The Ranch

How to triple your sales using a 16 year old vlogger

2012-01-11T10:51:00.002-06:00

While I realize this is a little outdated, it's still a good case study for using youtube for marketing. -David

This 16 year old vlogger Juicystar07 is yet another example of the power and reach of a free youtube video compared to an expensive TV commercial.

Using Reel Skills to Treble Your Sales
Want 561,522 YouTube viewers to see a nine-minute video about your product? Then you need to go find a 16-year-old girl to talk about it.
That's just what bespoke shoe seller Shoes of Prey did. They approached Blair Fowler, also known as Juicystar07, to do a video about their shoes, and give away a pair.
The video certainly made an impact, according to a blog post by founder Michael Fox. It gave the ecommerce site a massive 500,000 visitors in a week, way more than any other coverage they've had, online or offline.
But the fun had just started. See, Michael posted intimate details about the promotion on the company blog, then publicized the blog on Twitter and through other means. The coverage gained through retweeting and the whole YouTube marketing venture means they are now enjoying a 300% increase in daily sales. You can read more about it on their blog.
So, by taking the initiative and seeking out a different form of promotion, and then writing about the process and results, they were able to drive more traffic to their site and triple their sales. Brilliant!

Via Sitepoint

No big egos please and pick up the phone

2011-11-25T15:00:00.000-06:00

These are two sage articles about professional communication. My boss sent me the link about calling people rather than e-mailing. Now that I think about it, these guidelines also apply to personal life.

Ninety–four (94) percent said working on teams in a collaborative manner was essential. They specifically related this to the creative sector where the give and take on ideas can make the difference. This means the ability to work with others in tandem is a necessary requirement to fully explore solutions and the success of projects. There is little room for egos or proprietary attitudes.

source: 4 Reasons to work well and play well with others

The next time you experience an issue over email, ask yourself if it is something that would be better served by a real conversation. Then have the courage to stop emailing and pick up the phone. Or even better: have a meeting.

source: Don't Send That Email. Pick up the Phone!

News Roundup

2011-06-27T21:31:00.004-05:00

Brand Reversions by Graham Smith

Check out the case study for Rally.org.

Ryan Steely from SOA32 has a new illustration to be donated to Grind for Life for fundraising. Grind for Life is an organization that provides financial assistance to cancer patients and their families when traveling long distances to doctors and hospitals.

Adfortel launches unique mobile advertising service with Yesss! in Austria and is a unique combination of Adfortel’s two services: VoiceAds and TuneAds.

The F-Factor influences your purchase decisions the most. From May 2011 Trendwatching.com

Congrats to Orel Bitan and Jessica Kalkberman for winning the Cannes Lions "YouTube GoodWork" 2011 contest!

The "Love146" viral video was created independently and with 0 budget (the actress is my little sister, the room belongs to my nephew) and still managed to make a buzz proving that good ideas are stronger than anything. It even succeeded to reach the media, and was broadcast (2 times before winning+1 after winning) on "Channel 10", the second most viewed news channel on Israeli TV: http://youtu.be/KLxb6eRl5zE

The creative:
The video seems to be a video which sells toys BUT when you roll over the girl in the video, you discover she also has a price + a link which leads to a ‘LOVE146’ video with the massage:
Two children are sold every minute - End child sex slavery & exploitation.

Advertised brand: Social& Charity
Advert title(s): LOVE146.
Advertising Agency: Independent, Tel Aviv, Israel
Art Director: Jessica kalbermann, Orel Bitan
Copywriter: Orel Bitan
Published: May, 2011

The Ad Contrarian: How To Sell Great Creative: Ego and Failure

2011-05-04T21:05:00.000-05:00

The Ad Contrarian: How To Sell Great Creative: Ego and Failure

2:42am The perfect excuse.

2011-02-23T02:47:00.001-06:00

No. This time I am still awake. You guessed right, a business pitch due tomorrow that is extremely important for the company and a nice account, as we perceive it, to do neat work.

What really blows my mind is the tendency a creative team has to get into high gear only until the deadline is completely on top of us. Is this a special rush we creatives get in order to feel comfortable with the ideas that come out of our mouth? Or, is it simply the perfect excuse to justify these ideas.

Ideas?

More to come in a couple of hours.

Palacio de Hierro. Puntero en Social Media.

2011-02-20T23:30:00.001-06:00

Con 93.022 "likes" Palacio de Hierro se posiciona una vez más como una de las marcas líderes en México incursionando al mundo de las redes sociales.

Según publica vuelodigital.com, Palacio de Hierro es innovador una vez más lanzando este pasado 4 de febrero un e-commerce a través de la plataforma Facebook con su pestaña "shop & share" que te permite explorar, clasificar y comprar productos de ciertas categorías.

No sabemos qué tan exitoso vaya a ser este programa, pero lo cierto es que si tienes a 93k personas de tus posibles clientes en una "habitación" será mejor que prendas la música y hagas algo con ellos y ésta, se me hace una idea particularmente interesante en tiempos donde entre más opciones le demos al consumidor de vivir nuestra marca y lo que ofrecemos, mejor.

Felicidades a Palacio de Hierro por incursionar y atreverse a hacer estos experimentos sociales que sin duda le dejarán gran aprendizaje y muchos beneficios a futuro. ¿Qué más?

King Yesterday. Gone Today.

2011-02-20T22:03:00.001-06:00

The speed the way business models and idea conception has evolved over the past 10 years has really paid tribute to consumer trends and habits.

A great example is this infographic on Netflix evolution and how it has shifted the movie renting model stretching the fact on what's important: content, home, fast and when you want it. If I recall correctly, Netflix tried to sell to Blockbuster a few years back with no success. There was a lack of vision by somebody there.

Now, there are studies, talks and even workshops on how would you be able to save Blockbuster from what it appears to be a freefall to failure. Maybe it's their time, but I do believe something must and could be done with all the infrastructure created to this day and most importantly, we got ourselves a brand here.

Adapt or dissapear is apparently the new way of envisioning your business at, if that were not enough, blazing speeds.

Ideas anyone?

5:48am

2011-02-05T05:59:00.001-06:00

Buenos días.
Contento de estar despierto con tantas ideas en la cabeza. Un sueño en donde conocía al bebé que viene en camino me ha despertado de buen humor en sábado, y mucho mas temprano de lo planeado.
La dirección creativa a veces me acelera la cabeza a todo, despertando mil preguntas y un millón de posibles respuestas. No hay ciencia y nada y todo podría ser el mejor trabajo. Es hora de que caigan las cuentas con ganas de hacer cosas diferentes y que el equipo se defina con una misma misión y pasión.
Me entristece a veces ver a jóvenes sentados en oportunidades que sin que se den cuenta desaparecen.
Creo que voy a empezar a escribir mis aprendizajes y observaciones de México y los mexicanos no con afán de criticar, pero con afán de abrir los ojos.
¡Excelente sábado!

360º Communication.

2011-01-24T20:07:00.002-06:00

Comunicación 360°. Escopetazo VS Snipers Masivos.

Thomas Strerath, director de Ogilvy & Mather Alemania, levantó la mano en el pasado congreso “Deutscher Medienkongress”, celebrado en Alemania, y alegó que la muerte de la comunicación 360° estaba aquí. En mi opinión, bravo.

Muchos son los “expertos” que hablan de su estrategia 360 y yo lo único que escucho al oírlos hablar es: “Al no tener claro el target, tres sesenta. Al no saber qué medio es el más relevante, tres sesenta. Al no estar seguro como justifico el ROI de mi budget, tres sesenta.” Y lo entiendo, es lo más seguro y lo que emana más paz mental al significar menos margen de error en las decisiones de marketing, pero la realidad de la mayoría de nuestros clientes, especialmente en México, es otra.

Hoy vivimos en un entorno diferente, los presupuestos no pueden justificar estrategias 360° o a lo que yo llamo, de escopetazo; de hecho, creo que lo que debemos de ofrecer son estrategias de francotirador masivo.

Ahora, no quiero decir con esto que los conceptos que propongamos a nuestros clientes no deban ser adaptables a una estrategia 360°; al contrario, creo que lo deben ser y entre más adaptables sean, creo que la idea será mucho mejor. Sin embargo, una vez teniendo esa idea o concepto rector (esperamos sea relevante para el consumidor en cuestión) haría un análisis detallado sobre cuáles son los medios adecuados para llegar al target pensando siempre en los objetivos acordados, el presupuesto y cómo lo vamos a medir.

En Lead2Action, creemos que esto es de gran importancia en un entorno donde se piden cuentas y resultados por lo que se hace. Lead2Quality, Lead2Results, Lead2Purchase, Lead2Think. Lead2Create. Lead2Interact. Eso somos en Lead2Action y así pensamos en un mundo digital generando ideas que bien podrían aplicarse a cualquier medio. Es positivo cuando alguien pone en duda alguna práctica por que nacen nuevas prácticas y se rompen paradigmas. En el mundo digital pasa esto a menudo y más rápido de lo que nos enteramos. Nuevos medios. Nuevas maneras de medir. Nuevos retos. Nueva economía. Confusión total.

Pero no nos compliquemos. Siempre habrá un consumidor. Siempre habrá qué consumir. Siempre habrá la necesidad de informar sobre productos de manera relevante o por decirlo de otra forma, que le haga clic al consumidor. ¡Ooops! ¿Escribí “clic”?

Hoy “clic” para muchos clientes quiere decir ventas, y para otros, es saber que su mensaje fue recibido y que podría convertirse en intención de compra. A otros, simplemente les indica qué estrategia de comunicación es más efectiva o les hace más “clic” con el público objetivo. Un clic hoy en día hace más ruido de lo que pensamos.

El “clic”, puede ser la herramienta que demuestre con datos si una estrategia 360° es justificada o no. En Lead2Action optamos por estudiar más el problema de nuestros clientes, ser más analíticos, más proactivos, menos reactivos y tener un plan que quizá nunca incluya el 360°, sino más bien un listado de donde podrá ser más relevante tu mensaje.

Facebook is your life

2011-01-15T10:52:00.002-06:00

Via Adfreak

Happy New Year

2010-12-30T19:24:00.000-06:00

All the best.

Digital Agencies.

