March for Babies

March of Dimes has renamed its biggest fund-raiser, Walk America, to March for Babies, capturing the cause more effectively within the name. Today's article in the New York Times says that a Gallup poll reported only 45% knew what the organization's mission was. Honestly, I didn't know what it was about until after reading the story.

Barkley has created a PSA campaign to announce the call-to-action. The campaign includes Marchofdimesbaby.org, a site where anyone, especially mothers-to-be, can get information from preconception to teenage pregnancy. The entire page has questions that can be either clicked on or highlighted when selecting what you're wondering about. The questions link to answers on the March of Dimes Web site.

Behind the many questions is a baby, and this is where the cute factor skyrockets. The baby is endearing as it plays or crawls or raises its hands in excitement. It may be one baby or babies; the video plays for a while, fades out, and another baby (or the same one) takes the page. From a design perspective, the simple video makes the site so much more interesting to look at. And from an emotional perspective, as a human being, I am pulled in. I'm not a mother, but I could watch that baby for a long time. Mothers are sure to be captivated -- with the baby and with all of the questions that can be answered.

Here are the PSA TV spots.

Christmas Noise

I saw this insert in USA Today earlier this month. Thanks to the reading program on campus, the residence halls receive free copies of the New York Times, USA Today and three local newspapers. The ad isn't entirely relevant anymore, because December 25th has come and gone, but this is a crazy idea.

In the ad, Sony is advertising noise-canceling headphones. They suggest you peel off the stickers and place them on a remote and luggage to show loved ones what you really want for Christmas. How will they know it's from you? There's no clarification on that. Maybe they're supposed to get everyone the same gift.

I would personally be pretty bothered if someone stuck something to my remote. When I want to take a sticker off -- and I'm going to want to -- I have to peel and pry at the thing for minutes. Then there's the paper that tore off and is super hard to get at. Lastly, the sticky grime that's left afterwards. That's going to make me want to get a gift for my friend alright.

The product isn't bad at all, but Sony is taking the wrong approach. I get why they are placing your ad for noise canceling headphones. Are they targeting the wrong person though? If Sony is advising you to put stickers where they would use the headphones, wouldn't that make them want the product more than to give it to you? Maybe it's a full-circle thing. You get one for me, I get one for you. I think it's a little bogus.

The art direction is nice. I like how they incorporate Sony's HDNA graphics into the print and into the stickers. They kind of look like snowflakes too. It makes some sense to put the graphics in, because it follows the design of Sony's other recent ads, but these headphones aren't HD. I'm not entirely sure about the copy, specifically, "From our studios to your ears, only Sony is true to music." Everything else must be a lie.

Everyone's Invited to Swim

Only the great will make it to the other side.

The annual D&AD Student Awards competition is in full-swing. The British Design and Art Design Award is one of the most coveted and challenging student awards across the pond and around the world.

There's no limit of entries, but they had better be incredible. The best of the best will be grading them. Each entry needs to be signed by your tutor/professor, or you can't enter. Can a 30 year-old grad student enter? You betcha. (Coincidentally, that's the same age as this award.)

Winners receive an oversize pencil whose tree's growth must have been stunted due to the greenhouse effect. But this little stump can be used as a pedestal to reach the next level, or a doorstop to save yourself from having a crushed foot.

The categories are: Advertising, Animation, Furniture Design, Graphic Design, Illustration, Integrated Communication, Music Videos, Open Briefs, Photography, Product Design, Social Design, and What Else Do You Do? Description for the last onereads, "Having already entered one of more of the briefs this year, you are now entitled to now submit an additional piece of work that has nothing to do with this or any other competition..."

Because this blog is about advertising, I will only list the endless possibilities for the Advertising category.

