P&G: To their Moms, they will always be kids

Thanks to @martindelaney for sharing this with me.

Touching and true ... is that an insight? :)

Less content, More filters

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the weird transition I went through without my iPhone. At first, I missed it. Then I became desperate for it and felt like I was missing out on everything. And then, almost suddenly, I realized that the majority of content I consume on a daily basis - from the news to industry gossip to the latest creative - was essentially spam.

That might be a bit harsh. I do love reading and feeling like I'm 'in the know'. But it's the truth.

Today I went on my Google Reader for the first time in a week (a long time away from it for me). With over 100 sites and well over the "1000+ unread" items mark, it was overwhelming. Where do I start? What is actually worth me reading vs. ignoring?

The future (and by future I mean a few months) is going to be about filters. The idea that "if it's important enough the news will find me" is true in a broad sense. I just hope that when it comes to what I like, my digital tools will help to keep the spam out and the good stuff in.

But it doesn't stop there.

My reader was populated with content that I wanted to read. At one point, every site was individually added by me because the content attracted me for some reason. It got my attention and I decided it was worth a subscription. (my guess is that for every 10 sites I come across, I'll actually subscribe to 1 or 2).

Now let's put our advertising hats on. We are targeting (in most cases) people who are overloaded. Who have subscribed to their favorite sites with the hopes of getting a snip bit of content that they actually like. They don't want to be interrupted, distracted or fooled. They want their content and they want to move on.

If you're considering making an experience in digital, make sure it's timely, immediately relevant and fun. After all, I've got 100 sites that I already know I love and not enough time in the day to make it through them. And that's not even counting Facebook, Twitter or any email account (I've got 5).

What can you do to convince me to make it through yours?

Hint: it's not a contest.

Image of the day: And you think your brand stands out?

I love this picture. It reminds us of how difficult it really can be to make a brand stand out at retail, or even online.

Nokia Connects

A nice campaign for Nokia in London. The brand is having problems raising awareness of built-in GPS and location search applications on a wide-variety of their handsets. To help raise awareness, they used one of the most common location markers known to man - a signpost. Only they made it huge, digital and totally interactive.

Check out the video below:

The World's Biggest Signpost from adghost on Vimeo.

What I like about this campaign is that it ties the real world to the digital one. Whether you live near Tower Bridge or not, you can see the favorite places and destinations that people who participated choose. Nice work.

Vancouver 2010: VISA or bust

If you've been watching the Olympics on TV in the last week, you've defintiely seen one of the many Morgan Freeman-narrated VISA TV spots. As one of the main Olympic partners, VISA has created a ton of spots to highlight that the only card you can use at the games is theirs.

While I like the spots (especially the one below - it's a tear jerker) I have to say that only being able to use a VISA card at the games is extremely annoying. I saw a few events in Vancouver last week and quickly realized that if you are trying to purchase anything - from beers at a hockey game to a coffee - you either have to pay using a VISA credit or debit card or cash.

The problem is that there aren't any ATM machines in the venues because VISA has dominated them. I realize that VISA has paid millions to be the title sponsor but as a spectator my reaction is 'damn you VISA' more than it is 'I wish I had a VISA so I could buy this beer'.

Vitamin Water: Stay Vitaminized.

Behold, the latest in a long line of great work. Steve Nash is the most ridiculous man in the world.

If only all of its flavours were as good as the work. Thanks to the "Jeffs".



and for fun the classic infomercial.

Links you should click on

1. Old Spice Manmercials channel on YouTube is worth 4 minutes of your time.
   
2. Wranglers Blue Bell website is awesome.
3. You should become a fan of the Extreme Group on Facebook (the agency I work for).
4. Belgium ad agency sites are on strike and have created a unique online experience to express why.
5. Toronto Raptors mascot is making big news for eating a cheerleader. 400,000 plus views.
6. The street views snowmobile captures the sights of the Vancouver Olympic slopes.

Have a great weekend!

Old Spice: The Man your Man could smell like

The Old Spice work from W+K has been consistently good. They haven't disappointed me here.

Most woman probably buy the bodywash and the man just uses whatever is in the shower. They are pushing the purchaser to buy more. Gotta love consumerism!



