Sunday, 18 June 2006

Back on July 2nd


Brand DNA is heading off to Vietnam on holidays for two weeks.

Feel free to email me if you come across anything cool or innovative in the wonderful world of brand communications.

Thanks to Russell Davies for the pic. See you July 2nd.

Daily updates from Cannes


With Brand DNA about to head off on holiday for two weeks we recommend you visit Campaign Brief for daily updates of all the winners, losers and outrageous Aussie antics at Cannes 2006.

Start the day in style


If you're one of those people who needs a caffeine hit to prepare for another day at the office head over to tolerate mornings.

This very nicely put together site for Folgers coffee has some excellent bogus emails to help you bullshit your way out of an early morning hour or two at work.

It also features a nifty Boss Tracker to keep you posted if the old guy in the grey suit is about to arrive unexpectedly on your doorstep.

Click here if you can't tolerate another morning.

However if you're having trouble sleeping click here instead and visit the dishwater dull Folgers website.

Saturday, 17 June 2006

Surely the goal is world peace



This lovely spot by Weiden in New York with voiceover by Bono is sure to have Johnny Warren wiping away a tear in heaven.

Friday, 16 June 2006

Banksy back at work


Here's another in Banky's ongoing graffiti removal campaign in London. That witch's hat is a really nice touch don't you think?

Thanks to Sticker Thing for the pic.

Not so Mini after all




Just when we all thought that CB+P in Miami had the offbeat Mini advertising thing pretty much sewn up, along comes this great idea from JVM in Switzerland.

The die-cut open door billboards are attached to the entrance to Metro stations. Pretty nifty huh?

Bring it on!


Who else but ladies man extraordinaire Warnie could launch the TV campaign for this summer's Ashes series?

And what better way to do it than with a bloody big Warnie in London's favourite square.

Click here to see how the Aussies are really sticking it up the Poms. Nice one Patts Melbourne.

Thursday, 15 June 2006

One out of the box



Apple have just released three more of their quirky PC vs Mac ads. Like the previous commercials this one manages to state the facts while keeping its tongue wedged firmly in its cheek. What else can I say but get a Mac.

What's Danish for Dong?


As anyone who's anyone in adland will tell you, you can't beat a good acronym. Unless of course you live in Denmark.

It seems the Dansk Olie & Naturgas company has decided to go global. So they invested a serious chunk of change in a new logo.

The results are a bit of a mouthful to say the least.

Wednesday, 14 June 2006

Turning bad news into good


I came across this product recall ad over at Russell Davies planning blog and it really brought a smile to my face.

All you copywriters out there grumbling about not getting any decent briefs should take a really good look at this ad.

Warm, friendly and sure to make you feel good even if you had just purchased a dud hammer. Great stuff.

Tuesday, 13 June 2006

Not all Brazilians are footballers


It was a sad day when PJ Pereira left quirky Brazilian digital shop Agencia Click for the global empire of AKQA.

Which is why I'm happy to report that the genius of Pereira is alive and well at AKQA as seen in his launch piece for MSN Messenger.

Brit artist Will Sweeney did the Where's Wally on acid illustrations. Click here and take a closer look, it's brilliant.

Who cares if the kids use Coke?

I took a leaf out of Seth Godin’s book on the weekend and took a look at what my kids were getting into on the web.

My son was into a bunch of YouTube videos of people creating homemade geysers by putting Mentos in bottles of Diet Coke.

He thought they were brilliant as do millions of kids just like him. Sadly the corporate types at Coke HQ can’t see the funny side.

Craziness with Mentos doesn’t fit with the brand personality,” said Coke’s Susan McDermott.

Anyone else see an opportunity for a tie in with the “Don’t Worry” Pepsi Max campaign?

Monday, 12 June 2006

Is that urban spam I smell?


Ad Age has chosen one of this weeks most annoying and invasive ideas as its media idea of the week.

Perfume giant Azzaro turned posters at the Paris airport into what the hacks at Ad Age called a “scent stimulating medium."

