Nov 20 2008 November 20, 2008 November 20, 2008 NoComment by ben

Fresh + Stale = Winner

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For want of a better word, ‘fresh’ is a complimentary adjective when applied to milk, early 80s hip-hop and ads.

It’s obvious, really: ads need to stand out (or maybe they don’t), so a novelty of look or feel , or freshness, must be a helpful attribute (watch it to the end*):

However, what about ads where familiarity or nostalgia are the driving force?

Of course, there are fresh elements to the style of the Courage ad, and I imagine that in 1979 it stood out like dog’s nuts, but it helps us to see that a desperate, grasping, neophilia can blind us to the benefits of comfort in what we know. Take that Levi’s ad: its soundtrack and directorial style are fresh, but it exists in the depression-era Deep South that feels familiar to us from movies like Bonnie and Clyde.

So, freshness is good, but it needs to be placed in a context where it can be anchored to something we already know.

That helps accentuate the novelty and leaves us comfortable in the parts we recognise.

*Rumour has it that this was the version entered by mistake at D&AD, costing it a black pencil.


Nov 20 2008 November 20, 2008 November 20, 2008 NoComment by ben

I’m Crap At Guitar Hero

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So I love this ad:

It’s just great to see a ‘how did they do that?’ jobbie in this day and age.

At first I thought it was real, then I thought they must have posted the coloured markers in afterwards, then I had a look on the net and the general vibe is that it’s real.

A fantastic, lateral solution to the brief ‘sell Guitar Hero 4’ (in a way that will go viral).

Hats off.


Nov 19 2008 November 19, 2008 November 19, 2008 NoComment by ben

Why Does It Feel Like There’s No Longer A Place For The Howard Roarks Of This World?

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“The Client,” said the Dean.  ‘The Client.  Think of that above all.  He’s the one to live in the house you build.  Your only purpose is to serve him.  You must aspire to give the proper artistic expression to his wishes.  Isn’t that all one can say on the subject?”

“Well, I could say that I aspire to build for my client the most comfortable, the most logical, the most beautiful house that can be built.  I could say that I must try to see him the best I have and also teach him to know the best.  I could say it, but I won’t.  Because I don’t intend to build in order to serve or help anyone.  I don’t intend to build in order to have clients.  I intend to have clients in order to build.”
“How do you propose to force your ideas on them?”
“I don’t propose to force or be forced.  Those who want me will come to me.”
Then the Dean understood what had puzzled him in Roark’s manner.
“You know,” he said, “you would sound much more convincing if you spoke as if you cared whether I agreed with you or not.
“That’s true,” said Roark.  “I don’t care whether you agree with me or not.” 

Nov 17 2008 November 17, 2008 November 17, 2008 NoComment by ben

The One Eyed Man Might Be An Advert For Bread.

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At the end of September I asked what the best UK ad this year was.

I didn’t get a great response, certainly very few ads (actually, none) that felt like they deserved the accolade ‘best ad of the year’.  The thing is, though, somebody’s got to win it.  In the kingdom of the blind, the one eyed man is king and all that.
So here we are in mid-November, and still nothing to blow the others out of the water.
However, Televisual, ‘The business magazine for the broadcasting and production community’ has just released their latest poll of the year, which includes votes from production company personnel for ad of the year.  The non-last-year ones are all follows:
(good year for Ringan)
All the others were the usual Space, Gorilla, Cake, Music Pieces, Bunnies etc. from last year. Nothing on the list from Glazer, Kleinman, Zacharias, and nothing this year from Budgen, Murro, Wilson etc.
Well, that confirms it.  It’s been a bad year.
I still tip BBC Penguins and Tfl Dothetest for success next year, but we’re definitely in the kingdom of the blind.

Nov 15 2008 November 15, 2008 November 15, 2008 NoComment by ben

Agency Communication: How Not To Do It.

