Solidarité from La Boite Concept on Vimeo.
This is a very cool water based out of home execution from Paris and a company called Aquascript.
Posts categorized under ‘R&R News & Notes’
Monday Inspiration
Guest curator – Eunie Jung, Senior Art Director, R&R Partners
For Friday’s meeting, our new SAD showed us some fun stuff from around the Web.
Some fun sites:
I really like the new IBM campaign as The Mill speaks to the importance of harnessing data. Visually, the graphics were simple and consistent to the look and feel of the brand.
You gotta love origami. Awesome German short film, “papierkrieg,” by Matthias Bäuerle.
Beautiful campaign work for the launch of Colgate 360 Sonic Power associated with the baseline “333 blows a second.” Photography by James Day.
Buick is trying to do new things. Only on the online space can you experience the new design and beauty of the 2010 Buick lineup.
Gotta love UNIQLO. Not everything needs to be glossy.
SUPER FUN. Become a fan.
Produce your own electronic music. Hobnox it!
Find innovative ways to shop for posters and/or create your own. Gotta love them for trying: Can-vas.
Bridge the gap between design and advertising. This is real art.
Fun and intuitive navigation. See the photos in full size. FINALLY!
Love the content, love the music, love the side scroll navigation. 
Fun way to present work in a “timeline” navigation.
Oscar 2010, best short animated film … using logos. Super long … super boring, but the idea was pretty cool.
Fireflies: Work from the geeks at MIT. I really like!
No longer a prototype … finally, its about time. Window>Balcony
Reason to buy the iPad. VIV Mag Interactive Spread
I’m a pistilli roman…. What are you? (This is an oldie, but a goodie.)
Interesting way to showcase books on a site. Maciej Buszewicz’s Book Design Studio, Graphic Art Department.
I love pop-ups. Especially inside restrooms.
Animated GIFs: Paranoia about nonstop design.
Another oldie, but a goodie. Got milk?
Monday Inspiration
Here is what we talked about in this week’s creative meeting. I hope it inspires. Enjoy.
Fantastic new product at the Farmer’s Market shows just how disgusting ocean pollution really is, especially when it ends up where we live.
Star Wars is having an incredible revival from Adidas Shoes to Star Wars Strippers. Brings new meaning to the light saber.
We were in this Zappos pitch. Even though it kills me, I like this. It shows their culture and service.
Captain Kirk has his own social networking site. And the biggest surprise is, it’s really Shatner.
The new face of Chiquita Bananas or should I say new faces?
Interesting blog with some great information on murderers, right-wingers and lots of other stuff that keeps the world spinning round.
Again, paper comes to life. Makes we want to grab the Xacto.
Great tourism ads using expressive fonts.
Nicely designed video for UNICEF.
Tostitos Salsa goes outside the Vimeo box.
KLM seats are like floating on air. Having this pole up my butt for 14 hours might hurt a bit though.
Most of this stuff in the Panadol ads would give me a headache as well.
Simple but true Viagra party favor.
A quick lesson on how to report the news. And a funny one.
The old pull-the-tablecloth-off-the-table-without-breaking-the-dishes-using-a-motorcycle trick.
The best Walmart commercial I’ve ever seen.
A new Google reader that I like and actually understand. Unlike some of the other stuff from Google lately.
Austin is happening and you can watch.
That is this week’s fun. Until next time.
Are texts you send from your work phone private?
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear an important case April 14 about whether public employees have an expectation of privacy concerning text messages they send with company cell/Smartphones.
If the U.S. Supreme Court concludes that text messages sent by public employees on their work phones are considered private, the implications are as follows:
o There will be new questions about the liability of public employers for communications sent by their employees.
o Public employers could choose to disable the texting feature of their employees’ phones to prevent inappropriate messages or disclosure of company information.
o Texting outside the office by nonexempt employees could add time to their workday potentially entitling them to overtime compensation.
Private employers will be watching this decision closely as well. All employers should focus on creating, communicating and consistently following clear electronic monitoring policies. If the company believes that employees should not have a reasonable expectation of privacy, this should be clearly communicated in a formal, written policy.
A world of Hurt
I know the Academy Awards isn’t a popularity contest, but I hated seeing The Hurt Locker win best picture. Hated it with a seething hatred that kept me up all night, and sleeplessness hasn’t done much to improve my mood today.
Advertising award shows are to blame.