As if fragrance and cosmetic ads aren’t irritating enough. Now we have to have them spray perfume on us as we walk by.

Me thinks it’s time consumers kicked up a stink.

Pic courtesy of adpulp

Filthy fun online with Soap


The creative kids at Soap in Sydney have been putting the finishing touches to heaps of fun online stuff for seriously silly upcoming movie Beer League.

Starring Artie Lange, the Karate Kid and Cassavetes stalwart Seymour Cassel the film is certain to appeal to fans of Old School and Anchorman.

First cab off the rank for Soap is the Beer League Pingball game. Click here to play and be sure to have your fake ID handy.

Sunday, 11 June 2006

The MySpace backlash starts here


He may be growing old and grey on his property in rural Dorset but Billy Bragg remains a smart thinking socialist at heart.

So it should come as no surprise that Bragg smelled a rat following the purchase of MySpace by Rupert Murdoch for a seriously huge amount of money.

After reading the MySpace fine print Billy found out that ownership of any music posted lies with MySpace not the copyright owner.

Suffice to say Billy Bragg no longer has his tunes on his MySpace site. Click here to see what's left.

Saturday, 10 June 2006

Media buying madness

When adland upstart SEE nabbed the NAB account a little while back they took out a full page ad to tell the world that advertising was dead.

That ad may well have been tongue in cheek but judging by Friday's edition of Melbourne free paper MX advertising seems to be alive and well at SEE.

There were no fewer than 9 NAB ads in the paper including a double page spread, 4 half pages, 3 strip ads and the entire back page!

I'd hate to see how annoyingly interuptive SEE would be if they actually were in the advertising business.

Friday, 9 June 2006

What is it with CPB and chickens?


Miami's finest have followed up the Subservient Chicken with another fun chicken idea for Burger King.

Click here to head over to see Huckin Chicken perform a series of crazy stunts on his motorcycle.

The more people who visit the site the crazier the stunts get. They're saving the best for when they reach the million hit mark.

What are you waiting for? Stop reading this and click here now.

Special thanks to diablogue for the screen grab.

Make your own Socceroos TVC


One of the key speakers at the Public Impact seminar in Melbourne this morning was the head of comms from the NAB.

He spoke at length about how the bank's sponsorship of sporting events had helped boost positive vibes for the bank out in the marketplace.

Now they've really upped the ante with the launch of Make Your Own Socceroos Ad. It's heaps of fun and so much better than most of the World Cup related dross out there.

Thursday, 8 June 2006

What a cynical Devil

If there's one thing I love about the web it's getting to listen to radio stations from practically anywhere in the world.

On the BBC the other day I caught a snippet of an interview with the director of The Omen remake.

The bloke from the Beeb asked the director whether releasing the film on 6.6.06 was a cynical marketing gimmick.

He replied, without any evidence of irony, "Is there any other kind of marketing gimmick?" Guess you had to be there.

Inspiration for Young Guns


Here's a couple of very tasty anti meat eating ads from JWT Manilla for all you young punks out there working on the Young Guns PETA brief.


Wednesday, 7 June 2006

Kids are switched on you know

The Washington Post has an interesting story on yet another new advertising medium. School bus advertising.

Start up company BusRadio will be pumping "dynamic programming" into school buses in Massachusetts. The company claims this will "take targeted student marketing to the next level."

Have these guys been on a bus lately? They must have noticed every second kid is either listening to an iPod or thinking about stealing one.

When are marketers going to stop finding new ways to intrude on people and start engaging them instead?

Tuesday, 6 June 2006

Public Impact on Friday


If anyone you know has yet to dip a toe into the waters of what has become known as Web 2.0 tell them to lock away Friday 9th June in their diary.

Yours truly will be joining a panel discussion on the use of new and emerging media for communication and PR at the Public Impact seminar.

For further details including ticket info click here.

Petrol prices no longer a problem


If you thought sky high petrol prices were the only thing to get annoyed about at petrol stations think again.

Advertising Age reports that US company Gas Station TV has begun installing TV screens into petrol pumps.

