Happy Halloween

The brilliance of Trott

Most youngsters in adland quote Dave Trott these days.

And why not. His blog is eminently quotable.

But long before he started blogging (and book writing) he was a damn good copywriter.

As this simple yet powerful ad from many years ago clearly shows.

Art direction by Eddie Haycock.

What do brands stand for?

Understanding the game

Terrific Creative Mornings talk by Simon Sinek. He's a smart fella. So be sure and put aside some time to watch.

Annie Leibovitz does auto

New campaign for US auto brand Lincoln was shot by none other than Annie Leibovitz.

Damn fine photos they are too.

If anything I'd say they feel like outtakes from an early Springsteen song.

Not sure who the car is aimed at or what it costs by I love the photos.

Further research showed the car to be just another car.

Which may explain why they got Leibovitz to shoot it.

Sorry but I don't like Uber

Yes I know what you're thinking.

Uber is awesome. Heaps better than taxis.

But I don't like it.

Why?

Arrogance. Pure and simple.

I hate the way they sell themselves as revolutionary.

There's nothing revolutionary about bypassing laws and licensing requirements that apply to entire industries.

In the pic above they are using drones in Mexico to annoy the shit out of drivers stuck in traffic.

Seriously. I know people love the service.

But the brand and its behaviour troubles me a lot. 

Comfy shoes by Scholl

Let's be honest. Dr Scholls shoes are not the most attractive shoes.

So kudos to Almap BBDO in Brazil for convincing their client to sell the benefit not the product.

Maëva Berthelot and Bose

Simple idea. Beautifully executed by Grey London. 

Buzzword Jar

Love this Buzzword Jar from Kentucky agency Cornett.

You can buy yours here.

Only problem is I reckon the jar is too small.

Instagram a poster

Interactive posters that encourage to use Instagram?

Now that's an interesting but hardly new idea.

Having to use your Insta filters to reveal a hidden detail. Now that's something new.

Quite what you win I have no idea.

TV or not TV

Dutch bike brand VanMoof are shipping their bicycles here there and everywhere.

And even though they're built tough bikes often arrive in battered boxes.

SO the team from VanMoof had a very clever idea.

The made their boxes look like the boxes a large flatscreen TV comes in.

So now their boxes are treated as fragile by transport company handlers.

Pretty clever huh?

Bieber Type

A Justin Bieber tour was announced in Australia the other day.

Which gave me yet another reason to tease my daughter about her musical taste.

And gave her a reason to show me this ad from a few years back by ArnoldFurnace in Sydney.

Lovely typography don't you think? 

Slaughter on Madison Avenue

Read this book a couple of weeks ago.

I've been quoting it and recommending it ever since.

Michael Farmer is an ex Bain Consultant. So it goes without saying he knows business.

But man oh man does he know the trials and tribulations of the ad business.

It's a definite must read! 

Box of dominoes

Seems like hardly a week goes by these days without a Dominoes ad popping up on the telly.

Many of those ads have some sort of two-for-one component.

Which may explain the introduction of the paired domino boxes.

Pretty cute don't you think?

Although left on the kitchen bench over night I suspect they may not look so good in the morning. 

Dove or Dove?

A link to this ad landed in my inbox the other day with the line love this new Dove ad!

As I watched it I thought it was pushing the classic Dove "be kind to yourself and your body" message.

But when I got to the end the logo that came up was for a totally different Dove.

Dove chocolate.

Which left me wishing it really was an ad for Dove not Dove chocolate.

Oh well... 

Where will you holiday in?

Nice but hardly groundbreaking campaign by JWT London.

In the age of Expedia, Booking.Com and AirBnB I can't help wondering if ads like this are really enough to truly give a hotel chain a point of difference.

I also suspect TripAdvisor ratings play a far bigger role in choosing where to stay than an ad campaign.

Still quite nice work though..

Bob Hoffman says...

The Devaluation of Creativity >

Waterproof

Now this my friends is how you do content. Belgian skateboarder Phil Zwijsen pushing his board (and body) to the limit in the rain. 

Watching grass grow

Kudo to whoever was able to convince a company to run a seven hour long ad.

I know what you're thinking... You'd rather watch grass grow.

Well now you can!

The seven hour pre-roll was created by MullenLowe for US Cellular.

Itopens with a brand spokesman riding a lawnmower across a green field.

"Switch to U.S. Cellular," he says, "and get seven gigs of data for just $49 per month. You'll have so much data, you can stream almost anything. Even hours and hours of grass growing. Enjoy!"

That's the opening 15 or so seconds. The rest is nothing but grass growing.

Genius is you ask me! 

Vale the weiner man

In the pantheon of advertising there is a special place for the likes of Bernbach, Ogilvy and Rubicam.

Yet the name Richard D Trentlage goes unheralded.

For those who don't know he's the man who wrote the legendary Oscar Meyer Weiner jingle.

That jingle interrupted TV shows in America for five decades.

And now, like his jingle, Trentlage is no more.

He passed away last week. I do hope they played his jingle at the funeral. 

Like my addiction

Now this is a clever idea. Well I think so any way.

Instagram is littered with pics of people enjoying food and/or drinks.

So why not use it as a way to highlight how it is easy to go from having drinks with friends to having a drink and a drink and another.

It's a campaign by French agency BETC for called Like My Addiction.

And like it people did.

Followers of the heroine of campaign rocketed as did her Insta likes.

The moral of the story?

Are you liking a young girl out enjoying herself or a young women struggling with life and using alcohol to drown her sorrow.

If you'd like to know more here's a link to a video of the campaign case study.