May 31, 2004

HOOPER GALTON: "Discovery Channel"



"Terrorism has changed the way we view the world." ]
A DAY AT W+K LONDON ...

"The advertising 'creatives' responsible for campaigns that sell us products like Nike and Honda bounce concepts off bungee ropes, write rock songs for fun and paint self-portraits for inspiration. Katy Guest spends a day learning the subtle art of branding". An article from The Independent UK » 'Inside the factory of bright ideas'

May 29, 2004

Abbot Mead Vickers, London


'Subliminal' Pint Ad

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D&AD 2004
London's W+K team collecting some prizes at the D&AD, Design and Art Direction Awards.

"Everyday", "Cog" and Sense" from W+K were awarded with a Yellow Pencil in the 'Television and Cinema Advertising' category.

Source: Welcome to Optimism
(W+K London oficial blog)
Faulds Advertising


May 28, 2004

HOKUS POKUS



The Hidden Power of Advertising, Robert Heath

They say (ex: Jeremy Bullmore| WPP; Robert Deutsch| DDB) it is probably the biggest and most important development in advertising thinking since AIDA model: Awareness-Interest-Desire-Action ; and will have profound implications for research, branding and advertising practice. It presents a radical new challenge to traditional theories about the way consumers interact with and process brand communication.

"In a highly readable 124-page Admap monograph entitled The Hidden Power of Advertising, Heath contends that conventional advertising research methods, based on measures of awareness and recall, are to a large extent useless. This is because of the inadequacy of what he calls the Cartesian model of advertising in which ads work by persuading the conscious mind of the merits of the things advertised."

The subtitle of his book is how low involvement processing influences the way we choose brands, and it sums up Heath's view of how much advertising, especially on TV, achieves its effect. He puts forward 17 rules for how the Low Involvement Processing Model works. They are, in abbreviated form, as follows.

1. Most consumers believe most reputable brands perform similarly.
2. Consequently they choose brands not on rational grounds but according to subconscious "markers".
3. They pay little conscious attention to advertising.
4. Active learning, or high involvement processing, produces enduring attitude changes.
5. However, most of us tend to process most media passively.
6. Despite appearances TV is a relatively low attention medium.
7. Advertisers try to get around this with attention-getting devices.
8. However, consumers' perceptual filtering blocks these except where they are integrated with the message of the ad.
9. Information can be acquired passively by implicit learning, a subsconscious process that uses automatic processing and feeds into implicit memory.
10. Such memory stores perceptions and simple concepts only.
11. Info can also be acquired semi-consciously via shallow processing. Together shallow and automatic processing make up low involvement processing.
12. Most ads are processed using low involvement processing.
13. Implicitly learned perceptual and conceptual elements are stored as associations with the brand.
14. Implicit learning is used every time you see or hear an ad irrespective of how much conscious attenion you give it or whether you love or loathe it.
15. Ads processed with high involvement are outnumbered by up to 50 times by low involvement ads.
16. Implicit memory, though building more slowly than explicit memory, it is more durable.
17. If a brand association triggers an emotional marker, consumers can be strongly influenced towards the brand without realising it.
BARTLE, BOGLE AND HEGARTY: "Polaroid - Instant originals"


Hungry? Pringles has a few words for you.

Procter & Gamble Co. soon will print trivia questions and answers on its Pringles snack chips, using ink made of blue or red food coloring. Source: Buffalo News
THE NEW YORKER: Cartoons on Advertising


May 27, 2004

ALTERNATIVE BRANDING


I've always felt fascinated by them (maybe that's why I collect them). Cards and matches can be one of the most interesting branding mediums. They're very personal and they can convey individual experiences that will always remind us about the place and a particular enjoyable occasion (err or not!).

May 26, 2004

CHEAP BOOKS = CHEAP KNOWLEDGE?

Cheap books .. we like it!Bought recently a book for 0.50 Eur at the local British Council in Lisbon.What a bargain me reckons! And the title sounds promising: "The Discourse of Advertising", by Guy Cook. Apparently the author discusses the uses of music, pictures and language in advertising through semiotical and linguistic lens. I'll come back on this soon after I've digested my proud purchase!
NISSAN LAUNCHES FURNITURE BRAND ..


"Nissan Car Designers Create Furniture for New York's International Contemporary Furniture Fair; Car Designers' Creativity in Furniture Expected to Influence Future Vehicles at Nissan" » Business Wire

May 25, 2004

'Leadership Sopranos Style : How to Become a More Effective Boss' - curious at least!
TONY SOPRANO: MANAGEMENT GURU?

It's quite usual to find out books on leadership & management based on classic figures such as Nicolo Machiavelli, Sun Tzu or even based in charismatic leaders like Churchill or Roosevelt. But honestly would you ever thought on Tony Soprano for guidance? Aparently this book is quite insightful and teaches you things that you wouldn't learn at the Harvard Business School (perhaps only in New Jersey).