Found on sosticky

Molson Canadian: Our Land

I am sure we will be seeing this spot every other commercial break over the Olympics. On a side note I think the overhead footage of the kid skating across the lake is the same as in the CTV spot that played during the Superbowl.

Do This or Die

I recently finished Terry O'Reilly's book Age of Persuasion - How Marketing Ate our Culture (from CBC's Age of Persuasion). If you're looking for a nice, quick, history of advertising (with some great new and old examples) it is worth picking up. It's also quintessentially Canadian which is a nice change considering the majority of ad related books come out of the States or the UK.

At the conclusion of the book, O'Reilly recounts a contest that Time magazine held in the 1960's. Time asked people to create an ad that was for the public interest (ie. not a product). DDB writer Bob Levinson won with the print ad above. I've captured the full copy so that you can read it - trust me, it's worth it:

DO THIS OR DIE

Is this ad some kind of trick?

No. But it could have been. And at exactly that point rests a do or die decision for American business. We in advertising, together with our clients, have all the power and skill to trick people. Or so we think. But we're wrong. We can't fool any of the people any of the time. There is indeed a twelve-year-old mentality in this country; every six-year-old has one. We are a nation of smart people. And most smart people ignore most advertising because most advertising ignores smart people. Instead we talk to each other. We debate endlessly about the medium and the message. Nonsense. In advertising, the message itself is the message. A blank page and a blank television screen are one and the same. And above all, the messages we put on those pages and on those television screens must be the truth. For if we play tricks with the truth, we die.

Now. The other side of the coin. Telling the truth about a product demands a product that's worth telling the truth about. Sadly, so many products aren't. So many products don't do anything better. Or anything different. So many don't work quite right. Or don't last. Or simply don't matter. If we also play this trick, we also die. Because advertising only helps a bad product fail faster. No donkey chases the carrot forever. He catches on. And quits. That's the lesson to remember. Unless we do, we die. Unless we change, the tidal wave of consumer indifference will wallop into the mountain of advertising and manufacturing drivel. That day we die. We'll die in our marketplace. On our shelves. In our gleaming packages of empty promises. Not with a bang. Not with a whimper. But by our own skilled hands.

It's been almost 50 years since this ad was published and I can't think of something more relevant that encapulates the state of the industry better. Everyone seems to say that digital has changed everything. That consumers want real products that help them (functionally and emotionally) and they don't want to be lied to or tricked in any way.

But still marekting trickery we see banners, site experiencesces and Tweets. A line of micetype legal below the fold of a website clarifying the offer or a 'see in store for details' message that makes us think twice about what we are actually being sold.

Digital hasn't changed the fact that if we aren't honest in our communications and with our clients, the consumers will see through it and we will fail.

Somehow the industry has chugged along since Levinson wrote this execution. But if we don't step up our game, think differently about what consumers actually want (hint: it's not a contest) and focus our efforts on products and services that are worth talking about, we won't have another 50 years to get it right.

Google Wins Super Bowl

Paul recently posted the top Super Bowl ads and Google's first foray into the US TV space was a spot that a lot of people are going to remember (and not just because the company - at one point - swore off mass advertising and has finally decided that it might be a good idea).

What interests me about this spot is the fact that it positions Google as a company that lives what it strives to be - the brand that organizes the worlds information. No matter who you are, what you are looking for or any questions that you have, Google can help you find the answer - quickly.

I have friends that work at Google and have heard that they are - for the most part - an engineer driven company. They obsess over numbers, metrics, data and products (a huge step for most agencies and marketers out there). Sometimes, they focus a bit to much on the data side of things and the design gets forgotten.

This time, though. They've created a great balance. As a Google engineer, you've got to be pretty happy with this spot. It showcases the core product (Search) but also a ton of others including Maps, Translation, Wikipedia and Flight tracker - all great applications that Google can help you find. Furthermore, the entire ad is a product shot. How many marketers have secretly craved this and had their agencies tell them that they have to do more and push for the 'big idea?'

What makes the truly ad great, though, is the story.

It's quirky, fun, real and human. It's short and succinct but tells the story of a lifetime.

