Thursday, June 30, 2005

Creative kickstarting

Yes, many of you have it nailed inside out, but many of you also may be wondering if there's some techniques that are better than others. I stumbled across this site called creative web, which offers some nice consructive and comprehensive insight into creative brainstorming techniques.

"...Collectively, there are several hundred techniques published in books by Michael Michalko, Andy Van Gundy, James Higgins, Dilip Mukerjea and others.Techniques are like tools in a workshop, with different tools for different parts of the creative process. For example, there are techniques for defining a problem, exploring attributes of a problem, generating alternatives, visual explorations, metaphors, analogies, and evaluating and implementing ideas." For more info Visit this amazing site: Creativity Web



Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Fresh off the flashcard from Cannes



























Sunday, June 26, 2005

When ads go bad p2


Ok, so where do I start? the layout? the cheese idea? I know McCann handled the rogers account before publicis got ahold of it, but McCann did a wonderful job before with the Jay's baseball north campaign. Could this be one of those "transitional" phases where theres no agency to handle the account and some random dude with a photoshop diploma whips ads like these up? please say it's so.

Making your ad seem like a movie poster is alright and sometimes it works if its pulled off in a nice fashion. But when your dealing with say BASEBALL you shouldn't be portraying it as a movie. It's downsizing your product. Baseball and all live sport events in general are much more of a spectacle than movies. Its more engaging in terms of the open audience and watching REAL people perform in front of your eyes.

Yes, Movie goers in the past few years have been on a steady rise, but giving in to that trend is no good. Just like when Kentucky Fried Chicken changed there name to KFC because they were afraid of the Health associations the word "fried" brought along. But guess what? KFC is history, they decided to bring back Good ol' Kentucky Fried Chicken and stick to there roots. Point? Baseball is Baseball its not a movie, advertise baseball.


Viral advertising spreads via marketing

I came across this interesting article from Usatoday about how 'Viral' advertising spreads through marketing plans. It's a nice read with some case studies of big brands "All viral means ... is that you've created a message that people want to share. It's proof that your message is resonating," says Gregg Spiridellis, who co-founded animation and design studio JibJab with his brother. "If people want to pass it along, that's what brand marketing is all about." "Advertisers are not nearly in control of their brand message as they think they are," says Klein. "When you are out there living in that world, they are not always going to say nice things about you. You can't get too uptight about how you manage the conversation." .... read the full article


Cannes lions film winners announced


Honda's "Grrr" win's the Grand prix.I don't think that was really a surprise considering the amount of time and effort put into that spot. Every year here at LeoBurnett we sit down with alot of junk food and watch the "cannes prediction reel" and try to guess who will win what, Know that i know the winners i think i did fairly well.

Here is a look at some of the other winners

Gold lions:


Altoids "Altodia's people of pain"


Ford "King Kong"

Silver lions:


Charal Beef "The race"

Bronze Lions:


Nextel "Dance party"


From "Here's T.O my city" to "Toronto Unlimited"



The Toronto Branding Project unveiled its brand identity for the city yesterday: Toronto Unlimited. The brand is intended to "celebrate the infinite potential of the people and the endless opportunities they offer the city." Tourism Toronto will be a main part of the campaign, acting under a sub-campaign called "Toronto Stories". Here's where it becomes interesting, earlier this year i was involved in a joint program at my college OCAD with the Rotman college of management. In that program we advertising and business students were assigned a real life client (in our case the city of Toronto). In that program the idea of "Stories" is the exact idea we came up with back then for the city of Toronto. Part of participating in the program is that we had to sign over complete creative control to the city, its obvious of course they used our idea with some tweaking here and there....But in general after seeing the Toronto Unlimited campaign I think our team has mixed feelings about it. First of all were really proud an honoured to have contributed to re-branding the city, but we ask ourselves will we get any official credit for our work? Anyways, I'd like to share with you the story of what i went through in this joint program. I felt it was extremely beneficial for my future career in advertising.

