2011: possibly the greatest year for UK advertising since, well, 2007.
I think the UK advertising industry is in a funny old place. Rather like the Premiership, it seems as if no one really wants to take the thing by the scruff of the neck and show us all how it’s done (actually, that might be a global thing; is an agency dominating in the US like CP&B did in recent years, or Cliff Freeman before them?). The giants are playing the game well below their great peaks of the past, leaving the also-rans looking better than they really are.
But will that change this year?
I have to say that I’m somewhat optimistic (I really can’t be fucked to be pessimistic. Of course, we could continue the run of underwhelming work for another year – that would make four in a row – but there’s not a lot of point in predicting that. Better to stick out the neck and risk falling flat on my face. Again.).
A trend seemed to take hold last year in which great US creatives began to leave their humongoshops and start up on their own (I think Vinny Warren may have started this exodus; he always seems to be having a great time; maybe that inspired the others): Eric Silver, Gerry Graf and Ty Montague all broke for the border and I expect to see some stellar stuff from their hotshops in the coming year.
But then the same thing started happening over here: Richard Flintham and Tony McTear, two creators of D&AD Gold-winning ads, both started up their own places after years inside Fallon and TBWA (two once-great agencies now going through somewhat dry spells). Will this result in a flood of great work? Let’s wait and see, but the sure thing is that something different is happening, and that’s the very least that’s needed to make a difference to the quality of the work.
If you add in Ed Morris taking on the CD-ship at the independent Rapier, then we could have the start of a creatively-led shift in the landscape that might just kick things up the arse.
Fingers crossed and all that.
re: creativity in 2011.
Has anyone seen this years D&AD juries?
You mean these:
http://www.dandad.org/awards/professional/2011/juries
?
There’s a couple of interesting choices in TV and Cinema. Thank God the marvelous Yvonne Chalkley will be amongst them.
The ECD of Grey did well to get on a jury and it’s quite novel to have 50% of the press jury made up of continentals.
I think this lady in particular will be brilliant at dissecting the nuances of any English copy:
1996 – 1999: Worked at the agencies Y&R and AIR respectively, for the budgets Moët & Chandon international and Kenzo prêt-à-porter. 1999: Arrive at BETC EURO RSCG Win budget Air France, launch the signature “Making the sky the best place on Earth”. International Campaign with Steven Klein (print) and Michel Gondry (film). The print campaign wins a Gold Lion in 2000. 2000: International print Campaign for Evian, with Terry Richardson. 2005: Petit Bateau « Doudous » Campaign, wins the Grand Prix of the APPM (the French Press Magazine Association). 2006: Win Issey Miyake perfume budget. International print campaign produced with Marcus Tomlinson, Awarded at the Grand Prix Strategies Luxe. January 2007: Promoted to Creative Director. November 2007 – August 2008: Repositioning of the Aigle brand, with an international print campaign. The campaign is awarded the Grand Prix of the APPM, the Grand Prix de l’Affichage (the French outdoor award) wins at the French Art Director’s Club, the New York Festivals, Epica and Méribel. April 2008: The Air France campaign saga wins the Grand Prix of durability at the APPM. October 2008: International print and ident campaign for Air France, with Camilla Akrans. April 2009- August 2008: Repositioning of the Petit Bateau brand, with an international print campaign. The campaign is awarded the Grand Prix of the APPM. June 2009, director général assoiate and créative director of havas city taking care of monoprix, thalys, gulli, and starck eyes.
I like the idea of a Grand Prix of Durability. Kind of like when they give some old buffer an Oscar for still being alive.
Be fair, ‘Making the sky the best place on Earth’ is not too bad.
And Nils Leonard’s leadership of Grey over the last year has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is more than qualified to judge our collective creative output.
Sure. Good for Nils.
I was referring to the lady’s stream of consciousness CV. Economy and elegance of expression are two of the cornerstones of great communication. I see only the opposite here.
I resigned from the D&AD committee because they wanted to reduce the percentage of UK creatives on the juries, but does anyone else really give a monkeys?
As far as 2011 goes, if I produce anything half as good as ‘Jingle Jangle Jewellery’ I’ll be well pleased.
ps……..how did the book sell over the holidays?
Very well according to my publisher.
In ‘limited release’ (just Smiths and two days of Tesco plus online) it did around 3000 copies in its first week and a bit, which is apparently very good for a debut from someone no one’s ever heard of.
It’s hitting Sainsbury’s and Asda tomorrow, so hopefully that’ll keep the figures up.
When does it hit Lidl and Aldi? Some of us keep it real don’t you now. Now and again I might posh it up at Asda. Maybe I’ll half inch it there.
Just send me the 63p royalty.
thanks for the kind words ben. it’s a weird time in advertising right now. me, i was just sick of the endless talk of “THE FUTURE!” and decided to check out the present. and have some fun along the way.
BTW, went looking for your book at Barnes and Noble in Santa Monica the other day. Not there yet.
Happy 2011 y’all!
Absolutely. By definition the future doesn’t exist, so you can only play the hand in front of you.
As far as the book goes, it has yet to be bought for the US, so you’ll only be able to get it on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Instinct-Ben-Kay/dp/0241952115/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1293989372&sr=8-1
and for Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/Instinct-ebook/dp/B004CRSIYM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=A7B2F8DUJ88VZ&s=digital-text&qid=1293989403&sr=8-2
You’re only getting 63p per book?!
Yeah. Why? How much should I be getting?
well this is a good start
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_HMrOd2_QI
James, are you being sarcastic or did you come up with that one? I mean it’s the same thing over and over again for a whole minute. Which is why it feels like 5.