Saturday, October 31, 2009

New Media... Guaranteed to Generate Buzz!



Ya never know what can come next but truly this has crossed my mind. Honest! But I was younger, likely seeking inspiration in a state of panic, likely under the influence of pressure... likely under the... never mind... you know the kind. The CD walks in, "if you guys don't give me something unique, different, never been done before (he couldn't stopped at just unique) that capture the audience in millisecond and don't be stupid!", you're all fired. Hmmmmm.... I grew up on the Jersey shore, so flying banners on the back bi-planes all summer long was normal, I quickly state; "...okay client's message on the tales of flies... it's unique, never been done before, certainly different... won't be easy"... Room goes silent... "I said nothing stupid, besides how would we get flies to agree, and you now media department wants measurement". NEXT!

Imagine painstakingly attaching a tiny banner ad to flies and hope that it will generate a buzz. Sorry, me bad... pun!

In Germany, a book company, Eichborn, decided to think beyond the booth at the 2009 Frankfurt Book Fair. The advertising stunt they concocted though is something that, uh, flies in the face of convention. Ooooops... Me bad... pun number 2.

Eichborn’s “smallest commercial gimmick in the world” was simple: attach physical banner ads to actual flies. Yes, somehow they tied small red "Eichborn" banner ads to flies and let them loose in the Frankfurt Book Fair. The result was flying advertising that nobody could miss... and likely paranoid with with the H1N1 issue. really, the world is in a bit of panic. We are all fearful of what flies carry.
The banners, measuring just a few centimeters across, they seem to be cause the flies a bit of piloting trouble. The weight keeps the flies at a lower altitude and forces them to rest more often, which is a stroke of genius on the part of the marketing creatives: the flies end up at about eye level, and whenever a fly is forced to land and recover, the banner is clearly visible. What's more, the zig-zagging of the fly naturally attracts the attention because of its rapid movement. Brilliant!

With some certainty, I assume the flies didn’t appreciate the extra weight, but without question you must give it to Eichborn for its creativity. But, let's hope that the "fly ads" don’t become something of a trend, imagine attending a conferences just to be pestered by branded insects.

With the number of Canadian geese about migrate south, think of it... "Tourism Canada" or our truly national product "Tim Horton's", "sponsoring the flocks of migrating birds? Hmmmm.... It just could be a way to advertise internationally.

Of course this all gets called into question, how long before Peta and I gather there is no Peti get involved.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Children, Riot Polices and a Message for Change



This spot was sent to me by one of Copywriting grads from zig Toronto Neil Blewett.

Created by Toronto's zig advertising, the campaign for Canada's "Moms Against Climate Change" just released a provocative video that makes a boldly emotional appeal for action on global warming.
Set in an urban and act as "any city", the minute and half video titled “Demonstration” features a protest march comprised entirely of children.

Typical scenario, riot police block the street, tap their shields and clubs ominously, and hold back barking dogs, and eventually they begin to defend... what isn't clear. The spot shows the police chasing one boy up a chain link fence while another falls in the street. Pure emotion.

The violence is presumed, not shown explicitly, but the implication is that we’re all engaged in violence against children by failing to head off the climate changes whose biggest impacts will unfold later this century.

The spot ends with the message, “If our children knew the facts we do, they’d take action. Shouldn’t you?”

Moms Against Climate Change also launched a new website that encourages Canadian mothers to post photos of their children beneath a message to Canadian Prime Minister: “Stephen Harper: Remember who you’re representing in Copenhagen.” The children’s first name and hometown accompany the picture.

Given the reservations many parents have about posting private information about their children on the internet, it’s a strategy likely to cause controversy. There is a note about privacy protection in the “Upload” section.

The campaign is a joint effort of two Canadian environmental groups, Environmental Defence and ForestEthics.

Credits:
Agecny: zig Toronto
Creative Team: Lorraine Toa and Briony Wilson

Victors&Spoils - If Pictures Are Worth A 1,000 Words

Yesterday I posted about the launch of Victors&Spoils a new model agency and today a few readers sent me links that told bigger stories and details of the the plans and the future of this new venture.

But non spoke to me like these two images.

Like the saying goes... "If a pictures worth a thousand words...". then these speak volumes.
The fun ahead. The personality of the agency.







