Confessions of an Advertising Insider

No posting for quite a while now... Why? Didn't feel like it and also veeery full schedule these past two months...

But here we go again with this video on advertising, of course :), via ThoughtSpurs



Basically is the view of an advertising insider on the behind-the-scene life in ad agencies which supposed to be funny and relevant. Well, as far as I'm concerned, the facts are distorted and if an ad man really thinks this way he/she should seriously consider changing job, 'cause it's clear he/she won't do any good neither for his/her self-esteem, neither for the ad industry...

The advertising feeds itself with the souls of the whole ad crew and takes its juice from the (sometimes) overinflated ego of the creatives and the aspirational ambition of the planners. Stating that all that ad men do is stealing ideas from average joe is a great injustice for all the mental struggle used to find the best way to send a compelling and relevant message through...

Yes, advertising is inspired from the day to day life, but passionate, responsible professionals take all this to a whole new level making extraordinary out of the ordinary, bringing new perspective and added value to things. That's why everybody enjoys Nike advertising, or Sony Bravia or Diesel...

Come on, people, let's be honest and talk also about the SACRIFICE and RESPONSIBILITY behind a good communication campaign and about the real values and principles of this too long, too much overestimated and in the same time underestimated job...

Fuck you, you ignorant creatures!!!!! There's no fun here.

Oh yeah, this is more like a Cadbury ad

...but is just (sort of) a spoof for the Cadbury's Eyebrows commercial. Definetly better than the original :)



and here is the original, judge for yourself:



So, what's your vote?

Social media? What is this?!?

Via hollycow

The advertising in 2009

Here is a very interesting rapport from Futurelab on the relation agency-client.

Here is a post written in Romanian on the same subject.

Briefly, the clients and the ad agencies live quite separate worlds, just like a couple that it should have long time ago go to a couple therapist...

Sacrifice

I think by now, we (almost all know about the Whooper Sacrifce on facebook. For Those who don't know, Burger King has installed this facebook application by which one can receive a free Whooper(a sort of Burger King Big Mac) if sacrifices 10 of his/her facebook friends. Find some more info here. On twitter I was saying about this campaign that is, as far as I'm concerned, offending. I would never ever cut 10 of my facebook friends for a shitty hamburger...

that just isn't me...

Anyhow, communication wise, the Crispin Porter+Bogusky manage to use the internet's benefits to their full advantage.

If the campaign's objective is to rise awareness for Burger King , well it's a success, but it has the objective to built positive attitude for the brand, I don't know what to say... perhaps they could have done it better.
Here si the whoopersacrifice site
Just by writing this post, I added whooper and burger king as tags and I have given sone 20 min of my life to this shit...

Some interesting things about this campaign you could find here and here (is written in Romanian)

As conclusion:

Very good use of internet
Not that great subject - this sacrificing thing is just not getting to me...

I preffer this Anouk's sacrifice instead of that of BK

Controversial ads

Sex, norespect, attitude, boldness...you name it: here - 50 of the most controversial ads

Innovate creatively

A few are talking more and more about the active use of communication mediums. Here is a great example of what I think this means.

You could see these in Beirut, Lebanon

The ad is for this hair product Koleston and the message is quite clear: Koleston uses natural ingredients...

This is a really compelling way to get your message through. And, yeah, you have to have such a gorgeous panoramic view to use...

But still, clever work

More on this here
And even more here

Hello pe 2009

Salutari everybody, urari pt 2009 cred ca ati primit destule, asa ca trec direct la subiect si intoduc in scena o prezentare care merita click-uita a lui Gareth Kay, planner la Modernista!.
Aici el vorbeste despre cum publicitatea ar trebui reconfiguata pentru a fi de un real folos in cresterea unui brand. Intr-o lume ideala, omul are dreptate, nu cred ca e cineva care sa il contrazica, mai ales ca intr-un fel sau altul multi sunt(em) cei care simt ca ar trebui sa "faca mai mult" in calitatea lor de oameni de comunicare...

Planning Needs Some Planning

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: strategy advertising)

Enjoy

Very Nice Social Campaign

I encountered news about this campaign here and it's a really compelling communication activity.

A clean execution, very emotional and, I think, quite involving. The message is clear and title: The girl effect

Just take a look:

What would you want Santa to bring you?

Me, for instance, I would like the childhood Christmas spirit back...I want the old time white snow back on the streets, I want to wake up in my grandparents warm house, I want to hardly wait to go down the hills on the sledge, I want to go with my friends to sing carols...

I want to believe n Santa again !!!

The more one grows old, it becomes harder and harder to keep the Noel magic alive :(... We all in advertising industry are talking and preaching about emotional communication approaches, but in the end it's all about the money and the power...no emotion whatsoever (besides frustration and anger).

Pretty sad

Just read this sad all grown people's Christmas wishes:

Moray MacLennan IPA President, Chief Executive, M&C Saatchi Worldwide
"For Christmas I want a law to be passed that forbids newspapers and television news programmes from reporting anything on the ‘economic downturn’ or the ‘credit crunch’. The thought of all the ‘reviews of 08’ and ‘predictions for 09’ packed with misery and despondency. We’ve got the point. I do understand that coming up with something uplifting would require a good deal of creative thinking, but it would make Christmas much jollier."

