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THE CRACKS IN THE WALL
13/03 2009 // aaron
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This is going to be a bit of a ramble but maybe it will lead to something meaningful.
A while back I read this, a review of Marketing Week’s ‘New Agency Models’ conference written by W+K London’s Neil Christie. It was intriguing reading for a lot of reasons, but chiefly because it aggregated the thinking of some of the most forward-thinking people in the industry about the future of the ad agency.
Some of the words that crop up again and again in Neil’s report are innovation, collaboration and entrepreneurship, while almost all of the speakers he mentions talk about how their agencies are developing their own IPs or creating their own products.
I started seeing more and more blog posts touching on this subject until I got the sense of an industry in flux. It’s a debate that is being propelled far quicker than would have been the case just a decade ago, principally because of the speed and immediacy of the interweb.
And it got me thinking that maybe this is all a result of the ‘agency comparative complex’. We’re all trying to differentiate ourselves, crafting ever more elaborate positionings and USPs or whatever and it’s getting to the point that we’re now even turning ourselves into companies that sell actual, physical stuff. Maybe those agencies will be served by newer agencies and the whole thing will become some sort of weird infinite loop where every company in the world is an advertising agency.
But then that thought didn’t really lead anywhere productive and I started thinking that this is all just a natural byproduct of a society that is now being shaped and reshaped by cultural convergence. Everything else is getting mashed up so why not business models? It’s all quite inspiring, really.
It’s interesting to see a magazine like Monocle extend its brand to include shops that stock its bags and other products designed in collaboration with top-notch specialists, and that Acne is now probably better known for its clothing than it is for its advertising.
The latest stop on this circuitous and rather vague little meaning quest was an essay by the American graphic designer Tibor Kalman that was posted up over on the Sell! Sell! blog. Here is the essay in full. Check the date it was written at the end. You’ll be surprised.
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FUCK COMMITTEES
(I believe in lunatics)
It’s about the struggle between individuals with jagged passion in their work and today’s faceless corporate committees, which claim to understand the needs of the mass audience, and are removing the idiosyncrasies, polishing the jags, creating a thought-free, passion-free, cultural mush that will not be hated nor loved by anyone. By now, virtually all media, architecture, product and graphic design have been freed from ideas, individual passion, and have been relegated to a role of corporate servitude, carrying out corporate strategies and increasing stock prices. Creative people are now working for the bottom line.
Magazine editors have lost their editorial independence, and work for committees of publishers (who work for committees of advertisers). TV scripts are vetted by producers, advertisers, lawyers, research specialists, layers and layers of paid executives who determine whether the scripts are dumb enough to amuse what they call the ‘lowest common denominator’. Film studios out films in front of focus groups to determine whether an ending will please target audiences. All cars look the same. Architectural decisions are made by accountants. Ads are stupid. Theater is dead.
Corporations have become the sole arbiters of cultural ideas and taste in America. Our culture is corporate culture.
Culture used to be the opposite of commerce, not a fast track to ‘content’- derived riches. Not so long ago captains of industry (no angels in the way they acquired wealth) thought that part of their responsibility was to use their millions to support culture. Carnegie built libraries, Rockefeller built art museums, Ford created his global foundation. What do we now get from our billionaires? Gates? Or Eisner? Or Redstone? Sales pitches. Junk mail. Meanwhile, creative people have their work reduced to ‘content’ or ‘intellectual property’. Magazines and films become ‘delivery systems’ for product messages.
But to be fair, the above is only 99 percent true.
I offer a modest solution: Find the cracks in the wall. There are a very few lunatic entrepreneurs who will understand that culture and design are not about fatter wallets, but about creating a future. They will understand that wealth is means, not an end. Under other circumstances they may have turned out to be like you, creative lunatics. Believe me, they’re there and when you find them, treat them well and use their money to change the world.
Tibor Kalman
New York
June 1998
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I think that now more than ever we need to ‘find the cracks in the wall’. I don’t think the answer is finding a ‘new model’ (for agencies or our clients), I think the answer is to keep pushing forward, incessantly, delving into the cracks and pushing them apart. I think business should be about risk.
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LET’S PUT ON SOME MORE LIPSTICK – THOUGHTS ON A RECESSION ECONOMY
17/01 2009 // Annette Flinck
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It should come as a surprise for no one. We are in recession mode. It’s difficult to say where exactly we are on the recession life cycle, but since new years the biggest Danish companies have sacked +150 people every day, and the general prospects from the IMF etc. are rather dim.
But how will this dark time affect our lives as citizens in a reality where we have spend the past 6 years spending, beautifying our homes, our bodies our self-representation and invest in shallow materialistic enjoyment?
Even though it is extremely politically incorrect to say this, I feel rather okay with the fact that we’re heading towards more troublesome times and sluggish growth. (And let me say that this has absolutely nothing to do with the ‘70% off’ sales that every retailer is offering these days 
).
