What Every Student of Advertising vs. Advertising Student Should Read.

I am forever looking for the best "reading" opportunities for my students that will benefit their long-term planning.

Part of my teaching approach is to re-tool their approach or change the way they view what they are actually doing. The change starts by looking at becoming "Students of Advertising" versus the way they have been learning to date, being a "fill in the blank... student". There is a significant difference once this is understood.

On the Advertising Age website section dedicated to the next generation of AdLanders, called "Gen>Next", there are two peices caught my eye during this Christmas Break period and I wanted to share them with as many of my students and others out their who often ask themselves how can the "pay it forward" to Gen>Next".

First came the piece form posted by Alex Kniess titled, "The 5 Most Valuable Things I Did in College to Help My Career".

This is an excellent post detailing how Alex made the most of every opportunity presented to him. Everything he did during his time at the University of Oregon was used to build his confidence, knowledge and most important skills that would lead to securing his first job. Most things were not always related to getting a job or actually seeking a job. He breaks it down to 5 five things that all contribute to getting a job... 

He explains how five simple things you can do to get what you are seeking, they are:

Got Involved early.
Accepted Every Challenge.
Make Friends With Your Professors.
Worked at the Student Agency.
Have fun.

Not everyone finds getting involved easy when entering college. You need to be eager and hungry. Get involved right away. Just like in the real world, opportunities in college tend to build off one another. So take advantage. The sooner you start building your skills, the better equipped you will be to capitalize on opportunities as they come up.

You may feel under-qualified for everything at first, but you need have willingness to accept challenges and push myself outside my comfort zone. If you're not learning something new then you're not growing. And if you're not growing, then you're dying. This was something my early mentor Ken Coleman taught me and my first Creative Director Doug Williams at Creative Associates in Calgary instilled as a daily mantra.

I try to make all my lectures interesting and hope deliver something new each time. But get to know us, we will be committed to as you as you are committed to yourself. I often am asked about favoritism, yup... guilty! I have my favorites and hold no shame in that, but it is simple, "show me you want it and there isn't anything that I won't do for you. I throw the lesson plan out the window, challenge my students to better students of not just advertising, but of life. I may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I am not here to be popular or for your entertainment. I love advertising and I want you to love it also.

Not every school offers the experience of working with real money and real clients on real campaigns but if they do take every step you can be involved, it is the best prep experience you can have.
If you don't enjoy what you doing while in school, then you're missing the point. And if you're not having fun preparing for your career, then maybe it's not the career for you. I remember the words of Alex Bogusky when I hosted him for lunch with my students here in Toronto. He put it so simple to my future AdLanders; "Find something you love and enjoy, and you'll never work a day in your life". Okay, Alex didn't originate the quote but hearing it from someone so humble and inspiring it makes you wonder... has Alex ever really worked a day in his life?. Seems like he is having a lot fun.

The second piece posted by Adrienne Waldo titled, "Don't Wait for Your Sensei to Come to You" is an interesting read on finding what there is true shortage of "The Mentor".

There is no exact value of a mentor when starting in this business. Having that someone to give you career advice, show you the ropes and be sounding board for all those questions, but you need to know mentors aren't going to show your doorstep, you gotta go and find one. Sure, some schools and companies have programs in place that match you with a mentor, but is the fit going to be exactly what you want or expect?

Here are some questions that Adrienne thinks you must ask yourself when seeking out that mentor or personal guru:

Is this person doing what I hope to be doing one day?
Do I look up to this person and respect his or her work?
Will this person help me get to the next level?

You want to find someone who will give you advice, respect you enough to give you challenging work, push you to be better but most important, they need to be honest with you,.. and you need to be honest with them.

Make sure your mentor embodies those values. There is no "perfect mentor", goodness knows once i found mine, it was magic... but it wasn't love at first sight.

Scott Goodson of StrawberryFrog post a great piece on "Mentoring" on his blog earlier this year. I recommend you read it. He has been a great inspiration to me since I first heard him speak several years ago on his agency and its principal of creating "Cultural Movements". He is "game changer", and he created a change in the way I approached teaching and the direction I have taken my program.

I strongly recommend if you haven't read my other posting on what you need to succeed in this crazy business, take a minute.


What Every Advertising Student Should Watch - Advertising Portfolio 101 with Alex Bogusky & Tiffany Kosel of CP+B

MIA. Nope Just Been Busy... Student Industry Invasion. Chuck Porter. End of the Semester!

RPA. File Them Under Fu@king Creative Brilliance. Honda 2010 CroosTour Spots and Musical Road by RPA

Well one of things that always excites me is great innovation in advertising.

Animation is always at the top of many of the recent "File Under Fu@king Brilliant" pieces... but these two spots are just the beginning of what I hope will introduce you to one of "game changer" agencies out there. RPA of Santa Monica, California.
These two spots for the the 2010 Honda CrossTour do an amazing job of bringing together a wonderful soundtrack and brilliant and an innovative animation style.

The Boxes Spot:

Creative Director: Pat Mendelson
Writer: Seth Prandini
Art Director: Chuck Blackwell
Director: Andy Hall

Instruments Spots:

Creative Director: Pat Mendelson
Art Director: Chuck Blackwell
Copywriter: Seth Prandini
Director: Andy Hall

Both spots were created by RPA of Santa Monica, California. RPA is a full-service, independently-owned advertising agency founded in 1986 by Gerry Rubin and Larry Postaer.
RPA has flown under my radar, but they won't be for much longer. Their work is nothing short brilliant.

They currently employs approximately 500 associates. RPA based in Santa Monica, it also has offices in Portland, Denver, Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston and Moorestown, NJ and in 2007 they billed in excess of $1 billion dollars ranking fifth in revenue among U.S. independent advertising agencies.

RPA recently created a brilliant "engagement" ambiant piece that I am still has me shaking my head. Sure, earlier this fall the YouTube video that caught everyone's attention was the VW Musical Stairs "Fun Theory" from Sweden. I see that as brilliant... I recall one of my favorite LP titles (remember them... long before the CD) as a youth was from REO Speedwagon, "You Can Tune A Piano, But You Can't Tuna Fish". Well, damned if this piece of creative brilliance doesn't ask the question, "You Can Tune A Set of Stairs, but How Do You Tune A Road?"

The piece simply put is a game changer. What more can be said.

A behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Honda "Grooves" TV spot. Part 1 of a series of 5 available on YouTube.

 
The Civic has always been about connecting drivers to the road. They sure know their 1 + 1 = 3

Part One:

Part Two:

Part Three:

Part Four:

Part Five:

BTW... a must visit is their website, it's pretty awesome too!

