Does School Kill Creativity?

When Presentation Zen recommends a TED talk (and calls it his favorite of all-time), I watch. This is a fabulous talk about how the foundation of education needs to foster creative thought - not kill it. So many industries operate under the same "follow this path to success" model that many creative ideas are killed because they fall outside cultural norms. People who can foster change within their agencies through creative process and thought will be big, long-term winners.

Nothing sells like a baby

I have been seriously entertained by this E*trade campaign. Press play on all the goodness below:



Amazing copywriting, cute as hell visor:



Check the golden pipes:



And of course we have shared this campaign before...here, here and here.

Want to have an affair?

Then register a profile on AshleyMadison.com. The dating site for people in a commited relationship who are looking for a random outlet (not a relationship) from their day-to-day partner. Their tagline?

"Life is short. Have an affair."

Think I'm making this up? Here is a TV spot that the site tried to run during the Super Bowl (banned in Canada and the majority of the US)



What an idea. Nothing shows how long the Long Tail is better than a site like this. By last count, the site has over 3.2 million profiles. Need an example of a niche social network in your next presentation? This is it.

Thanks to EV for the video link!

Here Come the Ads...

It's the most important day of the year for TV-obsessed brands: the Super Bowl. A number of lists have been released already (and I'm hoping the place we are watching get's an American feed) and tomorrow will be a big day of "best commercials" from the big game.

We'll be doing a search for the new "Canadian content" out there and will hopefully find a few gems...

Kobe Bryant selling Ankle Insurance

Another video from Nike showcasing their superstar Kobe Bryant. It would be a lot more cool if they actually began providing ankle insurance with the purchase of the shoes.

The Worlds Worst Ad Placement

Over the past year and a half I have posted a few different examples of horrible ad placements but this one takes the cake.



I won't spoil it for you but it is well worth watching. Over fast forward to 1:23.

The New Siren's Song - Branded iPhone Apps

While giving a presentation to a few colleagues on digital today, I talked a lot about how the App Store from Apple is changing the game for mobile devices. As a user, I can go on everyday and download thousands of applications (for free or a nominal sum) that enhance my mobile experience about 1000%.

I love the App store and go to it daily. I'm addicted to testing out new apps (especially GPS ones) and enjoy seeing how random developers are using this device to change the world of mobile.

During the presentation, a friend asked me about brands and iPhone applications. Is it worth creating? Should all brands run to this new medium and start testing stuff out?

No. Definitely not.

In Canada, iPhone penetration might be around 200-400K (based on Rogers quarterly wireless business reports). Although that number is going to increase rapidly, it's still an early adopter crowd. Brands like Swiffer might want to stay away. But tech related products might want to jump in (cell phone manufacturers can you hear me?)

Audi, always a brand trying to innovate in terms of advertising, made the jump quickly - launching the first car manufacturing gaming app that allowed you to test out the new Audi 2009 A4. Decent game and because it was a category first, it generated a lot of buzz. Nice idea, in any case.

Cue the followers.

MINI has done some great work in the past but their new iPhone application (shown below) misses the mark. Not only does the game look boring as hell, I really have no idea how it ties back to the 'coolness' of the brand. Why not do something different? Drive through the streets of London or go places (that are super small) that no other car could get into?



Audi 1. Mini 0.

Just remember - most people don't want to engage with your brand. They like free, cool stuff and they love their iPhone but don't just make something to be there - make something with a purpose that adds value to the user. Sounds basic, doesn't it?

Thx to Pantyboy22 for the Mini link.

Quality Impressions are related to Time

In my ongoing quest to change media planning (I'm not in media, nor to I have a specific desire to be), one of my new rants is about time.

When television emerged in the mid-1900's as the new, dominant consumer medium, ad buying revolved around time. What time were the top shows on and how could I ensure that my spot was in the middle of them? This broadcast model still exists today. Major networks - whether it's CTV or NBC - value their media space by time and broadcast content. Weekly lists are published to show advertisers what the Top 10 TV shows of the week were and guess what? The better the show, the more the ad costs to buy and the easier it is for consumers to watch (usually between 8-11PM on Monday-Friday).