2010-12-30T18:57:00.003-06:00

Interesting benchmark on how we're doing on digital. These agencies I love, but we need to get on the boat and remember we are in the business of speaking in behalf of our brands no matter what the media is. The message and the experience tied to consumer-product relevance.

Which makes me think. Souldn't our first brand be our own agencies?

Thoughts?

What Is A Digital Planner?

2010-12-30T18:55:00.001-06:00

I would love to hear any thoughs on differences between a digital planner vs what we know at "traditional" agencies. Anyone?

What Is A Digital Planner

View more documents from Heather LeFevre.

Free Book Giveaway of The Creative Process Illustrated

2010-09-30T08:30:00.003-05:00

It's been a month since the last post (job hunting is tough in this economy) so I thought I'd make it worthwhile. Former UT Advertising teachers Glenn Griffin and Deb Morrison have written a groundbreaking book about the creative process.

To win a signed copy of The Creative Process Illustrated: How Advertising's Big Ideas Are Born by W. Glenn Griffin and Deborah Morrison, 1) please leave a comment saying why you like this blog. 2) Be a facebook fan of The Ranch Blog. The winner will be randomly picked by me.

How did you choose whom to profile?
We collected nearly 80 of these drawings over a period of several years. When we found a publisher for the book, we worked with our editor to choose 30 that we thought were most representative of the varied and interesting submissions we’d received. It was a tough cut to make – so tough that the editor permitted us to include a few more as we started writing the manuscript. We really learned so much from every drawing.

What was the inspiration behind the title?
Our publisher actually proposed the title of the book! We’d always called the project “Pure Process” because it represented a study of personal creative thinking as opposed to the partner- or team-driven process that’s typical in advertising. The folks at HOW Books thought The Creative Process Illustrated would be more descriptive of the book’s content and make it more appealing to potential readers. We still love “Pure Process” (you can’t beat that alliteration!) but we like the new title, too. “Pure Process” lives on as the title of our website, so it’s still out there.

Both of you have extensive teaching experience about advertising and creativity and you have touched the lives of so many students. Why write a book now?
Wish we had some brilliant master plan to share with you (!), but the book just sort of happened in the right spot for both of us. Deborah had just finished a book called Idea Industry with Brett Robbs, a great colleague of ours at the University of Colorado – Boulder when we decided to write a new book proposal based on these process drawings we’d been collecting for the past several years and the insights we’d derived from them. We got a book contract in the Spring of 2009 and the rest is history!

Part of the Pure Process mantra is "...also about good stewardship of that process: doing good work, being responsible and revealing the industry as the force for positive change it is and can be." What are your thoughts about the post about a consumer who is appalled by advertising? '
That letter has made the rounds and a lot of people are talking about it, but why? Is there anything we didn’t already know in that letter? Of course there’s advertising out there that’s dumb. Of course some of it annoys people. And (of course) there are some cranky folks out there who won’t ever be happy with anything we do. We are big believers, however, that advertising CAN be smart, CAN engage people and actually do positive things for the world. Nope, we can’t tell you what went wrong with that sausage campaign, sir. But we do know that there are terrific people in our business who know about the “Brians” out there and don’t want to invite more criticism of the industry by doing bad work. Instead, they want to show people what advertising can do when it’s done well. We see lots of examples (thank goodness) of great work out there that gets lots of love from consumers for all the right reasons. That’s the kind of work we want to keep pushing our students to do.

How much sweat equity (hours spent writing, researching and interviewing) is in this book?
Hmmmm. Enough to make us ask two questions: (1) Why the hell did we sign up for this? (2) Okay, what’s the next book going to be about?
We figure that’s about right.

News Roundup

2010-08-23T00:15:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Naveed's Weekly Digest for all the links below.

Tan Le demonstrates a headset that reads its user's brainwaves.

Hello HTML5. Goodbye Flash.

Some ground breaking news about the new health care reform bill: Children strongly oppose one aspect of it.

Naveed gave a presentation about the effectiveness of the Old Spice campaign to a packed house.

There are three types of happiness. Which one are you?

An Open Letter To All Of Advertising And Marketing

2010-08-20T13:05:00.002-05:00

Click on image to enlarge.

I am not sure if this is written by a real consumer or someone posing as an every day joe. Either way, it really makes you think about where and what advertising and marketing people are coming up with these days.

Via PSFK

Recap of Portfolio Night 8 - Austin

2010-08-08T06:19:00.003-05:00

Note about the illustration:
Austin is famous for having N. America's largest colony of Mexican free-tailed bats underneath the S. Congress Bridge(750,000).

Portfolio Night is a thirty-five city event where aspiring junior creatives and advertising students show their portfolios to seasoned and highly regarded art directors (such as Ignacio the founder of Portfolio Night), copywriters and creative directors. This year on May 20, Austin was included in the creative host cities for the first time.

Some of the creative directors in Austin were Jim Ferguson (JimBob_Dallas – former Y&R President), Brent Ladd (GSD&M Idea City), Scott McAfee (Sanders\Wingo), Jay Russell (Crispin Porter + Bogusky), Joe Shands (Vendor – former CD at TBWA\Chiat\Day) and Sergio Alcocer (President and CCO of LatinWorks).

Desirée Mata of the host agency, Latinworks-recently named “Multicultural Agency of the Year” by both ADAGE and ADWEEK, was kind enough to recap it for The Ranch.

Please go to this link, which contains video and pictures from our event. In general everyone had a good time and we had White Ghost Shivers play at the end of the night. We also had the guys from Industry Print Shop come to the event and print t-shirts live for the attendees. In general, the portfolios weren't great. Too much social media and applications and virtually zero TV and radio. Please read this blog entry by one of the renown creative directors that participated: http://thedailyferg.com/

Two ways to make your brand really stand out

2010-08-02T11:00:00.005-05:00

I enjoy reading the Brandchannel e-mail newsletters as they do a good job of keeping up and reporting on the latest branding news. Below are two brands they recently featured.

KIND snacks differentiates their brand by doing cause marketing using social media, random acts of kindness and other methods.

Many of you have already seen the Old Spice Man youtube videos. Read the background and more details about the campaign at NPR. And this is a compelling way to extend the campaign and incorporate it in everyday life.

The wisdom of John Wooden

2010-07-17T07:45:00.004-05:00

While legendary UCLA head coach John Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) is famous for winning ten NCAA championships, he is also known for his life lessons or "Woodenisms." My favorites are in bold.

"Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out."

"Never mistake activity for achievement."

"Adversity is the state in which man mostly easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then."

"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are."

"Be prepared and be honest."

"Be quick, but don't hurry."

"You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one."

"You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you."

"What you are as a person is far more important than what you are as a basketball player."

"Winning takes talent; to repeat takes character."

"A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment."

"I'd rather have a lot of talent and a little experience than a lot of experience and a little talent."

"If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?"

"If you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything. I'm positive that a doer makes mistakes."

"It isn't what you do, but how you do it."

"Ability is a poor man's wealth."

"Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be."

"Consider the rights of others before your own feelings and the feelings of others before your own rights."

"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."

"Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability."

"It's not so important who starts the game but who finishes it."

"It's what you learn after you know it all that counts."

"It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen."

"Talent is God-given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful."

"The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team."

"Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."

"Success is never final; failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts."

Via CoachWooden.com

über-cool Chiquita Banana stickers

2010-06-25T08:39:00.001-05:00

Many design, marketing and advertising blogs have already covered the redesign of the famous Chiquita Banana stickers. However, I saw them for the first time only recently.

These are a good marketing idea because

1. Stickers are cheaper than traditional advertising.
2. Stickers are easier to spread around the physical environment than traditional advertising or youtube ads.
3. People will see them when eating a banana.
4. People recognize that these are probably a collection so the hardcore fans will want to collect them all.

Via Design Related, The Dieline and Village Voice.

Happy Fathers Day 2010

2010-06-20T17:20:00.003-05:00

Via The Ranch (from last year) and Fatherhood.gov

President Obama is a World Cup fan

2010-06-14T12:33:00.003-05:00

Disclaimer: if you look closely, you can tell the reflection on the table doesn't match what's on screen.

Via 9gag.

Cannes Young Lions Competition - entry 2

2010-06-11T10:47:00.005-05:00

The Cannes Young Lions Competition is underway with 8 days left to vote. Below is the entry, and a brief Q & A, of Jessica kalbermann and Orel Bitan of BBDO (Israel).

How did you come up with the idea?

So... Jessica and I started to compeer the live of those poor children to the reach lives of world leaders (that is how we matched each glass to each leader's country).

We asked our selves how come when world leaders encounter a general problem they will find many rezones to disregard it. But when the problem affects their own lives they will somehow find a fast solution.

Finely, we used this insight and put dirty water in the glass of world leaders and close the film with the tagline:

If the problem was in their glass, they would have already solved it.

The movie ended with the massage that your signature is the only why to make it their problem and save those children lives.

Where do you draw inspiration from?

Every week I'm searching new things on adverting websites in order to be upbeat, I'm reading news paper, flying to various countries and having life outside the office.

I draw my inspiration from everything I see, hear, smell, taste and feel but the most important thing to me is to integrate an insight in my work.

Advertised brand: Social&Charity
Advert title(s): WaterAid.
Advertising Agency: Independent, Tel Aviv, Israel
Agency website:http://www.gitam.co.il/
Art Director: Jessica kalbermann
Copywriter: Orel Bitan
Photographer: Jessica kalbermann
Published: May, 2010

Cannes Young Lions Competition - entry 1

2010-06-11T10:45:00.004-05:00

The Cannes Young Lions Competition is underway with 8 days left to vote. Below is the entry, and a brief Q & A, of Wojciech Kowalik of the London College of Communication.

How did you come up with the idea?

As the brief was centered not on the sanitation and water crisis in poor countries, but on the summit that will try to tackle it, I thought it could be
a good idea to use peoples' natural skepticism towards the world leaders.

Really, just a few people are naive enough to think that those big guys really consider Millennium Development Goals more than just a PR. Public isn't stupid.

So I focused on it, and stretched it even further, showing "a world leader" after the summit - totally wasted, throwing up in the toilet of his hotel apartment.

Where do you draw inspiration from?

The idea with vomiting came from different thinking though. I wanted something funny. I knew I had to make people laugh, wasn't really thinking about winning the competition. Vomiting, although to some point funny, conveys a sense of dehydration here.