Left to right; Claudia Batten, John Winsor and Evan Fry

On a side note, at the time of posting this the "crowdsourcing" model that V&S has posted for the design the corporate identity there were 131 potential designs. The best part was reading the direct feedback offered by Evan Fry.

Here is a sample of a design submitted and the feedback.



Submitted by: fluiditystudio
What I'm liking here is the start feels like something aggressive. I think it's cool that it's embracing the spirit. I think these kinds of instincts, if pushed more elegant now, a bit more understated, could create a stream of options that could get closer to the right spot. I like the black and white and the basic direction of the font. I think probably that if we end up using things like skulls or swords they would end up being very understated and need to be married to more elegant, confident-but-reserved font/feel.
Please keep going.
And thank you for going for it.

- Evan


Additonal noted news stories:

Ad Veterans Start New Agency  Boulder County Business Report 
Ex-Crispin Porter Duo Launch Crowdsourcing Agency Brand Republic
Victors & Spoils Launches First Advertising Agency Built on Crowdsourcing Reuters
OMG! Newsflash! Agency Launches With New Model! Adrants
CP+B Alums Launch Crowdsourcing-Based Agency mediabistro.com

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Art&Copy Screening in Toronto - A Review From An AdGuy

"THIS IS NOT ONLY THE BEST FILM ABOUT ADVERTISING, IT MAY JUST BECOME THE BEST RECRUITMENT FILM EVER MADE FOR THE ADVERTISING INDUSTRY"
- A View From An AdGuy

"AFTER SEEING ART&COPY, WHO WOULDN'T FEEL INSPIRED"
- A View From An AdGuy

 

The Toronto screening is ONE NIGHT ONLY sadly. It is being presented by the RDG Canada as part of there Design Thinkers Conference held in Toronto November 3rd and 4th.

The screening will take place on Monday before the conference, (November 2nd) at 7 PM at the Bloor Cinema located at 506 Bloor West. The cost is $10 if ordered and paid for in advance (Friday, October 30 before 6 PM) or $15 at the door. To purchase Art & Copy movie tickets: call 1.888.274.3668 x 0 or email sheila@rgdontario.com..

This was originally posted back in May on Blogger.com

Toronto Screening - HotDocs
Sunday May 3rd, 2009 - 4pm
Isabel Bader Theatre

This film turned out to be much more then expected.

I am not 100% sure what I expected after I viewed a 12 minute trailer at Shift Disturbers this past week, but it really was much more then a “History of Advertising”. Art & Copy is a perfect combination of ad clips and interviews.

From the opening sequence focusing on the primitive cave art, this certainly was a way to pay homage to Marshall McLuhan who described advertising this way; "Ads are the cave art of the twentieth century", and then immediately introducing us to a third generation “poster rotator”, who seems to be a “golden thread” throughout the film. We meet this young man who has a simple job, changing endless billboard ads. His great grandfather did it, and so on. He claims to have never met any of the creators of the ads his families long history has posted, but thanks them all when he proclaims; “for generations nobody in my family has ever been unemployed”.

Director Doug Pray takes us on a passage of those who created and lived the business during the golden “Creative Revolution” of DDB and Bill Bernbach, Mary Wells Lawrence, Phyllis Robinson and the legendary George Lois. Ah those who planted the seeds of today’s creative evolution.

And why shouldn't the craft of advertising be admired? "Art & Copy" begins in the late '50s and early '60s as big thinkers on Madison Avenue came up with the idea of pairing copywriters and art directors, melding a business necessity with creative talent.

Mr. Pray offers up a perfect Q&A with some of the greatest names in the field and recounts their successes. The interviews with titans of today like Dan Wieden, Hal Riney, David Kennedy, Lee Clow, Rich Silverstein and Jeff Goodby make it a complete celebration of creativity. Great advertising is great because it's great creative thinking and Art & Copy is essentially, an ad for advertising -- all of the attractive features of the business are shown in a glorious and shining light, with very little left unasked unless of course, you are a critic of the advertising industry. There have been a few critics of the film, which may come from the fact that the majority of support for Mr. Pray’s film came largely form The One Club, a non-profit dedicated to the craft of advertising based in New York.

