Lions Jury President at the Cannes Advertising Festival. He started his career in 1981 and has since won every major creative award out there several times over, including a Cannes Titanium Lion, an award especially created to honor the outstanding achievement repre­sented by the internet films for BMW produced during his time as President of Fallon Worldwide and Executive Creative Director of Fallon North America. He has also won 17 "regular" Cannes Lions and the Emmy for Best TV Commercial in America no less than three times. He has been named Crea­tive Director of the Year 2000 in Ad-week, and his BMW films are now part of MoMA's permanent collection in New York City . David Lubars answered questions put to him by Michael Weinzettl for Lurzer's Archive, covering everything from his career and future plans for BBDO, New York , through to his views on advertising today.



L.A. : What, in your opinion, makes a good advertising creative?

David Lubars: Extraordinary natural talent, of course, but also an almost, but not quite, debilitating insecurity. The best people have trouble living in their own skin because nothing is ever great enough, nothing is ever smart enough. They worry someone else is doing something better, they're afraid of disappointing the client, and on and on. It's a tough way to live but the best ones are like that. I once heard a saying to the effect that the best peo­ple are afraid of being fired, whereas the mediocre ones are always shocked when they are.

L.A. : How do you view the state of advertising in the US at present as compared to, say, 15 years ago?

David Lubars: A couple of months ago, Peter Souter of AMV/BBDO flew to New York to work on a project together. Unfortunately, he came down with a nasty flu on the plane so, in­stead of going to dinner with us that evening, he stayed in his hotel to recover. The next day, he felt better and came into the office. The first thing out of his mouth; "I watched primetime American television for 6 hours straight last night, the first time I've had the opportunity to do that. The hotel had 50 channels and I flipped back and forth between them all. I didn't see one brilliant commercial the entire evening. In England , I'd have seen five or six." Depressing, but he's right. We and our clients must con­stantly remind ourselves that brilliant creativity will bring disproportionate results, that it is an economic multiplier. Creativity is the best tool we have, in whichever medium we apply it.

Some like it, some hate it, others are not so sure.
The logo, designed for the 2010 event in South Africa, represents the shape of Africa in the colours of our flag. Superimposed over it is a somewhat abstract figure of a footballer, possibly inspired by San art, executing an overhead "bicycle" kick.

Graphic designers in Cape Town said they were generally disappointed feeling that it had had potential to be much better.

What's your say?

Simple, powerful, unique!

In a report titled “Soccernomics 2006,” economists at the bank ABN Ambro picked Italy as the “economic favorite” to win the World Cup.

According to Charles Kalshoven of the ABN AMRO Economics Department: 'The Italian economy is hampered by an inflexible labour market and deteriorating competitiveness. An Italian victory in the World Cup final would boost consumer and producer confidence, and thus lead to more spending and investment. 'Made in Italy' would also reap more benefits abroad. This may well push economic growth upwards, which would then give the government scope to introduce economic reforms.'

Well, they were right. And I wonder why I didn't place a bet on Italy.
I only hope that the history repeats itself and AS Roma will win "Il Scudetto" next year. Like in 1983, the year after the italian squad became world champion for the third time.

Between You and Me, a award-winning short film composed entirely of digital still photos. Brilliant!

Vodafone mobile office
Diesel denim guide
VW Jetta choose you model
The Vodafone journey
Orbit good clean feeling

Take a look! Very nice!

Excelenta ideea lui Cristi Manafu! Hai sa umplem Romania de bloggeri cu tricou! Lista creste pe zi ce trece. Join in!

Sing along! Hilariuos karaoke style commercial.

Brand: Onitsuka Tiger

Agency: Strawberry Frog

1. from consumers → to people
consumers buy, people live

2. from product → to experience
products fulfill needs, experiences fulfill desires

3. from honesty → to trust
honesty is expected. trust is engaging and intimate. it needs to be earned

4. from quality → to preference
quality for the right price is a given today. preference creates the sale

5. from notoriety → to aspiration
being known does not mean that you are also loved!

6. from identity → to personality
identity is recognition. personality is about character and charisma!

