sparking curious mind

Client: Electrolux
Brand: Zanussi
Agency: BBH London

The newly launched "Get a life, Get a Zanussi" is the first pan-European marketing campaign of the brand. The campaign's total investment stands at EUR 10 million for the year 2006.

WPP has struck a joint venture with a social-networking service, Live World, to build out blogs, buddy lists, message boards, chat rooms and community sites for its clients.

The joint venture, named LiveWorld-WPP, will be equally owned by each company and is exclusively dedicated to collaborating with WPP agencies to offer, create, and deploy LiveWorld’s online community and social networking services as marketing venues for WPP’s clients on a global basis.

Peter Friedman, CEO of Live World, says that "consumers aren't reluctant to be part of a community formed around a brand as long as it's a venue in which the consumer can build relationships with other people who have common interests. For the brand, it can be the ultimate research tool."

I believe that this is going to work. Brand focus and strategic objectives will determine the characteristics of the content offered on an online community . However, the science of community is far more difficult. Communities are delicate collections of people with varying opinions, experiences and prejudices (both positive and negative) on technologies and companies. Traditional uses of marketing and PR are entirely inappropriate for community relations, and it instead requires a deep understanding of community, people and a commitment to the principles that the community is ingrained in. If there is an attempt to subvert these principles, the relationship breaks down.

Cool campaign launched online by HP. The ads are available on a variety of video sites, including YouTube, iFilm, and Google, as well as HP's own microsite for the campaign.

The video clips represent the latest phase of the online portion of HP's current branding initiative, which carries the slogan "The Computer Is Personal Again," and aims to promote computers as expressions of users' individuality.







Goodby, Silverstein & Partners created the units and designed the microsite, which was built by Agency.com.

"Creative without strategy is called 'art.' Creative with strategy is called 'advertising.'"

Jef I. Richards, advertising professor, The University of Texas at Austin.

Dubbing the movies that are shown in movie theaters is something that varies from place to place. In some countries all movies are dubbed, whereas in others you hear the original language. There may be advantages and disadvantages in both systems.

I believe that movies are best watched in the original state. I am a big fan of sarcastic jokes, puns and all sorts of refined word/mind games. All these are often spoilt by translation. Some things just can't be translated into another language. In other cases there's a natural double meaning to a word or a subtle connotation, which gets lost in the process of translation. I've noticed many erroneous or lousy translations, and usually have some fun about the translation besides the meaning of the movie. Dubbing the movie would deprive me of the chance to hear the original and would leave only the imperfect translation.

Voices are, indeed, a very important part of any movie! I can remember a ubiquitous annoying voice that dubbed most Hollywood movies into Russian in Soviet times. It had a monotonous, mumbly voice that seemed to belong to a phlegmatic person with a chronically clogged nose. Furthermore, the same irritating voice dubbed all the characters! So, on one hand, I think it is best to hear distinctive voices rather than a single one speaking on behalf of all the characters (both women and men)! On the other hand, I want to hear the genuine voices, which some of the actors consummate to real art! I would never want to hear the annoying phlegmatic voice of some lethargic dude instead of listening to the real voice modulations of Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, or especially Anthony Hopkins! By the way, think of Brad Pit's voice when talking to the old lady in the hospital in "Meet Joe Black"?

Now, of course, Germany has their own Woody Allen voice-impersonator, Italy has its Harrison Ford, Spain has it's own Sharon Stone (most of France's has the common sense not to dub its films), but generally these country's citizens grew up with these voices matched to these actors and they've gotten used to the strangeness of it all. But aren’t these people missing the genuine experience of movie going?

Client: Sony
Brand: Playstation 2
Agency: TBWA, Paris

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.