UPDATE!!! Thinking of Drinking and Driving? Deflate the Elephant!

Greetings...

I posted a piece on December 27th regarding the recent LCBO "Deflate the Elephant" campaign and I believe now that intent and context was not as clear as I intened. So I am posting today an apology and clarification. 

I wish to extend a full sincere and deep apology for any misunderstanding my blogpot has caused DueNorth and the LCBO. Truly, I had no intent to claim or represent any "misdoings". 

My posting had only great and kind intentions, but can be viewed as not very transparent or clear of the goals or intent of the piece which was to praise DueNorth on a brilliant campaign, and thank them for their relationship that we have built over the years to assist the development of "intelligent" and "creative" future AdLanders coming out of my program.

The posting was also to praise the hard work of my students and the level of the work done by them. As first semester students their thinking was smart and simple. The students took the strategy, established a concept using a "metaphor" that was going to start a conversation on taking the whole D&D issue back to the audience and how uncomfortable the dialog can be. I had no intention of making any claim or implying that the student work was the "foundation" or "basis" of the campaign created by or depth of the work done by DueNorth.

The DueNorth campaign is brilliant, it offers detailed "conversation starters" and very clear message on a topic that often makes the public uncomfortable, a subject so important to us all yet ignored. You can't ignore the "Elephant in the Room".

I value the relationship between the program and what DueNorth has offered the students over the years and trust that this was truly an error in the style I wrote the piece, It was written with no intent to defame or tarnish the reputation of DueNorth, or the creative talents of Dave Pigeon and Mike Jones under guidance of one of the best nurturers of young talent Karen Howe (whom I respect deeply).

I still feel this is an incredible campaign and is worthy of the exposure I intended to give it.

Please accept my apologies for ANY and ALL inconveniences this has caused and I hope that DueNorth will trust this from my heart and professional integrity.

In addition, I made an error when I pointed out that the creative team of Mike Jones and Dave Pigeon (a Seneca College Creative Advertising Grad) having won the Young Lions Cannes "Interactiv"e competition in Canada, this is an error. Mike and Dave actually won the National Advertising Competition in the "Integrated Category". The actual winners of "Interactive Category" were Lily Tse of HendersonBas and Adrian Gunadi of Taxi while the "Young Creatives" was won by Brian Quittenton of MacLaren McCann Vancouver and Seneca Creative Advertising Grad Dan Bache of Taxi Vancouver. All winners did receive the opportunity to attend the Cannes Festival.

Thinking of Drinking and Driving? Deflate the Elephant!

Recently launched by the LCBO (Liquor Licensing Board of Ontario) the message is pretty clear.

If you are thinking of drinking and driving it's like the elephant in the room... or the 500lb gorilla or you name the object you feel most uncomfortable with and we all want to ignore.

I spend most of my time trying to teach the brilliance of a great concept. This concept is as solid as it gets. Teaching the idea of understanding your audience, your client and the message that connects them is never easy.

One of the things I am most proud of bringing to my advertising program was partnerships with industry agencies and the future AdLanders in our classes. Many of these partners have brought "live" briefs to our students as case studies for "experiential" and incredibly valuable learning opportunities. 

Two years ago DueNorth Communications brought to our freshman class one of their clients, the LCBO and the Social Responsibility Campaign. The brief was to create a full integrated campaign that would address the issue that are concern all of society, "Responsible Drinking" without using the same old themes that have become immune to most of the audience. 

Its aim is to help people feel more comfortable about intervening when friends and family are at risk of driving drunk. 

Audience Insight: We need to become more involved in the responsibility of our drinking patterns, those of our friends and those who can be effected by ones drinking. "We know it's wrong to over consume and drive", but... (insert own conclusion).

Client Insight: We are the only legal retailer/distributor of wine, spirits and beer in the province of Ontario. In addition we are the agency responsible for all licensing of establishments, events and celebrations in the province. The LCBO is the root of all sales and are simple a service.

Concept: Bring the conversation back to the audience, if you see someone over consume make the conversation start itself... enter the metaphor: "It's the elephant/gorilla in the room", you know it's there, you want to ignore it, but it won't go away unless there is an intervention.

The great part of this story is the that freshman class was right on the "sweet spot". Simple, yet smart... not on the scale and depth of what DueNorth created for their client the LCBO that launched in early December with a full scale integrated advertising campaign with in-store, traditional media and ambient executions. The video below is from the campaign launch of the $1.6-million campaign that will see ads airing on TV and running in magazines until the new year. 

Obviously there is no direct connection to the simplistic idea conceived by a group of first semester students and the fully detailed integrated campaign "Deflate the Elephant" LCBO campaign, that was ultimately the original creative done by Mike Jones and Dave Pigeon of DueNorth under Creative Director Karen Howe. The campaign offers many innovative ideas such as the website that has also been launched, deflatetheelephant.com, where people can learn tips and strategies for being a responsible host. The ads a very clear and very simple... the message is not lost. I take my hat of DueNorth.
 

In addition, I must note proudly that Dave Pigeon is also Seneca College Creative Advertising Grad from 2002 long before the program had these tremendous opportunities granted to us by various agencies.

Ahhhh, the future is truly bright when opportunity are presented to young AdLanders. Proof, they are young, they are smart and can think like they belong... even as early as their first semester.

I again remain very thankful to DueNorth and the many other agencies that bring "real world" learning opportunities to these freash young AdLanders. 

Can We Get A Recount. AdWeek Media - A (Vote and) Decade to Remember

(Note: My father told me opinions are like assholes... we all have one... most of them stink... except your own)
 
Well the votes are in and the results are posted... and the AdWeek has spoken.

Alex Bogusky made you angry. Irwin Gotlieb made you jealous. Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein made you smile. Google, Honda and Coke raised the bar. R/GA, SMG and Butler, Shine, Stern raised the stakes. Our picks, and yours, for the top marketing, media and agency performances of the 2000s. Selections in 33 categories spanning 10 years.

It's true, the readers choices counted... but for what? A simple exercise. Oh it is easy to have an opinion, but this will all make for great watercooler...er, Twitter and blogger conversation for the next few days.

I am not 100% sure how Alex Bogusky made us angry... or how Irwin Gotlieb made us jealous, but one thing for certain the readers choices and the AdWeek staff seem to be at odds. Seems almost every category the readers had a different choice then the staff. Okay, Alex Bogusky was the clearly the Creative Director or the Decade on both columns, but agency of the decade and executive(s) of the decade were significantly out of whack.