Sometimes visuals, actors and big scenes wreck spots. The intentions where there but something just doesn't get executed to the full extent. This spot sets the scene and leaves the rest up to the viewer to imagine how the story plays out - how they met at the Cafe, what the girl looks like, where they had the wedding and what will happen next.

And through it all, Google was there. Helping and assisting along the way.

It's been said that brands don't define who they are anymore - Google does. For a long time it was hard to define what Google really did. Was it Search? Or Maps? Or E-Mail? Or Phones?

This spot makes it clear - it's the company that does whatever you need it to help you get where you're going in life.

(...and it also makes for great mash-up material if you're less sentimental about it...)

The top 3 Superbowl ads based on views

The top 3 Superbowl spots based on total views in the last 24 hours are:

1. Google - Parisian Love

2. Audi - Green Car

3. Kia - Big Game spot

A comment on Memes

Memes have always interested me. Where do they come from? What is their origin? What human insights can we extrapolate from the development and spread of memes and how can we use this to predict or create future memes? Or is that what makes them so great?

If I was to go back to school it would be a deep dive into the world of internet memes; but then again most Universities probably block 4chan.

One of my favourites:

Know Your Meme: Advice Dog from Rocketboom on Vimeo.

I wonder what memes may come out of Superbowl Sunday.

Here Come the 'Super' Ads...

With the Super Bowl just around the corner, we can all get ready for the thousands of ad reviews that are going to occur next week. The top 10 lists, the opinions and the general ranking of which ad 'one' the minds of all the people who watched the big game.

For our industry, the Super Bowl is the Oscars of TV spots. If you're a creative, director, client or agency and you've got work showing tomorrow night, it's a big deal. It's one of the few places where people actually want to watch the ads instead of fast-forward through them.

It's also over-hyped, over-discussed and over-priced.

Here's a non-ad related Super Bowl video that asks, "What if major directors produced the big game?" I wanted to post this instead of the ad strategies and spots (which will, as a member of the ad industry blog world, need to follow due to contractual obligations).

AdLand Homage

Nice animated work from Mark Denton and the creative team from Coy! The video is a mash up of some of the most famous ads of all time. How many can you spot?

iCoke.ca Design Disaster?

Wow. What is going on here. I don't know what I should be looking at. I don't want to read anything. When this site loads I want to do one thing; leave as quickly as I arrived.

Hitler responds to the iPad announcement

This is hilarious. I laughed, then laughed some more, then I wondered how Steve Jobs and Apple engineers/product development team feel about it.

I wonder if they are already scrambling internally to launch the next generation of the iPad (this one with wings and a moisture lock chamber) in the summer that supports multi-tasking, flash and other requirements of a good product. (Just as a caveat... I don't support the use of Hitler, or the fact that he is becoming somewhat as a popular spoof, but I was entertained).



Dammit and I was hoping that this product launch was going increase revenue by necessitating 3 builds for every site that consider mobile, standard web and tablet UXD. Shit we could have all been rich!

Does this make you think of the Ad Industry?

It's so true about TV news stories. They are formulaic, highly scripted and structured and easily predictable.

The same formula applies to the majority of advertisements we see today. There are, of course, variations. The 'funny ad'. The 'sad ad'. The 'dramatic ad'. The 'sell you stuff ad'. And, my personal favorite, the 'I want a viral internet video ad'.

Formula's are impossible to get away from at times. Why? Because when you see something that works it makes it easier to justify. "It's just like the Apple Think Different spot" you hear yourself saying to the client. Or, "Burger King did this on Facebook and it won at Cannes". Suddenly your evaluating creative ideas based on other work and that leads you down the slippery slope towards failed campaigns.

The tough part is that most people know the formula's off by heart. We're used to them because everyone does them. If you've got a TV budget and you're a client, chances are your brief starts out by using existing work and Frankensteining it together:

"It should be emotive and inspiring like an Apple spot, but funny and irreverent like Skittles work. If you can figure out a way to combine the two, that would be brilliant!"

Everyone should be aware of ad 'formula's' and existing structures. And everyone should think about how breaking them, changing them and mashing them together can lead to better work.

Anyone can follow a script and existing structure. It's safe. It's easy. It's predictable.