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There’s an email doing the production company rounds that was sent by a US agency producer to a bunch of reps.  The friend who sent it removed all the names, but it’s still pretty funny. Although not as funny as the reply:

Hi everyone.
Please read this email carefully.
Now the instructions…and this is really really important to read and follow closely:
1.  Send LINKS…NOT DVD’s…DVD’s get thrown out.
Things NOT to do:
1.  Call me to tell me who you’re sending me.  Just don’t…please!
2.  Tell me in your email how your director bids (client) all the time…I don’t care.
3.  Tell me how your director has worked with (Person X) before…I don’t care.
4.  Tell me how your director is friend with (Person Y)…I don’t care.
5.  Send me your director’s resume with the reel telling me how many awards he’s won and how many tv shows he’s done and features he’s shot…I…Don’t…Care…and you know who cares less than me about that?  The creatives.  And you know who cares less than the creative?  The clients…believe me.  it’s true.  I promise.
6.  Do NOT ask me if I have an editor yet or what my thoughts about music are.  Please oh please don’t do that.
7.  This is the most important rule…I will acknowledge every one of your emails by replying ‘thsnks’ or ‘got it’…what I need from you is to be patient!!!  Don’t call me 24 hours later and ask if I’ve looked at the reels.
Money:
Approximately $650K for production.
This is the new (client ad), so that really means $650K.  Don’t get me on the phone with your EP and have them bid this job for $900K.  That’ll irritate me and I’ll blame you…and then you won’t get any more of these nice emails from me.
There’s no method to the madness of how I look at reels.  really.  And I won’t look at all of them.  really.
Because these spots are testing I have the luxury of time.  Some time later (up to as many as 7 working days) I will send an email to all of you vultures with my progress.
The reply:
Hey (name),
As per your “instructions” to the reps:
I am sending you a (name of director) DVD for your (client) project (Hope you got all my messages).  He bids (client) all the time and not only works with Person X and Person Y (the best man at his wedding) but recently had a homosexual experience with both of them in a Burbank Home Depot restroom (ironically while shaving each other’s testicles with (the client’s) products!)
FYI, (my director) is English and likes salmon (not poached).  He has won 342 awards (please pass this along to your creatives and the client.)  Also, let’s discuss editors ASAP (Can we cut this in Dubai?) and (director) and I were thinking about a Led Zeppelin track (Stairway to Heaven or The Battle of Evermore!!?)  Wouldn’t that be awesome!!!?  What are your thoughts?  Hey what about the Ting Tings?  Could be cool too?
I am very excited to read that these spots are still in testing.  I’m sending you a rough bid later today (Coming in around $1,600,000 -ish.  Hope that’s OK?)
I’ll give you a quick call tomorrow to see if you’ve had a chance to look at the reel (s) yet.
P.S. (advertising legend from your agency) would have been very proud of you.

Nov 13 2008 November 13, 2008 November 13, 2008 NoComment by ben

I think I’m Menopausal

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I love this ad:

I think the seamless way they got the underwear model to walk around in her underwear is genius.

Anyway, Dawn Shadforth+Take That+Twiggy etc. beats Kaye+Hirst+Miller any day. 

Surprisingly enough.

Nov 13 2008 November 13, 2008 November 13, 2008 NoComment by ben

When Talent (And Lack Of It) Goes Bad:

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Tony Kaye has shot a promo for The Hours using Damien Hirst as Art Director and Sienna Miller as whiney totty. (A word of warning: watching this will waste over 400 seconds of your life that you could spend more constructively.  How clean are your toenails? )

What’s wrong with it?

Well, for a start it is dreadfully boring. Think of all the great promos you’ve loved in the past and compare them to this dreary mess.  Fancy sitting through it again?

The dialogue is fingernails-on-the-blackboard bad: ‘Death feels like the safest place for me right now…I don’t know how I’ll ever be a normal person…Break open my head then fix it…It’s about time I faced the truth…Somewhere within all of the darkness there’s a light and I just need to find it.’

Sienna Miller is annoying at best.  She seems to have an awfully high opinion of her unimpressive acting abilities.  This comes across very badly in a part where we’re supposed to sympathise with her lying around the Prada store, walking in the street barefoot, smashing up a hospital room, wiping blood over a wall and whingeing about herself.
Tony Kaye’s mojo is definitely still missing presumed dead.
The song is shit on toast.
I don’t think Damien styled the Prada store, so it looks like he just lent them a few carcasses, which he stuck up on a wall.  And maybe did the medical stuff.  He likes medical stuff.  I’m surprised there aren’t a few paint-covered butterflies around, too.
But the main thing is point one: it’s dull, and none of the above would matter if it accumulated to create something engaging that you’d want to watch twice.