Of the 10,049 votes cast for Agency of the Decade, CP+B posted a leading 18% of the votes yet Goodby, Silverstein & Partners were named the top dog (note: GS&P wasn't in the top three). Long known as a creative powerhouse for culture-penetrating TV and print work, Omnicom Group's Goodby, Silverstein & Partners best work included Super Bowl spots for Budweiser, E*Trade's "Dancing Monkey". But the ground breaking work for  "Got Milk?" easily made them a "gold standard" of creative.  All the while, it was transforming itself from "ad maker" to "content provider", producing "art that serves capitalism," as Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein call it, in whatever form that's required. Hard to understand, the work is great but CP+B spent the most of the decade reinventing itself and its clients for "digital future" and speaking of "culture-penetratin", did they see the work done for Burger King (Subservient Chicken or Whopper Freakout), Volkswagen, Microsoft, Old Navy and recently the GAP... please. Okay, I got to give some disclosure here, I am big fan of CP+B. They have been defining the creative standards and clearly have dominated the award shows throughout the decade.

Oh and were or were is Weiden + Kennedy in this agency of the decade conversation... Nike, Honda etal.

One of the innovators and industry leaders that brought a small south Florida agency to the national and worldwide advertising spotlight, Chuck Porter was a clear leader in the readers votes. He carried 22% of the 4,915 votes ahead of the David Jones (20%), Chief Executive Officer of Euro RSCG Worldwide and the third place (14%) Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein, co-chairmen and creative directors of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. AdWeek named the GS&P duo their executives of the decade. Sorry, but what Chuck and CP+B has done over the last 10 years will the basis of case study in success and creativity. His leadership extends into the business, but also the a holding company and an agency can live in harmony. Oh wait, then again, did AdWeek forget Lee Clow?

As for Creative Director of the decade, Alex Bogusky was the easiest choice for both readers and the AdWeek staffers. Alex took 30% of 4,304 votes ahead of the brilliant David Droga who took 12%. Under the leadership of Alex, CP+B has dominated the award shows and has drawn some of the greatest creative talents to both the Miami and Boulder offices. The young "AdLanders" I have the privileged of working with in my classes are all drawn to the work and desire to work for CP+B. The past 10 years and the future has been bright and will be brigther because of his talent and personality. David Droga is a case study in "doing right". Droga5 has design brilliant creative thinking for its clients, but also taugh clients that you can "pay forward" and still lead your category. Droga5 has created amazing work for UNICEF with the Tap Project and New York Department of Education "Millions" project, and the very funny Sarah Silverman "The Great Schlep" campaign for the Obama Presidential run.

Oh, did I mention the biggest oversight... Scott Goodson and StrawberryFrog. Look it up... "Cultural Movements". Hmmmmmmm... a real game changer.

Well, like I started this rant... check the results, read the insights, view the work... truly a healthy conversation will be had.

MIA. Nope Just Been Busy... Student Industry Invasion. Chuck Porter. End of the Semester!

Greetings...

There is always the need to update the blog. Keep regular and relevant. I seem to have a busy "period".
So what has kept me from my "updates" and "views"... well my young "AdLanders", the future of the industry... they have been keeping me busy.

UPDATES

It's been a very busy past few weeks, putting the wraps on the end of another semester. Senior students busy getting their portfolios ready fro review this week before they make their way into the final semester. Advice is limitless, coming from every direction.

Part of my career class this fall required the students to do "informational" interviews with industry personal in the area of their career direction. They invaded almost every agency whether big or small. It is amazing once again how effortless, easy and how quickly the kindness of the industry took to hosting these young "AdLanders".

My thanks is endless to you all that gave your time to answer their questions and lend advice as they get ready. Paying forward is the greatest lesson learned. Many returned noting that they will give back the same way in the future. These informational interviews lay the foundations for further career planning, portfolio building and the internships they will all be seeking in the new year.

CHUCK PORTER

On Monday November 30th, I had the privilege to host Chuck Porter of CP+B here in Toronto at the MDC Corporate offices and a groups of 18 of my seniors.

Chuck and the entire CP+B family has been nothing short of amazing whenever I ask for anything. Katie Kempner arranged for this unique meet and greet while Chuck was in town for the nextMedia Conference where he was a keynote speaker. I will post a complete review of the day as he offered his unique and humorous perspective on the current and future state of the business. He answered the students many questions, his views on how to prepare for theirs careers, what the digital world will mean to their future and even was kind enough to present me with a framed poster of the early days of CP+B creative department (shown on the right - Check the young Alex Bogusky front and center).

Chuck has left a very positive impression and feeling of hope on my students, "the next 18-24 months may be the most exciting and new opportunities for juniors the industry ahs ever seen'. One question that was on the minds of my students is the future of "crowdsourcing",  Chuck dispelled some of the myths and spoke of the realities it will have in the future. "Crowdsourcing may be the biggest thing since radio, imagine the possibilities for brand/product development, creative insights and audience involvement". Of course the "crowdsourcing" debate will only grow for years to come and will have a great impact on our industry and the employment opportunities for the young "AdLanders".

This turned out to be another great highlight for the students this semester and was also a great opportunity for Chuck to "dry run" part of his presentation he gave the next day at nextMedia.
Once again, many thanks to CP+B for their continued support of my efforts and the growth of our program as the leader in advertising education in Canada.

nextMedia Conference

I got to spend Day Two of the conference held at the DesignXChange in Toronto courtesy of Achilles Media. They were kind enough to hire a small army of my students as volunteers. The Tuesday was an amazing experience, highlighted by Chuck Porter presenting his thoughts on the future of digital advertising. Titled "“Digital Darwinism – Survival of the Smartest”, he offered countless CP+B client experiences that has been innovating and groundbreaking. During the Q&A, someone asked about "Darwinism" and how could he compare the work to such a serious topic... "next question".

Tony Chapman of Capital C wants to know what log you’re bringing to the social media campfire. In other words, if you’re going to be a part of the social media world, do you have a reason to contribute and belong? Complicated questions, but we hold the answers. Paying "attention is the oxygen of marketing". But before you get anyone's attention, you need to move from shouting loud to listening generously. He noted "be as transparent and honest as possible, because if you’re not, you will be found out".

I had the pleasure of adding some "new thinking" that will be taken back to my lectures courtesy of Tara Hunt, author of The Whuffie Factor who presented that instead of having a personal brand, you develop a "personality". Dare to be imperfect, admit your mistakes, expose your passions, challenge yourself to try something new when you start to feel pidgeon-holed or stagnant, and most importantly, read, listen and open your mind to people who think different than you. She added, "Instead of having a message, have a purpose, and know the difference between the two". Believe me when I say Tara is a brilliant and fresh new thinker... and her boots, total fashionista. Her full presentation is available here.