Sadly, though, it's been done before.

Thanks to Adam for the link via FB.

Some formula's just work. Bud Light: Clothing Drive

I don't think anyone can watch this and not think...isn't this just like a fresh take on the swear jar? The answer yes and I fully support that.

I do not see an issue with repeating a successful formula in a new way as long as the formula was yours in the first place.

Enjoy, I laughed my ass off.

Axe: Clean your balls

Watch and comment. I don't know what to say.... I kind of laughed, kind of didn't.... regardless the long pause on the hand motion makes it worth while. Enough said.

This year we want people to touch shit in our stores

So I was in the mood to swear in the title. Yes, but I am also a little bewildered.

Our friendly neighourhood stats pusher eMarketer has released some stats that blow my mind. If these are seriously the focus of, and I quote, "Seniors Marketers Worldwide" the world of marketing and advertising is in for one hell of a shitty ride over the next 5 years.

As the saying goes, "statistics are just numbers looking for an argument", and guess what, they found more than an argument.

Well here are the stats:
Are you kidding me? Senior marketers should be concerned with little things like improving brand their brand, reducing churn, increasing retention, driving acquisition .... or how about they should just be concerned with objectives and strategy. Not "engagement" or "time spent".

These measurements would be like a senior marketer saying this year we want people to touch more things in our store. Or, we want people to spend more time in our retail location, or we want people to test drive more of our cars. All of this is bullshit. Wake up and realize that engagement, time spent, CTR's, etc all mean nothing unless they are connected to an experience, born in a strategy and conceived by an objective.

What concerns me most is that these top priorities and metrics are so 2006 and possibly the worst metrics we could consider. Lets look at a few.

1. Time spent on site: Unless they are tying time spent to "least time spent" then we as consumers and active online users are in trouble. I want to spend as little time on your site as possible. Let me find what I want within 1, 2 or maybe 3 clicks, get the info I want within 15 seconds, forward it to whoever I need to (boss for approval, client for education, friend for a laugh, girlfriend for brownie points, etc), or share it on my twitter, Facebook, Digg or blog. If it takes me longer to have a satisfying experience I will leave and not return. Time spent matters if it is against something real. If it takes 18 seconds to understand a product benefit, or if it takes 45 seconds to watch a demo video, then measure against the completion of a valuable act not total "time spent".
   
   
2. Unique page views: Give me a break. I no longer enter your site through the homepage. I come to your site because of a link I received from a friend, colleague, trusted blog or other news/info source OR because I found the page through Google/Bing/etc. I only want to look at one page in your site, get the info I need then leave. Unique page views is like saying you want someone to try on as many pieces of clothing as possible in your retail store... and you don't. They tie up inventory, staff, change rooms and leave frustrated. You want them to try on one thing, buy it and leave as soon as possible so they can tell all their friends about their new shirt.
   
   
3. Click through rates: Are we still giving a shit about click through rates? How valuable is a CTR if your bounce rate is 65%, and then the other 35% spend 1 minute clicking through 5 pages trying to find something relevant before they give up and leave. How about you try to measure quality of clicks, or valuable (to both brand & consumer) second clicks? If one banner or media placement has a 1% CTR with a 90% bounce rate and another has a 0.35% CTR with a 10% bounce rate what would you be spending your money on?
   

If you are a "senior marketer" and you care about this please rethink your career choice.

But before I finish this I need to attack the 6th largest priority. This priority is "viral campaigns". Are you f#*%ing kidding me? There is no such thing! A "viral campaign" is simply creative communications. Develop an experience that I want to share, create a video that is entertaining, make me feel something and I may send it on. You don't create "viral campaigns", you create great advertising that gets shared and then reap the rewards. Their priority should be to create advertising that builds their brand by connecting with consumers through the delivery of a valuable experience. That will get shared....Period.

This is not rocket science but apparently to the respondents of the survey it is all a mystery.

The Honda Effect from W+K

I love beautiful brand messages.

Classified's "Oh-Canada" and the countdown begins.

I am interested to see how long it takes before we see this song being used by a brand to capitalize on patriotic pride. Possibly within weeks as we look at the quickly approaching Olympic games?