When the shit hits the fan we reflect on our stuck-in-fuck lives, we evaluate, we vote for change, we think – and we put on some more lipstick. We start nesting. Turning off the TV, and get closer. Reading a book or simply just talking. It’s time to tighten one’s belt and say ‘no’. Not because we need to, but because it feels good and healthy.
Oh no! We’ve just spent the last decade arming the house with flat screen TVs for every room, a Fatboy for the dog, a wine-cellar in the kitchen and a 80m2 addition to the house. Does this mean that we need start cleaning up, focus on inner values, get the seven good habits and building schools in Africa?
It sure does. And it feels good. Now is the perfect time to quit the job you hate anyway, get an education, travel far away or do whatever you’ve always wanted to do – and blame it on the crisis.
Another positive outcome of the crisis is that we will start to ask questions. We will demand to know the facts and challenge our brand relationsships. We want to know that the things we buy actually work. We will start to think about ‘total cost of ownership’ and this will affect our buying decisions. We will not just focus on the purchase cost on the new fridge, but also on the electricity consumption during use and other maintenance costs.
We will start researching on where to get the really good bargains, thinking about what the purchase should replace and whether it actually will make us feel any better. We will go from ‘nice to’ to ‘need to’.
We will throw less stuff away. This doesn’t necessarily mean that we will spend less money, but evaluation criteria of what we buy will become more functional (e.g. longevity) and less emotional (e.g. design).We’ll start appreciating authority and experience.
And we will increasingly focus on sustainable innovation.
So that was the consumer behavioural perspective on things. What about the companies? How should companies navigate in these gloomy times?
Well, first of all, they should think of recession as an opportunity for growth. A survivor is a company that, while competitors panic, they stick to a plan. As Charles Darwin once said; It is not the strong, nor the intelligent who survive, but those who are quickest to adapt!
Companies that do well in recession see it as an opportunity to deliver a knockout blow to weaker competitors, through higher marketing spend and investment. In terms of advertising and communication, creativity will give you more of an edge than in normal times. (Many successful brands and companies have been launched in recessions.)
Successful companies spend 360 degrees. They explore new channel and media opportunities, particular in digital and they get the right balance between tactical activities that may grow volume at the expense of margins, and strategic activities that stimulate primary demand.
And most important, survivor companies, are companies building their presence around a big idea. A big idea that reflects on the cultural trends or tensions going on in our time. An idea that sticks with the consumers’ for better or for worse. Also during recession.
As concluding remarks I will just say, that in order to exit the recession in a good way, a new way, we need to learn from the past and start thinking in change, thoughtfulness, holistic, meaning and quality. I welcome 2009 in all it’s glory and cross my fingers for a happy ending.
Tags: Recession
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MICROSOFT EXISTS IN A WEIRD PARALLEL UNIVERSE
14/01 2009 // aaron
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I just can’t get my head round this promo from Microsoft Research for its Songsmith software. As Videogum state: ‘It’s like Microsoft found some kind of Christian home-schooling commune in the woods and hired them to make their commercial’. What will no doubt be an avalanche of parodies has already begun with this merciless pisstake:
Maybe the promo tested well, maybe it was personally approved by Steve Ballmer, who knows. Whatever possessed them to release this on an unsuspecting public, it just confirms how deeply out of touch with reality the organisation is. The good work Crispin Porter + Bogusky’s ‘I’m a PC’ campaign had done last year in helping to humanise the company is undone in one fell stroke.
This may or may not negatively impact on the company (if nothing else it’s definitely raised awareness of Songsmith), and frankly I don’t really care. But I do feel a shred of sympathy with the ordinary folk at Microsoft who have to endure seeing their company ripped to shreds all over the internet by heartless bastards like me.
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LEGO BUILDING STREET CRED IN LONDON
18/11 2008 // Annette Flinck
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A couple of weeks ago I found this little store near Carnaby Street in London. As mentioned in a previous post, LEGO has a high level of popularity among adults in the UK. But one thing is to be a treasured brand evoking childhood memories, another thing is to become a high-flying street cred accessory sold in the trendy streets of London. The shop-owner made them herself, and she had a whole range – I like the Super Mario homie built in LEGO best. Though I’m not sure I’d wear it myself!
Could you imagine this done with Megabricks or Fisher Price Wonder Pets? I don’t think so.
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DORITOS KILLING THE COMPETITION
15/10 2008 // Annette Flinck
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Continuity is something we often talk about when it comes to branding. At least it used to be. It was deemed crucial that brands could act as ‘Lovemarks’ and cues for navigating in an ever-changing world. Brands should transmit the same messages to everyone – be true to their brand idea and positioning. This belief has been challenged in recent years.
Although we still see many global brands going with a one-size-fits-all communications strategy and translating the core message to different markets, we are now seeing more and more brands trying out different things and applying a more disruptive brand strategy. The reason for doing this shouldn’t be because that anything different is good in itself. It should still make sense from a brand personality and brand voice perspective. Doritos have launched two new campaigns that do just that.