With the emergence of the Web and the PVR, the question of time fell by the wayside. Now that consumers could consume content whenever they wanted, time became less of an issue. Advertisers were more concerned about getting their products into the actual content to avoid the apocaplyse of the fast-forward button than buying the right placements - even though recent neuro-studies have shown that brand integration within movies and TV shows doesn't exactly well...work.

When display advertising became one of the main, revenue models for websites, media companies took the old model and applied it to the web - tell us the number of impressions you want or the number of clicks and we will give you the price. Then you're ads will run on our site for the duration of the campaign period. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Time is not a concern. Final results (impresisons mainly) are.

But why can't a brand buy their executions based on site time usage. Why can't we have our ads served at the peak of a site's traffic on any given day?

A few years ago, I was working on a campaign for a national brand. The product revolved around music and we were targeting youth wherever possible (a ton of mass, loads of TV GRP's and, of course, a run-in-the-mill online display campaign). After doing a quick Google search, I found that youth web usage to music download sites peaked between 3-5PM on weekdays. Why, then, could we not have our banners run heavy on music sites during this time and not throughout the entire buy?

Because it was never a question media had considered and, as a result, the site had no idea how to handle a request like that. So they didn't. And our display ads just ran the entire time. Generating the industry average 99.95% fail rate (assuming that the average CTR for a display campaign is around 0.05%).

So here we are. Forced into a world where we don't buy the best time but just assume because we are on a popular site (like Facebook) that all ad impressions are created equal. They aren't. And I really hope someone out there in the media world is trying to do something about it.

There's a media innovation award in it if you do. Promise.

Carnival Cruises - Play for All

This campaign is exceptional. After seeing these spots Carnival is the cruise line that owns fun. I can't remember a single cruise ship commercial. I imagine I have seen one before but nothing worth noting.

Its great how people take notice when you have something interesting to say...cue next post.

Do you have something interesting to say?

Whats changed in the world of advertising since 1940? Click play.



Found on the Social Path via German agency Scholz & Friends and Reg Saddler on Twitter.

Social Networks will become as important as air

Big thanks to Mike for sending us a link this social network presentation. It's a holistic view of some of the changes (some identity related) that social networks will be going through over the next few years.

Essentially - you're network and friends are going to come with you, everywhere. Sure, you can change your privacy settings but if you want customized content based on your interests, network and desires you're going to have to give up some of your personal details.

Is this a trade you're willing to make?

The Future Of Social Networks

View more presentations or upload your own. (tags: future advertising)

Cadbury Gorilla Follow Up ("Eyebrow Dance")

Cadbury made it big in 2008 with their Glass and a Half Full "Gorilla" video (which went viral and was then released on cinema's as a 2 minute spot across the world).

Here's the follow up:



Right now, it's only got about 2,700 views on YouTube but I think that the randomness (and the fact that it's the next thing from Cadbury) should help it go "viral" fairly quickly.

I'm a fan of the old school Chemical Brothers track but this spot might hit the 'random meter' a bit too hard. What do you think?

The links - Pauls edition

1. Obama's inaugaration is the 5th most watched event in internet history. See the list.
2. Mark Hurd, CEO of HP likes food. $243,000 worth of food in 2008. Believe it.
3. Merrill Lynch CEO spends $1.2 million on office make-over. Then gets canned. Sweet justice.
   
4. Mobile Predictions for 2009 on burning the bacon.
5. Not sure what I think about Google quotes. Have you checked it out?
6. This video is amazing. Watch it.

Don't Blink. You'll miss the High Life.

From Biz Journals

MillerCoors said Tuesday that it will premier a one-second ad for its Miller High Life brand during the Super Bowl broadcast Feb. 1.

