James Ready Beer - Share Our Billboard Campaign

What was the most awarded billboard globally? James Ready Beer. Hmmmmmm....

Clue: Created by Leo Burnett Toronto.

Yes, James Ready? The campaign has been winning awards for its innovative outdoor billboard campaign, "SHARE OUR BILLBOARD" for the past year.

So, for those of you not familiar, James Ready is a Ontario micro-brewery and not a person. The brand of beer has been brewed since 1875 by the James Ready Brewing Company of Niagara Falls.
I am crazy with pride seeing this was created by one of my grads Steve Persico and his partner Art Director Anthony Chelvanathan.

This was a truly unique campaign for a small brewery in Ontario that needed to tll their story but had a limited budget. The campaign brought home awards from around the world including a Cannes Gold Lion plus the Andy Awards in New York, where it won two golds. add to that CLIO and One Show honors.

The James Ready Canadian advertising campaign, "SHARE OUR BILLBOARD". made a splash by plastering 106 billboards across southern Ontario, asking people to keep the price of James Ready beer at $1 per bottle by sharing in the cost of the billboard campaign, then the campaign took hold and the awards came rolling in.

The campaign began with a series of classified ads that appeared in local newspapers with a similar message as to the outdoor advertising campaign. People were asked to, “Help us keep James Ready a buck. Share our billboard.” Billboard messages steered people to a website www.jamesready.com where they could post their best offer (no actual cost was accepted) and upload messages and photos to be included in the billboard. The result – on a first-come-first-serve basis, people’s submissions were posted on individual local billboards with a tag line from James Ready Beer thanking them for keeping the price of the beer at $1! The people showcased in the "SHARE OUR BILLBOARD" campaign became local celebrities in their communities, creating further buzz for James Ready beer and prompting many conversations at water coolers and bars in the area!

“It’s always great for our industry in Canada to be recognized on the global stage,” said Leo Burnett’s Canadian president and CEO David Moore. “I’m particularly proud of the simplicity of the idea—no high tech, no special effects, just pure creativity in one of the world’s oldest mediums".

The complete creative team, includes writers Sean Barlow and Steve Persico, and art directors Anthony Chelvanathan, and Paul Giannetta. Judy John and Israel Diaz (now with David and Goliath Toronto) oversaw the work as creative directors.

MTVs Jersey Shore Gives Dove "Evolution" New Life and Shore Props!

So maybe imitation isn't the sincerest form of flattery? Scary.

"Evolution" was a mega award winning online advertising effort from Dove created by Ogilvy Toronto, and now has a second life through the art of parody.

Found this video "exclusive" on the FunnyorDie.com website over the weekend, and it already has over 1.5 million views there and another 25,000 views on YouTube. Crazy!

Count Italian-American Alyssa Milano among the non-fans of MTV's new reality "Jersey Shore" Ms Milano has made it clear that she finds the reality series offensive. But that doesn't mean she can't joke about it. The actress filmed this short exclusive for FunnyorDie.com showing her evolution from pretty girl to "guidette" — which "actually looks a lot more like blackface" which is even more offensive.

The weekly show follows the reality (somewhat scripted) booze-fueled nights of eight self-described "guidos" and "guidettes" on the New Jersey shore. The show has outraged Italian-Americans, who claim it exploits a stereotype and gives the vacation destination a bad rap.

Hey I grew up in Ocean City, NJ every summer until I finshed college... and, well if "ya ain't been there" and lived with the charm that is the South Philly "guidos" and "guidettes"... okay I digress. I spent 3 weeks at a shore house last summer and I gotta tell you not much has changed in the 30+ years since I was a "Ute" (youth) living in a shore town.

UNICO National, the nation's largest Italian American service organization, has even asked MTV to cancel the show.

The original Dove spot was created from the budget left over from the earlier Daughters campaign, and was intended to be the first in a series of such online-focused spots. Launched by Unilever brand "Dove" in 2006 as part of its "Dove Campaign for Real Beauty" to promote the newly created Dove Self-Esteem Fund.

The centre of the Unilever campaign is a 75-second spot produced by Ogilvy & Mather in Toronto under the creative direction of the brilliant team of  Nancy Vonk and Janet Kestin (both are excellent nurturers of young creative talent). The piece was first displayed online on October 2006, and was later broadcast as a television and cinema spot.

The spot was an absolute critical, pop culture, and financial success. It won a number of awards in the advertising industry, including two Cannes Lions Grand Prix awards. It has been discussed in many mainstream television programs and print publications, and the exposure generated by the spot has been estimated to be worth over $150M.Today on YouTube "Evolution" has more than 3.2 million views.

