The Social Media Guru

Seasame Street x Mad men

Pretty cool Ford video

Lemonade: If You've Been Laid Off, This Film is For You

More than 70,000 advertising professionals have lost their jobs in this “Great Recession.” Lemonade is about what happens when people who were once paid to be creative in advertising are forced to be creative with their own lives.

Crazy Starburst Ad

Lewis Hamilton races Heikki Kovalainen for Vodafone

The trouble with Digital Marketing

Found this intresting presentation, thought I'd share it with you all :)

Post Digital Marketing 2009

View more documents from Helge Tennø.

R.I.P. MJ

Not sure what exactly to write, still shocked and saddened by the whole thing.

Here's some of my favourite MJ pieces

Quote of the day

Jeroen van der Veer, Chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell

"You have to realise: if I had been paid 50% more, I would not have done it better. If I had been paid 50% less, then I would not have done it worse."

The Beatles: Rock Band Trailer

I just love the look of this trailer

The Beatles: Rock Band at IGN.com

Is this Alonso?

For people who don't know what he looks like

BMW - Augmented reality project

Honda - Are you a doer?

I am

Kiwi's POV

Ronaldo vs Bugatti Veyron

Disney shortcuts

Spotted this page today about how Disney shamelessly copies from each cartoon.

I feel a little cheated.

See more funny videos and TBT Videos at Today's Big Thing.

Silencing the little person

Recently the phenomenon of twitter seems to have taken over our office and it's been a pretty cool tool for just finding out about news and technology or just keeping in touch with mates, until today that is.

Today was a dark day for freedom of speech on the internet, I suppose it takes us back to the case of Ellen Simonetti, where apparently personal rights dont account for anything when you're in full time employment.

Anyway back to today, basically slightly negative things were said about a vendor which could've been taken as positive criticism to better a system, but instead the vendor decided to silence this individual.

This is like digital head in the sand don't you think? Rather than finding out what the problem is the guy decided to make a complaint to get the "said posts" removed. I only have one thing to say to big brother bullying of this kind.

Grow up and get the job done

If you can't, then I'm sure there are a million other companies willing to step up and take you place, if you spent less time silencing and more time listening then you might actually progress.

The first "Grinds my gears!" 2009

This week has been a tough week (and it's only Wednesday) with creative deployment right on the drop date of ad circulation there was very little room for error.

Well anything that could've gone wrong did go wrong, client with last minute copy amends, branding with last minute tweaks, basically anything that could go wrong actually went wrong.

Anyway that aside we finally got the creative signed off and all we needed to do was convert the creative to a format that could be served in airports and tube screens.

We ended up outsourcing the conversion to an external company (not sure if I should mention them but if you ask I wont lie). The results were awful, and I mean awful. We ended up going back and forth around 4-5 times before they replied with "that's as good as it's going to get"

This pissed me off on another level, what the fuck !!!

"that's as good as it's going to get", who the hell says that?

I ended up learning how to use quicktime pro in 6 hours and finally ended up with the quality that we expected. But what I will say is that in this economic time it's probably wise not to be lazy and fob off you clients.

Keira Knightley Stop Domestic Violence

Both actress and Director donated their time for this worthwhile cause, great job too :)

Spec work but not as we know it

You're a creative, you want a good book with good brands to show off your creativity.

What do you do?

Create a spec book of course, but what do you do if you're a company?

Well ask FP7, they created an ad for Samsung (below), what's so weird about that? I hear you say.

Well a few things, lets list them shall we:

1. Samsung isn't their client
2. Samsung didn't know about this ad's existence
   
3. They (FP7) spent money to run the ad
   
4. They (FP7) then entered it into the Dubai Lynx Awards (resulting in picking up two golds and a silver specifically for Samsung work, as well as winning the agency of the year)
   

On top of all that they ran the ad in Lebanon which is a 50% Christian country, the exact quote about this ad was that it's "an attack against Christian symbols", smooth move boys.

Any way read the article here.

The perfect brief

After a month of mediocre briefs I thought it would be worth writing one about what defines the perfect brief (may be just for me but it might work for some of you too).

Firstly the length of the brief is quite important, for me the shorter the brief the better but that may be because I have a low attention span but also no one wants to read a novel during a briefing.