The spot will focus on the brand's current campaign that features the burly High Life delivery man who aims to reinforce the brand as a "good, honest beer at a tasty price." MillerCoors notes that air time for a 30-second commercial during the game is selling for as high as $3 million.

“Miller High Life is all about high quality and great value, so it wouldn’t make sense for this brand to pay $3 million for a 30-second ad,” said High Life senior brand manager Kevin Oglesby, in a press release. “Just like our consumers, High Life strives to make smart choices. One second should be plenty of time to remind viewers that Miller High Life is common sense in a bottle.”

God knows I absolutely love the High Life Common Sense campaign. Check it here and here.

Visit the 1 second ad site here.

Stand By Me - International Version

Found on Bit Pakkit:

Playing for Change is a multimedia movement created to inspire , connect and bring peace to the world through music. They have created an amazing video.

Ben Watson of Bit Pakkit sums up the following video beautifully, "Bill Moyers takes us around the world mixing the voices and music of musicians from across the globe to a beautifully orchestrated and shared experience that transcends the original message of the song in a beautiful and compelling way."



Visit their site to learn more about the film, the journey and the movement.

In 2009 I want to make an elephant fly

We work in the idea business. Discovering, creating and selling ideas is how we make money and the longer you are in the business the more true this quote becomes:

“If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats.” - Howard Aiken

Big ideas should scare. Clients are inherently afraid of risk because they have a job they want to keep, an organization looking over their shoulder and scrutinizing their decisions every time they turn on a TV, open a newspaper, go online or drive through the city. Even when a client sees the genius behind a big idea a mile long list of challenges lay in waiting, looking to kill that idea. Getting an idea through upper management, finance, etc may seem akin to trying to lift an elephant. A lot of effort and energy with the high possibility of getting squished.

Especially in the current times where ROI is the new creative director and every dollar spent is scrutinized original, untested and unproven creative ideas will not be welcomed with open arms...in most organizations. It is the job of the account team to take the ideas of their creative teams and sell them. This requires understanding the culture of the company, motivations of the decision makers, your clients personal motivations (awards, sales, internal recognition), where the organization is willing to invest, what measurements they value and what is the right timing among other factors. Presenting an idea only after these factors have been analyzed and addressed is the first step towards getting that elephant off the ground.

Think about the opportunity that presents to the few clients that are willing to take a risk? The opportunity is big and the rewards could be even bigger.

How do you plan on pushing the big idea through this year?

Your Digital Identity: Ever Thought about It?

Since we added Facebook Connect to AdJoke, I've been thinking a lot about how important our digital identities have become and what the future of our D-ID's could look like (Digital identities) Think about it for a moment.

Right now, the average person has at least 6-12 profiles across a number of sites (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Amazon, Ebay and Gmail to name a few of the most common). Each of these sites requires a user to create their own profile, verify their identity (by simply ensuring that you can type in a few letters and aren't a computer) and for the eCommerce bunch, confirm that your credit card has some room on it when you make a purchase.

For most people, multiple profiles are a pretty big hassle. Not only do you have to fill out the user form everytime you want to start a profile, you've got to verify your account via an email and remember your user name and password for each site your a member of.

There has to be a better way.

Facebook Connect is a start, however people might become wary of giving a site like Facebook (which sells your data to advertisers) more information then they already have.

So what's the solution? Here's a start:



I was pretty memorized when I first watched this presentation. It's a fantastic account of the evolution of digital identity and offers a few insights into what the future could look like. We need a verified identity from a trusted source (like a government site) that can be used across all of our favorite sites. I'm sick of creating profiles for ever site, spreading my information everywhere and knowing that I'm being put on about 1,000 email lists for advertisers just like myself.

Sure - this might not stop with one, firm D-ID. But it could get better. And, at the very least, I won't have to remember 30 user ID's and passwords anymore.

Lil Wayne - Gatorade Ad

116,000 views since January 3rd.

2008 Billboards Top 25 Mash-up

Christian over at Idea Drunk brought this gem to my Google Reader.

