One of adland’s true mavericks, Lois talks about his time with Bill Bernbach, his groundbreaking work at Esquire magazine and his new book on Muhammad Ali.
I should warn you that you’ll have to put up with a bit of aimless waffle and chit-chat before George hits his stride, but he’s definitely worth the wait.
I’ve always been in two minds about the use of pop songs in TV ads.
Are these songs merely a substitute for a strong idea, or are they so powerful that the song itself really is the idea?
Like I said, I’m in two minds.
I remember back in the Eighties when Nike did one of the first pop song powered TV spots, using Revolution by The Beatles.
Paul McCartney was so miffed at the time he declared, “Songs like Revolution don't mean a pair of sneakers, they mean revolution!"
As much as I agreed with McCartney, I couldn’t help disagreeing as well, because it was a damn good ad.
Same goes for the classic David Fincher directed Nike commercial below, which featured John Lennon’s rallying cry Instant Karma.
From the sublime to the pathetically ridiculous is the following dog turd of an ad for some sort of American Express card.
This ad features a song called Gimme Some Money from the movie Spinal Tap.
Now correct me if I’m wrong, but who the hell would want a credit card from the guys who gave us such classics as Smell My Love Pump and Break Like The Wind?
They’re not even a real bloody band, so we can’t even accuse them of selling out.
Like I said all that time ago, I’m in two minds.
As far as I’m concerned Nike and Apple can ransack my cd collection anytime. Great ads and great music.
The Amex Simply Cash creatives however should be locked in a room with A3 pads and a couple of Pentels and not be allowed out ‘till they’ve managed to crack a real idea.
Oh, and make sure someone confiscates their DVD of Spinal Tap.
Can you really call yourself a ‘trendspotter’ when you’re spotting trends that have already emerged?
Let me tell you, that’s exactly how I felt after receiving an email that JWT had just issued their 2007 Trend Forecast.
As you can imagine I was keen to see what lay over the horizon for 2007.
Hmmm!?
Have a look at JWT’s top three trends for 2007: Skype/VOIP, Wii and next generation gaming and the business of social networking.
Now I hate to be critical of the agency network that made me the creative thinker I am today, but talk about missing the boat.
My Dad’s been using VOIP for at least 18 months and he’s 70 next year! He’s also managed to get most of his relatives into it as well, which is a great example of social networking if you ask me.
So how on earth can VOIP be a trend for 2007? You really can’t get more mainstream than my old man.
The next generation gaming thing is interesting, especially after the point that my son made in my previous post. Me thinks the whole notion of next generation gaming has been completely rewritten by the success of the Wii.
If, as young Max says, the 360 is just an X-Box with better graphics, surely neither it nor the Playstation 3 can be considered next generation gaming?
As for the business of social networking, surely the dotcom era amounts of money paid for MySpace and YouTube confirm that social networking has long since passed the status of trend?
Like I said earlier, I hate to criticise JWT. It’s great to see some of the innovative thinking Aussie boy Craig Davis has brought to the network. But this trends thing looks like it should have been written a year ago, not this week.
When I was in Japan last year I couldn’t believe the sheer number of vending machines.
It seemed like there was a machine on every street corner, selling just about anything from toothpaste to beer.
I guess if you make and sell commodity products, a vending machine is a pretty easy way to retail them.
Which is probably why Apple has just introduced a limited number of iPod vending machines in the US.
Of course the iPod is anything but a commodity product, but it could easily become one if Apple have their way.
To me the iPod vending machine shows how Apple understand that the kids of today don’t need to have the iPod explained to them.
This generation of digital natives is completely at ease with computer products, so the last thing they need is some guy with too many pens in his shirt pocket trying to sell them something.
If you ask me, marketing people everywhere should be taking a bit of time over the Xmas break to think about Shane Warne.
By announcing his retirement today, he is ensuring that one of the world’s great brands will live forever.
I’m sure cricket fans everywhere would love to see Warnie carry on playing. But he’s smart enough to know better.
His brand will hit new heights at the MCG when he takes his 700th wicket. By ending his career on a high he will guarantee that the Warne brand remains at its peak forever.
Of course you don’t need me to tell you that the Shane Warne brand has taken a bit of a beating over the years.
But has it really?
Despite all the text messages, diet pills and the divorce, Warne is still a premium brand.
And by maintaining his focus on the talent and skills that made him a premium brand, he has transcended mere brand status and surely become what Kevin Roberts would call a Lovemark.
Just as books like The Art Of War have become business bibles, I reckon there’s a great marketing and branding book buried within the Shane Warne story.
If only he could find someone, preferably male, that he trusts enough to write it.