There are few things I should have made different now though, e.g. shorten the movie (max 30 sec) and show a bit more of the ID card (United Nations ID Card), got rid of that last vomiting sound at the end and maybe make that guy in toilet look like Nicolas Sarkozy or Putin or other recognizable political figure.

But really, I wouldn't have come up with this had I not been food poisoned a few weeks earlier (too much Doritos).

Recognize the background?

2010-06-07T08:02:00.001-05:00

I keep on seeing this picture when I mistype website URLs. Recognize the background?

For those who haven't visited UT before, it's a picture of the main mall on campus.

World Cup 2010 ads

2010-05-25T08:20:00.006-05:00

Which one do you like best? Which ones have hidden innuendo? Have any more ads?

Keep on scrolling down for a catchy surprise.

A non-profit agency doing non-profit work

2010-05-24T22:15:00.001-05:00

In this economy running a non-profit is difficult. Soliciting donors while balancing high stress on a shoestring budget is not fun. On top of that, most non-profits are most lacking in marketing and IT help.

This is why Serve Marketing + Advertising, a non-profit agency, is so remarkable.

One of their recent campaigns, Close The Gap, targets salary disparities between men and women while another campaign was for the American Diabetes Association.

Here in Texas, two agencies come to mind when thinking about social causes. Sherry Matthews Advocacy Marketing in Austin is known for positive social change and IS7 in Dallas focuses on interactive work for non-profits.

Very clever-sneaky-advertising

2010-05-07T11:23:00.004-05:00

This is very clever advertising from Marlboro.

Via Graphicology.

Imagine yourself as a major sponsor of the biggest and most successful Formula One racing team. Your identity and brand is intertwined with the race team and to some extent Formula One itself. You are in negotiations to financially sponsor this race team for the next five years and are willing to pay about $1 billion to do so. Unfortunately for you, the European Union is set to pass a ban on cigarette advertising and your company manufactures and globally markets cigarettes.

The law goes something like this: The Tobacco Advertising Directive: Passed by the European Parliament and Council in 2003 (see:IP/02/1788), the Directive bans tobacco advertising in the print media, on radio and over the internet. It also prohibits tobacco sponsorship of cross-border cultural and sporting events. The best I can tell is that this went into effect in 2005. Right around the same time as your contract negotiations.

Vote in another Doritos competition

2010-04-28T10:31:00.003-05:00

Yossy Zagha (Copywriter, '05) has a top 20 finalist video in a Doritos Mexico competition.

Doritos has been hosting several video competitions lately with the Crash the Super Bowl ad competition, another competition and now this.

Check it out. Vote!

Translation:
Snake: Come on, eat the apple.
Anncr: Have no cravings, try the new Doritos Temptation.

What do you think of the new Tiger Woods ad?

2010-04-10T12:15:00.008-05:00

The long-time AOR (Wieden + Kennedy) for Nike Inc. has debuted a new Tiger Woods ad in time for the Masters.

Similar to the defiant Kobe ad (opens as pdf. Does anyone have the larger size ad? I used to have a higher-resolution jpg and the body copy is really well-written.) released after Kobe's acquittal of sexual assault charges in 2003, this ad has shades of independence and does not mention Nike golf products at all.

Read more about the controversial ad here and here.

News Roundup

2010-03-18T08:48:00.003-05:00

From last month's Chinese New Year celebration in Sydney. Via Kineda.com

Will selling your Vitamin company as 100% US and 0% China work? A company is trying just that.

The Drinkabilty campaign caused the first ever full-year sales decline in Budweiser history.

Zappos has a new ad campaign. Is it touting its shoes? No. Is it selling its new collection of Jeans? No. Try customer service.

Asics has a new womens sportswear line called AYAMi.
Amsterdam Worldwide created the campaign which takes its name from the Japanese term for ‘feminine’, ‘colourful’, ‘design’ and ‘beauty’. ASICS conducted an in-depth study with women across four European countries* to investigate their running apparel needs. The research reveals that not only are more women taking up running, but they also want to look good and feel great during exercise. Amateur female runners were used for the campaign: Charli Croll, Sophia Teres and Kari Frette – who in turn were shot by world-renowned sports portrait photographer, Robert Wilson. AYAMi will launch in Germany, Austria, the UK and Benelux this spring, with a wider European rollout planned in autumn this year.

OK Go has a new song out and, therefore, another outstanding music video

Urban Outfitters is launching a new bridal brand while American Eagle is closing down Martin + Osa.

A beautiful PSA

2010-03-12T03:05:00.001-06:00

This is a very beautifully shot and art directed public service ad campaign called Embrace This from England. Despite the techniques used to make it more aesthetically pleasing, viewer discretion is advised.

Via AdFreak

5 thoughts from David Armano

2010-03-05T13:40:00.003-06:00

This is from David Armano's outstanding blog Logic+Emotion. David works as a Sr. Vice President at the Chicago office of Edelman Digital and is a popular speaker at SXSW.

We all live in glass houses

So when you throw that stone—and you will, don't be surprised when you are picking up the pieces of your own house as it shatters around you.

Build something

You'll be happier, healthier and wiser if at the end of the day, month or year if you've built something of value. If it helps others to be better—bonus.

Don't give up

Even when you really, really want to throw in the towel. Fight as if you're fighting for your life. Maybe in some ways, you really are.

Hit it hard

If you're going to do something, go at it with everything you've got.

Fail

Words such as these won't stop you from failing and falling short on a daily basis. If you aren't, then you're not really living.

Neuromarketing. the future of marketing?

2010-03-03T15:29:00.001-06:00

The following is from The Wall Street Journal- February 17, 2010 edition.

The Emotional Quotient of Soup Shopping

Campbell Taps 'Neuromarketing' Techniques to Find Why Shelf Displays Left Some Customers Cold

By Ilan Brat

The bowls are getting bigger and steamier, but the soup spoons are going away.

Those are among the biggest changes Campbell Soup Co. is making in decades to the iconic labels and shelf displays of its condensed soups—the company's biggest single business, with more than $1 billion in sales.

The changes—to be announced Wednesday—will culminate a two-year effort by Campbell to figure out how to get consumers to buy more soup. Condensed soup has been a slow-growing category in which consumers have little tolerance for price increases.

The problem: It's not easy to know what prompts people to buy soup, except it's warm to eat on a frosty day. When asked why they eat more soup or not, people tend to "say they don't think of it," says Doug Conant, Campbell chief executive.

The company hopes the label and display changes will help shoppers connect on a deeper level to the products and boost its condensed soup sales by 2% over the next two years.

For two years, Campbell researchers studied microscopic changes in skin moisture, heart rate and other biometrics to see how consumers react to everything from pictures of bowls of soup to logo design.

This "neuromarketing" approach is a fresh attempt among companies to better understand how consumers respond to marketing and advertising.

Technological advances have made the research cheaper and faster, making it accessible to more companies. Scientists also better understand how near-instant brain and body responses relate to how people generate meaning from new information, says Robert Barocci, president of the Advertising Research Foundation.

For years, Campbell's researchers asked consumers whether they remembered an ad and whether it made them more likely to buy a product. But a 2005 Campbell analysis revealed that, overall, ads deemed more effective in surveys had little relation to changes in sales.

Robert Woodard, Campbell's vice president of global consumer and customer insights, says the traditional interview had limited usefulness because people's words didn't fully capture their unconscious responses. He says Campbell needed approaches that would help it understand the neurological and bodily responses to an ad rather than how people thought they'd reacted.

By 2008 Mr. Woodard settled on the biometric tools combined with a different type of deep interview to more accurately gauge which consumer communications worked better. Campbell then hired Innerscope Research Inc., a Boston company that measures bodily responses, and other firms to help conduct research.

To be sure, neuromarketing techniques have their doubters. And biometrics tell only if a person reacted to something, not whether they liked or disliked something, and sample sizes tend to be small.

Carl Marci, an Innerscope founder, says his tools can' t pinpoint what emotions a person feels. But if all the biological metrics move simultaneously in the same direction, the subject is likely to be emotionally engaging with something.

Campbell began dissecting its condensed-soup marketing that summer, around when executives had started considering how to refresh the product line.

Researchers interviewed about 40 people at their homes and later in grocery stores. The team also clipped small video cameras to the testers at eye level and had them later watch tape of themselves shopping for soup. Special vests captured skin-moisture levels, heart rate, depth and pace of breathing, and posture. Sensors tracked eye movements and pupil width.

Researchers found warmth and other positive attributes people associated with Campbell's soup at home evaporated when they faced store shelves.

Typically, consumers show simultaneous blips in most of their biological metrics when they decide to buy something. These indicate the emotional reward they feel for making a choice and may help drive future purchases, Mr. Marci says.

But the array of condensed soups so overwhelmed many participants that they would quickly scan the category and select soups while evidencing little biometric response. The people who spent more time exploring varieties showed more and bigger simultaneous spikes in biometrics—and tended to put more soup cans in their baskets.

The Campbell team figured it could boost sales by triggering more emotional responses in stores and prompting more people to focus on more soups.

Another round of research showed Campbell's large logo at the top of shelf displays draws more attention than necessary. At first glance, the logo's bright red background makes its many varieties of soups seem to blend together, the company learned.

In interviews, participants said the soup pictured on the can and shelf labels didn't look warm. And the big spoon holding a sample on each label provoked little emotional response.

Shoppers will begin seeing changes in supermarkets this fall. Among them: Condensed-soup varieties will be sectioned into four, color-coded categories such as "taste sensations" in orange and "classic favorites" in light brown. The company's logo will be smaller and moved lower so it's not as prominent.

Campbell's three biggest sellers—chicken noodle, tomato and cream of mushroom, the soup can labels immortalized by Andy Warhol—will remain the same. But on other labels, steam will rise from larger, more vibrant pictures of soup in more modern, white bowls. And those unemotional spoons will disappear.

Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page B6

Heard of My Ad Council?

2010-02-18T21:31:00.006-06:00

One of the lesser known aspects of the advertising industry not really covered in school is PSA (Public Service Announcements). While the famous Avis- We try harder, Volkswagen- lemon, and other Bernbach, Burnett, and Ogilvy classics are often covered, classic PSAs are not- with the exception of Smokey the Bear-Only you can prevent forest fires.

