sparking curious mind

Brazil's affinity for nicknames might stem from the country's historically high illiteracy rate. As such, shortened spoken names are typically used more often than longer birth names. In Brazilian society, the use of a first name or nickname is a mark of intimacy. It's also often a class signifier. Lula (the country president's nickname), for one, is known for his working-class roots.

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A sleek and thoughtful campaign, targeted at Switzerland, which deals with the serious issue of the dangers of unprotected sex, uses two fast paced and poignant TVCs relating their tagline “No Action without protection” to the very physical sports of Fencing, Ice Hockey and Motorcycle racing. With all participants completely naked.
The Love Life website features some more fun and quirky sections. Check out the Love Lips section and send someone sexy message through a sultry speaking condom.

Taking consumer comments literally
We all know by now that consumers are apt to say one thing and do another

Investigating just our brand, rather than the larger worlds of activity
One of the most common refrains we hear in this business is "Just tell us about our brand!"

Driving methodologies rather than findings
Often when our telephone rings, the client on the other end will simply say he or she needs a quantitative survey. Why is this a blunder? Seems innocent enough. The reason is because all too often we consider the methodology before we consider the question we want answered

Pre-determining the target audience of a survey tool that is to determine target audience
It's such an easy trap to fall into

Inflating the sample to increase objectivity
We all do it

Letting those in positions of authority ask the questions
Never let those in positions of power have any control over the nature, direction or type of questions being asked

Believing consumers' emotions are easily measurable
Many companies interested in understanding the emotional component of their brand make the mistake of assuming consumers can express or communicate their emotions with language--be it written or verbal

Leaving consumer insights for the end
The most insightful consumer research requires a great deal more patience than many marketers and brand managers are willing or have time to give

It’s a mistake to think that advertising builds the brand. Most of my clients do.
Advertising only calls attention to the brand; it might even create brand interest and brand talk.
Brands are built holistically, through the orchestration of a variety of tools,
including advertising, public relations (PR), sponsorships, events, social causes, clubs, spokespersons, and so on.

The real challenge is not in placing an ad but to get the media
talking about the brand.

As David Ogilvy put it best:

“Any damn fool can put on a deal, but it takes genius,
faith and perseverance to create a brand.”

Client: Channel Two, Belgium
Agency: Duval Guillaume

via adrants

Brand: Jeep Grand Cherokee GPS
Agency: Contrapunto Madrid
Bronze at Epica Awards

The use of the iconic arrow is beautiful and inventive.

30 second ad for Becel Margarine.

It received the highest ranking of any commercial featured in the Hard Sell section of Canada's Globe and Mail.

Written and directed by Tim Piper and co-art directed with Mike Kirkland.

Information doesn't seem to be in short supply, nowadays. Precisely the opposite.
We're drowning in it.
The only factor becoming scarce in this world of abundance is human attention.
I believe that in the years to come, our attention will have a very high value.

In order to get the attention we need to practice an attention economy.
Build attention traps. Create value by manipulating the ruling attention structures.
Judo, not brute force, gets the best results.
Draw your inspiration from your audience not your muse.
And keep in touch with that audience. The customer is always right.

The World Cup is about to start!
So here are some interesting numbers about de competition

1930: First World Cup 0: number of African teams involved then
51: African sides at the start of qualifiers for 2006
5: places reserved in finals for African teams
51: European teams at the start of qualifiers
13: places reserved for European teams . . .
23: players in each squad
0: Italian World Cup players based outside Italy . . .
1: Ivory Coast players not based in Europe . . .
6: Trinidad and Tobago World Cup players based in Scotland
16: World Cup players (all nationalities) based at Chelsea
40: percentage of US footballers who are women . . .
50: percentage of Women's World Cup competitions won by US
£20m: annual earnings of Ronaldinho
£19m: annual earnings of whole Australian team
9: games played by Australia to qualify . . .
26: games played by Trinidad and Tobago to qualify
4: Dutch managers at the World Cup . . .
4: Brazilian managers at the World Cup . . .
0: English managers at the World Cup . . . ?!?!
6: teams from the southern hemisphere
£676,000: average income of players in English Premiership
£900: average income in Togo
100,000: England fans expected to travel to Germany . . .
4,000: tickets allocated to England fans for England v Trinidad and Tobago
314m: average number of TV viewers per match in 2002

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