Art & Copy offers that great advertising can be great art; great advertising can be artistic, to be sure, but the best ad in the world still has to sell. It’s a pretty simple mantra; “it ain’t creative unless it sells something”.

Many of the great moments of Art & Copy (and believe me I could listen to the rough, give-'em-hell George Lois for hours) came when hearing how many of the icon campaigns were created. Mr Lois is really offers the greatest moments in the film... too many quotable's to list here. He is truly "bow" that finishes the gift this film is. To learn now that Nike’s iconic “Just Do It” came from a headline when Utah convicted murder Gary Gilmore’s final words to his executioners, “Let’s Do It”, gave proof an idea can be found anywhere. I am sure Nike doesn’t have this story in its history books. The film is full of these little antidotes. As each is spoken, it really make the film worthy of our time.

It's unclear if advertising today is better than ever before, but we're certainly in the Golden Age of celebrating the Ad Man and it’s easy to see why AMC's "Mad Men," perhaps TV's finest “advertising based” show or TNT's recently cancelled "Trust Me" are so well received by the general public.

Art & Copy gives a very realistic portrait of the advertising world. It is likely the best recruitment film made.

The film will begin national screenings on August 21st when it goes into major distribution. In Canada the film is distributed by Mongrel Media of Toronto.

Art & Copy will have two more “exclusive” screenings in Toronto later this month when presented by 27Marbles. These screenings will be held at the Royal Theater (608 College at Clinton St.) on May 25th and 26th. The first evening is an “industry screening” at 7pm with all profits supporting Art Building Children’s Dreams (ABCD), a grassroots, not-for-profit, charity that uses art to fund the education of third world children. (www.abcdreams.ca). Tickets are $15 and must be purchased in advance online (click on logo below for ticket purchase). The second evening is a "student only" screening and tickets are available by contacting Stacey Farber at sfarber@icacanada.ca.


Posted via web from anthony kalamut's posterous

Brilliant Minds Attract - New Agency Victors & Spoils

Brilliant minds attract.

I was blown away by John Winsor (co-author of Baked In) when I met him at the Alex Bogusky Baked In book launch in NYC and now and ex-CPBers Winsor and the ubber creative talent Even Fry have teamed up with former Massive (a advergaming company) founder Claudia Battens started a new agency, Victors and Spoils.

Created as the world’s first creative (ad) agency built on crowdsourcing principles, the goal is to provide businesses with a better way to solve their marketing, advertising and product-design problems by engaging the world’s most talented creatives. Simply check the involvement any creative mind can engage.

What is Crowdsourcing? The consumers and clients demand transparency.  The consumer’s demand to be more involved in a brand and its authenticity and clients’ budgets have all but made the need for effectiveness and authenticity part of the message and the brand. Crowdsourcing gives both a clear voice and dialog to insure communication and rapid change. In fact ownership.

The crowdsourcing is not for most clients because the number of possible solutions created and the effort to keep things on strategy for a brand can be overwhelming.

Victors and Spoils will work like a crowdsourcing platform. At the core of the agency is the creative department. A creative department made of everyone from art directors and copywriters to strategists and producers who come together to solve strategic problems. A global digital community that will not only be rewarded for the solutions they develop (both individually and as a group) but also for participating in the community itself. Total democracy. Again cehck how you can get involved in the process.

Taken from the V&S website explains:

It’s “Victors,” plural, because we never reward just one winner. And we always have multiple ways to win. So not only do our monetary “Spoils” always go beyond first place {we award for 2nd, 3rd, etc}, we also reward for participation. All of which will build each creative’s V&S Reputation Score - which will help determine a share of the revenue for each project. It’s a model we’re building every day. And it’s a model we believe in. One that combines the best of what a creative agency can do and the best of what crowdsourcing can offer to arrive at solutions for your (any) brand that are strategic, forward thinking and most importantly, effective. Let’s work together.

John co-authored Baked In with Alex and is a major force behind the concept of "crowdsourcing", a basic concept of empowerment of the audience and their relationship with brands and at the core of Baked In.

Evan Fry was VP/Creative Director at CP+B on some of the biggest and most interesting brands, Best Buy, Domino’s, Alliance for Climate Protection. Shimano and Giro and Nike. Evan recently started a social network all on his own called  befuckingawesome.com a wonderful site for anyone to act and live by sharing their "awesomeness" with the world.