The organization behind creating PSAs for America is the Ad Council and they have a great website and newsletter called My Ad Council. Top notch agencies donate their time, manpower, and resources to create public service campaigns. The nonprofit clients are treated like Fortune 500 clients and agencies are rewarded with much greater creative license than normal clients give.

THE RANCH.

2010-02-16T15:11:00.002-06:00

Great JOB on The RANCH. Give it a name!

My Top Three Super Bowl Ads

2010-02-08T14:57:00.005-06:00

Super Bowl XLIV is over and there was a record 48 minutes of commercial time. Of all the commercials, my top three are below. These are the top three because of their simplicity, memorability ("stickiness"), and effectiveness.

View the rest at The 2010 USA TODAY Ad Meter^SM or the AdAge Special Report.

#1. Parisian Love by Google in-house marketing department

#2 Title: TruTV's Punxsutawney Polamalu by Grey, New York

#3 Dorito's House Rules by crashthesuperbowl.com contest

Top 20 Super Bowl ads ever

2010-02-04T13:10:00.005-06:00

Since this Sunday is Super Bowl 44 here are the top 20 Super Bowl ads as chosen by Creativity Magazine. My top three personal favorites are below.

Monster.com "When I Grow Up" by Mullen

Reebok "Terry Tate Office Linebacker" by Arnell Group

McDonald's "Showdown" by Leo Burnett

Web 2.0 Visualized

2010-02-04T09:50:00.000-06:00

This is a great Web 2.0 poster.

An ad for Haiti

2010-01-28T14:48:00.002-06:00

What a simple and clear message.

Via Adverblog.

Austin ADDYs Show at Seaholm - February 12th

2010-01-22T09:24:00.003-06:00

View it online.

Controversial non-profit ads

2010-01-18T13:22:00.007-06:00

It seems like non-profit organizations have to be more shocking,which generates more attention, in their advertising as they don't have the big budgets that for-profit corporations do. One example are the DDB Brazil ads for WWF comparing the relatively few deaths of 9/11 with the extraordinary number of people who died in the 2005 Asian tsunami.

A recent Medicins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) ad.

Via The Agitator.

The Brazilian WWF ad.

Via Adfreak.

US Buick vs. China Buick

2010-01-11T13:03:00.008-06:00

When I was in China, I noticed many upper-class people driving Buicks where in America they would probably be driving an European luxury car. In China, Buick occupies a cool, hip mindset while in America, the brand perception is different.

In China, General Motors has done a superb job of pitching Buick as a cool, even sexy, luxury car. It's not viewed as something your grandfather would drive. Instead, GM positioned Buick as an aspirational brand that fits in perfectly with China's national go-go race to modernity.

As a result, the Buick has become a symbol of the country's rising prosperity — a fun, four-wheeled, tactile embodiment of Deng Xiaoping's famous phrase, "To get rich is glorious."

Compare the two commercials below to see a brand that has already established a strong brand image so they can have more daring ads versus a struggling brand image that is trying very hard to portray hipness.

Chinese Buick ad

American Buick ad

Via Globalpost.

Top Ten Tips to Work in the Chinese Advertising Industry

2010-01-06T20:49:00.005-06:00

This story was published by Ad Age China, a publication of the Ad Age Group. Thanks to Normandy Madden at Ad Age China for graciously allowing this online reprint.

Editor's note: below some of the tips I've added some personal insights and commentary. -David.

Want a Job in China?

by Bryce Whitwam

SHANGHAI (AdAgeChina.com) -- Like many agency directors, I've recently been inundated with resumes from wannabe expatriates who are either unemployed back home or want to come out and experience the adventure. Looking for a job in China? Here are some useful tips to keep in mind.

1. Come with a specialty.

Regardless of your industry experience, you will have better chances of landing a job quickly if you're specialized in something. If you don't have a specialty, market yourself as being interested in one. According to several advertising industry search firms, the hot jobs are in digital marketing, CRM and shopper marketing.

2. Apply to as many agencies as possible.

Many China job hunters make the mistake of applying to the big networks that they know, and avoid smaller, less familiar international or independent ones.

Even local agencies may be looking for an expatriate who can help them service an international client. Remember that the whole point is getting your foot in the China door, and nothing is permanent.

If you eventually land a gig but it doesn't work out after a year, you can move to something else, but now you've got experience and you're better connected, too.

3. Connect directly with the decision makers.

Most agencies here do not use Human Resources managers to sift through prospects, so it's better to connect with the head of the agency or department. They don't mind connecting with someone with talent and passion.

4. Think Shanghai 上海, but don't forget Beijing 北京 or Guangzhou 广州.

Shanghai is the capital of the China advertising industry, but there are also many agencies spread out throughout the country, especially in Beijing and Guangzhou.

5. Don't ask for a flight over here.

Expect to come to China for a round of interviews on your own tab. If you're applying from outside China, you should pick a week for interviews two months before your arrival and start arranging interviews for that week. Nothing impresses an agency boss more than someone who has pro-actively arranged interviews prior to their arrival, and you'll need the interview to convince the agency to hire you over a local. The agency also will not have a budget for your airfare or lodging, unless you're coming out for a senior position.

One major aspect of the Chinese culture, and a major reason why the global recession hasn't affected China as much, is frugality. Chinese value being frugal i.e. less spending equals less debt. For more insight, watch this stunningly accurate Russell Peters stand up comedyclip.

6. Think of your job as an internship and expect a local salary.

Long gone are the days when there was a huge gap between local and expatriate salaries because of different skills. The industry now boasts a good army of talented and well-paid locals, many of whom still live rent free with their parents. Salaries are still lower in China for entry-level positions when compared to places like the U.S., and living as an expatriate can be expensive. If you frequent the expat hangouts, you'll soon discover your salary barely covers your expenses. It may be tough your first year, but you'll find your financial package grows quickly with experience.

One American's salary can equal four Chinese professionals salary. In China and Taiwan, the supply is far greater than demand because a Chinese person has to compete with the whole country. Think about that for a second. I know of one multinational agency in Shanghai where an American CD was let go so four CWs and ADs could be hired.

If you don't frequent the expat hangouts, food in China is dirt cheap compared to America. A meal of soup dumplings 小笼包 cost around $0.50 USD while a combo meal at KFC will set you back $4.50 USD (same as America).

7. Knowing Chinese helps, but it isn't everything.

Ethnic Chinese with Mandarin-speaking skills will definitely have an advantage over non-Chinese speakers, but it's a combination of China experience and language skills that will get you the desired job.

8. If you don't know Chinese, start learning now!

Get the basics down before you arrive because once you start working you won't have the time or energy to really dive into learning Mandarin. Don't fall into the trap of being one of the many foreigners who live here that never bothered to learn the language. Believe me, they all regret it.

9. Be passionate and hungry.

An agency lives and thrives on passion, and if you don't have it, you shouldn't be in the business. One of the pitfalls of Chinese employees is that many have become used to a booming, full employment economy, and have subsequently lost a bit of the hunger that fuels our industry. If you have it, it will certainly rub off on the other employees.

10. Prepare to work your ass off.

Within a few days of working at an agency, you'll suddenly find yourself in hyper mode performing a million different tasks – planner, creative, finance, etc, that you probably never did back home. Seven-day work weeks are the norm here, not the exception. It's just a price to pay for the China adventure.

I could not agree more. My parents have told me about and I have witnessed firsthand the Chinese work ethic. Starting in jr. high, students attend an after school program (補習班) to further learn English, sciences, and other subjects. So 14 year olds get home from school at 9pm. At every level of schooling (jr. high, high school, and college) a SAT-type entrance exam is required. The government places you according to score. You don't get to to choose your college; it's based on your National Higher Education Entrance Examination score (高考). Imagine having to compete with 1.3 billion people to attend your dream university. This strenuous training is carried on in professional life where parents work long hours and don't get home until after 8-10 pm.

Getting overseas experience is now key for career development, and there's probably no better place to get it than China. Spending a couple of years here will be both rewarding and challenging, and if you're like me, you might get so addicted to the buzz of the place that you may not want to leave.

A 17-year resident of Greater China, Bryce Whitwam is general manager of Wunderman, Shanghai.

Web 2.0 Suicide Machine

2009-12-18T14:33:00.000-06:00

Web 2.0 Suicide Machine: "

Web 2.0 Suicide Machine is a sad sign of our times: With one click Web 2.0 suicide machine takes you off all social networks so you can have a ‘real’ life again. (I find the name of the app/service fairly disturbing. Wish they would have used a more uplifting spin.)

AIGA Austin Annual Membership Party

2009-12-15T09:15:00.000-06:00

AIGA Austin will host its annual membership party on December 17th from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Mohawk Greenroom and Deck on 912 Red River in Austin. AIGA Austin will celebrate the chapter’s accomplishments in 2009 and recognize all members for their contributions throughout the year. Featured speakers will be AIGA’s National President Debbie Millman on what national is providing for members and AIGA Austin’s President Jennifer Idol will introduce the new board and local initiatives.

2009’s Top 25 Most Ridiculous Uses of Photoshop

2009-12-14T13:59:00.003-06:00

This is great and guaranteed to brighten your Monday.

Via Kineda.

Introducing the ADvent-Calendar

2009-12-02T23:01:00.004-06:00

Instead of the traditional Christmas calendar with the Jesus story, XIPAX has launched The ADvent-Calendar. Every day from December 1st through December 24th, a new, wonderful, and international ad will be featured.

The best Black Friday deal

2009-11-25T13:21:00.003-06:00

This holiday season's hottest item is nothing. The U.K.-based sustainability outfit Do The Green Thing is using creativity to combat conspicuous consumption and thoughtless consumerism. While innovative, this tactic of "selling" items to promote a cause or a non-profit has been done before.

Via GOOD.

adidas and $1 training shoes

2009-11-18T10:29:00.004-06:00

Adidas, in response from the idea of Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh, is going to make trainer shoes that cost about $1 for people around the world who cannot afford to buy shoes.

Via London Telegraph and Brand Channel.

Doubleclick is not going to like this

2009-11-12T14:07:00.003-06:00

Now you can "hijack" the ads on any webpage with a plug-in. The DoGooder browser plug-in hides the current ads and displays ads supporting positive social change and green initiatives instead.

Via Osocio.