The failure of earlier attempts at petrol pump TV marketing were not of concern for GSTV spokesman Adam Bleibtreu who said this was because of "resistance from consumers." Funny about that.

Bob Isherwood to speak at RMIT


Worldwide CD of Saatchi and all round creative genius Bob Isherwood will be giving a talk to advertising students at RMIT University on July 10.

This should be a great talk from one of RMIT's most famous graduates and should not be missed.

If you can't get to RMIT Bob's also speaking at The Influentials on July 11th where tickets are a mere $795!

Monday, 5 June 2006

More brilliance from Banksy


Britain's most notorious counter-cultural-art-terrorist strikes again!
If only we could get Banksy to sell out and join the ad industry.
God knows we need people that think like him.

Interactive outdoor cleans up



This fun outdoor idea for Vienna based retailer Mömax has just picked up a Gold Award at an adfest in Montreux.

So good to see a truly interactive piece in an outdoor space. The Viennese are obviously a little better behaved than the rest of us.

That Mömax shower curtain would have disappeared faster than an FCB executive with a golden handshake here in Oz.

Pic courtesy cloribus.

Sunday, 4 June 2006

Time to stock up on the fake tan


Unless your name is something along the lines of Nobby or Droga a trip to Cannes can be pretty pricey. Especially if you come home empty handed.

So why not stay home, catch a bit of footy on the telly and Pretend Cannes instead at the MADC Cannes Prediction Lunch.

It's on Friday 16 June at The Blvd Bar on Southbank. Tix and info from the MADC website.

Saturday, 3 June 2006

Building the Lego brand in Chile


Despite the eventually true merger rumours it seems that it's been business as usual in the creative departments of most FCB offices around the world.

How sweet is this outdoor piece for Lego by IDB-FCB Santiago? Definitely helps brighten up building sites over the weekend when workers have downed tools.

Bumper idea for the Jersey Shore


Emerging Philadelphia agency Stick & Move have created the worlds coolest bumper cars to promote the newly renovated Jersey Shore. The Shore's website Your Play Therapy is pretty fun too.

Click here for a much bigger pic courtesy of adrants.com.

To the loser the spoils

Rumours of a merger between DM group Draft and FCB have been doing the rounds for ages.

The merger has now been officially anounced by parent company Interpublic. Can't wait to see what name the newly merged agency will be going by.

Talking of going bye byes, FCB chief Steve balmer has walked away with a $7million golden handshake. Nice work if you can get it especially since he was only in the job for a year!

Friday, 2 June 2006

The secret's out



If you've ever envied fat 'n forty Nigel or perhaps wanted to cruise in a soft top Audi like Naseema get yourself to Very Successful Brand Manager pronto.

The secrets of how to spend the clients money in style are all here my friends.

Very Successful Brand Manager

Here we go here we go!


With the World Cup only a week away the misaligned brand sponsorships and taglines with a huge TM at the end are coming faster than a John Aloisi penalty.

Which is why I'm so excited about an agency that's actually interested in the game and its fans rather than a borrowed interest ad campaign.

London based Big Picture have set up Statto Statto a blog where fans can find out the best bars and pubs to join fellow fans for the games.

Given the multicultural nature of Australia it would be great if we could get something similar going here. If you know of any good bars where Italians, Croatian, Poms etc gather for the games be sure and let us know.

Thursday, 1 June 2006

Oliver on the autobahn


Eye catching doesn't really do justice to this cracking Adidas outdoor piece featuring German goalie Oliver Kahn on the road to the Munich airport.

For all you ad students out there this is a great example of how to exploit an advertising medium to the max.

Life, death and football


I remember a seeing an interview with Harry Kewell a couple of years back where they discussed his salary being almost the same as the annual salary cap of the entire AFL.

You don’t even have to like football to know that all that money is changing the game and not necessarily for the better.

Which is why I am anything but surprised by a story coming out of the UK about an ad for World Vision being pulled of air. The reason?

The V/O compared the £49million sponsorship of the England team to the 60p a day it costs to sponsor a child.

What on earth is the world coming to?