You see, no matter what the Academy says, Avatar was this year’s best picture. Think what you will about Avatar’s story being cliché, its dialogue hackneyed and its acting wooden. You’re probably right, but you know what, who cares? Avatar isn’t about nuanced plotlines and performances. It’s a special-effects spectacular – almost three hours of digital 3-D wizardry that created a world unlike anything seen on the big screen before and that let audiences tromp through that world in ways they never imagined.
Avatar worked. Worked until it became the highest grossing film of all time, effectively rewriting the rulebook on 3-D and digital animation. That’s got to be worth something.
In contrast, The Hurt Locker is the lowest grossing Best Picture winner in history, with worldwide theater earnings of around $20 million, compared to Avatar’s $2.5 billion.
Of course, ticket sales don’t matter to the Academy. They’re judging “theatrical art,” and billings aren’t a barometer of Best Picture merit.
Advertising award show judges critique in pretty much the same way. They’re judging “advertising creativity,” so the most unique, shocking and entertaining ads usually take the top prizes, irrespective of the money those ads earned or lost for the companies that ran them.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Often, the most creative advertising is also the most effective, especially in this new age of social media. The ads that creatively capture the public’s attention get seen more, passed along more, and deliver more of a return on an advertiser’s investment.
However, open almost any award show-winner’s book, and you’ll find it chockablock with creative-but-ineffective (or creative-but-fictitious) advertising. Because of this fact, a growing number of advertising agencies are refusing to enter creative award shows. Granted, many of these agencies are refusing to enter for the same reason that the ugly kids in high school “refused” to go to the prom, but it’s still a trend.
There’s a popular, and utterly incorrect, saying in the ad industry that “It isn’t creative if it doesn’t sell.” Lots of creative ads don’t sell. A more accurate adage might be, “If it doesn’t sell, it isn’t advertising.”
Advertising is commercial. The purpose of advertising is to sell products, sell opinions and sell behaviors. If an ad doesn’t sell, it’s flawed at a fundamental level.
This year, I was behind the scenes at a local advertising awards show and watched a panel of judges debate the merits of two different advertising campaigns being considered for “Best of Show” honors. Both campaigns displayed excellent craftsmanship and creativity. Both captivated audiences in their own way, one with humor and the other with emotionally engaging stories. As the debate raged on, one judge mentioned how the emotionally engaging campaign meshed so well with the company’s Web site, which he visited earlier in his hotel room. Another judge agreed with him, having visited the Web site too. Then the judges all had an epiphany: If the one campaign was so compelling that the judges visited the company’s Web site after seeing the ads, maybe it should be the Best of Show. Faced with two “creative” advertising campaigns, maybe the one that sold its product better should win. Go figure.
Both Avatar and The Hurt Locker were commercial films. (The Hurt Locker isn’t art house). Both were artistically brilliant in their own way. However, one film’s “art” captivated the world, while the other’s art captivated critics.
I’m siding with the world on this one.
Golf Bag for Sale
I’ll begin with an admission. I was wrong. Last December, I posted an entry in this space predicting that most of Tiger Woods’ sponsors would stick with him through his troubles. The departures of AT&T, Accenture and Gatorade from Team Tiger prove that Nostradamus and the Amazing Kreskin have nothing to worry about from me.
Granted, I did say that the sponsors would hang in there if there weren’t a large number of further revelations. As we all know, there were. Still, color me wrong.
Which brings us to today. Tiger is back home in Orlando, working on his game. The extremely uncomfortable televised apology is behind him and whatever therapy he was involved in seems to be finished, at least for the time being. I have no idea what shape his marriage is in. It’s none of my business anyway. For me, and for golf fans everywhere, the question now is…when? When will he return to the PGA Tour? Jack Nicklaus says he’d be surprised if Tiger doesn’t play in the Masters, but that looks like speculation on his part. He doesn’t seem to have any inside information.
I hope he’s back for Augusta. But even if he isn’t, he has said that he will be back eventually. When that day comes, I believe some brands will have an opportunity – and a big decision to make. Tiger’s bag used to carry the AT&T logo. If you’re the CMO for Sprint or Verizon, do you make a deal to put your logo there in its place? Gatorade’s gone away. If you control Powerade’s marketing, do you approach the world’s No. 1 golfer about a relationship that will utilize him to stick it to your larger rival? Accenture’s ads now feature real wild animals instead of Tiger. Lots of people age 35-64 with financial portfolios that need managing still watch golf. Do you tie your brand to Tiger?
