Apr
23
Well, I suppose I do want a really powerful dust buster but…wait a minute…is that Comic Sans? Awesome!
Seriously though, let’s all take a second to visualize the exact scene that this advertisement implies: a small Yorkie pup being vortex-sucked through a plastic nozzle into a compact dirt tray. Totes adoreable, aint it? Dogs like small spaces, right? #WINNING
Apr
19
Product benefit? Screw it! Positioning strategy? EFF THAT! This is awesome.
Why does that sheep have fangs? Do Koreans eat sheep? Why didn’t anyone tell me this? How gamey is it? WHAT’S GOING ON!?!?!?!?!?
They seem to have borrowed their philosophy from one of my favourite abstract ad categories – fashionvertising.
Apr
18
Yeah? Well, maybe you should get a job. You dopey poplar. Ever think of that? You piece of crud? Put down the maple syrup and clean yourself up a bit. GAWD! You disgust me!
Ogilvy did this in Argentina for a some hippy group that presumably supports the rainforest. I like its little wood fingers. Very nice.
Apr
17
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The following post was originally written for the FUSE Marketing Group Blog. You can view the original + comments here.
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My mother doesn’t have Facebook. It’s an admirable quality. She’s aware of its social gravitas and basic functionality, but she’d sooner frame a photo than tag it. That’s the kind of person she is; someone who’d prefer to live in the real world instead of getting lost inside the digital one.
But she’s a caring woman and, as such, makes wholehearted attempts to show interest in all the buzzwordy digi-speak, platforms, and trends that make up a large part of my job. It’s during these moments, when I’m explaining to her in plain English what the hell a “meme” is, that I realize just how simple it all is. When you remove the industry lexicon and pretentious analysis, the digital world becomes crystal clear.
One of my grade school teachers always offered the same prompt when students were struggling to dissect a concept: “Explain it to me as if I was an alien who just landed on Earth”. Strip it down to the bare bones. That’s the best way to do it. So, here’s some fodder for the next time a marketing muggle starts quizzing you on what’s what.
Instagram – It’s this photo-taking app that puts hippy filters on all your shots. A bunch of denim-clad scenesters started using it because they’re too lazy to actually study photography and then Facebook bought it for, like, 34,84,2131 trillion dollars (source unavailable). Expect to not hear about it for much longer.
Pinterest – Remember that corkboard I had in my bedroom? It’s like that, only online….and with more furniture. Girls seem to dig it.
QR codes – That’s the name for those square bar-codey things that nobody scans. Advertisers keep putting them in the subways, which is funny.
Memes – Some people will try and define these as “online behavioural movements” or some outrageously overblown concept…but allow me simplify it: you know those mildly humorous emails you get from coworkers with flip-book quality animations or kitten photos with funny captions? Yeah, that’s essentially the idea….
Geolocation – You hook it up to your phone and “check-in” at places so everyone can see where you’ve been and what you’re doing…….and they give you virtual badges…..yes, it does sound a little conceited, doesn’t it?
Cloud Technology – Instead of storing files and info on your physical hard drive, it’s all kept on the etherweb and facilitated via a third party. What’s that? No no no – I promise it’s safe….well, no, I don’t know how exactly it works. Just go with the flow. In Zuckerburg we trust!
Apr
16
This is how you do a big box ad. To promote their smart home solutions for urban dwellers in small spaces, IKEA designed their smallest “store” ever: a pixel-by-pixel display ad that uses mouse-over window shopping & a direct push to e-commerce.
It’s really fucking cool.
It works because people love to visually browse through home decor stuff. Spend 5 minutes on Pinterest if you don’t believe me. Which reminds me – why hasn’t IKEA run a massive Pinterest campaign yet? Perhaps a “design your room” type promo using Pin Boards? Just a thought…
Related:
Apr
12
Apr
10
And does it make any sense? Not really. Apparently there’s a campfire in the first one. I think it looks like a medieval cannon. Whatevs.