A great day. Gotta add a personal note, one of my alumni the very talented Lava Nosenkis of Cundari Toronto and her own blog AdGirlandTechNerd introduced me to another amazing lady Trina Boos who created an amazing advertising web community called AdLounge. Had dinner with these two amazing ladies, and clearly the future is very bright.

FEARLESS QA

Just a quick note on the weekly webcast on FearlessQA hosted by Alex Bogusky. Each week my career class tutorial session starts with the viewing of FearlessQA and we have been submitting a stream of questions, many of which get answered. One of the highlights was a few weeks back when the show featured Colin Drummond, VP, Director of Culture and Business Insights on the topic of "Being a Student of Culture". This turned out to be a great learning experience and exposure to "strategic thinking". Being a "student of advertising" is the cornerstone of my teaching philosophy, being a "student of culture" is way beyond just "trendspotting"... the webcast was eye opening and overall a great learning experience. I want to say thanks all my students for your awesome questions, many that were answered on air and others answered via email later by Colin. I strongly encourage you to watch the broadcast (linked here).

That's it for now. Back to marking of personal branding/marketing plans, final assignments and portfolios.

Augmented Reality - The Past, The Present and The Future

Augmented Reality or "AR" technology has a deep history, in fact about 27 Years in the Making... or is going back to the early 1960s when Morton Heilig, a cinematographer, who created a motorcycle simulator called "Sensorama" that gave the effects of the visuals, sound, vibration, and even the smell. One may even site during this time line that there were many different applications we called "Virtual Reality".

But unlike virtual reality, Augmented Reality does not create a simulation of reality. Instead, it takes a real object or space as the foundation and incorporates technologies that add contextual data to deepen a person’s understanding of the subject. Hmmmmm.... either way we are on the edge of many great uses and the slippery slope of "over-kill". The goal of augmented reality is to add information and meaning to a real object or place.

Either story helped in the evolution we are now seeing in new media worlds. Essentially, Augmented Reality allows for creators the means to layer data like audio, graphics, and animation over live video. The term was coined in 1992 by Tom Caudell while working for Boeing, where factory workers used "AR" to sort parts. it allowed workers to run wires and cables in complicated assembly of planes. Today, with video cameras in so many electronic devices, including the webcam on computers,  "AR" applications range from advertising to architecture and gaming to Papa John's pizza boxes. This month Esquire has taken advantage of the technology to a significant editorial scale. From cover to advertisers to editorial content.

Burger King recently used "AR" to continue its use of "new" technology in selling its burgers and other menu items. They with agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky have always stayed one step ahead of the technology curve. One can't forget the "Subservient Chicken" online campaign that had millions of viewers wondering "how". On the page, a man in a chicken costume performs a wide range of actions based on a user's input, showing pre-recorded footage and appearing like an interactive webcam. The site takes literally the advertising slogan "Get chicken just the way you like it". The site launched in April 2004 and still today gets traffic. The site was created for CP+B and BK by The Barbarian Group. "The guy in the suit was originally an actor, but he was claustrophobic in the suit, so he wouldn’t do it. And we had to use one of the costume’s designers... He would do about six moves and then we would have to fan him off because he would get so hot in the costume," says CP+B ECD Jeff Benjamin.

The recent BK effort has you place a one dollar bill in front of your webcam and you then watch you dollar become a value menu burger or reverse the bill and it becomes a chicken sandwich. Brilliance doesn't end there, within a few seconds your image then has the "Kings" mask appear and it will follow your every move.

In early June, the United States Postal Service introduced a "AR" application that is actually usable and not just a gimmick. In order to remain competitive and increase its strengthen on line to stimulate more use of the site and e-commerce sales, the USPS hired agency AKQA/DC and launched the "Virtual Box Simulator". The Virtual Box Simulator is one component of the current campaign, "A Simpler Way to Ship," and its objective is to leverage "AR" technology in a way that is practical for its clients.

It's a pretty simple concept, users print a small "Eagle" brand logo off the website, switch on their web cams and launch the Virtual Box Simulator. By placing the eagle in front of the webcam/screen a virtual box appears then allows the customer to hold an item up to their cameras and see whether it fits inside the box, which will move as the item moves. Varying degrees of box transparency can be selected, to see best what the item will look like inside the package; package options include Large Flat-Rate Box, Medium 2 Flat-Rate Box and Small Flat-Rate Box. Amazing!

So what will the future bring. Over the next few months we will see an overload of "gimmicky" and "for the sake of" ideas and concepts, but its really going to take some real forward thinkers to see its full potential.

Stay tuned.

Posted via web from anthony kalamut's posterous

Chuck Porter, CP+B, StrawberryFrog, TAXI oh my! Voting for AdweekMedia Best of The Decade.

It seems like Y2K was only yesterday. I recall the fear and anxiety of the world coming to a computer decelerated doom, yet we survived.

A short nine years later we are looking at the end of the first decade. And man what a decade.
A couple of presidential elections that changed America forever.  The worst terrorist attacks in American history. The War on Terror Part 1 - Afghanistan Invasion, Part Two War on Terror - Iraqi Invasion and the tragic 2004 Tsunami that killed 500,000 people,  the concept of global warming is no longer a debate and has now changed to the "global climate change" argument,  oil prices are at record highs and that's just a few things off the front pages of news. How about the way we live and communicate. WOW! From a cellphone the size of half pound of butter to ones we can carry in our pockets to the BlackBerry's and the iPhones that just about do it all, a music player that can carry my entire CD collection (no kidding I have 14,334 songs on my iPod) and it all changes everyday.

In December, the editors at AdWeekMedia will select the best marketing, media and agency performances of the decade, covering 2000 through 2009, in 33 categories. These choices surround the people, companies, brands, products and creative work that most influenced the industry and came to define the era. It could not have been easy for the editors to make these lists, as I am sure it won't be easy to place a single vote in any one category.

For me and certainly many of current and past students there a two people and one company that stands above all. It's hard to single them out but they have been generous with their time, advise and commitment. They are Chuck Porter and Alex Bogusky. Whether in New York during AdWeek or here in Toronto, both have given more then their vast knowledge and experience but more importantly their time. As an agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky has also provided the students of our Creative Advertising program at Seneca College with curriculum advise, portfolio reviews and recently a live feedback with the rest of the world via Fearless Q&A. Okay, I can now see my mailbox fill with many of the others who so graciously give of their time and energy, but it's a vote... go ahead and see for yourself, it ain't gonna be easy.