Advertising and PR Speed Networking Event This Thursday

2009-11-09T16:20:00.005-06:00

Advertising and PR Speed Networking Event, Nov. 12

Event: Advertising and public relations students and alumni are encouraged to bring their business cards and elevator speeches to a Speed Networking event hosted by the Department of Advertising.

When: 6 to 8 p.m., Nov. 12, 2009

Where: The West Atrium of the University of Texas West Pickle Research building (formerly the MCC building) at the corner of Mopac (Loop 1) and Braker Lane. A map is available online.

Background: This networking event is intended to foster quick introductions among students, alumni, faculty and friends of the Department of Advertising.

Attendees bring business cards and their "elevator speech." In a timed, organized rotation we'll introduce pairs of people. Each pair has three minutes to "elevator speech" each other. Where mutually appropriate, they exchange business cards. A timer sounds and the cycle repeats itself.

###

Contact:
Gene Kincaid
Department of Advertising Lecturer
AdGrad Founder

Video from Rebecca.

Making Shiner an icon

2009-10-30T10:08:00.003-05:00

When the beer is synonymous with the town, the branding has to speak for both. By using Shiner’s own voice, McGarrah Jessee has taken a quaint Texas town’s charm and spun it into a national brand. Don’t miss out on the Shiner brand story, the discussion afterward, and the beer throughout.

Austin AdFed Presents:

Turning an Assignment into a Legacy:
Shiner Brand Case Study by McGarrah Jessee.

Nov 3, 2009 • 6-8p

Scholz’s Biergarten

Click here to buy tickets.

Foreign Public Transportation Ads

2009-10-27T09:45:00.003-05:00

This is in response to the American Public Transportation Ads post.

Thank you to Alltop.com

2009-10-23T11:49:00.003-05:00

One of my UT advertising friends, Assaf who's now teaching at Cal-State Fullerton, told me that The Ranch is featured on Guy Kawasaki's web headline index site Alltop. Scroll down a little bit and you'll see it. Or do ctrl+F (Firefox) or command+F (Safari) to search for it.

Thanks to Alltop.com for thinking so highly of The Ranch!

Red Bull street marketing

2009-10-23T11:45:00.001-05:00

While brilliant on Red Bull's part, I think that this would be more ideal for a NASCAR marketing move as it introduces the northeastern US and urban dwelling crowd to a mostly rural and Southern-based NASCAR product.

Via Bized.

Would this make you take the stairs?

2009-10-13T16:20:00.005-05:00

"...in Stockholm’s Odenplan subway station, the staircase has been retrofitted to resemble giant piano keys, which produce real sound, to encourage commuters to climb the stairs rather than ride the escalator. According to this video — which seems to be part of a Volkswagen marketing initiative, though it’s unclear — it’s been a raging success."

Via Freakonomics.

Big Wig Voting for Ausin Ad Fed

2009-10-09T10:15:00.006-05:00

It's that time of year again for the Austin Advertising Federation's Big Wig Horror Show (Awards Show). The Ranch bloggers Matt Crump and Jocelyn Lai are nominated in the "Best Up-and-Comer" and "Ad Person of the Year" categories, respectively. In the "Educator of the Year" categories are also several worthy and deserving UT professors.

Go. Make your voice heard. Vote.

News Roundup

2009-09-24T09:37:00.007-05:00

Image from MLBlogs.com.

After a 50 year family feud between the two brothers who founded Adidas and Puma, there is a reconciliation, sort of.

XIPAX.com celebrates its first birthday. Stefan Böck and Helmut Kosa founded XIPAX.com on September 26th, 2008 and now there are more than 13.000 ads online.

Piryx Inc. partners with the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation.

Perfect Fools has created a global online experience for H&M's Auto Fashion Collection.

There's a highly provocative new breast cancer commercial by Rethink (Vancouver) featuring MTV Canada host Aliya Jasmine Sovani.

Microsofts follies in global marketing

2009-08-31T10:24:00.005-05:00

These are images from the Microsoft USA-Business site and Microsoft Poland-Business site.

Microsoft USA

Microsoft Poland

Via Digital Inspiration. Read more about the controversy at Tech Crunch.

Is Google biased against certain nonprofits?

2009-08-28T13:40:00.011-05:00

I received the following email about How Google and Social Entrepreneurs Perpetuate the Digital Divide Among Nonprofits. The attention grabbing title caused me to read the entire email which is unusually long. This particular excerpt caught my eye as it relates to advertising.

In the past few years, Google has “given away” $300 million worth of free advertising to nonprofit organizations through Google Grants. Following Google’s value of employee input, Google leaves most of the grantmaking decisions to regular employees. In the United States, Google’s employees are disproportionately White and Asian and from elite schools. These employees then give grants to organizations with interest like theirs and people they know, which most often are also White or Asian and from elite schools.

The advertising industry is not well-known for cultural diversity and this most likely affects advertising campaigns. For example, how would you expect college-educated people who grew up in the suburbs to figure out the "cool factor" of apparel targeted toward a more inner-city and urban demographic? How would a largely caucasian creative team understand the differences between Latinos or Asian-Americans (Chinese-Americans, Korean-Americans, Vietnamese-Americans, et al.)? How does this affect casting decisions? Not understanding demographics also relates to age. How would a creative team with an average age of 40 understand the 18-25 yr old demographic?

Read more of How Google and Social Entrepreneurs Perpetuate the Digital Divide Among Nonprofits below.

By Andrew Sears,
Executive Director-TechMission

In the past 10 years, I have been working to address the digital divide, which is the gap between those who have access to and training with technology. I serve as the Executive Director of TechMission, which runs the largest association of Black and Latino led nonprofits addressing the digital divide and manages UrbanMinistry.org, which is one of the most visited web portals of Black and Latino nonprofit leaders. During that time, I have seen many effective initiatives in addressing the digital divide. At the same time, I’ve seen many efforts that have been very well-intentioned, but in the end may have only made matters worse.

I grew up in the inner-city, but later went to MIT and co-founded the Internet Telecoms Consortium with on of the fathers of the Internet (David Clark) to study the social and business implications of the Internet. The most important thing I learned while studying complex systems at MIT is that often you make a change to the system and the result is exactly the opposite of what you were expecting.

Case in point: my wife and I went to Woodstock ’99—a complex system of people, alcohol, drugs, bands and unusually hot weather. At the concert, there was a nonprofit group wanting to promote peace, and it gave out thousands of “peace candles.” The result was the opposite of what they had intended because they had not thought through the consequences of giving candles to thousands of people who were inebriated and enraged from the extreme heat and exploitive prices at the concert. The result was that people used the candles to start hundreds of fires and burn everything in sight. A group wanting to promote peace at Woodstock unintentionally became a catalyst for riots, and in the worst circumstances, this is how complex systems work.

Addressing the digital divide and trying to help under-resourced communities is an extremely complex system. My assessment is that some of the largest efforts to address the digital divide by social entrepreneurs, including those at Google, may have unintentionally made matters worse among nonprofits.

Is Google Grants Hurting Black and Latino-Led Nonprofits?

In the past few years, Google has “given away” $300 million worth of free advertising to nonprofit organizations through Google Grants. Following Google’s value of employee input, Google leaves most of the grantmaking decisions to regular employees. In the United States, Google’s employees are disproportionately White and Asian and from elite schools. These employees then give grants to organizations with interest like theirs and people they know, which most often are also White or Asian and from elite schools.

This creates a bias in the process, but that is common in the nonprofit world. In fact, according to a report from the Greenlining Institute, foundations only give 3.6% of their funds to organizations led by people of color although people of color make up 52.4% of poverty in the USA. This bias is shown graphically in the adjacent diagram.

If that bias were the only effect Google Grants were having, then they would be no different than most foundations. The problem is how Google Grants works, by giving away “virtual money” that people can then bid on ads, they have essentially flooded the market for nonprofit ads with $300 million in virtual money.

Read more here.

The truth about bottled water

2009-08-19T10:00:00.003-05:00

Bottled water is safer and more pure than tap water. True or False? According to Tappening and Start a Lie, it's false. Some facts from Tappening are below.

EPA

FDA

Worldwide, 2.7 million tons of plastic are used each year to make water bottles, and in the United States, less than 20% of these bottles are recycled.

Via Adverblog.

The World’s Largest iPod

2009-08-06T09:22:00.003-05:00

Jonathan Ive, the man behind the design of Apple iPhone and iPod, recently created a giant iPod model that he sent as a gift to British fashion designer Sir Paul Smith on his birthday.

Via Digital Inspiration.

Nike remake feat.

2009-08-02T19:45:00.004-05:00

Ice Cube's 1993 hip-hop classic “It was a Good Day” was recently remade in to a Nike commercial featuring Paul Rodriguez (P.Rod). Because it's shot in LA, stay tuned for celebrity cameos.

View extended version at Kineda and the 0:60 second version at Adland.

Agency: W+K
Creative Director: Ean Lensch
Producer: Craig Smith
Nike Skate Group Creative: Jon Humphries
Production Company: Harvest
Director: The Hoffman Brothers
Executive Producer: Bonnie Goldfarb,
Scott Howard
Head Of Production: Rob Sexton
Director of Photography: Max Goldman
Editor: Mark Hoffman
Sound Design: Ravenswork
VFX Company: The Syndicate
Music Artist: Ice Cube
Song: It Was a Good Day

Help a non-profit win a social media makeover

2009-07-28T23:56:00.005-05:00

I'm back from China now and I'm catching up on emails. Jan Brown, Founder & Executive Director-Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men and Women, sent me the following note.

Each year, MindComet, the interactive agency behind the CommuniCause campaign gives back to the community by providing non-profit organizations free-of-charge agency services and donations. This year they are allowing America to nominate and vote for their favorite charity that they'd like to see win the grand prize of a Social Media Makeover valued at $25,000.

A winner will be randomly selected from the top ten charities that receive the most votes and upon awarding the winner, MindComet will provide the winner with expert consulting services to help improve their social media presence and fundraising outreach.

Please go to our website, click on the help my cause button at the top of the home page and vote for DAHMW to win a social media makeover...our ranking is starting to go up and we need you all to vote in order to win! After you have voted please send out this notice your friends and family and ask them to do the same.

Beer Ad in back of Taxi

2009-07-06T09:00:00.006-05:00

ZhuJiang beer has a really clever ad placed on the windows of taxi cabs. I agree with the original blog post author in that the brand gets lost as the window rolls down. The message of "it's ok to drink as long as you get a taxi" may be hard to understand too.