What’s the connection with “Defender” exactly? I can’t figure it out. Blah blah nature blah blah. Meanwhile, Land Rovers are, in reality, expertly tuned enviro-terrorist monster machines. Not that I care.
Apr
09
Actually, I quite like Stella. But this is funny. I know the high-flutin’ positioning has always been part and parcel of their premium brand, but the no-frills approach will always win out with men.
We simple. Like brew. Hate douchebaggery. Newcastle got it right.
Apr
04
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The following post was originally produced for the FUSE Marketing Group blog. You can view the original + comments here.
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All the Draper fanboys were swooning over the last issue of Newsweek, which paid homage to the good ol’ days of advertising in a “Mad Men” themed edition that flew off newsstands. The whole thing was done entirely in the retro styling of a 1965 publication as part of a promotional tie-in with the hit AMC show. Best part: they challenged their advertisers to produce 1960s-inspired creative for the special edition. If for just one issue, Newsweek was time warped back to the days of Bernbachian long-copy and exquisite salesmanship.
The issue was a huge hit – and for good reason. Anyone familiar with “classic” advertising will agree: it puts today’s work to shame. The hand-drawn art, beautiful wordsmithing, and incredibly convincing nature of almost every ad made for a revolutionary brand/consumer relationship. Meanwhile, modern advertising has evolved into something much flashier and arguably less consumer-centric. But as these throwb-ads (see what I did there?) demonstrate, there’s a lot we can learn from the classic Madison Avenue executions. A few lessons that I’ve taken away:
Truth > Clever
Enter a few of the best ads from 40 years ago into this year’s competition at Cannes and I guarantee they wouldn’t win (except maybe the VW classics). Why? Because they were ads before art. Today, beautiful imagery and clever messaging has replaced human truth as the leading force in advertising. But at the end of the day, what’s more effective – an ad that makes you go “wow, that’s fun”, or one that makes you say “wow, that’s true”?
People will read…if it’s great
Back in the day, long-copy was king. But conventional wisdom says that today’s consumers are too distracted to read all that wordy fluff. I call balderdash. I have a natural bias as a copywriter, but some of my favourite pieces from the past year have been ultra smart copy-driven executions – like this one for McClure’s Pickles or this playfully punny beef pie piece. Consumers will take the time to read; it just has to be great from the very first word. We’ve conceded to the notion that everyone is too jaded to give up more than 5 seconds of their time. And yet I just witnessed 100 million people watch a 30 minute YouTube video the other week. Translation: don’t worry, not everyone has A.D.D.
They want to be sold
The marketing industry likes to think that it’s moved beyond salesmanship. It’s no longer just about moving product; it’s about connecting, engaging, and providing value! Well, yeah, sort of. But it’s still about selling stuff. The ultra persuasive ads of yesteryear took a firm stance: our product is the ONLY solution to your problem, and we’ll give it to you if you pay us. They weren’t afraid to talk the talk because they truly believed in themselves. Brands had cajones. And it’s that brash but honest voice that made it all so effective. Nowadays, putting an inordinate amount of effort into “sounding” consumer-centric has the reverse effect. Consumers see through the dishonesty. They’re smarter than that. So why not be straight with them? You need something. We’ve got it. It’s the best.
Want to buy it?
Apr
03
Especially the fructose puss octo-doctor. Seriously, how funny was that?
This IS the best digital campaign in (the Canadian) market right now. Wanna know why? Any guesses?
Because it’s TV.
Yes, you’re watching it on YouTube and they ask you to lift your finger so they can check off the “engagement” and “interactive” check boxes on the client’s grading sheet. But in reality, they’ve just ported over an incredible TV idea for digital display. At the end of the day, nothing stimulates & impresses like a 30s. You can’t create this kind of brand connection with a banner ad (sorry digi-dorks).
Agency: BBDO, Toronto, Canada
Copywriter: Chris Joakim
AD: Mike Donaghey
CDs: Carlos Moreno, Peter Ignazi