In Toronto last year during AdWeek '09, Chuck Porter spread his gospel of "power of a story" and how it can become and is sometimes be larger than life. With examples like Burger King’s Subservient Chicken, which has become a cult following first in the US and then around in places like Spain and Japan long after the site had its heyday.

Chuck shared the message that it’s not always about a new making or finding a medium. For Molson, a beer brand from Canada, he told the story of how CP+B took the age-old media of print magazines and placed ads in Cosmopolitan, Maxim with cheesy 80’s style male models with puppy dogs, and Molson Beer, then placed ads in male-targeted magazines about the psychographic effect of 100,000’s of women having a positive association of the male species due to these ads. The creative implementation of both real and faux ads and even made-up magazine covers placed on the back-cover of real magazines was all done brilliantly with a huge comedic and viral impact. It told the simple story of beer, men and their relationships. Men are from Mars and women are indeed from Venus. The campaign placed Molson as leader in the import beer market. Porter also shared the story of the difficulty of selling a risky idea to Burger King and their franchise owners who wanted to kill Porter if he implemented an idea about killing their best selling product – The Whopper.  The campaign called the “BK Whopper Freakout.” That recommendation not only won new customers for BK but added to the power of the concept of story telling, the result turned out to be wildly successful.

What needs to be said about Alex Bogusky that hasn't already been said. Plain and simply, he is one of the smartest and funniest people this business has seen in the past decade. Humble, is not a trait found often in this business either.

Last year when Alex achieved an accomplishment that any Art Director would only dream of, he took his place in the Art Directors Hall of Fame in New York. I emailed him congratulations and to share any thoughts he might have with my students. His reply was simple: 

Thanks. It’s a great honor. Shocking actually. 

A friend of mine reminded me of a conversation we had when Lee Clow went into the Hall of Fame. He asked me if I remembered what I said and i didn’t even remember the conversation. But he said I remarked that getting in the Hall of Fame was the ultimate achievement yet totally unattainable. I guess I was wrong. Again.  

But I will quietly admit that this sort of thing doesn’t really sit well with my sense of community and my connection with everybody I’ve ever worked with. I’m obviously not alone in a single thing I ever did. We did it all together and to be singled out isn’t right. 

I worry too that it continues to perpetuate this idea of singular achievement. Which to me it a potentially destructive way to look at the world. I’ll accept it for CPB but not for myself and I’ll accept it for all the people who supported all the hair brain schemes and plans we’ve had over the years.  

Positively,  
Alex

Alex remains the same today as the first time I made his acquaintance in New York back in 2007, smart, honest, humble and giving. He has remains someone I can turn to with questions and concerns about the future of my students and the ideas I have for my advertising program. He is genuine grateful for the passion young AdLanders have, sending me a simple email to say thanks for all their questions and portfolios submitted by my students for a recent episode of his webcast Fearless Q&A.

Another category that seems to have caught my eye was the Best Small Agency. What caught my eye was the fact that Strawberry Frog was missing. How? How do you leave off StrawberryFrog and for that matter Scott Goodson a visionary that has redefined the agency model first in Amsterdam and now in New York, San Paulo and soon Mumbai. His concept of "Cultural Movements" has spread around the world. A complex idea for brands to identify, crystallize, and lead a cultural movement that will inspire people to belong and mobilize. Scott has hosted my students in his New York offices where he shared his vision and changed forever their approach to how they will approach client problems while making a difference for the brand and the community. One of my favorite campaigns Scott shared with my students was for Scion. Brilliance and redefining of how a brand can create a "cultural movement".

It is also difficult not to want to cast a vote for Canada's Taxi Advertising. Without question the agency that has shaped the creative revolution in Canada and has proven it can run wiht the big dogs in the USA and now expanding into Europe. Between Paul Lavoie, Jane Pope, Steve Mykolyn, Rob Guenette and former partner Zak Mroueh (now Zulu Alpha Kilo) paved the way for winning more awards then any Canadian agency on the worls stage. Hard choice for me personally.

Like any good campaign seeking out a vote from the public, here is my best effort to urge you go and VOTE!

AdWeek has narrowed down each category to a handful of top candidates. Write-ins are permitted. Use the links below to jump to specific categories, or start here to vote on them all.

For your consideration:

• Agency of the Decade: Crispin Porter + Bogusky
• Agency Executive of the Decade: Chuck Porter
• Agency Creative Director of the Decade: Alex Bogusky
• Small Agency of the Decade: This is your place for a write-in vote for StrawberryFrog or Canada's Taxi

What Every Advertising Student Should Watch - Advertising Portfolio 101 with Alex Bogusky & Tiffany Kosel of CP+B

What should I put into my portfolio?

What order should it been in?

How many pieces should I have in my portfolio?

I'm a Art Director, does the copy matter?

Should it be about ideas, or is the execution more important?

If I got a nickle for every time I am asked these questions I could blog full-time, sip on 1981 Freemark Abbey Cabernet Sauvignon and smoke Fuente Opus X Robustos. All of these questions are standard issues, standard concerns and the standard of every young future AdLander.

But as often as I offer my answers, trusted answers based on my years of reviewing books and making my frequent trips to agency Creative Directors to ask "What should my students have in their portfolios?" I get a different response everytime. Whether its how many pieces, size, quality, types of work to include, Print vs. Out of Home, Broadcast YES or broadcast NO, interactive... you get the deal.

NOT once have I got the same answer let alone even get the same recommendations. Simply more questions.

So every year as I set my young AdLanders into gear on building their portfolios I start with one difficult to understand standard line:

"EVERYONE THINKS THEY KNOW WHAT SHOULD BE IN YOUR PORTFOLIO"

Recently, Alex Bogusky launched a weekly webcast called Fearless Q&A. Part Crispin Porter +Bogusky "news and views", part "self-promotion" but mostly very informational and very, very entertaining. Alex may have another career ahead of him. This past week (November 12th, 2009) Fearless Q&A turned its attention to the portfolio. Alex invited CP+B VP Creative Director Tiffany Kosel to share the stage and more important her thoughts on what makes for a good portfolio.