Claudia Batten was a founder of Massive – a  company with enough vision to see video gaming as more than an entertainment medium, but turning it into a full-blown advertising network. In three short year Massive became the industry leader and made "advergaming" a part of intelligent media integration.

All the best to V&S, and I have already registered. One of the first assignments offered on Twitter was to design the V&S logo

Follow the link to get involved.


View full story from the New York Times by Stuart Elliot

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

A Good Year at the Cannes Festival for Canada and Seneca Creative Advertising Alumni



It was truly a good year at the Cannes Festival for Canada and Seneca CAB Alumni.

Canada brought home thirteen awards in total of which Seneca CAB Alumni brought home 3 of those awards working at Doug, Leo Burnett and zig.

Earlier this summer I offered some insights to the success of the program in the Young Lions Competition and other success at Cannes 2009.



The 2009 Cannes Festival screening is taking place across the country will assist in benefiting the National Advertising Benevolent Society (NABS) here is Canada.

In Toronto, the screening will take place November 4th at the Bloor Cinema at 506 Bloor Street West at 6:30pm. Tickets are $25.00 each with a student discounted price of $15.00 with ID card at the door.

To order tickets for Toronto screening follow the link:

https://www.eplyevents.com/Event.aspx?l=1&evt=4750f0c1-c507-46f0-aef8-36d9ebc08085

For other Canadian cities follow this link:

Vancouver November 12th

http://www.globelink.ca/mediacentral/canadaincannes/screenings/?source=screeningsemail


DJ Hero Intro Cinematic

A team of Twenty-five 3D artists from Framestore, London spent 15 weeks to put this piece together.

Framestore is also collaborating on James Cameron's Avatar due out in December.

DJ Hero hits stores on October 27th.

Posted via web from anthony kalamut's posterous

Sunday, October 25, 2009

PTI... Snuggie Pardon The Interruption, It's Subaru Outback



This spot is filed under "creative brilliance" only for taking an old idea and making it "unique" to the current audience.

Kinda reminded me of the Energizer ads from the late 1980s that used the "Pardon The Interruption" idea.


Highjacking of A Creative Idea... and Message.



One of things I offer my students in the deveopment of their skills as creatives is the challenge of doing a "competitive" advertisng campaign. The basic idea is to create a message from the number two or non-leading brand in any given category. The main idea or concept is that you can't mention the competitor by name or brand identity (ie.logo, product etc...)

It is often noted by the students as one of the most difficult challenges, but when done right it can create a strong brand message and often make the target audience stop and think before they purchase... at least have them consider your brand in the process.

I came across this ad when searching for some sample ads to demonstrate "quality" of this type of message, and I thought it was excellent.

Verizon launched a "teaser" ad for the November release fo the "Droid" handset and seeks to slam Apple's iconic smartphone on all the things it's perceived to fall short on, such as a lack of a physical keyboard and the capability to run multiple third-party apps simultaneously. In a play on the iPhone's "I," the campaign takes jabs at the handset with a series of "iDon'ts," starting with "iDon't have a real keyboard," "iDon't run simultaneous apps." The commercial ends with "Everything iDon't ... Droid does. November."

What followed was a unexpected spoof ad that hijacks the concept and content (video above)
I contacted the creators of the "spoof" ad to ask if they were students or basically what inspired them. Only known as "droiddont" who sent me the following message:
Nope not a student. And actually not just one person! It was a collaboration of three people - Ryan, Jon and Shawn.
All living in the USA. We all work in video production and we had some down time and decided to throw a mock commercial up on youtube.
Ryan and Jon are avid Iphone users, while Shawn wants to buy one whenever he decides to abandon his current carrier. While the droid ad was interesting, we thought it would be funny to kind of make a rebuttal to the whole thing.... and see what it would be like to create a counter viral video.
Since we all are into Video Editing.... Macs are pretty much the lifeblood of what we do.
Not bad... as of tonight (10/26/2009) the spot has had 91.203 hits for the spoof while the "real" spot has just a million. They are pretty good. Maybe they can email back and I can post there contact info if anyone is interested.