Coca-cola is already using Canadian artist K'naan's song waving flag in ads and ad the theme song of FIFA World Cup. Could "Oh Canada" be the waving flag of the Olympics?

Ohhh Globe & Mail ....you fail to think again.

I am not sure who from the Halifax office of the Extreme Group found this and posted it on the whiteboard in hallway but they were not the only person to notice this horrible ad placement. If you haven't seen it, the ad is asking if people are tired of waiting in line. And of course, showcasing how an American Express Card can make it so you never need to wait in lines again. The content surrounding the ad is images of Haitian's waiting in line for food, water and medical attention. (check out these other photos if you want a closer shot.)

American Express is an unfortunate and unintentional victim of this mess-up BUT once again it highlights the importance of content creators who sell media space to wake-up and start ensuring they are providing advertisers with a effective environment to advertise.

My guess is that this placement would have cost $20 - $30,000 plus ad production. If you are a media buyer and know, please comment as I am interested in how much money the Globe & Mail is making to ignore what they are doing with their advertisers brands.

TBWA AIDS GRAFFITI: A message not an experience

I have seen this video on almost every blog I have visited in the past 2 or 3 days. A lot of mixed emotions and thoughts about the work have been shared, and I felt it was about time that Adjoke weighed in on the discussion.

Personally I think it is entertaining and effectively showcases the need to wrap it up against for both genders. The video portrays to men that you won't get any unless it is wrapped while also making you question your partner choice if she doesn't care. For women (the two I've asked) it makes them think that they are dirty if they aren't using condoms.



That is where my analysis of the video will end. What I want to talk about is the missed opportunity to create an experience instead of a message. The differing view points on the video showcase that not everyone thinks the same (duh) and if we apply the point of Malcolm Gladwell's video "What I learned from spaghetti sauce" then we know that we can't be trying to create one message for all, but multiple messages that will connect with different people in different ways. So how do we create these multiple messages? Easily, create an experience that will connect with multiple people in different ways.

I hope that we will see more from TBWA to turn this video into a campaign full of experiences as I believe it has the foundation to really make an impact and drive change.

Some thoughts I have :)

The video is a wonderful element to ignite the conversation. It is controversial, entertaining, detachable and distributable and most importantly something that will be effective against a wide range of targets. What it needs to do is offer an experience that will allow different segments within their target to more access points to the message and amplify the conversation. Why not put out a video showing the making of the video. Demonstrating the "how" behind the animation that will interest curious minds of creative youth interested in animation, film, gaming, advertising, etc. This video on its own has the ability (if done right) within segments of the longtail to attract new audiences and amplify the conversation. Now, lets take our great characters and create educations videos where our simple graffiti stars showcase proper condom usage, dispel myths, discuss the stats around AIDS and provide interested youth, social workers, sex-ed teachers and more access to videos that the target will find interesting and pay attention to.

As, our characters become known and embedded within "pop-culture" they can be utilized as an iconic and simple reminder at relevant locations to "wrap it up". Removable stickers (let them take them if they want) can be placed on bathroom walls at pubs, clubs and bars. They can be stuck on subway tiles in stations serving University areas or club district and placed on light poles.

Why not create a Facebook community where people can become fans of our little wrapped up friend. He can share information and drive contests around access to concerts, events and other promotions that fit the target. At the same time they can ask people to take pictures and share everywhere they see the stickers of our little guy. Hey, why not put stickers of him unwrapped and ask people to draw a condom on (like in the video) to any unprotected penises they see. Make them feel apart of the campaign, make it fun and create motivation for them wrap it up. If they upload a picture of the little guy they wrapped up maybe they have a chance to win something.

These community building actions allow TBWA to have an existing community of followers that makes the job of igniting the conversation even easier as they evolve their communications. Whether the evolution means new videos, creating awareness around fundraising drives, World AIDs day or whatever else they want.

I could probably write about this all day, but in 20 minutes this is what I have. Is it perfect? No. But is it better than just looking at creating a message? I believe so.

I would be proud to be connected to this video, but I would LOVE to be a part of creating the experience I shared.

We need to get over intersecting with messages and begin to connect through experiences.