Nov 12 2008 November 12, 2008 November 12, 2008 NoComment by ben

The Next Generation

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Over the years, my bosses have been directly helpful and influential in improving my work.  (I may not have used that help to quite the extent I could have, but it was definitely made available.)

Mike Cozens, Peter Souter, Tony Cox, Paul Belford, Nigel Roberts and other brilliant creatives who didn’t have the official title of CD, but nonetheless took the time to give me the benefit of their excellent advice (Dave Dye, Sean Doyle, Steve Hudson, Victoria Fallon, Paul Briginshaw, Malcolm Duffy, Jeremy Carr, Tim Riley, Gary Martin, Tom Carty, Damon Collins, Mary Wear, Walter Campbell, John Gorse etc.) made me better than I otherwise would have been, and if I didn’t say ‘thank you’ very clearly at the time, I’ll say it now.
But I wonder if the same benefits are available to today’s younger creatives.  It may be because of the changing job of CD/ECD, but I’ve heard of several CD’s who have to spend so long being ‘client facing’ and/or running their agencies, that they can’t spend as long nurturing the juniors as they might like.
This may be unavoidable, but what will the consequences be?
When art directors and copywriters are they are in their unformed, junior years, they need someone to point them in the right direction.  Whether it’s helping them be able to spot a good idea or choose the right director, the first ten years (at least) should be a constant process of learning and improvement.
Then there’s the crafts themselves: anyone can write a sentence and anyone can plonk a sentence on a photograph, but doing either of those two things well takes time and education.
If that education is not available, how are the younger creatives going to learn?  And if they don’t learn, how good will they be as middleweights or seniors?  Will they even reach that level?  Will this spread a lower quality throughout creative departments, bringing the general standard down?  And if the top level has moved on by then, will anyone care?
Maybe it’ll all be OK, or maybe advertising creativity will become another neglected craft that slips away without being missed. 

Nov 12 2008 November 12, 2008 July 23, 2015 NoComment by ben

Gunn Report: Huge Surprise At Number One

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According to the Gunn report, Gorilla was the most awarded ad of the year.  To round off a terrible year for Juan Cabral, Sony ‘Bunnies’ was also in the top five.

BBDO NY was the most awarded agency.
BBDO was the most awarded network.
MJZ most awarded production company.
Full list of commercials here.

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Nov 11 2008 November 11, 2008 October 25, 2017 NoComment by ben

David, D&AD And Something Else Beginning With ‘D’. Maybe ‘Dogmatism’.

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As a slight addendum to the post about David’s leaving speech, I thought I’d mention what happened after he finished speaking.

The lights went down and a slide show began.  It was a collection of all David’s D&AD entries set to the music of Local Hero.
How many do you think there were?
Go on, have a guess.
100?  150?  200?
Nope.  There were 247.
Now, back in the days when I was obsessed with D&AD, I found that amazing (actually, I still do find that amazing).  Think about it: that’s ten entries a year for 25 years (give or take).  Or 25 entries a year for 10 years.  And in those days there were far fewer categories (not many graphic design crafts: illustration awards for David).
What makes that even more impressive is that the number intrigued me enough to go and have a look at how many entries certain well-known creatives had.
Rather than name them, I’ll just say that about thirty entries (and at least a nomination or pencil) is enough to make you quite a famous copywriter/art director.
So does that make you feel heartened or depressed?  Have you never been in the book?  Have you been stuck on five entries since 2004?  Do you feel crashingly inadequate because all your entries are in craft?
Well, never mind: it’s all bollocks anyway.  A single campaign that gets in for Campaign and Singles in Consumer Magazines, Newspapers and a couple of crafts could give you fifteen entries in one go, far more than, say, Gorilla.
And besides, it’s unlikely you’ll ever reach the heights of David, or indeed Paul Belford and Nigel Roberts, who managed 49 entries, along with numerous pencils and nominations…in a single year (2001).
Practise your scales instead.  It’ll be much more fulfilling.