This is not the first time "Evolution" has been given a parody maleover, it also spawned numerous unofficial alternate versions on YouTube, seen as a opening sequence for the BBC show Ruddy Hell! and the short parody "Slob Evolution", which has gone on to itself be nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award and have over 2 million views.

From iPod to Billboard

I love touchscreen technology.

I saw this video online for a multi-user touchscreen that was on display at the Cannes Lions last week.

Last Monday, delegates at the Cannes Lions Festival streamed out of a seminar and walked past a large interactive touch screen -- a sort of festival guide -- that was positioned nearby. As one woman stepped close to it, her name appeared there.

She uncertainly extended a hand and was quickly joined by Trevor Kaufman, CEO of WPP-owned Schematic. Schematic designed the "Touchwall," an interactive guide to the festival and its environs in Cannes. Schematic is an interactive agency that creates branded experiences (see their website for a crazy-great interface).

The operation and look is very cool in the sell... hope its execution is as good. I can see the future of the engagement being endless and with everyone loving the idea of touch-technology (see iPod/iPhone). For example, the Coke touch-screens at Cannes let people spin a large, 3D bottle left or right, watch videos, or rub a simulated wall of ice. All in 3D and high definition.

To build its Coke machines, Cannes worked with Samsung, BMW Designs, and interactive agency Sapient. The machines will be distributed around the world in the next year or so.

Quick thought: the social aspects of this are intriguing, but if it's too successful, you'll see lineups of people waiting to get their messages.

Who will be first to go "major mainstream" with this?

Trust me, I'll be checking

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Seneca Creative Advertising and The YouTube/Cannes Lions

YouTube and Cannes Lions have partnered to search for two young creatives to win an all-expenses paid trip to this year's Festival and fill a new 38th place as Team YouTube in the 2009 Young Lions Film Competition and I have a couple of students who have entered the competition.

Since the close of entries, contestants have two weeks to generate as many views possible. Two separate winners will be selected by a panel of experts who will judge the ad based on creativity, number of views and video ratings. During the two-week period between May 17th and June1st for entrants to create a viral buzz around their video to drive as many public views and votes as possible by whatever means.

After June 1st, a panel of advertising experts will judge the shortlisted entries and select two winners based on overall creative execution of the brief and the videos' views, ratings, comments, votes and overall online footprint. The winners will be announced on June 5th: the prize for the two selected winners is an all-expenses paid trip to the Festival to take part in the Young Lions Film Competition as Team YouTube offering a fantastic exposure for young creatives looking to carve a role in the advertising or film industry.

The winners will unite and receive an all-expenses paid trip to Cannes to attend the Festival and compete as the 38th team in the prestigious Young Lions Film competition.

So I am hoping you will take the time a view my two student entries. It helps their cause, and feedback is always welcome.

Click. Enjoy. Vote.

Spencer Black – Art Director zig Toronto:

www.youtube.com/canneslions and type “spencer” into the search bar and give his video a thumbs up.


Robin Soukvilay – Current Semester 3 Student:

www.youtube.com/canneslions and type “billy” into the search bar and give his video a thumbs up.

Cannes Young Lions Winners - Canada

Yes, in the constantly evolving world of media and advertising, fresh ideas often come from fresh minds and talented young people who are just starting their careers. And that's precisely why The Globe & Mail hosts Canada's Young Lions competition.

Designed to simulate the conditions at Cannes, the Globe Young Lions competition gives winning design teams the preparation they’ll need to compete internationally in the official Young Lions competition at Cannes. More importantly, the Globe Young Lions competition is the only way to qualify and compete in the Cannes Young Lions competition.

I personal love this competition. What a great way to showcase young talent and begin the understanding that it's more important to have a "Big Idea" that can be judge against other "Big Ideas". The fun part is also seeing the attitudes that prevail after seeing the winners and saying, "that actually won"... "WTF, ours was better... at least it looks better". So as you can see I love the "Big Idea" part, equal to the "how'd that win".

On a side note, with great pride our program at Seneca College has had it share of "Young Lion" winners. Chris Taciuk (twice), Cam Boyd, Aaron Starkman, Matt Bielby (twice), Chris Joakim and recently Steve Percico. Graduate success is often the best "pay" one can get from this opportunity granted to me.

The 2009 competition was based on a brief for Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) - an independent international medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare in more than 70 countries around the world.

This year's competition received a fantastic response. In total, 152 total participants in the four categories, and that represents an increase of almost 100% over 2008.

The Challenge

The brief was for Medecins Sans Frontires/Doctors Without Borders (MSF), an independent international medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare in more than 70 countries around the world. The objective for all Young Lions participants was to motivate donations through increased awareness of the immediate needs of Medecins Sans Frontieres and their points of differentiation from other world aid organizations.

The Judges

The panel has been assembled from a pool of award-winning Canadian creatives. Again this year there are two separate juries differentiating the strategic (Media) and creative (Print, Film and Cyber) categories.