I always enjoy a quality mash-up and marvel at their skill.That being said I truly believe we deserve a higher quality Billboard top 25. Who is buying half this crappy music anyway?



PS - Have you visited Idea Drunk lately?

This Summer let your interns plan your TV campaigns...

...and invest the dollars that would have gone to media agency commission into something valuable (like auditing your website user-experience).

Google TV ads is out and bringing the Google auction system to the world of media. I am interested in seeing how this service grows over the next few years. Something tells me that the traditional world of media buying is ignoring this and will continue to justify their model to clients.

Michael Steib the director of Google TV ads has a nice quote in Fast Company that sums up the service and benefits:

"One of the things we've learned from online advertising is that marketers make day-to-day decisions. In the traditional model of TV ad sales, you make buying commitments months in advance. With our system, you can bid on spots up to the day before. We've also just introduced a feature that uses search. If you're Allstate or DirecTV, two of our customers, you can type in keywords such as 'family' or 'football,' and our system generates a list of programs whose metadata is either an exact match or related. We're only going to give you content contextually relevant to your brand. And all that takes minutes. The next day, you get a report back that tells you what spots ran, what audience was delivered, and how much of your budget was spent. You're getting almost real-time data."

Check the video out here.

Pair this with the Google TVs ad tracking partnership with Nielsen and you have a game changing product. How many media CEO's or Presidents do you think are taking this seriously? As one of my favourite quotes goes:

"The bullet that kills you never hits you between the eyes. It hits you in the temple. You never see it coming, because you are looking in the wrong direction."

Ogilvy Athens hang your head in shame

Have you seen this load of crap? How could anyone honestly have said that this is:

1. A good idea.
2. Something I want to be involved with.
3. Something worth sharing with the world.

I wonder if the careers of the two singers have been destroyed?

Obama and Photosynth

A about a year and half ago, we blogged about an emergnig Microsoft technology called Photosynth. Photosynth is a system that uses photo's across the web to create 3-D versions of places and spaces (you can check out an amazing demo of the product here).

A recent post to the TED blog reports that CNN has announced that for Tuesday's Presediential Inauguration, the broadcast will use Photosynth to provide viewers around the world with a view that will make them feel like they're actually there:

"We'll take your photos from every angle, combine them with CNN's professional shots, and produce what we hope will be an amazing experience that will be shown live on CNN. And you thought the Jessica Yellin hologram was cool! The synth will also be available for everyone to see on CNN.com."

I'm excited for this technology to hit the mass media and Microsoft must be thrilled about their software headlining the largest event of 2009. Be sure to check out CNN.com's "The Moment" microsite on Tuesday night and get a view that you'll never forget.

Not all impressions are equal

Nice idea. Great execution.

If you live in London, you've heard of this...

W+K's 2009 Agency Goals

If you haven't read W+K's London blog, it's a great example of an agency blog that it fun, insightful and all about people. It's one of the few agency blogs that's written for the people of the agency, rather than a "hard sell" about what Weiden can do for you. Rather than tell you about how great they are, they just let you read about what their up to (and you get the message on your own).

W+K has 8 major goals for 2009. Here's my favorite:

1. Continue to try to do the best work of our lives, across all clients

Still job number one. Partly because great ideas are what businesses need in tough times. Partly because to build our own business we to be seen to do work that is talked about in our industry and in the wider culture. Partly because it what we choose to do.

Most agencies will have revenue in mind. Smart ones will put the work first and let the revenue follow.

Check out the full list here.

Leisure time spent online increasing

Found on eMarketer.

My guess is mobile usage in is a big reason behind China, Japan & Korea's lead. Increased access will obviously lead to increase use.

What do you think is the % that we will tap-out at? Will human nature allow us to spend more than 60% online, 70%? And how long until we begin to revolt OR until the internet allows us to find the information, entertainment or complete our tasks at a faster rate leading to a decline?