7. from function → to feel
the functionality of a product is about practical or superficial qualities only
sensorial design is about experiences

8. from ubiquity → to presence
ubiquity is seen. emotional presence is felt

9. from communication → to dialogue
communication is telling. dialogue is sharing

10. from service → to relationship
service is selling. relationship is acknowledgment

from Emotional Branding by Marc Gobe

Copy in fold: "designed to move"
Client: Adidas
Agency: TBWA, Hong Kong

German brewer Karlsberg (not to be confused with Danish Carlsberg), is convinced that it can get more women to drink beer.
So they created Karla, marketed as improving health and well-being.
The mixed drink is attractively packaged, and comes in two varieties. Both are low in alcohol content (1%) and a blend of beer and fruit juices. Karla Balance claims to provide 'peace and balance' by mixing hops with lemon balm, an herb well-known for its sedative properties.

Emphasis on health prompted an unusual distribution channel: Karla is sold through pharmacists. After a soft launch in 2005, Karlsberg recently teamed up with neutraceutical manufacturer Amapharm to distribute Karla to pharmacists across Germany. International expansion is in the works.

This could be a (niche) hit with health-concious consumers across the world.

Match.com is billing the commercials as the first-ever live TV advertising in Britain and the first-ever live reality TV advertising.

The dating site has bought all the space in the three ad pods of a one-hour episode of "Love Island," which is a reality TV show focused on romance. Match.com’s three ads, a one-minute spot and two 40-second spots, will be the only ads to air during the show.

Those working on the campaign believe that in this world of fragmentation and ad skipping, advertisers will have to make their ads increasingly creative to get viewers to watch. Creating ads that function like content, by being entertaining in their own right, is one way. Going live is another.

via PSFK

"The hardest thing that marketers and brand managers have to do right now is simplify. Marketing and branding need to get back to first principles -- people, feelings, stories, and things. Tangible things. Not weird words."

Paul Bennett - Creative Director of IDEO

I found this database of American Proprietary Eponyms, or brand names that have fallen into general use. Some of the names on the list are so old or in such common use (thermos, vaseline) that I didn't even know they had been brands.

Client: FujiFilm
Brand: Fuji Finepix Z1
Agency: DPZ Brasil

When one has no advertising idea to make the tagline work (chickens so fresh they look alive), take a kid and make him look stupid because he can't tell if a chicken from a grocery store display is dead or alive.

I believe that every client gets the agency that it deserves.

Pretty crazy but, this works perfectly next to airports where people already see the advertising from far up.
Created by Artfield, a german company shaping agricultural land into art but also advertising, using only natural colours and elements.

The World Cup is more than just the global championship of soccer — it’s the quadrennial armageddon that pits Nike against Adidas for the ultimate prize: billions of dollars in soccer-gear sales.
After the group stage and the first elimination stage, Adidas is in front. The german sponsor has three teams in the competition (Argentina, Germany, France), while Nike has only two teams still in contention (Brazil and Portugal). The other teams battling for a place in the semi-finals wear different stripes. Puma for Italy, Umbro for England and Lotto for Ukraine.

So which brand is going to win the World Cup? My money is on England, although I am a very big brazilian fan. Wouldn't be great for Umbro to win the battle between Adidas and Nike?

Excellent use of illustrations!
Another great work from Ogilvy Budapest for British Council Budapest

Thanks Dalbir

It's easier to list the understandings you can glean from data than it is to arrive at an insight.

An understanding is a rational interpretation of data - the WHY behind people's actions and words. So, for example, if 78 per cent of people surveyed say that their health is one of the most important issues for them and 71 per cent say they worry about whether the food they eat is good for them, your understanding might be that people see healthy food as playing an important role in a healthy lifestyle.

However, if you also know that 63 per cent of people feel they don't have time to cook a healthy meal in the evening, your insight might be "people want an evening meal that is healthy but quick to prepare".

Listen for the ringing of bells!
A good way to test whether you have found an insight rather than an understanding is to see what reaction your finding provokes in your target audience. If it rings bells, people nod when they hear it and it provokes a strong response, then you have probably found an insight.