Tiffany Kosel has won awards at nearly every show out there, from Clios to Cannes Lions. She has worked on campaigns for BMW Mini, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Volkswagen, Burger King, Victoria's Secret, Jawbone and the "Truth" anti-tobacco effort, among others. After being promoted to VP Creative Director in 2008 she is the sole female among eight creative directors at the agencyand directs up to 30 people on Old Navy, estimated to be worth a cool $200 million account for CP+B which she also led in the pitch. In June, Advertising Age named her as one of the "Women to Follow" in 2009.

The Fearless Q&A webcast offered some excellent insights and look into what Tiffany herself did to land the gig at CB+P. They both answered more questions then expected, and seeing this episode received more questions the any other episode to date. I can proudly say that my students bombarded the Twitter feed (follow my students on Twitter) in advance and several of my talented creatives submitted portfolios for review.

It was an excellent hour of conversation, the beauty of Twitter and the Justin.Tv it allows for a two-way conversation, live questions as the show goes on. Alex and Tiffany did there best not to just answer questions, but to show some samples of "what makes a idea great". I was proud that one of my students Ryan Dzur get his book shown and mentioned near the end, sadly they never got to give any feedback... the show was over too soon.

One of the questions submitted by my students was need for a portfolio if you are going into account management or strategic planning. I have crafted a unique approach to this type of portfolio over the years and I wasn't surprise that both Alex and Tiffany agree it is more  and more important as "creative" is needed in all areas of business. Suits and Planners need to bring more to the table then ever before.

Highlights of the conversation... the basics:

- Show your skill and show you craft

- Be unique, show you can think, find the difference (the Graham Crackers is an example)

- Interactive and ambient are critical, show that you know what is fresh and connects

- Make sure what you have are "Big Ideas" not just one offs

- It really doesn't matter if it's a $10 book or a $200 case... it's the work that matters

- Show who you are, it can be more then just your advertising ideas

But once it was all over (and too soon I might add), there are still a million questions... but really it's all about "Big Ideas" and  "Selling Yourself".

Watch Alex Bogusky and Tiffany Kosel on FearlessQ&A Episode "tifko"

What Every Advertising Student Should Watch - Advertising Portfolio 101 with Alex Bogusky & Tiffany Kosel of CP+B

What should I put into my portfolio?

What order should it been in?

How many pieces should I have in my portfolio?

I'm a Art Director, does the copy matter?

Should it be about ideas, or is the execution more important?

If I got a nickle for every time I am asked these questions I could blog full-time, sip on 1981 Freemark Abbey Cabernet Sauvignon and smoke Fuente Opus X Robustos. All of these questions are standard issues, standard concerns and the standard of every young future "AdLander".

But as often as I offer my answers, trusted answers based on my years of reviewing books and making my frequent trips to agency Creative Directors to ask "What should my students have in their portfolios?" I get a different response everytime. Whether its how many pieces, size, quality, types of work to include, Print vs. Out of Home, Broadcast YES or broadcast NO, interactive... you get the deal.

NOT once have I got the same answer let alone even get the same recommendations. Simply more questions.

So every year as I set my young AdLanders into gear on building their portfolios I start with one difficult to understand standard line:

"EVERYONE THINKS THEY KNOW WHAT SHOULD BE IN YOUR PORTFOLIO"

Recently, Alex Bogusky launched a weekly webcast called Fearless Q&A. Part Crispin Porter +Bogusky "news and views", part "self-promotion" but mostly very informational and very, very entertaining. Alex may have another career ahead of him. This past week (November 12th, 2009) Fearless Q&A turned its attention to the portfolio. Alex invited CP+B VP Creative Director Tiffany Kosel to share the stage and more important her thoughts on what makes for a good portfolio.

Tiffany Kosel has won awards at nearly every show out there, from Clios to Cannes Lions. She has worked on campaigns for BMW Mini, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Volkswagen, Burger King, Victoria's Secret, Jawbone and the "Truth" anti-tobacco effort, among others. After being promoted to VP Creative Director in 2008 she is the sole female among eight creative directors at the agencyand directs up to 30 people on Old Navy, estimated to be worth a cool $200 million account for CP+B which she also led in the pitch. In June, Advertising Age named her as one of the "Women to Follow" in 2009.

The Fearless Q&A webcast offered some excellent insights and look into what Tiffany herself did to land the gig at CB+P. They both answered more questions then expected, and seeing this episode received more questions the any other episode to date. I can proudly say that my students bombarded the Twitter feed (follow my students on Twitter) in advance and several of my talented creatives submitted portfolios for review.

It was an excellent hour of conversation, the beauty of Twitter and the Justin.Tv it allows for a two-way conversation, live questions as the show goes on. Alex and Tiffany did there best not to just answer questions, but to show some samples of "what makes a idea great". I was proud that one of my students Ryan Dzur get his book shown and mentioned near the end, sadly they never got to give any feedback... the show was over too soon.
One of the questions submitted by my students was need for a portfolio if you are going into account management or strategic planning. I have crafted a unique approach to this type of portfolio over the years and I wasn't surprise that both Alex and Tiffany agree it is more  and more important as "creative" is needed in all areas of business. Suits and Planners need to bring more to the table then ever before.

Highlights of the conversation... the basics:

- Show your craft and show your skills
- Be unique, show you can think, find the "difference" in your product/client/brand" (the   Graham Crackers are an excellent example)
- Interactive and ambient are critical, show that you knoe what is fresh and what connects
- Makes sure that what you have are "Big Ideas" not just one-offs
- It really doesn't matter if it's a $10 book or $200 case, it's the work that matters
- Show who you ar, it can be more then just your advertising ideas.

But once it was all over (and too soon I might add), there are still a million questions... but really it's all about "Big Ideas" and  "Selling Yourself".

Watch Alex Bogusky and Tiffany Kosel on FearlessQ&A Episode "PORTFOLIO"

They Have A Winner. Victors & Spoils Logo Launched

 

Victors & Spoils, the worlds first "Crowdsourcing" advertising agency launched there logo this past week. And it's a winner!

After reviewing 1,120 entries from around the world it came down to this unique and wonderful design. Simple, clean and  memorable. What gets my attention is the power of the typography and details that play into the exact purpose and culture that V&S is all about:

"Power The Brand"

"Power To The People"

"Solving Problems with Communal Creativity"

It certainly does send that message clearly. A message that is all about being empowered. You can love or hate (lots of haters out there) the idea of "crowdsourcing" is here and will likely grow.

This logo was designed by Andrea Bigiarini who lives just outside Florence, Italy. Imagine, the message of how small and perfect the world is. Would Andrea be able to sell his design from Italy to the world without the "new model". Of course not. This isn't about "spec" work, this about new opportunities. We are living in a new world and that is a fact. Choose your side, but choose what will get better and smarter work. Spend some time and see the other entries.

