Time is Back on My Side

Apologies for having been gone so long. School was really busy, especially during finals. Many all-nighters mixed with energy drinks. The day after I went home, I visited the Miami Ad School in Minneapolis, walked 6.2 miles at the Minnesota AIDS Walk, saw some of the sites, made some friends and met some nice people.

Now it's almost summertime. Thankfully, I've been given the opportunity to work as an intern at an awesome independent advertising agency called Barkley. Monday is the first day of an incredible experience.

Foam City

Sony and Fallon [London] is currently filming the next commercial for Sony electronics in downtown Miami, Florida. The high today was a sunny 75 degrees.

Ruth Speakman, European PR Manager for Sony, has been twittering about the event all day. She also kept live updates of the recent Sony BRAVIA "Play-Doh" shoot filmed in New York last fall.

Simon Ratigan, who has worked with Fallon in the past, is the director of "Foam City". Sony had the biggest foam machine in the world custom built, shooting out 2.5 million liters (660,430 gallons) of foam per minute.

The $1.4 million commercial is believed to be part of a massive campaign centered around the Sony Handycam, Cybershot and Alpha brands. The campaign is expected to be released in June.

According to BrandRepublic, "The ads will show various scenarios in which adults and children play in foam bubbles around the city."

Update (March 10, 2008) The spot may be aimed at the Sony Cyber-shot W170, a digital camera which automatically detects a smile and captures an image of the subject without the need of pressing the shutter. Who wouldn't smile in a sea of foam?

Update (March 11, 2008) For a lot more foamy goodness, check out some pictures taken and more information from a journalist at the shoot here.

(via Shedwa)

Nonsense

Exactly twenty days ago from today, the public chose a Web page concept for Nonsense, a creative agency in London. I cast my ballot in September. After voting, I entered my contact information and chose the "Just tell me when you have finished the entire project, as if I was one of your relatives" option. I am still waiting for them to contact me. It makes me wonder who else is waiting, or worse, who has forgotten about the whole thing.

The idea for their Web site is really smart. Free PR. Get the ad industry involved by having them post about the participatory election in blogs and online news sources. I'm sure there were other people who voted that aren't in the industry or even interested in advertising. A critical role agencies play is communication, and for me, Nonsense failed to communicate. It doesn't matter if the target audience was the ad industry or prospective clientele. Nonsense may have kept up with people who have their e-mail address ending in @ny.ddb.com, @bbdo.com, @ogilvy.com, etc., and not with the regular public. I don't know; maybe I was the only college student who voted. If the agency cannot create a dialogue with their product or brand, they aren't doing their job.

By the way, the winning vote was for 'The Rocking Chair Test'. The difference of 0.3% separated Media: Mixed from winning. On the Board was the big loser, with a 4.4% difference. This information is from their development blog, which Nonsense has created to update us on their progress. Hopefully they'll stay true to their word.

Buick May Have a Chance

Tonight I saw an ad online (left) for Buick. The Buick Enclave is the crossover vehicle in the picture. It seems like they're saying "we don't suck anymore, give us a chance" through Motor Trend magazine's review. It's your choice to accept a brand that's only acceptable and not the leader. Buick has been around for over 100 years, and we all know by the incredibly slow drivers that the brand still exists. Buicks are known to be called the car for an old person. I have heard younger people complain and say, "oh, they're driving a Buick", when in fact they're driving a Cadillac, Oldsmobile, or whatever. Buick is working to erase the stereotype by making their vehicles –- or at least the Enclave -- more romantic and family-oriented.

The 30-second spot, done by Vigilante, for the Buick Enclave features the Director of Design, Interior, Michael Burton, who subtley lets you know how he supposedly chose what materials to use in the design.



I would compare this commercial to the Lexus spots, done by Team One, which specifically talk about music and remind consumers about the Mark Levinson sound system. Lexus, a division of Toyota Motor Sales, is the number one luxury automaker company in the world. It was a great idea by them to focus on a small but important piece of the pie rather than the whole thing. It's engaging and entertaining. You can watch the other two here.



Michael Burton explains how he got inspired. (Video ends at 2:15)

Apple Commercial Doesn't Fall Far from the Tree

DIY Advertising, also known as consumer generated content, is becoming more prominent. Agencies' clients pay a large sum of money to grab your attention so you can do the same to others by creating an advertisement that is relevant to consumers like yourself.

Apple and their agency, TBWA/Chiat/Day, are doing something a little different; marketing employees at Apple found a 30-second video about the iPod Touch and wanted that to be their next commercial. The video was edited in Final Cut Pro and produced by Nick Haley, an eighteen year-old freshman from the University of Leeds in England. He's an Apple enthusiast, having received his first Apple computer when he was three years-old.

The spot is quite similar to something TBWA/Chiat/Day and Apple would produce, so it's no wonder the video matches their taste. The music, 'My Music is My Hot, Hot Sex' by Brazilian band CSS, is expected but fits very well with the fast tempo walk-through of the iPod Touch. Cansei de Ser Sexy (CSS), Portugese for 'Tired of Being Sexy', will be playing for Great Britain in December on their Christmas Tour. After Chiat contacted him via e-mail on his phone, he took his first trip across the pond and worked with agency creatives in Los Angeles to produce a similar HD broadcast-ready version.

Nick Haley spot


TBWA/Chiat/Day + Apple spot

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').

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).