Currently the iPhone is dominating the category even with 100's of great alternatives currently available it's still leading. Question is for how long? Well the iPhone will not likely give up that throne, there are competitors who want to reach those who aren't 100% convinced or brand loyal (cultish loyal) to Apple. 

Facing nearly insurmountable competition from AT&T Wireless and its iPhone juggernaut, Verizon Wireless is capitalizing on the well-publicized download problems by airing a television ad that tweaks Apple's iPhone tagline, "There's a app for that."

Here is the "App"... turned "Map" message from Verzion, followed by the original "iDon't" Droid ad also from Verzion.


"There's Map for That"



Agency: McCann Erickson Worldwide

"iDon't"



Agency: McGarryBowen

Brilliant Writing Part II



This Johnnie Walker spot called "Walk" created by Bartle Bogle Hegarty London is proof of a great concept married to great talent and fostered by brilliant copywriting.

Amazingly, this ad for Johnnie Walker was done in one take, but took 40 takes to get it right. No report of how many bottles were tested and tasted to get it right.

Best ad of the year so far? It just might be.

This brilliant five-minute-plus spot by BBH London, in which Robert Carlyle, in a single continuous take, narrates the progression of Johnnie Walker whiskey from the backroom experimentation of a humble shopkeeper to the multinational powerhouse it is today. The combination of bagpiper abuse, well-timed visual cues, pitch-perfect writing and music, and Carlyle's charisma keeps the mini-movie chugging right along.

BTW, I gotta add on the Scotch note; Taxi Toronto got something right this past Thursday evening.They hosted their first Scotch Night (and I hope not the last)

Now if I can get an invite... Nick, Cam, Mykolyn, ... anyone! Invite @southsideadguy

Johnny Walker Credits:
Agency: BBH London
Creative Director: Mick Mahoney
Creative: Justin Moore

Friday, October 23, 2009

Planet In Focus Film Festival Campaign and Seneca College Creative Advertising




This week The Planet in Focus Film Festival opened here in Toronto for their 10th year and I am proud of the involvement of my full-time students of the Seneca College Creative Advertising Program and a personal project I have been involved in for the establishment of advertising education at the high school level.

The Planet in Focus International Environmental Film and Video Festival is Canada's preeminent festival of its kind and for ten years has championed the growth and development of environmental cinema. For ten years the festival has positioned itself as a creative and cultural leader in the of international environmental film festivals. For ten years audiences have celebrated and experienced the environmental works of Canadian and international filmmakers.

Back in the the early spring Cundari Advertising of Toronto gave my program at Seneca College a chance to create campaigns for Planet in Focus (PIF) and Slava Vodka from "real and live" creative strategy/briefs, a vision I felt was and is missing form most advertising education. The result, "real world" experience and opportunity. To date these relationships with Cundari, DueNorth, Taxi, zig, DraftFCB, and DDB Toronto have given the students the experience of development, execution and presentation to these agency partners and often the clients. In addition, students on the winning team have received internships and other opportunities.


This spring, the students put a great deal of hard work into the Planet in Focus case as many had a personal passion on the subject of teh environment. One group of students known as BGE (Best Group Ever) wowed Cundari and the PIF enough to land the job. I was proud of all the teams presenting, but even more so for this team now that their all of their hard work has been realized into a full campaign launch to the public.

If you are in and around the Greater Toronto Area this week, you will see these ads for the Planet in Focus Film Festival it was developed by the students of an advertising program that puts the students into the industry on real terms. I congratulate these Seneca Creative Advertising alumni with much respect to Slava Yedlin, Christine Porto, Victoria Morozova, Francesco Fiore, Steven Tran, Cole and Keely Powell for a great campaign and for earning the opportunity to make "power" moves straight out of college.
In addition to my great pride in the students from my program, I have been honoured to assist and mentor Diana Prior a high school teacher in Brampton (a suburb of Toronto) who developed the first "Creative Advertising" at the high school level. Ms. Prior has had a difficult "sell" to the local board of education and now I believe has the proof of the value and development of student skills in this area. After Cundari offered the brief for Planet in Focus to my college program students
I took a pared down version of the brief to Ms. Prior's class at St. Margarite D'Youville Catholic Hogh School. The result, PIF gave a team of students summer internships to develop materials and expand upon a commercial a team of students developed for their presentation. The result, high school students filmed, developed and launched the "official" trailer message for the 2009 festival.
View Planet In Focus Film Festival Official Trailer
The high school program is entering its third year this spring, the results have been better students entering the various college advertising programs at Humber College, Ontario College of Art  and Design, Sheridan College and currently I have 6 students in my program who are showing the passion needed for success.
Amazing the future of our industry has many young talents heading its way.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Crispin Porter + Bogusky | Advertising & Design Factory




Join in the details and news from the world of Crispin Porter + Bogusky.