When he was asked about if "crowdsourcing" is bad for design, seeing that there is myriad of reasons stated in the "no-spec" movement, he simple answers “I think that competition is part of human nature and competition makes things better. Crowdsourcing is the future and is a good way to work during a global economic crisis.”

On the V&S website, it is stated that they feel lucky enough to find a talent like Andrea via "crowdsourcing" and that it illustrates perfectly that for those who wish to embrace this inevitability, it can work beautifully. V&S found it poignant, magnificent and heartwarming that a man with the utmost of traditional design backgrounds has chosen to give this "newfangled" and much deliberated creative platforms a shot. Yes, instead of lamenting the evilness (the word commonly used on many blogs and websites have written), "Andrea came with an open mind and heart, and simply decided to jump in and give it a try". 

Sadly after the launch too many critics have crawled from under their rocks to hate! From blog to to blog it's the same old same old. This whole concept will undermine the integrity of our business. Here are a few comments posted:

"Crowdsourcing so far has undervalued our industry. It would be different if the concept paid standard logo rates instead of the $1000 I’ve seen on various "crowdsourcing" sites".

"A 100 monkeys typing on 100 typewriters for 100 years, will not produce a work of Shakespeare. Personally, I’d rather hire 1 big brain and skip the 100 monkeys hoping to strike it rich... "crowdsourcing" encourages solutions with the highest probability of being chosen. In other words: safe solutions... So go have your 100 monkeys. I’ll take the 1 big brain".

"How many people spent hours working on something for this project and didn’t get a dime, didn’t get a mention, and didn’t get anything but a “sorry, try again”... Thanks for opening the next digital sweatshop. Enjoy your profits.

Here's hoping that more talented people embrace his mindset.

See other designs not selected but also received acknowledgment.

The Advertising Design Club of Canada – Directions'09 Gold Winners and Seneca Grads Score GOLD!

In Toronto tonight (November 12th, 2009) we celebrated the 60th Annual Directions Award Show... wow sixty years!
Hosted by Pirate Radio and Canadian advertising guru Terry O'Rielly, the ADCC awarded the Les Usherwood Lifetime Achievement Award to designer and illustrator Barbara Klunder. famous locally for her BamBoo Club posters and the cover design for the Rolling Stones VooDoo Lounge recording.
In total tonight 42 Gold Awards were presented. Here is a list of all the winners:
(Seneca College Graduates working as either Art Directors, Copywriters or Creative Directors plus their agency is indicated in GOLD)
ADCC – Directions 2009 -  GOLD WINNERS

Advertising Innovative


Advertising Innovative, Single – Zulu Alpha Kilo – “Thinking Inside The Box”

Advertising Innovative, Campaign – zig – “We Need To Talk”


Student Competition

Student Competition – Loretta Lau, OCAD – “Terminal”


Interactive Design

Business To Consumer Websites – Proximity Canada – “The Alka-Seltzer Great American Road Trip”


Viral Marketing – Proximity Canada – “ The Alka-Seltzer Great American Road 
Trip-BBQ Song/Cheese Rap/World’s Worst Commercial”

Product Promotions – Arc Worldwide/Leo Burnett, Toronto – “Supercrazyalive”


Emails/Evites/Eblasts – Grip Limited – “Kokanee Ranger Live or Die Personalized Invitation”

Entertainment Miscellaneous – The Vacuum – “Watchmen: 6 Minutes To Midnight Interactive Trailer”


Self-Promotion Websites – Zulu Alpha Kilo – “Think Website”

Graphic Design

Complete Design Program – lg2boutique – “Maison Théâtre”

Environmental Design – Nolin BBDO – “Milk-So Much To Love Mobile Store”


Graphic Design Miscellaneous – Clean – “The Lakeview”

Advertising Print


Consumer Magazine Ad Single – GREY Canada – “Cheddar”

Consumer Magazine Ad Campaign – Rethink – “Paris/Tom/Amy”


Public Service Campaign – Rethink – “Treadmill/Boxing/Wheelchair Basketball”

Advertising Transit Campaign – Rethink – “Candy Floss/Caramel Apple/Snow Cone”

Advertising Transit Single – Rethink – “Caramel Apple”

Trade Ad Campaign – DDB Canada Vancouver – “Carpet/Bars/Clock”

Trade Ad Single – DDB Canada Vancouver – “Carpet”

Public Service Ad Single – Juniper Park – “Rubber Ducky”

Advertising Photography Campaign – Juniper Park – “Hummingbird/Shears/Spade”


Advertising Photography Single – Don Dixon Film + Photography – “Purell Toilet Subway”

Advertising Posters Campaign – DDB Canada, Toronto – “Brian/David/Kim”


Advertising Poster Single – DDB Canada, Toronto – “Brian”

Advertising Billboard Single – Saatchi & Saatchi, Toronto – “Mantle”


Advertising Billboard Campaign – Leo Burnett, Toronto – “Share Our Billboard Campaign”

Advertising Best Art Direction – Lowe Roche – “600 Years/Napoleon/Obsession”

Advertising Miscellaneous – BBDO Toronto – “Ice”


Michael O’Reilly Best Copywriting Award

Copywriting, Advertising Print – Grey – “Barbell”

Copywriting, TV– TBWA\Vancouver – “The Overanalyzing The Film People/The 
Not Really Into Foreign Films People/The Seat-Saving People”

Broadcast

Radio Public Service Campaign – TBWA\Vancouver – “Break and Enter/Structure Fire/Suspicious Person”

Crafts, Animation – BBDO Toronto – “Muffin Man”

Crafts, Cinematography – Target – “Find Yourself Here”

TV Single 30 Seconds – Leo Burnett, Toronto – “Pee Pee”

TV Single, 60 Seconds- BBDO Toronto – “Batlle In A Bag”
BBDO Toronto – “Battle In A Bag”

TV Single, $50,000 or less – doug agency – “Scooter”

TV Single, Retail – DDB Vancouver – “Chase”

TV Campaign – Cossette – “Karate Chop/Monkeys/Robot Friend”

TV Single, 15 Seconds – Cossette – “Robot Friend”

TV Public Service Campaign – Rethink – “Kama Sutra/Scrapbooking/Mt. Everest”

TV Public Service Single – john st. – “Help Child Soldiers”

Advertising Multimedia

Advertising Multimedia Campaign – john st. – “The Wiserhood”

Seneca College Creative Advertising Gets Featured in Metro Daily

Today the Creative Advertising program got featured in the Toronto edition of the Metro Daily.