Postcard
Breastfeeding, Sponsored by Best Beginnings
Press Advertising
Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Sponsored by Breakthrough Breast Cancer
Outdoor
HSBC, Sponsored by ClearChannel
Viral
Nando's, Sponsored by Nando's
Ambient
London Fashion Week, Sponsored by Grazia
Writing
If Only I'd Listened More Carefully, Sponsored by Ogilvy
Direct and Online
The Army, Sponsored by TEQUILA\
Poster
The Royal Opera House, Sponsored by This Is Real Art
TV
Belu, Sponsored by Weilands

You can't literally drown if you don't win; you only fill your metaphorical lungs up with water and have to be resuscitated by determination. Or you could change majors (quitter). Before you enter, read this. Did you read it? Okay, the briefs are here.

D&AD will accept entries from students from Jan. 14 – March 20, 2008. The grading takes place in May, and the awards ceremony is in June. All of the 'A' work is accessible in June.

Good luck!

Can You Tell Me How to Get a Design Job?

Personally, I can't tell you, but I discovered some great tips for students who strive to be designers. The best thing -- it's Sesame Street themed!

BRAVIA Bunnies!

The newest Sony Bravia advertisement is out. First, there was 'Balls', then there was 'Paint'. Now, there is 'Play-Doh', featuring 2.5 tons of plasticine in 1:30 of stop-motion. "Devised by Fallon [London] and shot over three weeks in New York, the commercial employed 40 animators from Passion" (Sony). The spot also included 189 2' bunnies, 150 1' cubes, a 10'x20' purple wave, one giant 30' rabbit, and six cameras.

Watch the Teaser


Watch 'Play-Doh'


For better quality, watch the video on Sony BRAVIA's site. It takes a little while to load, but you get to read some colourful facts while you wait. Update: Don't wait and watch it here.

The Website has more. First, put your headphones on. Colour your own on the personalized Colourwall, walk through sharp blades of grass, listen to calming music, fly through a tunnel, drip a droplet, and bounce a ball on some walls to drop psychedelic sounds and ripples of colour. You can download the old BRAVIA spots, wallpapers and images. Also, check out the colour experiments and some info on the singer-songwriter José González ('Balls').

NEXT Phones Arrive Too Soon

While browsing the news headlines at this early/late hour, I was linked to Breitbart.com from Drudge. At the top right of the page is a banner ad for Verizon Wireless Next series of phones. The banner ad has no animation. The two identical ads on the right at the middle of the page do, however. They go through each phone and then show the whole family together.

First of all, why two of the exact same ad? Do they think that the reader will not click one but give the other a chance? Maybe there's something I'm missing. Update: It has dawned on me that both ad spaces are taken because another tenant would distract from what Verizon is trying to sell.

The timing is way off, for those people who have laptop computers (smaller screen) at least, like me (15-inch). Sorry, my parents did not carry on the gene of reading a few hundred words every five seconds. I don't see the animation, so I have to refresh the page and scroll down. The average person is not going to do that.

What if there were a sensor to detect when the user has scrolled down to where the ad is located? The animation can then attract the reader's eye, doing what it's supposed to do. Scrolling over the ad itself is a good avenue to reach them, which is being used today. Seasoned current event lovers may train themselves to walk the fine pixelated line of not touching any ads or clicking, and that's why a sensoring program, code, or something, would capture more interested eyeballs.

Purity in Digital Form

Featured on the homepage of YouTube, New Zealand Tourism works with Weta Digital, creators of the digital effects for Lord of the Rings, now working on Prince Caspian, the second movie in the Chronicles of Narnia, to promote the beautiful island of New Zealand for 24-hours. The campaign has gone global in 2007.

An awesome effects company is presenting the island of New Zealand, but everyday it is represented in its purest form -- that no digital animation could capture or re-create. If you have a great product, it shouldn't be hard to sell.

But having Peter Jackson on your side doesn't hurt (if you can afford it).

Philips Seduces Viewers

Philips has begun an international campaign for the Aurea, a Flat LCD HDTV that projects ROY G BIV onto your wall. It's much more than that, though. The Aurea is endless visual pleasure. The experience is like tripping on acid -- without the acid. The sad news: currently, it's only available in Europe.