Crispin Porter + Bogusky | Advertising & Design Factory

Cyclists Paving the Way - A Driver Appreciation Campaign.


A true grassroots effort created by Toronto advertising agency Switch Advertising. Born from need to promote mutual respect on the roadways of the city and in part after the tragic death of cyclist and bicycle courier Darcy Allan Sheppard.

The Toronto Cyclists Union is encouraging its members, and fellow cyclists, to stop by and pick up some "Thank You" cards to pass along to drivers who make a point of treating you with respect in traffic.   The overall mission is to "Help promote friendlier Toronto roadways for cyclsit".

The Toronto Cyclists Union is encouraging its 750+ members to thank conscientious drivers and take that first step towards safer roads. The city works better when we all work together.
Toronto cyclists will be thanking drivers who remember to give them their fair share of the road through beautifully designed Thank You cards.
“It’s easy to get angry when someone cuts you off. This summer has been filled with sensational headlines about conflicts between cyclists and drivers. What people often forget are the thousands of commuters who arrive safely, and without incident, to work, school and home every day. It’s time to encourage positive behavior and find a way to reward those people who use Toronto’s roads with respect.”
Yvonne Bambrick, Executive Director, Toronto Cyclists Union.
Cyclists Paving the Way is about sharing a more positive Toronto – and sharing is something that cyclists know all about. Though its true that bicycles are considered road vehicles under Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act (HTA), the average cyclist is still paying more then their fair share to maintain the common road space.
 
Leaving drivers with a final word, Yvonne states:
"While it can be said that many cyclists are also drivers, the same does not hold true for most drivers. Try to imagine what it is like to ride a bike amongst heavy active machinery and please drive accordingly. Together, we can make the roads, and the city overall, better for everyone.”

Follow this link to view video:

Monday, October 19, 2009

What Have We Become When Reviewing Young Talent... NICE!

Steve Hall, Founder of AdRants and AdGabber posted this back in July. When I stumbled upon it I could help but repost it as my grad class of future AdLanders begin to polish their "books" into something that will soon be seen by the world of Creative Directors... all who have an opinion.

It's true being nice just to be nice doesn't help anyone.  

In fact, according to this video for the Denver Ad Club, it can cause a person to drown. 

Of course, no one in advertising is ever nice just to be nice. In fact, going into advertising offers the perfect platform for a person to rip the shit out of another person and toss it of as simply "critiquing the work."  

But anyway, the Denver Ad Club wants young creatives about NEXT, a portfolio-building program designed to bluntly inform people what's working and what isn't in their portfolio.

Steve Hall AdGabber
 
Be aware young AdLanders, there may be an agenda when showing your book... but it may not be the one you are looking for.

Watch Video at this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jym7YTsz-kg

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Students Walk the Streets of Toronto’s Creative District - Annual Fall Tour of Interactive Studios



Students again walked the streets of Toronto’s creative district for the annual Fall Tour of Interactive Studios.

Like a great wine, the Fall Tour of Toronto Interactive Studios now in the fourth year of operation, has aged well and was a total success.

The tour is once again filled up, and quicker then ever. The Tour was founded in 2005 by Tim Willison, the director of Oddly Studios Inc., a multimedia development shop that brings ideas to life in a refreshingly creative manner once again brought together a brilliant team of planners and agency partners to deliver a great day of information, insight and new found passions in many. I think I enjoyed hearing most, "wow, I could really dig working here", or "what these guys do is what I have dreamed I want to do".

Toronto based students from the Seneca College Digital Media Arts and Creative Advertising programs, along with Sheridan and Conestoga colleges, University of Toronto and the Ontario College of Art and Design easily offered the tour more then 200 participants who all got to see  more participating agencies than ever before.