Via Little Red Book.

The Top 40 Real Men of Genius commercials

2009-07-02T10:16:00.005-05:00

As a former intern at DDB Chicago, I had the good fortune of meeting the creative team behind these ads. Before interning, I thought that these guys just sat around all day and came up with funny ideas. After hanging out with them a little bit, I realized how focused one has to be to do humor.

View all 40 ads at Epic Carnival.

Via Hot Clicks.

Making Old-World Advertising Work - 10 Ways Twitter Will Change American Business - TIME

2009-06-15T18:01:00.001-05:00

Making Old-World Advertising Work - 10 Ways Twitter Will Change American Business - TIME

Shared via AddThis

Where are we headed?

2009-06-11T19:07:00.002-05:00

I would like to open up a discussion on how should we create new business models for the ad world. It's pretty apparent things are changing. We've lost in some way credibility and the working model is begging for new thoughts from the core.

What do ya'll think? Some think that we should work based on results, but then how do we justify the overhead of our people. Either way, some accounts work on a 'pitch the project concept' and we're having that problem anyway.

Love to hear perspectives.

Cheers.

Congrats to Matt

2009-06-01T14:43:00.006-05:00

Congrats to Texas Creative Alumni Matt Morris for his work on the DVD-ROM based on the PBS- Andrew Jackson microsite. The DVD-ROM was featured in the 2009 Communication Arts Interactive Annual: Interaction Design.

Sharon Hannon, KCET, writer
Philip Dunn, KCET, creative director
Matthew Morris, designer
Jimmy Mooney, JM Interactive, information architect
Peter Grant, KCET, illustrator
Kate Fulton, KCET, associate producer
Dan McDowell, KCET/Douglas Varchol, KCET, producers
Jackie Kain, KCET/David Neiman, Sketch Interactive, executive producers
JM Interactive (Austin, TX)/Sketch Interactive (Los Angeles, CA), project design and development
KCET, client

Perils of Internet Advertising

2009-05-27T14:06:00.003-05:00

I know it's a system of looping ads, probably based on an algorithm, but this has to be one of the worst ad placements.

via Jalopnik.

Cannes Young Lions 48 Hour Ad Contest 2009

2009-05-19T00:59:00.003-05:00

Check out and vote for the submission of the super jr. creative duo of Ashley and Krystha.

Agency: Y&R San Francisco
Jr. AD: Ashley J George
Jr. CW: Krystha Barrera

Google Reader (1000+)

2009-05-06T22:22:00.002-05:00

"When people can no longer tolerate one problem, their tolerance of all their other problems bottoms out."

Such wise words from such a young soul, ms. thompson. It was just put really well and I wanted to document it.

Via Google Reader.

News Roundup

2009-05-06T16:11:00.009-05:00

Francisco Ramos has an outstanding photography portfolio.

Amsterdam Worldwide launched a Pan-European blogger outreach for Asic' sportstyle for the "Left & Right" campaign.

Check out the Passion Pit music video "The Reeling" directed by Danziger, Stephens, and Hobbs (Hobbs is the former co-ECD along with Texas-Ex Peter Rosch).

The 7th Annual Portfolio Night is coming June 11! View agency-created commercials by Amsterdam/Montreal (Sid Lee), Chicago (Gertrude Inc), Los Angeles (David & Goliath), Quebec City (Socom), and San Francisco (PJA Advertising).

Chris Abraham is teaching a series of webinars about the power of twitter and online marketing. May 7 is "How to defend and protect your brand reputation online- co-hosted with Jay Jaffe" and May 14 is "How to do social media marketing: bloggers, social networks, metrics, and more". The webinars are FREE.

updated: View current and previous presentations and transcripts here and here.

updated: Bob Pearson, former head of social media at Dell, is now the President of the Blog Council. Read more at Andy Sernovitz's blog.

American Public Transportation Ads

2009-04-30T09:11:00.005-05:00

These are two recent—2009—ads for American public transportation companies.

Via FortWorthology

Via Commarts

Simple is The New Black

2009-04-23T09:17:00.003-05:00

Simplicity Becomes a Selling Point
Foodmakers Emphasize Uncomplicated Ingredients
By Jane Black
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 7, 2009; A01

Haagen-Dazs's new line of ice cream, Five, doesn't hide the ingredients in tiny type on the back of the carton. Every one -- milk, cream, sugar, eggs and vanilla bean -- is prominently displayed in bright-orange capital letters. The fact that the brand's regular vanilla bean ice cream also has just five ingredients is beside the point. Food marketers have come to realize that simplicity sells.

Advocates for healthful eating have long tried to steer Americans away from highly processed foods that contain dozens of unnatural and unpronounceable ingredients. Now, driven by a drumbeat of food recalls -- ground beef, peanuts and, most recently, pistachios -- consumers may be more inclined to heed the call.

Last week, Snapple Beverage unveiled a reformulated line of drinks and an eight-figure marketing campaign emphasizing that its iced teas are made from green and black tea and "real" sugar. Frito-Lay is boasting that its potato chips, tortilla chips and even Fritos are each made with just three ingredients. The hope: that consumers will equate fewer ingredients with healthfulness, even when it comes to ice cream and chips.

"It's a convergence of health, food safety, taste and traceability," said Phil Lempert, a food and consumer behavior analyst who calls himself the Supermarket Guru. "People are reading labels more carefully than they were previously. When they pick up a product and it has 30 ingredients and they don't know what half of them are, they are putting it back on the shelves."

The message of simplicity and purity is just the latest in a long line of marketing strategies employed by food manufacturers. In the 1980s, product labels trumpeted low-fat credentials. In the 1990s, even packages of bread crowed about low levels of carbohydrates. "We've reduced fat and calories; that's reductive," said Aurora Gonzalez, a Frito-Lay spokeswoman. "Now we look at how can we add pluses. Whole grains are a good example of that. Another part that is complementary is the simplicity of ingredients."

On one hand, the move is a victory for those who have long preached the glory of simple, less processed foods. In his best-selling book "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto" (Penguin, 2008), Michael Pollan writes that the first rule is to avoid any food products with more than five ingredients and those that contain unfamiliar ingredients (or high-fructose corn syrup).

But such advice was not meant to suggest that anything that contains a large number of ingredients is bad. A home-cooked stew or a Spanish paella, for example, has dozens of ingredients but is what Pollan and others deem "real" food. Sugar, in contrast, is just one ingredient but can be harmful in large quantities.

"It is better that the food be simpler than more complex," Pollan said in an interview. "On the other hand, this is another case of food manufacturers reformulating to reflect whatever the latest critique of their food is and turning what it is a criticism into a marketing strategy to sell more food."

Five is not a great departure for Haagen-Dazs, which has always catered to consumers who value high-quality ingredients. But it approaches the message in a new way, stressing wholesomeness and purity over indulgence.

For Frito-Lay, a focus on real ingredients is a new way to help consumers overcome their guilt about eating snack chips. Last year, the company redesigned the back panels of bags of Lay's potato chips, Tostitos tortilla chips and Fritos. The Lay's bag shows a pile of fresh potatoes. On Tostitos' bag, an ear of corn has the husk pulled back to show it filled with corn chips. "It's anecdotal, but we've had people tell us that they didn't know there were potatoes in potato chips," Gonzalez said. "What it is trying to reinforce is our agricultural base. People forget corn chips come from corn."

A new series of television ads drives home the message of purity. In one Tostitos spot, a young woman at the grocery store reads the ingredients on the back of a bag of another brand of tortilla chips. "Thirteen ingredients. That's more people than I invited to the party." Instead she chooses a bag of Tostitos. "White corn, vegetable oil and salt. Three ingredients is good."

In a new multimillion-dollar ad campaign, Snapple also promotes natural ingredients. The decision, said spokesman Bryan Mazur, was prompted by broad consumer interest in where food comes from and company research that showed that most consumers, even those loyal to Snapple, had little idea what each bottle contained. According to one survey, only 32 percent of Snapple customers knew that its tea beverages were made with real tea leaves.

The new Snapple label boasts that the drink is "made with green and black tea leaves." "We don't consider it rebranding but continuing to deliver 'the best stuff on Earth,' " said Mazur, the company's vice president of marketing, quoting the company motto. "What the best stuff on Earth was then is not what the best stuff is right now."

Will such products help Americans to eat more healthfully? Pollan is not optimistic. Successful marketing campaigns have led many to feel virtuous about eating large quantities of low-fat cookies or low-carb pastas, even as obesity among U.S. adults continued to rise.

Some experts dismiss such complaints, however. Government figures predict food prices will increase between 3.5 percent and 4 percent in 2009. Fresh fruits and vegetables already tend to be more expensive than processed foods, a gap that is more pronounced for families during hard times. A recent survey showed that 81 percent of U.S. adults are making some effort to limit spending on groceries; 40 percent are eating less nutritious foods as a result. Low-income people were hit hardest, according to Multi-Sponsor Surveys, a Princeton, N.J., research firm. Of those categorized as "down and out," 65 percent reported they were eating less nutritiously. The figure was 59 percent for those categorized as "on the edge."

"Processed food -- whatever that means -- is not all terrible," says analyst Lempert. "The reality is that in the next 20 to 30 years we're going to double the number of people on the planet. We need to figure out how to feed people in a good, affordable way."

Up next for food manufacturers' marketing plans: going local. The concept is the current darling of sustainable-food advocates and environmentalists because food sourced or processed locally tends to be fresher and have a lower carbon footprint. Frito-Lay's Gonzalez noted that the company has 32 plants around the country and that, for example, Tostitos sold in Washington area stores were produced 70 miles away in Aberdeen, Md. The company is working on new messages to connect their products to local communities.

For Pollan, a local pedigree and fewer ingredients may be better. But ultimately, he says, "It's still junk food."

Enrich Your Résumé

2009-04-06T15:46:00.005-05:00

Matt Crump and Jocelyn Lai (see their portfolios in the portfolio section in the sidebar) have launched a new business called Vitamin CV. They fortify and strengthen resumes and cover letters through enhanced typography and diction.

