sparking curious mind

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