DDB concepted the idea of a short film, directed by Wong Kar Wai, which can be seen on the Web and in stores. You are given the option to keep the "Ambilight On" or "Ambilight Off" to compare and contrast. A beautiful musical score, by Mark Slater and members of the London Symphony orchestra, labeled as the "Aurea Soundtrack", may also be downloaded on the Web site, created by Tribal DDB.

Most of the advertising will be television-based, by DDB Amsterdam, showing the brilliant, upgraded feature with a 60-second spot. Vincent Peters, fashion photographer, shot the print.

Philips is also staying ahead by partnering with Swarovski, a world-famous crystal and jewelry company. They're launching the Philips-Swarovski Active Crystals collection.

Rudy Provoost, Philips CEO, says it's a "fusion of function and fashion." Philips is targeting the female touch. "It's kind of bringing Philips 'sense and simplicity' with style and seduction" (Shiny).

Something to chew on.

That's the new tagline for the KSU Ad Club this year. I am priviliged to be the Vice President with the voluntary duties of maintaining a blog, inviting guest speakers, and creating a campaign. We're all really looking forward to what the future holds. Below are the posters created for the ad lovers on campus.

It's About Time

Sorry for not updating in a while. I got a new job for the summer, and a lot of my time has been occupied checking in travelers, making sure there are enough towels, and reminding them that breakfast is served from 6 to 9. We do have wireless Internet, but I'm only allowed online for work-related activities.

The following is an update of happenings previously mentioned here.

Tread Lightly

Boeing has unveiled its environmentally conscious 787 Dreamliner. It's big and beautiful. Airbus has been marketing its A380 as environmentally friendly, but it's big and ugly. The two companies are using the same USP, which is not unique at all. Staying with the eco-friendly people pleaser, airlines should no longer serve beef, as it makes a bigger carbon footprint than driving a car nonstop for three hours.

Experienced Virgin Gets Her Wings

Also in airline news, the first ever mood lighting on a U.S. commercial flight has been introduced. Virgin America, its hub located in San Francisco, has officially opened booking for its flights. Features include 3,000 mp3s, open source Doom (the game), the largest seatback TV available on a U.S. airline, and over 20 pay-per-view movies to choose from. Save your playlist, and it will remember you the next flight. An ethernet jack is at every seat, in case you don't have wireless; WiFi is available. You can also order food/drinks while at your seat with the swipe of your credit card.

Before Virgin America launched, while it was having some problems getting off the ground, VA wanted the general public to name its planes and vote on the best ones. You could do so on nameourplanes.com. 'Jefferson Airplane' is one great name that has joined the fleet. The link is no longer available and redirects the user to the VA home page.

Prof Gilzot is Real?

No, he's not real. Yesterday, though, the bot instant messaged me out of the blue. In this new age of permissive marketing, steps are being taken to give consumers more control. AOL gives you the option to accept or deny an instant message. But perhaps someone who has never heard of Prof Gilzot could be mislead. Also, I was very disappointed to see that the question he asked me was not even related to SATs or education, but a matter of his own personal opinion of a current event.
















London 2012 Gets Even More Retro
The logo for the 2012 London Paralympic Games is even worse than the 2012 London Olympic Games. It adds more color and crazy 80's style patterns.



London 2012 also uses an antiquated idea by using the New Year's Resolution and adding five years. What would you challenge yourself to do by 2012?





BBDO CCO Wins Breakfast, Award

David Lubars, Chief Creative Officer of BBDO North America, has won the Wall Street Journal's Creative Leaders contest. Lubars has won countless awards, from Emmy's to a Titanium Lion. He's changing the model of agencies, which for most is a good thing. Look for a new face within the next week on a full-page ad for the WSJ. Lubars is now joined in notoriety with the creative ranks of Alex Bogusky, Gary Goldsmith, Lee Clow, Jeff Goodby, Tom McElligot, and more.

In other news, the site still sucks. Words and graphics overlap that aren't supposed to overlap. It would have been nice if they had filmed the event and posted it online. At the least -- tell us that it's over, who won and why.