The first day of the OCAD/Rotman joint project, I had no idea what was in store for me. I had spoken to students from OCAD who were the “proto-types” you may say and all I got from them is mixed reviews of intensity, dedication and surprises to come. That of course all drifted away from my head like a set of clouds after attending the initial meeting. Our client was the City of Toronto for God’s Sake! Sitting there after the meeting with the representative of the city of Toronto (Carl) and the Mentors assigned to us from GWP Brand engineering (Bruce and Philippe) I had the hugest grin on my face. Mixed feelings of joy, anticipation, anxiousness and thrill overwhelmed my already overpopulated head full of thoughts.

Overcoming our initial truckload of feelings, our group FireIce set up an initial internal meeting in hopes of breaking the Ice (No pun intended!). It was a nice group of people from different ethnicities which I thought was perfect considering the client we had to deal with. James was on top of everything in a very organized fashion with a bunch of sheets he organized for us (the color mood charts, contact sheets ... etc) So from day one we had an excellent start with a website to our name and our entire group of eight being constantly in touch. Nothing could stand in our way now; well at least we thought so. That was all shattered when we first met with Carl at City Hall. I had realized at that point the huge task in front of us was not a towering giant, but a towering family of giants. Carl had so many objectives in mind and we didn’t think he was sure on what he wanted to accomplish exactly. His colleagues at City Hall also had different points of view. Welcome to the Era of confusion. After that meeting everybody had left in small groups of two by themselves... I thought that was really symbolic to how confused we were at that point. A couple internal meetings later we decided that the best way to overcome this sense of confusion is by digging further and further. We met our professor Peter Oliver half way through and he gave us a nice insight, that not all the time the Client is on target in terms of his/her objective. That insight really helped us overcome a lot of our issues and lead us back to the main road. Two weeks of Research later and after overhauling our creative strategy five times, we reached a consensus with Carl in terms of what his real objective is. Carl was really an open-minded client which I think has helped us progress unlike the other groups smoothly in defining and refining our strategy.

So we had our creative strategy down and nailed, that was the easy part. We had a tight strategy and by tight I mean it was hands down amazing, but at the same time it was too tight to fit any of our emerging ideas through to the other side (success). Were those ever rough times and long hours, coming up with creative ideas to fit with our strategy was an extremely hard task. Every now and then we would reach a peek point in which we thought would be the solution to our creative, only to come tumbling back down grasping to a previous idea. Yeah those were indeed tough times.

Our savior was located at 96 Spadina Avenue. The mentors that were assigned to us (GWP) really were the breaking point in terms of refining our creative. We had a total of three meetings with them. Every time we’d enter the bright red halls of GWP the amount of helplessness on our faces was extremely visible, yet magically when we exit we feel like we are the kings of the world. The last meeting with Philippe was the crucial meeting that literally brought our collective ideas together in an amazing fashion that spelled out one word … (success). We worked on the creative from then day and night staying late hours at the lab at school making everything look professional. We didn’t want to be like the other groups we definitely felt the spirit of competitiveness running through our veins. We wanted to stand out.

Final presentation day, we delivered and more. It was a huge success … the client loved our creative and we were literally over the top.

You can view a video of our presentation here:

OCAD/Rotman Video (15megs)

Read more about it and also see the creative here:







All in all, they did distort our intial idea a bit. In the end though i'm extremely proud to have helped in re-branding the city in one way or another. Now will I officially get credit for it?

Here is an Article from AdNews on the topic: The project to formulate a brand strategy for Toronto was undertaken 13 months ago by Tourism Toronto, the City of Toronto, the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Recreation and the Toronto City Summit Alliance. The $4 million project included local and international focus groups, surveys and interviews intended to gauge the ways in which Toronto is viewed by residents and visitors. The resulting brand strategy was developed by Brand Architecture International and TBWA of Toronto. The branding materials include an overall Toronto Unlimited logo, which consists of a stylized letter "T" that forms a circle with itself, plus five icons in the same style representing music, food, film, festivals and the arts. All the stakeholders involved in the project will use the new brand in their marketing, communications and product development.