Chinese Environmental Ads

2009-04-01T12:21:00.004-05:00

For those unfamiliar with traditional Chinese ink paintings, the paintings usually depict the majestic jagged and sharp mountains of China which are different than the more rounded and wider mountains of the US i.e. The Rockies. This campaign has swept the advertising awards shows in Asia. Who says the Chinese don't care about the environment?

View the TV and print ads at Coloribus

Client: China Environment Protection Foundation
Agency: JWT Shanghai
Production Company: One Production
Director: Hailong Li
Executive Creative Director: Yang Yeo
Art Director: Lillie Zhong, Yang Yong Liang
Copywriter: Jacqueline Ye, Rafael Freire
Editor: Chun Huang, Jing Li
Agency Producer: Jane Zhang
Producer: Xue Wu, Yuncheng An
Music: Vision Unit Production
Artist: Yang Yong Liang
Composer: Jiangzhou Feng
Client Service: Betty Tsai

A Trillion Dollar Ad Campaign

2009-04-01T12:08:00.006-05:00

In Zimbabwe, the hyperinflation of the currency has gotten so bad that foreign currencies are being accepted in to circulation.

TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris has created this unusual outdoor campaign for The Zimbabwean, a newspaper produced by a group of exiled Zimbabwean journalists. The Zimbabwean is sold in the UK, South Africa and Zimbabwe but when entering the latter is charged an import duty of 55 per cent, making it unaffordable to the average Zimbabwean

Via Creative Review UK

Final Round: Vote for Anu

2009-03-27T15:36:00.003-05:00

Anu has made it in to the final round of the STA World Traveler Internship 2009! Her first round video is here. She has until April 1st to get as many views, positive comments and ratings as possible.

Embracing Multiculturalism the Wrong Way.

2009-03-16T20:09:00.003-05:00

McDonald's attempt at celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage month: My Inspirasian

Please take special note to the following:
1. The "Shock Your Friends" on the bottom...because knowing how to speak a different language is shocking and unexpected. You should not be fluent another language, or else this game will not be fun!

2. In "Shock Your Friends," Koreans are kimchee, Indians are henna, Japanese are jeepney, Chinese are dragons. Congratulations, this is stereotyping in its finest form!

A different kind of car commercial

2009-03-13T12:00:00.003-05:00

From The Midnight Show @ UCB

Written by James Adomian
Starring Andy Richter & James Adomian with Michael Busch
Directed & Edited by Peter Atencio
Produced by Michael Busch & James Adomian
Co-Produced by Megan Reeves & Joe Wagner
Special thanks to Zack Oldham

Via Autoblog.

News Roundup

2009-03-12T10:25:00.005-05:00

Cricket Wireless and NEVERSTOP have built the world's largest cell phone. Read more about the campaign at Get Some Respekt.

Holland+Holland Advertising has a newsletter about marketing to female consumers called SHE-conomy

One of the best TV commercial websites in the world, Duncan's TV Ad Land, ~~has changed names and added a ton more features. It's now known as~~ is now part of The Inspiration Room and known as The Inspiration Room Daily.

Assaf Avni, Professor of Advertising Creativity at California State University, Fullerton and Texas-Ex, has started a blog for advertising students worldwide called The Advertising Class.

Post-production house Crash+Sues in Minneapolis has a new website.

Animator/Director Kobayashi has a cool site.

New website for UT Advertising

2009-02-25T14:14:00.002-06:00

Change has come after eight years. Check it out.

Vote for Anu

2009-02-25T09:07:00.003-06:00

This is Anu's entry for a traveling contest. There are 10 days to get as many views, comments and positive ratings as possible so check it out!

On a related note, Assaf has posted a top ten list for social traveling.

Social traveling is focused on PEOPLE, not so much on PLACES. Sure, I get to see a lot of cool places along the way, but much more important, I get to share amazing experiences with amazing people, make a ton of new friends all over the world, save a lot of money on things I could care less about, like expensive hotels or restaurants, and most important, shape the way I see the world and keep on learning and becoming.

Speaking of public transportation

2009-02-18T15:08:00.000-06:00

Letter to college students from a mom

2009-02-18T15:06:00.000-06:00

Sonja at Ft. Worth mom blog has written a very insightful post chock full of advice for college students.

1. College students are special. Not everybody can complete a four year degree. Don’t act like it’s not something to be grateful for, to be in a school, even if it’s not Harvard.

2. If you’re in college, someone is investing in you. They want something for the future. They want an educated you.

3. The reason they want an educated you is for our family, our country, and our world. You will have the opportunity to give back when you’re older, and not just by paying off your student loans, though we expect that as well. When you pariticpate in our society, whether by being a doctor or a teacher, a parent or a volunteer, and you do your duty, you will be making the world a better place. The expectation that you’re going to do this is why we send you to that ivory tower on this hill with the wide green lawns and big lecture halls.

4. If you’re a college student, you’ve received a double gift. First, from the universe, in terms of ability to study. Second, from your countrymen, the actual resources to be educated. It’s up to you to decide what to do with your gifts.

5. At the UT, the fight song is “The Eyes of Texas are Upon You.” I want to say that that is true not just in Austin – the eyes of America are on all our college students. We have sacrificed so that you can study today. Don’t take it lightly. This is your job and our patrimony, our joint heritage, your college degree. We’re doing this for you and for America. So be grateful, and don’t mess it up.

Balls, Paint, Play-doh, and Foam

2009-02-18T15:00:00.003-06:00

Here's a wonderful recap of the Sony Bravia "like.no.other" campaign. It looks like all the youtube videos have been taken down so here's the obligatory wikipedia entry.

Let them eat cake

2009-02-13T10:26:00.004-06:00

In this time of junk bonds greed, corporate fraud, and mismanagement of government bailout funds, Cessna-one of the major private-jet manufacturers- has launched a proactive campaign to combat the criticism of CEOs flying in their products while their companies are laying off thousands of workers.

Via Cliff Kuang at Fast Company.

Recession is caving in. Now what?

2009-02-05T10:00:00.003-06:00

This is from Amr. His portfolio can be seen on the portfolio section in the right sidebar.

In The Beginning, There Was Panic

The economic inferno is here. Recession is no longer a word i hear over the news.
I, who strived for a year to get a job, who redid his portfolio four times, who slept on people's floors and yet managed to work for big names like Crispin and AKQA, have just been laid off. So much for bragging now.

Remember Jack from Lost? Yeah, that dude had a cool tip he gave Kate on the first or second episode. When fear knocks on your door, let it in, for a moment, and then kick it out and don't let it near you again. You know what? It actually worked. I crawled up and felt sorry for myself for about an hour. I made sure to feel as miserable as I could. Then I dried my tears and dusted off my pants, put my air on, and went for a good meal, with good company. I set out to see "the blessing in disguise."

Yeah, yeah. It's that same old granny's phrase. It does stand true though.
You see, getting laid off has just given me the time to rethink what I'm here for, what I have to offer, and how i should really be selling myself.
Panic is unproductive. It's a waste of energy. Time to play Recession.

Playing Recession

To beat Recession, you have to be well prepared. And in order to do so, this whole scenario should be approached much like a business problem, like risk management.

So I stepped outside myself for a second and started going over "Who is Amr?", as though I were talking about a brand.
In other words, when I looked at the matter objectively, I realised that I have to write a freakin' brief about myself!

At-a-Glance.
What is the most relevant and differentiating idea that will surprise creatives or challenge their current thinking about me as a newbee?

Tension.
What is the psychological or social tension associated with my job application?

Question.
How can I turn the disadvantage of being a new comer into an advantage?

Talk Value.
What are my core skills? What do I kick ass at? What assets can I work with?
What factors are against me?
What about my class and/or within my popular culture in general?
It could be the little things that I identify with.

I caught myself reshuffling my priorities. Is it art direction or design? Is it art direction or film? is it art direction or concept generation?
Shall I keep trying at Amsterdam, or should i pack and leave?
Is this the time to go to film school? To volunteer? To see the world? To make money?

A thick notebook came in handy as I wrote away drafts of ideas about new products, about film scripts, most importantly, about how I see myself.
i opted to take one last crack at this job market before switching gears to filmmaking.
I will give it my best shot.

Boot Camp

At this point, you, like me, should make your job search and application as aggressive as you possible. No one is hiring. And you will need something to work with. The money is important, especially now, but so are the skills you don't learn at school. What really doesn't matter all that much is your geographic location. It's global baby.

If you're in a good situation financially and can afford taking internships, keep taking them. Good internships, that don't involve fetching food for others, are the best junctions to learn on the job. The industry is not very forgiving and not very patient. When you're a full-timer, there are high expectations all over the place, expectations that you can do a multitude of things, and that you're amazing at every single one of them. It's unrealistic, but it is the case.

So why don't you take the time to practice in the lion's den?

I don't care what you're passionate about, just go for it. if it were up to me, I'd go and intern at a production house, work with filmmakers, concept designers and directors. Or maybe an experiential agency, since it's all about that now.

What matters is not to let recession be a reason for stagnation.

If you have any spare time, practice imitation. Yes, mimic other people's styles, just copy designs once or twice, and then break them down and fuck them up and watch your own style evolve. There is no time to do that on the job, future art directors! The same goes for writers. Long copy or short copy is an obsolete question. It's irrelevant. You should be doing everything from a radio script, to calls to action. You should be writing stand-up comedies and Shakespearean-isque drama, until you figure out what you're best at. Till then, keep disecting other people's work.

Very intriguing what you can get as an art director when you take a piece of copy and convert it into visual into your head, or as a writer when you make a story out of an image. Keep shuffling.

It's also 2009, which means everyone should be reading blogs and watching youtubes, and lots of them. This is your much-needed voyeaur time to examine what people talk about. Also, read the autobiographies of thinkers and watch some TED.com . Amd when in doubt about something, just do yourself a favor and google it or wikipedia. Stay in the loop.

With all of the above in mind, set one hour a day for exposure, and one hour for practice, next to your job. it's almost like being an athlete getting ready for the olympics. Put in more time when you can. Malcolm Gladwell is absolutely right about the ten thousand hours rule. The earlier you start putting the hours, the sooner you will be ready to hit the ground running.

What Agencies Want

Creatives are looking for campaigns that are simple, single-minded, and that can trigger a social movement.

Words like "social currency" and "community platform" recur a lot, especially in digital and experiential agencies.
That's why they love facebook, blogs, twitter, and above all, Youtube. Any cool viral is king.