Keep it short and to the point.

Secondly the content, obviously this is very important but often briefs are cluttered with information that lacks any type of relevance to the final task.

Finally the Proposition, easily the most important.

What's the best brief you've ever had and how many bad briefs do you have, would like to hear from you guys.

What ever happened to Takuma Sata

For those people that don't know who he is, Takuma Sato is/was an F1 driver.

Though now he seems to have switch his driver seat for a lounge seat, I don't think the get up is doing him any favours.

American fantasy football

Samsung SSD viral

little sprout

The Little Sprout™ from Eleanor Cleverly on Vimeo.

Another use for sheep?

The Greatest Minds in Advertising Join Forces - Red Nose Day 2009

What Makes a Good Creative Director?

The Denver Egotist writes a very good article about what makes a good creative director

Read here, this is part 1 of 2.

The credit crisis - visualised

Ever wonder how the credit crisis came to be?

This is a very well illustrated video featured on http://crisisofcredit.com/ explaining how everything came t be in simple human language.

Now you have something to talk about in the pub :)


The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Obama's Elf

Onitsuka Tiger - Zodiac Race

Adidas Originals ad

The power of HD

The Simpsons made a move to HD this week and marked the move with brand new opening credits.

Pastures new part 3

No doubt everyone in the creative industry as been asked in the last 2 years "would you like to relocated to Dubai?"

My answer is 'no' but I always wondered what and why would some one go over there.

The person I interviewed wants to remain anonymous so we'll call him Agent X, he worked in Proximity Dubai for the last 2 years and is returning in May.

Why did you move to Dubai?
Most people back home thought it may be for the money. I left just as freelance wages were soaring and the demand for Flash Developers in London was at an all time high. Creatives in Dubai ad agencies are very rarely paid more than that in London, and don't be fooled by the tax-free status, as Dubai pays less anyway. Not forgetting that the Municipality enjoy finding ways to squeeze money out of you such as Salik, housing fees, extortionate rent water and electricity. More importantly(!) the insane tax on alcohol - you couldn't even buy a bottle of Fosters (aka piss) for less than a fiver, and the average entrance is usually £20!

But life isn't all about money, in London I found myself often working with South Africans and Australians who would tell stories of beautiful weather and hitting the beach. Hearing that - after a rainy weekend followed by a dreary morning commuting to work on the Thameslink - left me in little doubt that a change was needed. Initially I hadn't considered Dubai until I got an invitation to an interview. The offer of relocation seemed too tempting to refuse!

What were your expectations?
Apart from the intense heat, I tried not to have any. Figured it'd be more of a surprise that way.

Were the realities drastically different?
My first thoughts were that the ATL work was extremely disappointing. Practically all billboards simply feature a massive property developer logo, or MUPIs with images of steaming pizza, burgers or fried chicken. Where were the music artists, the TV promos, or other elements of Arabian culture that marketers wanted me to discover? On the plus side, the women were stunning! haha!

What's your view on the local market as it stands?
To be honest, it could be better. There are huge gaping black holes of disorganisation which have seemingly sucked much of the creativity away from the work. Many of the problems stem from clients not being 100% committed to working "with" their agencies. Instead there is a supply and demand culture apparent in every aspect of Dubai life - you want something done, there's a guy who will do it for next to nothing - and it seems that many client-side marketing departments expect the same.

Reading between the lines, a typical scenario consists of the client saying:
"We've got a bag of peanuts for you. Don't ask me to sign too many scamps off as I've got lots of other meetings in neighbouring countries. Just get it done in a quarter of the time you'd normally require. Oh and don't be too experimental as I need to cover my ass, wouldn't want to risk that next pay cheque would we?". The layouts they do actually sign off are only later turned on their head by a CEO putting in far more than his "2-fils" worth.

There are rare cases where the clients are not part of the problem, but somehow good intentions get put aside allowing agency politics or external suppliers to creep in throwing the workflow into disarray.

Did you go over there to cause a change or to learn?
Before arriving, I was unaware whether a change was even needed. Subsequently, I have endeavoured to cause a change and have managed to cast a few ripples. But after a year or so, I realised that the areas so desperately needing change have their roots buried far deeper than the reach of any single Flash Developer, or Creative Director even.