Before you say no, think about it for a minute. Chances are good you can get a deal for less than the previous guys were paying. And you can’t deny that Tiger’s return will draw some of the biggest audiences in televised golf history – at least for the first few events. Granted, the man’s star has lost a lot of its luster. He will probably never be revered in quite the same way he was before that November night.
But…
What if he comes back playing better than ever, with a renewed purpose and a fierce determination to show the world he’s still the boss inside the ropes? I think the chances are good given his competitive drive, laser focus and limitless skill. Remember, this is the guy who won the U.S. Open playing basically on one leg.
What if all the stuff he said he was going to do actually comes to pass? He straightens out his personal situation and approaches life – and golf – with a greater level of respect?
What if he wins two or three majors in the next 18 months, getting ever closer to Jack’s career record? Do you think he will be a pariah in most peoples’ eyes? I don’t. I’m not sure he is now, but that’s beside the point.
The point is, America, and American sports fans, love a comeback story. The fact that Kobe Bryant and Alex Rodriguez are now being cheered unconditionally by their fans illustrate our willingness to forgive and move on, especially when the biggest stars are involved.
If Tiger comes back in a big way, and manages to stay out of the National Enquirer while he’s doing it, then I believe he can again be a massive marketing force. Maybe not as strong as he once was, but still on a very short list of the world’s biggest. And those brands that stuck with him through the darks days – Nike, EA Sports – will not only receive a big bump but will also be seen as having been loyal to their guy in his time of need. They didn’t cut and run. A lot of sports fans will be impressed.
And if you’re Verizon or Powerade or any other brand willing to take the chance, you’ll be along for the ride too. Say he’s back on top in 2012. How many people will even remember that, back in 2009, he was a spokesman for AT&T and Gatorade? What was Kobe promoting in 2007 or A-Rod in 2008? I don’t remember either.
I think there’s a huge potential upside in taking a chance on Tiger now. Is there a downside? Of course there is. This thing could end up taking away his drive and turning him into just another Tour pro. His personal life could take another strange detour. He could give up the sport and enter a Buddhist monastery. All kinds of stuff could happen. Just look at the last four months. Who could have predicted any of that? But if it doesn’t and he does come back big, in two or three years you and your brand could be seen as the visionaries who took a risk back in 2010.
In marketing circles, you could be what Tiger once was in golf. A hero.
Too many beavers and briefs mean not-so-super ad blitz
“Men in tighty whities are disgusting.” – Mary Ann Mele, R&R Partners President and Chief Strategic Officer
Google won by simply being themselves. The eTrade babies’ “milkaholic” ad was a winner. Punxsutawney Polamalu is not only difficult to spell – it was also fairly creepy, but effective. Coke, while easy to spell, was painfully irrelevant. The GoDaddy ads should just go away.
That’s the general consensus from a solid hour of R&R Partners’ Monday morning quarterbacking of the advertising blitz surrounding that roman numeral-suffixed game played the day before. Our panel of critics included people from all disciplines within the agency.
In case you used commercial breaks for something other than awaiting the unveiling of new advertisements, every spot is easily viewable online. Check out YouTube’s channel, where you can vote for your favorite, or Fox/MSN’s site, which organizes them by quarter.
Overall, our panel thought the 2010 ads were mediocre, with a few bright spots. Absent were the emotional tearjerkers and ads with brand engagement through the Internet. Plentiful were ads bashing white, out-of-shape men – and other concepts we felt like we’d seen many times before.
“I just don’t like the tired formulas,” Associate Creative Director Tony Marin said. “People getting hit, underwear jokes – all of that just makes me cringe.”
“It’s a reflection of the times, but everybody is very, very afraid of doing anything that isn’t pretty safe,” Executive Vice President/Creative Director Randy Snow added. “Even the stuff that was ‘edgy’ was pretty safe. As much as I loved the Google ad, it was just a product demo. There was really no risk in that ad. … It’s because of the economy. Nobody wants to take a shot with $3 million. They’d rather animate animals or pull Troy Polamalu out of a hole.”
That fear kept some normally ad-friendly brands, such as Fed Ex, out of the game entirely.
“They said it was because of cost and because of scrutiny. They laid off employees,” Executive Vice President Rob Dondero said. “And the official NFL beer, Coors, wasn’t even in it.”
Public Relations Group Account Director Clinton Pope asked about the propensity of allowing people to preview the ads prior to the game through YouTube, etc.