The tour stops included Taxi, Blast Radius, Sapient, Organic, Grip Limited, Critical Mass, Cossette, Henderson Bas, Oddly Studios, Amoeba Corp, Teehan+Lax, John St, MacLaren McCann, Secret Location, Idea Couture, Agency 59, Espresso, SociMedia and Studio 407.
Each agency made various staff available to answer questions about their agency and the industry as a whole. Q & A was the highlight of the each visit I attended. The questions ranged for 'How did you guys think of that", "where did you go to school", "who do I talk to to get a job here", to a frequently asked; "do you like your job". All questions got answered.


Tour participants are permitted to enter studios to see the day to day operation and talk with experienced professionals in the Interactive industry. “They’ll locate possible new hires,” Willison said. “But everybody also has the idea that we’d like to see Toronto shops competing globally, not just with each other. By doing this, we’re building a stronger industry.”

The visits are billed as part learning experience for students, part recruitment tool for the agencies.
“They’ll locate possible new hires,” Willison said. “But everybody also has the idea that we’d like to see Toronto shops competing globally, not just with each other. By doing this, we’re building a stronger industry.”

Working alongside the faculty of Seneca, Sheridan, OCAD, and the University of Toronto, this event introduces emerging talent of interactive media programs to respected thought leaders of digital media by having them open their interactive studio doors for a one-day-only special event.

The tour is once again filled up, and quicker then ever. Founded in 2005 by Tim Willison, the director of Oddly Studios Inc., a multimedia development shop that brings ideas to life in a refreshingly creative manner once again brought together a brilliant team of planners and agency partners to deliver a great day of information, insight and new found passions in many. I think I enjoyed hearing most, "wow, I could really dig working here", or "what these guys do is what I have dreamed I want to do".
Happly, Tim and his crew managed to leave nobody on the waiting list which is the true testiment to the enevt which is centered around the introduction to the "realitites" of what is ahead for copywriters, art directors, graphic designers, web designers and coders.

This was a huge effort of the team, working in concert with the studios of the tour. Willison added, "The scheduling had us all going a little mental for a few days, but with the right cooperation and everyone pitching in I’m pleased to say we have now finalized the routes, the groups, and all the times and I expect a brilliant day ahead".

Tim, it was truly brilliant, and weather cooperated perfectly... and 2010 planning has begun.

Click here to see the highlights of the 2008 tour.

Once available I will post details and highlights of this years tour.


Tuesday, October 13, 2009

The George Lois Interview... or "Run with George" and Follow the Conversation!



This will likely go down as the single most wonderful experiences of my AdGuy life.

The video above was recorded in at the Paley Center for the Arts on Sept 23, 2009 during an exclusive sit-down with my student from the Creative Advertising program at Seneca College in Toronto. It’s kind of NSFW (Not Safe For Work); to give you an idea of just how NSFW it really was, one of the lines that didn’t make on the video comes when he’s describing how he deals with difficult clients:
"So he came to me and said the client didn’t like it. “Didn’t like it?” I said. “Well first off, fuck you, fuck your mother AND your sister.”
Sadly we had no way of capturing the complete interview (more like "Run with George" and follow the conversation). This a small highlight of the event done by one of graduates Ryan Fox.

George Lois is often described as “An Advertising Legend”, “The King of Madison Avenue”, or the “Leader of the Creative Revolution”. And he knows it. It’s a role he not only fits into well, but wears like an old coat; it’s not flashy, it’s not trying to impress anyone, it’s just a part of who he is. Amazing!

I know he was a total inspiration to all, as he was to me when I was studying advertising.
Visit the George Lois Website for more inspiration and a run through his great career.

To view the video follow this link:

George Lois Interview Video

Thank you George.

Monday, October 12, 2009

What's Missing? See the Whole Picture... Axe Mobile App



I get asked frequently about how to "shake things up" and here is a great mobile application created by Lowe Gingko Uruguay for Axe Day & Axe Night products.

This is a pretty cool "shake up" way to use SMS & MMS to engage their target audience for the latest print ad for the new Axe Day & Axe Night products.

The print ad is censored, and follows the "Squares" campaign with perfect continuity using the campaign line “One is suitable for general audiences. The other one is not.

Readers are invited to see the censored parts of the ad by texting a number after 9pm, when they will then receive an MMS to complete image that you overlay on the print ad.