Any regrets on moving over?
You may be surprised to find out my answer is "no". Even though there is a lot to be desired work-wise, the lifestyle side of things have been and continue to be a great experience.
Top tips to survive out there?

• Don't get caught with your y-fronts/knickers round your ankles on the beach.
• Don't give in to the soaring temptations of road rage.
• Forget your love for drugs and porn, especially if you're a DJ.
• Stick to manly clothes if male!
• Overall, enjoy the lifestyle, watching a modern city grow at such a rapid rate, and everything else Dubai has to offer whilst the fascination lasts.

Top places that you have found whilst out there?

• Jazira Beach and Al Maya island have seriously great beach parties and BBQs. You'd quickly forget that you were in a conservative arab country.
• The Lodge is a massive open-air club, a lot of booze-fuelled fun has been had.
• The desert - fun to go camping in with a boot-load of Heineken and lots of food for a BBQ. There are real camels roaming around too!
• Faraya, Lebanon has great ski slopes in the winter. The indoor slope at Ski Dubai is not bad either (considering it's in a shopping centre in the desert).
• If you like cars, Al Diyafah Street or Jumeria Beach Residence (JBR) on a Friday night. Expect to see the latest GTR plus some seriously pimped out rides. It's a full on show!
• Also Dubai occupies a location with great access to other parts of the world, for example The Maldives, Thailand, India, Egypt, etc. So lots to explore.

Predictions for the market. The credit crunch has finally hit Dubai in a big way and many clients are slashing their marketing budgets, particularly in FMCG and Dubai-based property development (Abu Dhabi and telcos still seem to have a fair amount of cash!). So times are not great. Hopefully things will pick up and return to normal soon.

However, it will still be a long time before you regularly see stunning creative work come out of the UAE. Despite world firsts in architecture, internet infrastructure is far behind the UK, with the fastest home connection being 4Mbps for about £100 per month (neighbouring countries are far worse off). Ultimately meaning the MENA region has the same filesize restrictions you would have found in the UK circa 2002. Twitter have only recently been unblocked by the government, and many sites such as Flickr still remain fully censored. If it's gonna happen, it'll probably happen in Europe or the US first.

THE END

I'd like to thank "Agent X" for his time and a brilliant first interview of the year.

Sir Martin Sorrell on 2009

For any of you that care, there is an interview of what Sir Martin Sorrell thinks is in store for most of us this year in advertising.

Mostly predictions about growth and agency performance. Probably matter more if you work for a WPP owned company.

On another note Tequila UK is with out an ECD now, as Cordell Burke leaves.

Not sure what's going on over there, in the last year agency.com has moved int the same office and progressivly occupied more and more office space.

Read all about it here.

25 years of Virgin Atlantic

Great look. excellent track. Great ad?

Not sure about that yet.

I'm still a bit confused about what the messaging is to be honest, is it still as sexist no as it was 25 years ago?

Translations may be important

Unless your aiming for complete confusion.

Photo taken in Hong Kong Tsim Sa Tsui

Your agency and you

Should we question loyalty

Well should we, when I ask this it's more directed In the work place.

I for one am commited to my company (not 100% but that's just experience for you) but how commited is the company to you.

How do you define a companies loyalty in you?

Some of the answers I've heard back are:

• Training
• Pay
• Promotions
• Involvement in company affairs
• Parties

All of these replies are based on selfish needs which I'm not against, infact all of these are valid needs and will benefit both sides in terms of skills and moral. But with everything going on a lot of these are only dreams, a lot of these don't even exist in 2009 due to budget freezes.

The only option that's left that we can do is to involve our selves more in the company, basically stuff that is beyond our own capacity. None of us want to lose our jobs or be in constant state of fear of losing our job. Or may be you're in the position where you want to learn more about the agency beyond your own department, either way this is a time to get into the areas you want to learn.

I for one love working on pitches and what interests me about pitching is also the process of getting new business, also doing spec work is also an interesting way of keeping your ideas flowing.

On top of this you should think about it this way, you'll have a direct hand in shaping the agency you're at, you'll get more business savvy.

VW, Matrix Ad

VW released this ad in late December, a good end to a year I think.

HSBC : Lumberjack ad

Brilliant ad in my opinion.