May 24, 2004

CONSUMER ENPOWERMENT

We already know, but it's never too much to repeat this rhetorical exercise: Commodities belong to the supermarkets shelves and points-of-sale, they live and can be found there; while brands live on people's mind. Brands are feeded through unique and individual experiences that go beyond the functional benefit; These experiences differ from each person*, they belong to those who feel them - not the ones that provide them. Therefore: Brands belong to people, they belong to the consumers because they're the ones who give an intangible meaning to them. The brand manager or marketer that does not understand this self-evident fact is on the wrong path.

* "To illustrate how people construct their personal mental model of a brand: Take eight, eight-stud LEGO bricks and make a model. You will not be short of alternatives, as these eight bricks can be combined in 102,981,500 different ways. Building a LEGO model serves as a metaphor for how consumers build brands. Each brick represents a single expression of the brand or clue to its character – name, packaging, advertising, promotions, events, experiences, call centre, vehicle livery, and so on." - Connecting with the New Consumer, Mediaedge:Cia

The below quotations speak for themselves:

"Trustmarks don't belong to companies. Trustmarks belong to the people. I own Fast Company magazine. I want it every month. I want to read it, to take it apart, and to spread it around to my friends. The editors of Wallpaper don't own that magazine. I own Wallpaper. It's not theirs, it's mine -- and they'd better not fuck with me." - Kevin Roberts

"It is the consumer that owns the brand (...) Brands are no longer a set of image attributes applied to your product to differentiate it from the competition but an experience" - John Grant

"If consumers are not happy with the brand, they simply do not buy, and the corporation has to adjust according to what the consumers want." - Josephine Wong
TV ADS DOESN'T WORK FOR MATURE PACKAGE GOODS

In a study sure to be controversial, Deutsche Bank says TV ads don't work for mature package good brands. Source: AdAge

"The study, released on the eve of the TV buying upfront, examined 23 household, personal-care, food and beverage brands using customized marketing-mix analysis from Information Resources Inc. It found only 18% generated a positive return on investment (ROI) in the short term (a year or less) from TV advertising. Less than half (45%) saw their TV investment pay off long term."
CANNES DO: "It's time to give something back"


Excelent initiative with a touch of solidarity. For only 50 Eur you could trade-off 3 drinks at this year's Cannes rendez-vous and donate them instead to this noble cause.

For more info: Cannes Do

Some supporters:
Sir Martin Sorrell (WPP) | Trevor Beattie (TBWA UK) | John Hegarty (BBH)
David Droga (Publicis) | Steve Henry (HHCL/Red Cell) | Michael Bulk (AMV BBDO)
Grant Hill (DDB Chicago) | Nick Bell (JWT) | Alex Bogusky (Crispin Porter + Bogusky)
VISUAL ELEMENTS FOR CREATIVES

Here it is an excelent blog/working tool: Veer | From illustrations, fonts, images and wallpapers; the designer or art director can find lots of "goodies" and interesting stuff.

AN INTERVIEW WITH DAN WIEDEN

'Creative insight is one that you don't expect, and that's why it's so powerful, because it takes you off guard, it makes you think about things in a different way and it takes you to a place you wouldn't have gone if you'd just followed logic and reason and focus groups'- DAN WIEDEN"For Wieden, the philosophy is simple: Creative people need some sense of security in which they can operate -- some sense that they're loved, quite honestly, and respected -- and then asked to do daring things."

Don't miss this cool interview on The Oregonian | Cool tip from caffeinegoddess

May 17, 2004

SCOOTERAMA .. ALL THE WAY TO LISBON

"In an advert for Adidas that took six month to complete, Beckham, Zidane and other players scooter through Paris, Madrid, Seville and Lisbon to get to the game, Euro 2004. Like a cross between the Italian job and Quadrophenia, this road-movie ad shows all the players going to Lisbon, and reportedly cost £3million to make.

Along the route the players, among them Patrick Vieira, Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard, meet up for kickoff in anything remotely resembling a pitch. Eventually they take on an entire Portuguese town, before finally the mod squad reaches Rossio, the main square of Lisbon.

Beckhams scooter is covered with mod emblems and crosses of St George, apparently he fancied it so much he had it shipped to his home.
The two-minute version of the ad will air on Sky Sports this Saturday for the first time, during the Soccer AM. Other airings will be a shorter 60-second version."

The campaign, called "Road to Lisbon" was created by independent 180 Amsterdam, as part of the 180/TBWA alliance. The campaign includes TV, Cinema, Print and Outdoor and kicked off in the UK this past Saturday. A global roll-out will follow in a few weeks.