Executive Creative Director Arnie DiGeorge had firsthand knowledge. “I did that; I went on the night before and watched all the ones that I could actually see before the game and they all seemed to be bad ones, for the most part. I think those are the ones people are previewing – the ones that really don’t have confidence,” he said. “Your best choice is to have a teaser for the ad that isn’t the ad. But it still has to be great.”
That’s what it boils down to, of course – having a great ad. Some brands, like Doritos and Bud Light, chose quantity over quality, each using a bunch of completely unrelated spots hoping for one or two that “stuck.” Some chose to stick to one message.
“If you’ve got a good campaign and you’ve got multiple pieces of the same thing telling the story, that’s cool, and if you’ve got a brim of broad audiences and you’ve got one against different passion points, that’s cool, too,” Associate Media Director Jeremy Thompson said.
“I thought the Budweiser ads fell short. You go into it with people really expecting a lot from them, and I don’t think they got there,” LVCVA Group Account Director Kim Downing said. “I really liked the (Volkswagen) ‘slugbug’ ad. It was nostalgic; it showed the product. I just thought it was really good.”
Corporate Director of Digital Marketing Sean Corbett was enamored with the reaction from perhaps the world’s largest focus group – the instantaneous opinions offered up on Twitter.
“The minute a spot ran, you’d start seeing the opinions flow through the Twitter stream. It was really cool to watch. A lot of ad folks, obviously, every agency in the country, seemed to be online last night – and then general people catching on and talking about the ads was really cool,” he said.
WINNERS
- Google’s spot, essentially a product demo, was lauded by the entire group. “It did everything it needed to do. It showed you how much Google is part of our life, it told a story. It was simple. It used their user interface. … It was a great spot,” DiGeorge said.
“It reminded me of why I choose to use it every day over Bing. They are about simplicity; they are about ease-of-use. It was a really great change-up from everything we had seen,” Corbett added.
“I think they accomplished in one ad what Bing has been trying to accomplish with tons of ads,” Marin said.
- The T-Pain ad, even though it was basically a different vision of the “Wassup” ads of a few years so, still worked.
- The eTrade babies, specifically the “milkaholic” spot, was solid.
“I liked the eTrade babies but I’d like to see them go in a different direction now. This should be the end of that type of campaign,” Pope said.
LOSERS
- Coke’s efforts, which included a certainly-not-cheap use of “The Simpsons” and a few even less memorable spots, completely missed the mark. Nobody really cared for the sleepwalking guy, either.
“The fact that a bunch of people from an ad agency sat in a room just to talk about the commercials, and for an hour Coke never entered the discussion – for a brand that big to go that unnoticed says a lot,” said yours truly, Web Content Developer Sal DeFilippo.
- The Who, and more so, the people who were stuck watching them.
“The Twitter backlash on The Who was vicious. One of the better comments was, “can somebody please hurry up and wrap up The Who show because they have to get home and watch Matlock.”
- GoDaddy.com – most disappointing “by far,” according to Pope.
- Taco Bell – the commercials that aired in advance leading up to a very dull “Green Eggs and Ham” spot featuring Charles Barkley. (Note: In fairness, not too many words rhyme with “gordita.”)
Trust and Reputation – Celebrities and Corporate Leaders
There’s a reason Visa chose Morgan Freeman to voice over its TV commercials: He’s one of the most trusted celebrities in America.
A new survey out from e-poll research lists the top-10 most trusted celebrities. And there’s more detail about it on Forbes.com
The list includes James Earl Jones, Tom Hanks, Bill Cosby and even Mike Rowe, the host of Dirty Jobs (which is why he’s probably seen hawking Ford products)
America’s largest companies pay those celebs handsomely, hoping the trust they’ve earned in America will rub off and validate their brand too. Most of the actors on the list have spent decades in the public eye, often advocating for causes as well as their movies, while also avoiding public transgressions. Meaning, they earned it from a skeptical America.
So much of what we do in advertising, public relations and more importantly – in life – is about earning a reputation built on trust and credibility.
For these spokespeople and the companies it’s a business deal, but in your personal business, where do you stand on trust and credibility?
It’s certainluy an issue Toyota is wrestling with today and so many are watching them closely.
It’s my firm belief that organizations and their leaders earn reputations every day through their actions, by how they respond to critics, take care of their customers, and how they respond to both opportunity and failure.
For those companies who can’t afford a celebrity on the A-list (which is most companies) start by making sure your corporate behavior and leaders are worthy of being on your customer’s a-list of trust and admiration.