C-K Selected to Steer Porsche

No, this isn't a charity event where celebrity Calvin Klein drives a Porsche in a Race to Save the Whales. (Though, that would be an important cause.) I'm talking about Cramer-Krasselt, an independently owned and managed advertising agency, headquartered in Chicago.

Out of three other agencies, including incumbent Carmichael Lynch, Porsche North America has finally and decidedly chosen Cramer-Krasselt to head the creative and media duties. David Pryor, Porsche svp, marketing, said, "Their team very quickly showed a tremendous passion and understanding of our business and developed a compelling, evolutionary expression of our brand." (Adweek). From the great work CL has done for Porsche, I'm really interested in seeing Porsche evolve.

And they've done so just in time for the release of the 2009 Porsche Panamera, a new four-door sedan hybrid with a V-8 engine. "Carmichael Lynch, according to Pryor, will continue to work on a 'significant project' for the company through the first quarter of next year"(Adweek). Porsche spent $25 million on the account with CL, but the upcoming year is an estimated $40 million.

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.

Time to Share

On March 29, 2007, Advertising Age wrote that VML, based in Kansas City, Missouri, won the lead the digital duties for Cadbury Schweppes. VML will also be the interactive creative and development agency of record. Nine days before, the Kansas City Star reported the same, but the link to the article does not work (404 not found). On February 12, 2007, Kristi Veitch, VML Partner and Human Resources Director, was the speaker at a KSU Ad Club meeting. Along with informative resume tips, she mentioned to us that VML has a new, big client - Cadbury Schweppes.

This leads me to wonder if all agencies acquire their client weeks or months before it is announced by the press. Did it take a month because the lawyers had to review what was written? Does the PR side take that long to write a press release? Why did it take so long?

Another Tidbit:

On Cadbury Schweppes' Web site, there is no mention (in the "Investor Centre" section) of VML being selected for their company. No results came up after typing in "VML". Why not? If I were putting large sums of money into a company I believed in - for profit or any other reason - as an investor, I would want to know where my investment is going. Should I have to look for the news myself? If it were mentioned in the news feed, I could better understand things going on. And I could/would then review the agency's work.

An investor could also be the CEO of a growing company that wants to advertise to more people but doesn't know how. (The thought of this happening seems unlikely, but I'm sure there are a handful out there.) Digital can certainly open the possibilities of a global reach. A digital agency like VML can surely help. The investor may not have considered the idea of using digital communication to create more investors in his or her respective company. Even if the CEO didn't go to VML - because it wasn't right at the time, or for any other reason - the thought is still there. The possibility of something in the future is ten times more likely than it was when there was no chance. Perhaps the CEO serves as a chairperson of a board. Other chairpersons are from other companies. This introduces the likelihood of the CEO to bring digital communication into a conversation with other partnering businesses. "It didn't work out for our company at the time, but maybe it will work for you." And the chain continues.

The same reward is what happens for bloggers. For example, I link to your blog because I find your content to be interesting, and you get more traffic. You link to someone whom you also find interesting, and the chain goes on. Links may not benefit every single person, but we shouldn't be interested in reaching every single person, although it would be nice.

Looking For A Substitute

According to AdWeek, Porsche Cars North America has picked a consulting firm for the review of their $25 million account. Minneapolis agency Carmichael Lynch has handled the creative portion of the account since 1999. They are responsible for the famous Porsche 911 tagline, "There is no substitute". They are also expected to defend the account. "The review is linked to the client's promotion of David Pryor to the position of svp, marketing, as well as Porsche's planned launch of a four-door sedan in 2009" (AdWeek). The sedan, called the Porsche Panamera, will feature a hybrid gas-electric engine. The same engine will be made available sooner for the Cayenne, Porsche's sporty SUV.



Porsche had also considered remodeling higher up in the ranks. "Piech, whose grandfather Ferdinand Porsche designed the original Volkswagen Beetle, reached an agreement last month with Wulff to remain chairman for another five-year term after he received the backing of the 10 labor representatives on the 20- member board. Piech, 69, was previously set to step down next month because of shareholder opposition to his dual roles as Volkswagen chairman and a member of Porsche's board" (Bloomberg.com).

Porsche USA's lineup currently consists of the 911, Boxster, Cayman, and Cayenne.

Carmichael Lynch does great creative work, and I'm sad to see that Porsche is considering parting ways. But I am glad to see that CL is contesting. Bloomberg tells us that Ferdinand Piech has schemed a slow takeover in Volkswagen, so we'll see what happens there.

The Panamera is a four-door sports sedan. Rumors are that it may run from $60-125K; with a turbocharged V8, it will be up there. Porsche has taken a risk with the Cayenne SUV, but they have kept their vehicles fast and powerful. Porsche should remain in the same market - the affluent buyers one.

A handful of automakers have learned from their decision to please every one that they won't be great for very long. Volkswagen aimed its Phaeton luxury sedan to compete against the BMW 7-Series, Mercedes S-Class and Lexus LS, and it lost terribly. "In the 18 months since VW launched the Phaeton in September 2003, it has sold just 2,506 examples of the ultra-luxury sedan. That's an average of only 140 cars per month. During the same time period, Mercedes-Benz sold 31,536 examples of its S-Class" (Edmunds.com).

You can't be great at every thing. Face it. There is someone out there who is better than you at something else. I believe the Germans are smart enough to not make the same mistake again.