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AT REBOOT 11
26/06 2009 // aaron
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Advance is at day two of the excellent Reboot conference. This year’s theme is action and we decided to get into the spirit of things by hosting an informal workshop on our Agency Future project.
Around 20 people showed up and we had a good debate. There’s a fuller write-up here.
One last thing before getting back to the talks; you can track user-generated Reboot content from around the web at this terrific aggregator.
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A COUPLE OF GEMS FROM CANNES
24/06 2009 // aaron
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Morten cabled these over last night. One’s an ad reminding us of the importance of hand hygiene, the other’s an inflatable cushion that looks like a poo – a nice bit of self-promotion for a Belgian radio station. I’ll leave you to decide which is which:
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SOME PRINT AND POSTER THOUGHTS FROM CANNES
23/06 2009 // aaron
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Gavin and Henrik are two of the more senior creatives we have at Advance, and, as such, I’m somewhat amazed that they’ve crafted the following insightful blog post detailing their thoughts on the print and poster category at Cannes. Frankly I wasn’t expecting much more than the occasional video of Henrik lighting Gavin’s farts.
Anyway, here’s what they have to say:
“We went to see the press and poster shortlist at the Cannes Advertising Festival. The news is that the premise for good print hasn’t changed. Good print still has to be fast and simple – perhaps even more so now than ever with all the interactive channels competing for our attention. So here are three great visuals that we predict will win GOLD…
Alka Seltzer – Black Humour Beautifully Crafted
A great idea that projects an immediately unique brand identity with a naïve yet sophisticated graphic simplicity. Visually vibrant and simple this is story telling with a diabolical sense of humour. It just doesn’t get better than this.
Ben & Jerry’s – The Joy Of Ice Cream
Visual execution of the joy of what it feels like to eat tasty fresh ice cream. These ads were so immediate in their emotional relevance that we didn’t even bother reading them– we tasted them – and they tasted good.
Harvey Nichols – The High Fashion Hub comes to Bristol
Harvey Nichols creates immediate empathy by introducing their new store in Bristol featuring Wallace and Gromit. They have definitely connected with the locals’ mentality by celebrating the unpretentious Bristol spirit. You can’t help but appreciate the healthy irony that is generated by using the down-to-earth, blue-collar claymation characters to represent a brand that sells high-end fashion brands. This is what happens when high fashion brands come to Bristol… and it’s wonderful! We can’t wait to see what’s happening virally and on TV.”
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YET MORE FROM THE WORLD’S PREMIER FESTIVAL OF SELF-CONGRATULATORY ONANISM
23/06 2009 // aaron
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Our Cannes delegation are exceeding all expectations and sending back more posts than I know what to do with. Part of me is kicking myself for being too lazy to explain the WordPress back-end to them before they went. Anyway. Here’s Annette’s report on the seminar with Twitter founder Biz Stone:
“Our last seminar for the 2nd day at the Cannes festival was spent in the company of Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter, the social media platform du jour. The essence of his talk? Stop talking, and start tweeting. So here’s my take:
Biz Stone, an inspiring and impressive must-see. Key take-out: Twitter is about the triumph of humanity, not the triumph of technology. #Cannes
Here’s a picture Annette sent back. I’m assuming it’s the aforementioned Mr Stone:
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MORE FROM CANNES
22/06 2009 // aaron
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Much to our surprise, it seems like the Cannes delegation are being very virtuous and attending lots of seminars. Here are some notes from our CD, Morten, from a talk by PWC’s Marcel Fenez on the future of ad spending and changes in media consumption.
“The ad industry is going through so many fundamental changes right now, and advertising as we know it is not coming back. His number-centric speak also touched on how brands have been thinking over the past decade: in times of high growth, the companies have been chasing more growth by pushing advertising to the consumers. The companies have been (or felt) wealthy, so they haven’t thought much about the rising prices of media, and the increased spending necessary to break the clutter. They’ve just kept buying more of the same….
There is nothing new in that. We’re all looking at digital ways of building integrated campaigns, and no one is considering not thinking in multiple channels. Everyone knows the changing behavior of the modern consumer, and all the platforms we connect on.
However, he did have some interesting insights on why the downturn is accelerating digital migration:
1. Because all clients/ brands are looking at using low-cost media, while still having a presence in the marketplace. So a lot of budgets are moving online.
2. Consumers are looking for value (both content and bargains) online. The amount of time they spend there forces brands to be there.
3. Major brands see a need to experiment right now in order to attract attention and the future users (most of whom are interacting online).
Another point was that when the good times return (predicted to be in 2011), advertising will have gone through so many structural changes, that we won’t recognize it… how will we measure ad spend in the future? If Nike pays EA a mill $ to develop a game? If marketing money is put into developing an exciting buying experience? If companies turn into content providers? Or produce entertainment?
But in my eyes, that’s when it get really exciting…”
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UPDATE: Evidently, that exhaustive post seems to have taken its toll on Morten:
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FROM CANNES
22/06 2009 // aaron
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Our intrepid delegation to Cannes sends back this shot:
Further cutting-edge analysis to follow.
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MARK AND KRISTOFFER WRITE . . .
15/06 2009 // aaron
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As previously mentioned, Mark and Kristoffer have joined us on an ad-hoc basis. They’ll also be contributing to this blog from time to time. Starting now:
We – Kristoffer and Mark – are spending a day or two a week at Advance.
Initially, we needed a place where we could write our bachelor’s that wasn’t a café filled with women on maternity leave. Being in a work environment inspires activity and we were able to hand in our thesis on Digital Patina on time. Now it’s time to switch focus.
Last week we had a meeting with Morten, the creative director, and Aaron, the usual author of this blog. We talked a bit about a project we have been working on and what we can do from here in terms of being included more in the processes of the company. It’s really exciting for us to be able to help on some of the digital tools and platforms we engage in everyday in new and innovative ways for many Danish companies.
Right now we have reached a point where everybody involved is thinking about how to use the competences that we are able to bring into the already existing processes more actively – and how we might help them change some things in the future. But as guys in an unknown environment we are still learning and have high hopes that we will bring new things to the table.
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SOMETHING FROM VERY LITTLE
10/06 2009 // aaron
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Much is written and spoken about our compulsion to share, and where it might be leading us. Whatever else might be the case, it’s already lead to an explosion of creativity, most of it digitally empowered.
Call it remix culture, mashup or cult of the amateur. The names of movements are less important than what they usher in. Right now, there’s currency in the ability to create something from very little. Here’s one very, very small example.
Dustin Hostetler was driving through Indiana when his radio jammed. He decided to record the ensuing weirdness:
91.9 from dustin hostetler on Vimeo.
That would have been that, until GoLab decided to remix Dustin’s little movie:
UPSO’s Broken Radio (goLab remixx) from goLab on Vimeo.
This shows what can be done with a little ingenuity, some musical ability and a drive to create something. As a result of this, I have spent a lot of time on GoLab’s site (and learned that he’s available for commercial work), ordered his CD, written this blog post and tweeted about it. As I said this is just one tiny example. This is the fabric of the internet, and I think it’s inspiring.
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THE WOMEN IN WHITE COATS
09/06 2009 // aaron
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We paid a visit to our friends at Riemann today ahead of starting work on a new project. The hairnets and white coats are definitely not the models’ own.
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CRYSTAL OVERDOSE
04/06 2009 // aaron
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Here’s a fun little animation we made featuring everyone’s favourite LEGO bad guy:
More Rock Monster madness here.
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