It's just coffee people

I stumbled across this today. Can't remember where.

Do these guys take themselves just a tad seriously or what!? 

Creativity

Castello Cavalcanti

A short film by Wes Anderson brought to you by Prada of all people. Can't see the connection myself.  Definitely a fun way to waste seven or so minutes. View at full screen if you can. 

Underground Following

This photo turned up on Twitter yesterday.

Made me smile just a little.

Nice tone of voice and the birds in the Underground logo are cute too.

Problem is the twitter handle is nowhere to be seen.

Which may explain the OMG! beneath the headline. 

Happy birthday Apple Mac

I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that Superbowl is happening in the US next week.

Personally I could care less about it - I just don't get American football.

For us adland types the Superbowl is all about the ads.

And no ad is more revered than the original Superbowl blockbuster for the launch of the Apple Mac.

1984 - Hard to believe it was 30 years ago!

Genius in advertising

After getting bowled over 5-0 by Wellington las week I'm thinking maybe Melbourne Victory should give Gary Goals a call. Especially with finals just over the horizon.

Pic via

Is there a Draft in here?

When I was in London in 2000 I went for interviews at Draft and FCB.

I didn't get a great vibe from Draft but loved the Scottish CD at FCB.

Suffice to say I took the job at FCB.

A couple of years later Draft and FCB merged to form DraftFCB.

Which I found kind of ironic at the time as I'd had interviews at both agencies within days of each other.

One of the things that put me off Draft was its name. So so dull.

Not that FCB is a great name. But it was at least an agency with history.

This week I heard hat the combined agency is going to ditch Draft from its name and return to FCB.

Or to give it its full name Foote Cone & Belding.

I can't imagine the damage all this to-ing and fro-ing with names has done to the FCB brand.

But then again what would I know? I'm only an underpaid over-opinionated copywriter. 

Interactive or pointless?

Have to admit I love the thinking and interactivity behind this Motorola press ad in Wired.

But seriously what a waste of creativity.

It's a phone. And it's available in different colours. End of story.

One day. Hopefully soon. Somebody will come up with a truly interactive interactive press ad.

In the mean time I guess well just have to sit and 'marvel' at Motorola's choice of colours.

Billboards create clicks

I saw this pic on Russell Davies' blog and it really got me thinking.

Who paid for the billboard?

Is it Icon?

Or Primesight?

Maybe it's some billboard association in the UK?

I have no idea at all.

There's no logo or url. Which is kind of odd to say the least.

The message comes through loud and clear.

But what's with the tug of war visual?

All of which leaves me thinking I really need to stop thinking about this ad. 

Brands must tread carefully

As someone who's spent a large part of their career in direct and digital I understand and appreciate the value of personal data to brands.

What troubles me about it is the way it is bandied about as the be-all and end-all for marketers.

On Friday I read an article by Bob Greenberg from R/GA that talked a lot about brands getting to know people etc etc.

It bugged me. Yet excited me at the same time because I love all the possibilities the digital age presents.

However just because an opportunity knocks doesn't mean a brand has to take it. As this comment on Greenberg's article clearly shows:

I don't want the purchase of something to be the "just the beginning". 

Sometimes I just want to buy a cold drink. Or a pair of shoes. That's it. End of relationship. 

Stop trying to be my friend. Stop trying to weasel your way into my life, because we all know the only reason you want to be my friend is to get something from me. 

I sure as fuck don't want you to be my "personalised partner in everything from my finances, to my health and fitness and what I'm having for dinner". 

Fuck off. We are not friends. We are not even acquaintances. You're just some kind of creepy stalker. 

I don't care that you think the data you have means your intrusions into my life are "relevant". They're still just intrusions. 

Stop trying to be more than what you are, a supplier of goods and services.

I am so over hashtags

Perfection from Porsche

I very much doubt that anyone hogging the road in an ugly oversized Porsche Cayenne has the faintest idea why this old Porsche press ad is so good.

Each time I see a Cayenne the Porsche brand loses a little more of its lustre. And as for that new Porsche with the name I can't remember... 

Poor old QR codes

I read an article on Medium the other day about how Google Glass could turn out to be the new Segway.

To be honest you could write those sort of articles about most new products and tech start ups. Especially when they are so new that we haven't had time to feel comfortable with them.

I was dismissive of both Facebook and Twitter in their early days. Now I couldn't imagine life without either of them.

Poor old QR codes however are a whole different ballgame.

I want to love them. I really do.

But unless they're actually worth all the hassle of downloading a reader and scanning them they will be forever a digital folly.

Just don't quote me on that! 

Ben, Jerry and the munchies

This tweet appeared not long after the announcement that the state of Colorado in the US had decriminalised marijuana.

Topical marketing at its best and the sort of thing I hope we're going to see more and more of in social media this year.

What's also nice about this campaign is it actually went live.

Why?

Because many brands would be too risk averse to align their product with the consumption of something that is generally illegal to consume.

And for that they ought to be congratulated. 

Bugger the guidelines!

Well it's back to work for me today and back to blogging as well.

I trust your break was as good as mine.

One of the campaigns that caught my eye over the last few weeks was the KFC sponsorship of The Ashes.

I know what you're thinking - WHAT!?

I'm not talking about the ad campaign though. I'm talking about the rebranding of KFC from red and white to green and gold.

This is for me a masterstroke.

And if you work in the ad biz you'll know how hard it is to get any client to do so much as tinker with their brand let alone completely change its livery.

So kudos and five stars from me to whoever was responsible for convincing a client to do something seemingly unimportant yet utterly radical.