Perfect for the male target audience giving them "social currency" and a valuable "coolness discovery" he can send to his friends.

To view the campaigns TV spot follow this link:

Here's Something You Don't See Everyday - A Rock Opera (AdVerganza)... About Milk



As big fan of if 70's Rock Operas, specifically The Who's "Tommy" and "Quadrophenia" and the near perfect Lou Reed offering "Berlin". If you asked me if I would ever see the day that there would be a rock opera about milk, I would likely say "nah" not a chance in hell. Well the that day is here and hell has likely frozen over.
“The most amazing rock opera ever made - about milk.”

Seriously, I'm not kidding. This totally online effort is sponsored by the good folks at “Got Milk” and creative advertising genius agency Goodby Silverstien of San Fransisco and starring a dude named "White Gold" (wielding a milk filled electric guitar no less - for onstage replenishment) and chocolate milk partner "Jug Life", his lusty pal "Strawberry Summers" (right) make some sweet music together and of course "The Calcium Twins". (see additional images below)

I present the new rock opera "Battle for Milkquarious"! Check out the trailer here.

If you want more... then check out "White Gold" and his totally awesome website. It’s very milk-centric.
“Originality is the confluence of the opposite of epitome.” - White Gold
If you’ve never heard of "White Gold", he’s the marketing creation of California Milk Processor Board and ad agency Goodby Silverstein - who together brought us the infamous “Got Milk” campaign.

White Gold is the fake rocker who prefers milk to the bevy of stronger drugs presumably available to him. 

I am looking into details about this campaign being a "relaunch" from the spring of 2008.  MarketWire posted a piece on April 7th, 2008 about the campaign devoted to a rock band professing its love of and devotion to milk. The campaign made its television debut that day, and also launching its very own web site whitegoldiswhitegold.com The campaign will show music lovers, especially teenagers, how cool and beneficial drinking milk can be. The article noted White Gold gained much of its popularity in social networking circles and video-sharing sites. Fans include teens, young adults and even influential bloggers and DJs. White Gold's MySpace page logged close to 50 thousand hits and has added about 3000 friends since it debuted on March 17, 2008 and  the band's YouTube page has garnered over 350 thousand hits.

White Golds MySpace site gives some exclusive insights to "Being White Gold".  To learn that guitar geniuses like White Gold aren't just born. "They're honed". "Crafted". "Perfected". For this maestro, consumption was the only way to become reborn and set free.
Before White Gold found "milk", the luscious white mane, the four-hour guitar solos and ripped abdominals, there was simple White Gold, the man. A mess of frail hair, a dull smile and a scrawny body. It was a rockless bottom for White Gold. He couldn't finish a three-song set without being booed off the stage and thrown out onto the street.
White Gold's stylings are described as “milk-otestical” (or possibly “milk-tastical”) which sounds disturbingly like “milk testicle.” Not sure that will be around in any of the future media releases or mentions.

The Got Milk people have a goal in producing a milk themed rock opera. This is part of $50,000 scholarship for the arts for the California Public Highschool art programs. Nothing is being given away for free however. There is going to be a contest in which entrants (students) will enter by creating their own video spoof of the White Gold Rock Opera and uploading it. More details on the exact rules where posted last week. The prizes will be a $20K scholarship for first place, one $10K winner for second place and 8 honorable mentions at $2.500!

This "adverganza" also includes a YouTube Channel and Facebook Group.

 True fans will be able to celebrate White Gold’s entire catalog when it hits iTunes no less.














Jug Life (top), The Calcium Twins (middle) and White Gold with Strawberry Summers (bottom).

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving. Yes in Canada we celebrate Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October, while my American (roots) friends celebrate Columbus Day.


There is much to give thanks for this year.

The list always starts with my family. I am truly blessed with a wonderful wife and two amazing boys who seem to be growing up to be great people. My seven year old took this picture the other day with my iPhone. I guess he saw something amusing or he is one of us... an "AdGuy" in the making.

Second thing I am thankful for is a wonderful opportunity I was given in helping develop the next generation of AdLanders. After our amazing trip to New York for Advertising Week, I assure you we will be leaving the future of our industry in good hands. The passion is amazing.

Have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving or Columbus Day.
 
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