The Winners

Print Category

Jon Murray, Copywriter, TBWA Vancouver

Simon Bruyn, Copywriter, Rethink

Cyber Category

Click on the link or image below to download the winning entry. Note that a Flash player is required to view this entry.





http://www.globelink.ca/downloads/msf_728x90.swf

Todd Takahashi, Art Director, Burnkit Creative Inc.
Jeff Greenberg, Flash Developer, Burnkit Creative Inc.

Film Category

Chris Booth, Copywriter, DDB Canada Joel Pylypiw, Art Director, DDB Canada

Media Category

The media category, now in its second year. The brief challenged participants to demonstrate their strategic thinking. Instead of delivering creative executions, they were challenged to create a compelling communications strategy across selected media channels. Entries were judged on their analysis off the Target Audience(s), the Key Target Insight, Strategy, Innovative Media Solution, and the judges perception of the Effectiveness/Results. In celebration of the excellent submissions we received, we would like acknowledge and highlight our top three entries:

Gold

Sarah Fitzgerald, Media Planner, Cossette Atlantic
Beverley Gallant, Art Director, Cossette Atlantic










Click on the image or this link to download the winning entry.

Silver

Richard Gawlas, Media Research & Buyer, Tamm Communications
Stacey Maier, Media Services Manager, Tamm Communications







Click on the image or this link to download the entry.

Bronze

Yue Yi (Karen) Guan, Investment Buyer, Starcom
Jamile Raval, Strategy Planner, Starcom







Click on the image below to download the entry.


The winning teams from each category have won a trip to Cannes and the opportunity to represent Canada in the official Cannes Lions Young Lions competition.

Earth Hour – Huge Success

Bob Reaume sent me a Tweet this earlier today and it seems that we shared something common for Earth Hour. We were both at sports bars at the time of "Earth Hour". At the exact stroke of 8pm, out went the lights… darkness… except for the cool glow of the HD Plasma screens. What, sacrifice NCAA Hoops or the tragedy that is the Toronto Maple Leafs.

… But for environmental activists, the message was clear: Earth Hour was a huge success.

"The world said yes to climate action, now governments must follow," the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said a day after hundreds of millions of people worldwide followed its call to turn off lights for a full hour.

WWF called the event, which began in Australia in 2007 and grew last year to 400 cities worldwide, "the world's first-ever global vote about the future of our planet."

Leo Burnett Sydney's Earth Hour initiative for WWF, won one of four Titanium awards handed out at Cannes last year. Rolled out in Sydney for the first time, Earth Hour 2007 had 2.2 million Sydneysiders turn off their lights for an hour as a stand against global warming, cutting the city's energy consumption by 10.2%, the equivalent of taking 48,000 cars off the road for one hour.

Over 2,200 Sydney based companies took part, including McDonald's, which switched off its golden arches; Coke, which screened Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth; Energy Australia, which co-sponsored advertisements on metrolites; and Guinness, which gave out free beers at bars.

Says Leo Burnett national creative director, Mark Collis: "Earth Hour was a unique moment in time which we hope to make a permanent date on the world calendar. Opening the brief up to all agencies in this way is equally unique and exciting."
Negotiators from 175 countries gathered Sunday in Bonn for the latest round in an effort to craft a deal to control emissions of the heat-trapping gases responsible for global warming.

Earth Hour officially began when the Chatham Islands, 500 miles (800 kilometers) east of New Zealand, switched off its diesel generators. At Scott Base in Antarctica, New Zealand's 26-member winter team resorted to minimum safety lighting and switched off appliances and computers.

In Australia, Sydney's glittering harbor was bathed in shadows as lights dimmed on the steel arch of the city's iconic Harbour Bridge and the nearby Opera House.

As the sun moved west, the Great Pyramids and Sphinx in Egypt darkened. So did the Acropolis in Athens and the Colosseum in Rome.

In Paris, the Eiffel Tower, Louvre and Notre Dame Cathedral were among 200 monuments and buildings that went dark. The Eiffel Tower, however, only extinguished its lights for five minutes for security reasons because visitors were on the tower.

The celebration then crossed the Atlantic, where crowds at New York's Times Square watched as many of the massive billboards, including the giant Coca-Cola display, darkened. The Majestic Theater marquee at the home of "The Phantom of the Opera" went dark, along with the marquees at other Broadway shows.

Mikel Rouse, 52, a composer who lives and works nearby came to watch.

"C'mon, is it really necessary? ... All this ridiculous advertising… (What, what, what??? Easy there cowboy)... all this corporate advertising taking up all that energy seems to be a waste," Rouse said.

Earth Hour: http://www.earthhour.org

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Earth Hour video: http://sn.im/enqwn