BBDO Sidenote

Not only does the agency have a winning creative mogul on their hands, but they themselves are winners. In Cannes this year, the agency won "Network of the Year", a brand new award that "recognizes an agency network's creative excellence across the full range of marketing communication channels" (PRNewswire).

Harry Potter Lives On

Plans have been made, and the paperwork has been signed. The Harry Potter theme park is slated to open in 2009. Harry will live on in the hearts and official merchandise of fans worldwide.

Feed Me!

The Ad Feed's creative portion is still not up yet. But I'll be sure to let you know once the stellar renovation is at 100%. Meanwhile, visit Ads of the World or Shedwa.

How To: Utilize Great Web Design

Lines and Colors explains how not to display your portfolio on your free Web page (the one with the forward slashes and that squiggly line thing). Really good advice.

Apple displays their newly redesigned Web site. Great design. I love how clean and concise it is; that's their job. The bars (Top Songs, Top Albums, Recent Stories, etc.) show what you want to see if you scroll over them and hide everything else. (Perhaps this was synchronized with the unveiling of the near-final version of Mac OS X Leopard. Or maybe it's the release of Safari for PC.)

I'll admit it -- this blog is lacking structure. I've been working on learning how to make it better. If you can help me out, especially with html, I would very much appreciate any help. Feel free to contact me. Thank you!

'London 2012' Triggers Seizures, Nausea, Disgust

People in the UK have gone awry since the unveiling of the 2012 London Olympic Games logo. There have been (edit: eighteen) reports of people having seizures while watching the new launch event animation on the official Web site or TV broadcast.

According to BBC News, a London 2012 spokeswoman said the section of footage concerned showed a "diver diving into a pool which had a multi-colour ripple effect". It was not the logo itself that has caused the problems.

"Some have had seizures, but others are feeling very unwell with potentially worrying symptoms including vomiting and headaches. A lot of people are very frightened", said Ingrid Burns, spokesman for Epilespy Action.

The London 2012 Web site has taken down the video to re-edit the clip. London's mayor, Ken Livingstone, opposed the logo from the start. He also criticized the designers for not testing the video for 'health checks'. It took a year to make the logo, but it only took seconds for everyone in the world to hate it.

(via Drudge)

2012 Olympic Game Over for London Logo

London has recently unveiled the logo for their 2012 Olympic Games, and the public are not pleased. Especially when it cost them £400,000 (US $797,640). They had no say whatsoever, but they're speaking out now. BBC was, of course, all over this coverage; the Sport Editor's Blog asked for comments and has received over 3,300 reactions so far - mostly negative. Also, according to the blog, an online petition has been set up and has received almost (edit: 50,000 signatures) to bring the old logo back or start from scratch. A Facebook group has also been set up for a petition. BBC is taking a poll on what people think of the logo.



The logo was designed to inspire social, structural, and social change. It's also aimed at the young person. In five years, some of the young people who are currently on Facebook will still be on there. Granted, Facebook is for everyone now, but the majority are college and high school students. Yet there is a Facebook group asking for the logo to be changed.

I guess I could be considered a young person, too, still attending college. What do I think? It's a kind of drawback from the 80's, but one we'd like to keep there. Even my sister, a junior in high school, said, "It looks a bit older, like from the 80's". The emblem will be coming in a series of shades of pink, blue, green and orange and will evolve as the Games draw closer. I like that idea. But it's really hard to believe this was done for over a half a million dollars.

The logo in itself is not inspiring, but the Olympic Games themselves, when you look far past the controversy, are. The best of the best athletes from around the globe competing against each other - that's inspiring. Hopefully that will be enough to overshadow the logo and keep the torch burning in everyone's minds.

BBC and the official London 2012 Web site has encouraged everyone to create their own design. You can see the BBC designs here and here. The London 2012 designs are here. You can also watch a film about their new brand/new look. (I think it's an honest message but a little cheesy. With the reactions already made about the logo, I think the public may be less forgiving.)

What do you think?



All 4

How To: Prevent Gun Violence

The copy flows very nicely, and the execution of these ads are great. They also display important and powerful stories to get the message across.
(via AotW)