Sir Martin Sorrell, Chief Executive, WPP
"For channukah and Christmas - a one per cent improvement in WPP margins and bowling Clive Lloyd and Mike Proctor again."

Dylan Jones, Editor, GQ
"I would like a Tory government - pronto!"

Claire Beale, Editor, Campaign
"Can I have a rolling pin, some knitting needles and a trowel please Santa; it's going to be a self-sufficient 2009."

Ita Murphy, Managing Director, MindShare
"Each year the thing I most want for Christmas is anything that comes in a little velvet box.....sadly my hubby has interpreted this as sat nav!"

Gerry Moira, Chairman & Director of Creativity, Euro RSCG London
"Some f***ing goodwill. Is that just too bloody much to ask, for Chr***'s sake? One sodding shred of p**sing goodwill? Eh? (Sorry, it's been a long year)."

Lucy Barrett, Editor, Marketing
"I awake on Christmas morn, only to discover that this recession has just been a rather sinister dream. In fact the industry is in boom. Less of Father Christmas still exists and more of Concorde still existing please.... Sadly I was born a couple of decades too late wasn't I?"

James Wildman, Managing Director, Interactive Digital Sales
"In these straitened times all I would ask for is good health, fun company and inspired decisions in media agencies. Everything else will then fall into place."

Rory Sutherland, Ogilvy & Mather, Vice-Chairman, Ogilvy Group UK
"I'd like people - especially people with budgets - finally to take mobile marketing seriously."

Cilla Snowball, Chairman Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO
"Big hot holiday with my kids, all the books on the Booker shortlist( with time to loll around reading all the books on it) and buckets of energy for the year ahead."

Stephen Allan, Worldwide Chairman & Chief Executive, MediaCom
"Good health for my family and a $2billion global account win for MediaCom."

Tess Alps,CEO, Thinkbox
"My Christmas wish list includes the following:
a tin-hat
laughing gas
a third series of Green Wing
Peter Field and Les Binet, both dipped in chocolate and subject to my every whim."

Hamish Pringle, Director-General, IPA
"May we all have grace under pressure."

Source: IPA

Happy Christmas!

Understanding consumer's mind research

Great video about researching...one of the ways it should be done



Via thehiddenpersuader

Enjoy

Big mistake or disruptive outdoor panel

Yesterday, at the Stefan cel Mare metro station , in Bucharest, I've seen this:

A reversed outdoor panel...

It might be a mistake - because even the words were up side down - but is surely caught my eye...

So, one way or another, this disruptive outdoor did his job very well

The power of internet

Another great digital campaign, this time from Goodby, Silverstein who has managed to create an interesting and quite appealing approach for the US communication company Sprint Nextel: the widget site...


Basically, the site assess under the message "This is now" the easiness to "stay connected" thanks to the Sprint's wireless devices...

Sprint is going through a tough time right now, after losing a lot of its customers, according to The New York Times... So, in a such a shaky macro and micro economic context the communication becomes more than important...

Take a look at this site and see the Goodby, Silverstein approach of the matter.

I am expecting the moment when such digital projects will be implemented/created also in Romania...

Enjoy

W+K+Nokia

These Wieden&Kennedy fellows never stop to amaze me with their fresh approaches; I guess their "Embracing failure" philosophy really makes the difference. Here is their multimedia campaign for Nokia, Supernova, based on a great insight: The telephone contains a big part of your life...Click here: www.somebodyelsesphone.com

This is a great communication approach of the branding process for a mature brand, focused on bonding with the target...
The campaign targets the youngsters and it really manages to depict a very appealing brand personality.

Great job, W+k's !!!
Here are the clips for promoting the project...
Enjoy,

Everybody, let's vote

Someone had this idea to give the chance to the whole world to virtual vote in the US election. :)

Obama seems to be by far the worldwide favorite... you can move the mouse on the world countries and you can see the number of voters and their preference.

Interesting initiative, this one...


Let's see what the rest of you has to say about it here...vote, everybody!!

Dave...Ogilvy Dave...

Laudabila initiativa celor de la Ogilvy Grecia - punctarea intr-un mod viral a aniversarii lor - , insa nu stiu ce sa zic despre executia in sine...

Judecati si voi:


I only add: Happy birthday, Ogily Worldwide

Mad Men characters twittering away...

That's some surprise...or not...Everybody is mad about Mad Men...just check out the twitter links in this post from Adland... We are living in a crazy crazy world

It could also be a very clever marketing gimmick

I don't really feel like working...

Mad Men vs. Real Life

Very interesting this TV series...I enjoy it even better because it dramatizes a world that one way or another I'm actually living: Advertising.

Yes, I might say that one can find some relevant insights about what the life of an ad person is, but what's really interesting is the characters' typology.

The people behind these series have really managed to capture some relevant types of ad people. Of course, there are also a great deal of other personality types as interesting as the ones presented in telling a entertaining story about the advertising world, but we are only in front of the second series...

Here are some photos where if you work in advertising you can search for the character that best suits your personality...

For more on Mad Men here

Enjoy ;)

Later edit
Great line in the 2nd episode of the 2nd series: "There's life and there's work"
And also, I've just realized there are no PR persons...hm

This is procrastination

... a word that is overused and in the same time so apropriate for a lot of contexts...