How to test your work-- Ask yourself the question:
If my target market sees the work, would they go "Oh, fuck! That's cool" and then forward it to their friends with a "Hey, check this out"?
Is it something that they will talk about a year from now? A few months from now?

Examples: youtube any of these
Nike: "Take it to the next level"
Nike: "supersonic"
Nike: "Put it where you want it"
Nike: "midnight madness:
Office Max: Elf Yourself
Burger King: Whopper Freakout
The Truth Campaign

Agencies are not in love with typical print or tv ads anymore.

As yourself another question:

If a piece of work gets people talking or participating, is it making them participate in a way consistent with the brand philosophy?
Will the brand leave a social mark, or just a gimmick?

One important thing creative directors keep asking about: what's the story that you're telling me?
If you can narrate the social action as it propagates from stimulus (your ad) to action (consumer response) then great.
If you can expand the campaign to make it live through further stages, even better.

so for a typical campaign in your book or your website, it needn't be the good ol' three pieces.

You'll get reactions like "this book looks like everyone else's".

This is more like it:

1. The Social Tension: a blurb about the brief. that's your build-up
2. A Resolution: a bumper that summarizes your big idea. perhaps it's a logo in the middle of a black sheet, with a clear, single-minded statement of this campaign's proposition
3. Core Execution: your hero piece, or a strong visual to explain the event, etc.
4. Other executions across various media: be specific to what you know is impactful, and be ready to justify it.
5. Community: how your campaign lives as a social currency. how it propagates. should flow effortlessly from your concept, like pieces of dominos
6. Expansion: how it lives beyond this year... other ways you can take the idea farther. how you would partner with other brands, or hijack relevant calendar events.

Most agency presentations are delievered now through powerpoint and PDF decks.

I imagine a creative director would be ecstatic to see a website which is essentially a series of those Bumpers, in the form of thumbnails. when you click on one, it opens a PDF deck that takes him from A to Z with through a single campaign. If you mouse over the Bumper thumbnail, you read something that sparks some curiosity, like, i don't know... "Supersonic: How Nike Made London Run to a Different Beat."

A Final Note

Recession is a great opportunity to see the world for less money. You're at an advantage point because your dollar, however weak it is, still beats a lot of currencies around the world. If you want to be culturally rich, go somewhere where the dollar can make a difference, like Peru or Indonesia. Use your savings to teach yourself. Some great design schools and firms are in Brasil for example. At this stage of your career, I would stay away from Dubai unless you just wanna make money, or have an amazing business proposition that needs investors. Their creative level there is subpar, revolves about award-winning rather than striking a social chord. Meaning, there is only a shallow learning curve out there.

Finally, never under-estimate the value of cultural immersion, watching street artists, or monitoring creatives of no particular disciplines. Their work is the stuff agencies daydream about.

Some Resources
These resources and more can be found by scrolling down in the sidebar topics on the right.

www.thefwa.com

www.creative-syndicate.com

www.netdiver.net

www.mcsweeneys.net

www.ffffound.com

www.thecoolhunter.com

Get Good :)

Amr

Be the change

2009-02-04T13:24:00.003-06:00

The Austin Ad Fed has helped start a website connecting creative professionals and non-profits in the name of public service.

new fatherhood PSAs

2009-01-29T13:16:00.005-06:00

More than 79% of Americans feel "the most significant family or social problem facing America is the physical absence of the father from the home." Research shows that the lack of a father in the home correlates closely with crime, educational and emotional problems, teenage pregnancy, and drug and alcohol abuse.

In an effort to show dads the critical role they play in their children's lives, the Ad Council has partnered with the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse and volunteer ad agency Campbell-Ewald to create a new PSA campaign that communicates to fathers that their presence is essential to their children's well-being. The campaign provides fathers with the information they need to become better dads.

Watch the whole TV campaign on youtube. See the radio, print, and TV campaign on the Adcouncil site.

Does anyone know the full credits for the campaign?

Thanks to Tim for the link on facebook.

newrenaultloganads

2009-01-22T10:50:00.006-06:00

Advertising Agency: Exclam Comunicação, Curitiba, Brazil
Creative Director: Lipsio Carvalho
Copywriter: Peterson Klug
Art Director: Alexandre Miyaki
Published: September 2008

Read comments about these ads. On a related note, here are the top 10 unintentionally worst company URLs. My favorite is www.gotahoe.com.

The Tmobile Dance

2009-01-20T10:17:00.002-06:00

News Roundup

2009-01-02T12:18:00.003-06:00

A new viral campaign for UBISOFT Rayman Raving Rabbibs TV Party is out. These were shot by Director Brian Belefant.

Pepsi is trying out social media. Via Bill at Make the Logo Bigger.

The Arcadia Project is out from the ECD/CEO of Gyro Worldwide, Steve Grasse. His bio doesn't sound like the typical CEO bio.
"Steven A. Grasse is a conceptual artist, author, and entrepreneur born in Souderton, Pennsylvania. Best known as the CEO and Executive Creative Director of Gyro Worldwide, Grasse is the world's first conceptual artist to use advertising itself as a medium for critiquing contemporary culture. Grasse has used every sub-medium of advertising--print, outdoor, packaging, live events, branding, guerilla marketing, Internet work--as a vehicle for his art"

When the truth comes out

2008-12-30T09:06:00.010-06:00

"The most powerful element in advertising is the truth."
-William Bernbach, co-founder of DDB

I'd like to present two cases where advertising and marketing overshadowed the reality of the product.

1) The New York Times has an article about how wireless carriers charge for SMS (text messages). In summary, a text message is extra data carried on existing cell phone transmissions. This extra data takes up no extra space. So you're being charged for air. The smartest and most creative commercials can't overcome this revelation.

Via Fast Company and the New York Times

2) GM. Despite improving product quality, the perception that foreign cars were better than domestic cars drove away buyers. Spending $3 billion on advertising for subpar quality products won't help improve the product quality.

Via Google News search and Money Morning

images from zedomax and routing by rumor

update on text messaging: A California teenager sends and receives more than 14,000 text messages a month!

Merry Christmas from AKQA

2008-12-29T08:58:00.003-06:00

I'm back from traveling for the holidays and catching up. This is a video from It's Nice That. Eco-friendly? No. Creative? Yes.

Monopoly Re-design (spec)

2008-12-26T01:13:00.005-06:00

Stumbled upon this re-designed Monopoly box (from a design student in Maryland). So cool and so clean...

I would love to see how a re-designed Candyland or Chutes and Ladders might look. This could be a really cool art director's project - what a great way to re-vamp something so iconic.

The Ranch

How to triple your sales using a 16 year old vlogger

Using Reel Skills to Treble Your Sales

No big egos please and pick up the phone

News Roundup

The Ad Contrarian: How To Sell Great Creative: Ego and Failure

2:42am The perfect excuse.

Palacio de Hierro. Puntero en Social Media.

King Yesterday. Gone Today.

5:48am

360º Communication.

Facebook is your life

Happy New Year

Digital Agencies.

What Is A Digital Planner?

Free Book Giveaway of The Creative Process Illustrated

To win a signed copy of The Creative Process Illustrated: How Advertising's Big Ideas Are Born by W. Glenn Griffin and Deborah Morrison, 1) please leave a comment saying why you like this blog. 2) Be a facebook fan of The Ranch Blog. The winner will be randomly picked by me.

News Roundup

An Open Letter To All Of Advertising And Marketing

Recap of Portfolio Night 8 - Austin

Two ways to make your brand really stand out

The wisdom of John Wooden

über-cool Chiquita Banana stickers

Happy Fathers Day 2010

President Obama is a World Cup fan

Cannes Young Lions Competition - entry 2

Cannes Young Lions Competition - entry 1

Recognize the background?

World Cup 2010 ads

A non-profit agency doing non-profit work

Very clever-sneaky-advertising

Vote in another Doritos competition

What do you think of the new Tiger Woods ad?

News Roundup

A beautiful PSA

5 thoughts from David Armano

We all live in glass houses

Build something

Don't give up

Hit it hard

Fail

Neuromarketing. the future of marketing?

The Emotional Quotient of Soup Shopping

Campbell Taps 'Neuromarketing' Techniques to Find Why Shelf Displays Left Some Customers Cold

Heard of My Ad Council?

THE RANCH.

My Top Three Super Bowl Ads

#1. Parisian Love by Google in-house marketing department

#2 Title: TruTV's Punxsutawney Polamalu by Grey, New York

#3 Dorito's House Rules by crashthesuperbowl.com contest

Top 20 Super Bowl ads ever

Web 2.0 Visualized

An ad for Haiti

Austin ADDYs Show at Seaholm - February 12th

Controversial non-profit ads

US Buick vs. China Buick

Top Ten Most Viewed Posts of 2009

10. Texas Rangers advertising9. Interview with Ignacio Oreamuno,founder of ihaveanidea.8. Letter to college students from a mom.7. Simple is the new black.6. Maturity is overrated.5. Advertising is evil. Is it really?

4. Interview with Ernie Schenck.

3. Top 40 Real Men of Genius commercials.2. Interview with Peter Rosch.

1. Interview with David Baldwin.

Top Ten Tips to Work in the Chinese Advertising Industry

Want a Job in China?

1. Come with a specialty.

2. Apply to as many agencies as possible.

3. Connect directly with the decision makers.

4. Think Shanghai 上海, but don't forget Beijing 北京 or Guangzhou 广州.

5. Don't ask for a flight over here.

6. Think of your job as an internship and expect a local salary.

7. Knowing Chinese helps, but it isn't everything.

8. If you don't know Chinese, start learning now!

9. Be passionate and hungry.

10. Prepare to work your ass off.

Web 2.0 Suicide Machine

AIGA Austin Annual Membership Party

2009’s Top 25 Most Ridiculous Uses of Photoshop

Introducing the ADvent-Calendar

The best Black Friday deal

adidas and $1 training shoes

Doubleclick is not going to like this

10. Texas Rangers advertising

9. Interview with Ignacio Oreamuno,founder of ihaveanidea.

8. Letter to college students from a mom.

7. Simple is the new black.

6. Maturity is overrated.

5. Advertising is evil. Is it really?

3. Top 40 Real Men of Genius commercials.

2. Interview with Peter Rosch.