There’s an interesting viral idea meets chain letter mash up currently doing the rounds of the blogosphere.
It landed at Brand DNA the other day courtesy of Vando from the Jason Recliner.
In a nutshell it seems I have been ‘tagged’ and I now have to reveal five things you didn’t know about me. So here goes…
1: I have never owned anything by Nike. I’m an old school sportswear purist I’m afraid, so it’s strictly Adidas or Puma for me.
2: If it wasn’t for my wife I wouldn’t be sitting here writing this. She recognised my latent creativity and gave me the confidence to leave behind my job in the real world to pursue a career in advertising.
3: The highlight of my career was when a CD in London said that if he could have his career over he would have come to Melbourne to work with me.
4: I wouldn’t be half as smart as I am today if it wasn’t for my children. I know it’s a cliché, but they really do keep you young.
5: As much as I love the independence of working one on one with my own select group of clients I have to admit I really miss the buzz of working in a big agency.
The five people I’ve tagged are:
Ed who is a smart young lad from the RMIT Advertising degree. Albert who is a friend of Ed and has one of my fave blogs. The lovely Amber who shares my love of Eric Anderson. One woman running around trying to get into advertising called Abi. Up and coming young Melbourne creative Glenn Peters.
The announcement of Time magazine’s Person (nee Man) Of The Year is always guaranteed to generate a bit of buzz and conversation.
Some of the biggest names of the 20th century have scored Time’s most important cover, including Bill’s Gates and Clinton, Lech Walesa, Anwar Sadat, JFK, Martin Luther King, Winston Churchill and Stalin.
This year Time has named You as the Person Of The Year. Yes You!
Tipping the hat to the community building, information sharing, video uploading power of the worldwide web, Time sees 2006 as the year the digital revolution empowered everyone with the ability to connect to it.
It’s not the first time they’ve done something like this either. They named The Computer as Person Of The Year back in 1982, two years before the launch of the Macintosh.
A recent survey of senior marketing people by Sapient found that more than half of those polled considered advertising agencies ill-suited to handle online marketing.
That’s a staggering finding, but surely not unexpected.
According to the survey around 49% of marketers felt that ad agencies had trouble thinking beyond the traditional media of print and television.
Interestingly almost 70% of those surveyed said that they would prefer to work with multiple agencies to gain the benefits of working with specialists.
Given Sapient’s background in technology, the survey could possibly be seen by agencies as being a little biased.
But the fact remains that digital is no longer merely a part of the marketing mix. It is much more important than that.
And the smart thinkers out there in adland who recognize and embrace this could easily go on to become the 21st century equivalent of people like David Ogilvy and the Saatchi brothers.
There has been much ballyhoo about the Holden blimp here in Melbourne over the last few months.
Much ado about not very much if you ask me.
Sure the blimp can be annoying, but I very much doubt people are actually persuaded to go out and buy a new Holden after seeing the blimp hovering over an event.
Big business however doesn’t agree.
After much lobbying, Premier Steve Bracks has announced a ban on ambush marketing, with the first casualty being the Holden blimp.
With non-aligned sponsors now outlawed, where does that leave spectators at sporting events?
Could Adidas have Nike shirts and sneakers banned from the upcoming Australian Open?
I can't believe the cookie scented bus -shelters I posted about a day or two ago have brought the Californian wowsers out of the woodwork.
AdAge reports that a 'special interest' group representing the homeless, the obese and diabetics had lobbied the bus company, who have since ordered the scent strips to be removed.
Jeff Goodby from the agency behind the idea, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, commented that California, "Has once again made herself safe for bus shelters that smell like urine and vomit."
A big pat on the back to the team at DDB Sydney, for coming to the rescue of all of us who like to have a drink or two more than we should at the Xmas party.
What’s so good about that I hear you asking. Well you simply hand out the cards to people you don’t know at the Xmas party.
That way if you get up to something you shouldn’t, your alternative identity will take the blame.
Here’s a classic quote from a very satisfied customer.
“I groped the daughter of my boss and then got into a fight with her boyfriend. But thanks to DDB, they think it was Frank Johnstone from Art Supplies Incorporated. Thanks DDB!”
Given the number of boring billboards currently lining the highways of Melbourne, a massive poster of former Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins sounds to me like a great idea.
However the Melbourne City Council obviously didn’t think so and they've ordered the Myer department store to remove their three story ad featuring the lovely Jennifer.
Catherine Ng from the council said, "These are the kind of signs which scream look at me, look at me, rather than just promoting their goods and services."
Funny thing is I always thought grabbing the attention is what posters were intended to do.