The first one is a very bold and very original digital idea that builds on an insight into online behavior: What if we could get rid of all the disruptive banners and online ads and replace them with stuff we like? Developed by the Swedish agency Papercut, the basic idea is, that you visit a Doritos microsite (OnlyTheGoodstuff.com) and download some software that plugs into your browser. This then populates the area specified to serve ads from sites to actually display the content you choose instead. In short, it’s advertising genocide!
Check out the video:
One small problem, the microsite isn’t yet live so I’ve no idea if it works!
Hotel 626 is something different entirely. Launched by Doritos USA, it’s a part of the Doritos Snack Strong Productions, Doritos’ digital platform that encourages user-generated content and interactivity to drive campaigns. The idea is a promotion for the chips brand’s Taco and Four Cheese flavors. The site is only open from 6pm to 6am and gives visitors the chance to take on scary challenges in 13 different rooms.
Hotel 626 features a morgue, a dark room and other claustrophobic confines, giving visitors 3D views in darkness, brooding sound design and cell phone directions that lets one react in real-time to the action on the screen. A microphone and a webcam are highly recommended to experience the whole site. Probably one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen on the web, Hotel 626 was created by Goodby, Silverstein and Partners in conjunction with the Swedish agency B-Reel.
Tags: Doritos, Hotel 626, Onlythegoodstuff.com
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FOLLOW YOUR INSTINCT
12/10 2008 // Annette Flinck
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YouTube - a popular free video sharing site, which let’s users upload, view, and share video clips. Engaging? Well, sort of – but it’s a rather one-dimensional form of engagement. The way brands have been using YouTube until now has been linked to a very traditional Watch – Feel – Act (dismiss or pass) viewer behavior. The viral effect is definitely worth noticing, but that’s where it ends. Or so I thought.
A good friend of mine told me about this new interesting example of Tub’ed engagement: embedding decisions for the viewer to take and thereby control the action while watching the message. The brand behind it not very evident – just as it should be. But looking at the mobile phone playing a key part of the drama could you give you a hint.
Well, this format opens up a range of new and interesting brand engagement ideas for the YouTube platform for the future. And when it comes to Google, it probably won’t stop there.
(Via marketear.me)
Tags: Engagement ideas, Follow Your instincts, Samsung, You Tube
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FACTORY OF HAPPINESS
04/08 2008 // Annette Flinck
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The rain is pouring down on a miserable, grey Monday morning here in Cph. But here I am… getting ready to start a new week in the Factory of Happiness. Hmm… why the sudden overly-optimistic view of things? Well, I read a really nice post yesterday and it inspired me to put my bundle-of-joy-hat on and go with the flow. Here’s the reason.
Every now and then I get into discussions with fellow planners or colleagues regarding the Cadbury Gorilla ad and the Trucks-sequel. Is it good advertising, effective? What’s the point? I will not go into a further discussion on the subject here, I would just like you all to check out Faris’ Before Gorillas there were Chimps post, over at TIGS. It’s a great read. And remember to check out Paul Feldwick’s essay on the same subject. Sometimes we need to keep in mind that advertising is also a way to make people smile when the sky is grey and the clutter is making it too hard to stand out.
So welcome to the factory of happiness, and let the show begin!
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THE PERCEPTION OF VALUE
01/08 2008 // aaron
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I was at the American Apparel store in Berlin recently (pretentious sentence alert) when I saw these year-old editions of Monocle lovingly bagged up. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t look twice at out-of-date magazines but something about them being inside a cover-protecting bag made me want them. I guess it’s a fairly obvious ploy, and one well-exercised by purveyors of vintage comics and suchlike. When you place a magazine in a protective covering, you are immediately telling the consumer that they are looking at something valuable which is worth keeping safe from harm, thereby piquing their interest. Or it could just be that Monocle is a terrific magazine. Who knows. Happy weekend everyone!
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BRANDING YOURSELF
16/06 2008 // aaron
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Here’s a lovely video a young designer made for a presentation he gave. He projected the video onto his t-shirt:
Big shot marketers like Hugh McLeod and Seth Godin write about this kind of thing all the time. It’s often described as ‘personal branding’. It’s not particularly new even. Way back in 1997 Fast Company wrote a seminal article called The Brand Called You, which sums it all up pretty succinctly. It’s pretty easy to dress it all up with buzzwords, but ultimately doesn’t it all come down to points of differentiation? I guess it doesn’t matter how you do it, but as long as you can find a way to stand out from the other guy, you’re onto a winner – projecting heartwarming videos onto your t-shirt is pretty ingenious though!
Thanks to Andy at Now in Colour for the link.
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CLEANING UP
13/06 2008 // aaron
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The Reverse Graffiti Project is a collaboration between the artist Paul ‘Moose’ Curtis and a natural cleaning products company called Green Works. Paul produces so-called ‘reverse graffiti’. In essence, he makes art by cleaning dirt from walls (watch the video and it’ll become clear). This is a great way for Green Works to get its brand better known. The video, showing Paul at work on a huge piece in a road tunnel in San Francisco, has already been picked up by PSFK. Here’s the video:
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