We have worked hard to make this program a leader in creative and strategic planning of advertising communication. Along the way we have added many a great alumni to the industry in Canada and around the world.

I thank my colleagues and the students enough for their endless support and passion that make my job as a professor and the leadership I bring to the program everyday.

I was asked in the interview what is the one thing I need to deliver in the program everyday. The answer is simple... PASSION!

Earlier in the year I did a similar interview with Scott Goodson of StrawberryFrog NYC for his blog and I invite you to see more on how Seneca Creative Advertising truly "Changes" the rules of advertising education.

Click here to view the Metro article

Crowdsourcing Comes With Plenty of Opinions, Questions and Debates

When I posted the launch of Victors&Spoils many a colleague in education had questions and opinions. They varied from fear of a talent drain, the lack of direction and voice for brands and of course the employability of our graduates. But I got this Facebook post today from an repspected alumni who voiced his thoughts, it opened a big and passioante debate.

I wanted to share these thougths and gain other insights and comments. 

Anthony...  

I'm looking at - Victor & Spoils, Poptent, and all these other sites trying to crowdsource young and hungry talent and I'll I can think is what a waste.

The next Ogilvy, Goodson, or Bogusky will not get the support and learning that comes with senior staff or the support structure to make mistakes.

Instead they will sell their "brightest ideas" for pennies on the dollar to "old boomer" businessmen, then will end up get factory jobs to work on their novels. If I was you, I'd invest in Penguin Books. When we (they) are done driving away all the talent in this industry they are going to make a killing! 

In advertising we have been complaining about the RFP process for years - its a drain on paying clients, not representative of the work and thinking that goes into what we do... ect.

How is the next logical step to download that on to freelancers?

Yes, there is a hole in the market. There are a lot of talented and educated people who could be doing great work that are not.

But you know what else is tragic?

The social, economic and environmental problems facing the world today.

If your thinking of throwing your work onto a crowdsourcing site I have a simple suggestion.

BE AN ENTREPRENEUR.
START A COMPANY.
FIND A PROBONO CAUSE/CLIENT
DO GREAT WORK.
GET NOTICED.
AND NEVER EVER SELL YOURSELF SHORT.

You might just find your taking resumes instead of handing them out. 

(That's some Switch Thinking - free of charge)

Hog Blog (Sally Hogshead) - One of My Favorite People Delivers Again

Sally Hogshead is one of my favorite people in this crazy biz. She inspires me and in turn inspires so many.

With the last name "Hogshead" it is a given that there is likely an unconventional point of view after surviving years of harassment on the playground. Sally has been described by the press as "audacious," "intrepid," a "mastermind" and "the Oracle of Venice Beach." Today Sally is a speaker, author, and branding expert on radical innovation and career coaching.

She has for the past few years offered some of the greatest insights that I share regularly with my students on career planning, goal setting and life skills. But that is just the inspiration part of Sally Hogshead, she has made me laugh more then once with witty Facebook and Twitter posts.

In just her second year in advertising, Sally won more awards than any other writer in the country, and at age 23, began giving keynote speeches on branding and personal performance. She co-founded her first ad agency the celebrated boutique agency, Robaire & Hogshead at the age of 27 and created notable campaigns for some of today’s biggest and hottest brands. In 2001, Sally founded the West Coast office of Crispin Porter + Bogusky. At CP+B she had the dual role of Creative Director/Managing Director, Sally created and led work for MINI, Rock the Vote, Fine Living Network and Ikea.

Her book "Radical Careering" is often on loan from my office for the whole semester. Radical Careering is a both a must read book and her website/blog "Hog Blog" is must read... regularly.

I was checking in on the the "HogBlog" and came upon her latest format for the blog. A wonderful typographic design and clearly as noted, "ADD Friendly Reading". These little inspirational snapshots are from what she regularly posts on both Facebook and Twitter. Each offers the reader a moment to reflect on their own career and life each day, if not that then a moment to pause and say...Hmmmmmm! A few personal favorites of mine are:

"Passion is not a luxury. It's an imperative"
"The most risky decision is not making one"
"The most risky decision is not making one"
"The best creative thinkers aren't those who can come up with THE brilliant idea, but can keep going when ideas get killed over and over"
"Results + reputation + network = your market value"
"A “balanced” life is not the same as living half-assed" "Options = power. Choices translate to greater control in your career, and in life"
"Circumstances can’t cripple your career as much as doubt or passivity.

If you haven't heard of or never followed Sally, now is the time to start. You will learn, grow and find more about your potential than in any one place.

Additional Hogshead Reading:


Eighty-Three Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me WHile I was Learning To Be Creative
Communication Arts - Slaughter the Sacred Cows

500,000,000 Sperm Can’t Be Wrong 

Congratulations, You’ve Been Fired!  

The Starbuckian Handbook

Geez, I Wish Someone Had Told Me This While I Was Still in School Day One

Geez, I Wish Someone Had Told Me This While I Was Still in School Day Two

Geez, I Wish Someone Had Told Me This While I Was Still in School Part Three

 

Breaking the Myth of Soya... The Facts and The Fiction

"Customized" YouTube Channeling is nothing new but here's a bit of a twist. YouTube and Silk Canada launched a new "channel" that will use "deep link annotations" allowing for Questions and Answer videos and redirects like never before.

Silk Canada is helping Canadians sort fact from fiction through a new four-week multi-platform campaign that supports the soy milk beverage brand.

Developed by Leo Burnett and its digital arm Arc, the campaign will have its own "branded" YouTube channel that will ask consumers to “bust” or “believe” various facts like “It takes seven years for gum to work its way through the body.”

On the site there are 10 questions that offer the consumer choices. When the consumers picks “Bust it” there are directed to another video that dispells the myth. “Teachers made this up so we’d spit out our gum,” it reads.

The campaign uses allows users to interact with the content and view different videos while staying within the branded page. This is first time YouTube has offered these annotations anywhere in the world, and are now available to all advertisers, said Bill Tighe, account executive, Google Inc.

“The client is very focused on debunking myths around soy specifically and our objective for the campaign was to do it in a disruptive and highly engaging manner,” said Robin Hassan, director, digital, Starcom MediaVest, the agency responsible for campaign buying and planning.

In addition, the YouTube "SIlk" channel also contains directed links to the brand’s Facebook and Twitter pages. The effort also includes online banners and starting Nov. 16, print ads in Toronto’s Metro containing codes that readers can scan with their cellphones, plus printable coupons are offered when you join the Facebook group.

Currently over 8,000 views have been made.