Source: Adland Ad-rag

Click on image to see film.

May 15, 2004

SHARING INSIGHTS

New trends in Fast Food

Click on image.
"Kitchen Fresh Chicken"?
Will consumers believe in this new brand identity?

"Of course we will, if we hear it enough as it blares from our televisions. Branding is at times a delicate alchemy. And at other times it's just spending lots of money. (Like when KFC tried to convince us fried chicken was a health food.) You hammer away at us with your insultingly wrongheaded message until our resistance wears down and we throw up our hands and we accede that yes, we suppose this chicken does come from a "kitchen" of sorts and, OK, by some tortured definition it could possibly be referred to as "fresh."

Click on image.McDonald's with swedish "flavour"
"McDonalds is experimenting with contemporary, homey stores with played down golden arch logos and Swedish furniture."
"This restaurant, designed by freelance designer Lucy Powers, plays down the traditional McDonald?s red and yellow livery in favour of a broad, sub-Paul Smith stripe in a retro brown. The furniture is also retro, Scandinavian-inspired modernist-lite, all dark timber with upholstered stools in bright colours. The diversity of seating and the colours on the floor are trying hard to provide a differentiated experience in what is a very small space. You can sit on a high stool by the window chatting on your mobile phone while sipping a coffee, you can lounge with your paper in one of the low chairs, or eat at one of the rather attractive Corian tables."

Diet Coke Unveils 'Effervescent' New Ad Campaign

"It's a Diet Coke thing" - Kate Beckinsale and Adrien Brody are featured in Diet Coke television ads slated to hit the air this month. The campaign also includes print, radio and Internet. All the new ads include the tagline, "It's a Diet Coke thing."
The Diet Coke portfolio in the U.S. now includes Diet Coke, introduced in 1982; Caffeine-Free Diet Coke (1983); Diet Cherry Coke (1985); Diet Coke with Lemon (2001); Diet Vanilla Coke (2002); and Diet Coke with Lime (2004). Diet Coke is the number one diet soft drink in the country and the world, and third best-selling carbonated soft drink overall in the U.S. and the world (where in some countries it is called Coca-Cola Light).
RE-INVENTING A BORING CATEGORY



"Like many 20-somethings during the dotcom boom, Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry ditched their day jobs to start a business. But instead of taking the Internet route, the pair headed somewhere decidedly less glamorous: the grocery store. In search of a bright idea, they walked the aisles looking for a consumer product in need of a makeover. Their eureka moment? Shelves of dish soap and household cleaning supplies were not only dominated by dinosaurs like Procter & Gamble (PG) and Colgate-Palmolive (CL) but also plagued by uniformity -- endless rows of identically shaped bottles, distinguished only by their labels. Just a year later, Ryan and Lowry launched Method, a line of nontoxic cleaning products so sleekly packaged you want to store them next to the sink instead of under it."

Source: 'Selling Cool in a Bottle .. of Dish Soap'
"WHY PHONES ARE REPLACING CARS"

click on image to read the article

"Phones are now the dominant technology with which young people, and urban youth in particular, now define themselves. What sort of phone you carry and how you customise it says a great deal about you, just as the choice of car did for a previous generation.
(...) people buy new ones far more often than is actually necessary. Both are social technologies that bring people together; for teenagers, both act as symbols of independence. And cars and phones alike promote freedom and mobility, with unexpected social consequences."
LEADING TRENDS

"You'll be hearing more about the 'Desire Economy' in 2004. Most Western consumers now have almost everything they need and are becoming increasingly focused on fulfilling a range of more spiritual or emotional needs and desires. We'll see a growth in products and services selling dreams."

"Cool isn't over, it's just evolving. Creative culture is increasingly using the language of traditional un-cool culture as reference points - from white-trash culture, ironic pastimes, suburban culture to corporate cool - all are emerging as new signs of authentic cool."

» Zoe Lazarus, Consumer Trend Analyst, Ogilvy & Mother London in The Observer Magazine

May 14, 2004



See the film!!

"The Bulldog Movie" | by GoViral
(Click on the image)

Objectives:
* To build awareness and interest towards a global target group of home Internet users
* To Brand BullGuard as "The young rebel" in the security industry
* To generate trial downloads of the BullGuard security software
UNILEVER'S NEW LOGO

It looks a bit celtic doesn't it?
"Everything starts with the sun - the ultimate symbol for vitality.The heart represents love, care and health - it's about feeling good.The shirt represents clean laundry - to look good. The bird represents freedom. Freedom from mundane daily tasks, to get more out of life."
Source: Ad-Rag

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TRENDS IN GRAPHIC DESIGN

Droplets

Refinement

pOp

Transparency

Check out the rest (((GDUSA)))