Tourism Toronto will be the first organization to do so. The organization has prepared a new campaign called "Toronto Stories" that will consist of print ads in the travel sections of the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post and Time Out New York. The creative features well-known individuals with a connection to Toronto. The ads present collages of images along with hand-written notes in which these people describe what the city means to them. The first ads feature architect Frank Gehry and musician Paul Shaffer. These ads will run from June 26 to Aug. 7. The campaign will also make use of branded calendars of events labeled "July Unlimited" and "August Unlimited." These will run concurrently in markets along the Canada-US border, as well as opposite the "Toronto Stories" ads in larger markets. Supporting transit shelter ads will also run in New York, Chicago and Washington from mid-July to mid-August. "Our Toronto Stories campaign evolved directly from the new brand platform, and evokes the unique combination of people, places and things that make up the Greater Toronto Area," said Bruce MacMillan, president of Toronto Tourism. "Taken together, the summer campaign ads leverage the new Toronto Unlimited brand by telling our story in a cohesive, strategic and powerful way. They serve to reinforce the message that Toronto is an intimate metropolis, a cultural capital and city of imagination.



Saturday, June 25, 2005

Meditation at LeoBurnett

So Judy John the head Creative Director here at LeoBurnett got us started on meditation classes every thursday. I went to the first class and it was really nice, more Tai-Chi than meditation. The point is i want to share with you two ads that were done to promote this event amongst the office. The first blue one is by Johnnie Ingram


The second one which is really nice and simple is by Anthony Chelvanathan and Steve persico.



Thursday, June 23, 2005

When ads go bad



This is posted all throughout the Toronto Transit subway system in MASS quantities Hmmm, Who was responsible for this astrocity ? I know FCB handles the advertising for the Province of Ontario. But they possibly couldn't have did this. THEN WHO DID? It even looks like a bad MSPaint job. I mean to have this ad be a lone random ad in the subway system is one thing, but to see it ten thousand times a day is another. Bad advertising really lowers the standards, and drives people away from advertising like nothing else. I hope who ever is responsible for this is trialed and prisoned!

When institutions start accepting any form of advertisement regardless of quality. Then that is the doom signal for all us in the ad biz. There should be set standards in terms of what qualifies as good advertising, what is good enough to show to the public. Only the best advertising should be out there. Visionary? maybe, but hey imagine a future where only the BEST advertising is out there and people actually go out of there way to look at cool ads.



Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Congrats Addie !! or hardwork Always pays off

My Good friend Addie Gillespie who had a 2 month internship at Re-Think in Vancouver just sent me an email saying that she got another internship At Grey !!! She was talking to Marc Stoiberg the head CD for Grey worldwide and he wants her to start fullfilling her capacity and do some award winning work !!!!

Congrats ADDIE ... talk about inspiring !. Addie is one of the hardest working students i know. She is constantly inspired to pump out amazing ads. And I figured to share this news with all of you to prove that hard work ALWAYS pays off.

Tekken 5 amazing Student Print ads





From browsing Ihaveanidea i found these sample ads for tekken 5 based on the idea of customization. I think the ads are pretty cool and really a fresh take on all advertising for Tekken games. it's really nice to see quality student work.

TITLE:Clippers
AGENCY:Miami Ad School : Madrid
CREATIVE DIRECTOR:
ART DIRECTOR:Guillermo Echevarria
COPYWRITER:Marvin Figueroa



Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Why you should be in Advertising ..(cough..kk)



"One Show 2004 - Student awards"
If you ever were a bit cynical about advertising, or wondered who qualifies to be in advertising ... i came across these two award winning entries in the oneshow 2004 annual.....

First Set:

AD: Sang Woon Lee
CW: Sang Woon Lee
California State Uni

Second Set:

AD: Lee jennings
CW: ian Fairbrother
VCU Adcentre

Pop Engineer: You argue that frank zappa should be taught in school music programs. You say the Strokes rocked harder when they were called Television. And you tell Prince fans they should check out Chocolate Genius. They call you a "music." Snob" We call you an Artist with something to say.

Culture Engineer: you interrupt meetings to ask about "that memo on those TPS reports." You tell co-workers that B.F. Skinner designed your cubicle. And you use words like "Kafka-esque" to describe your mornings. In your office you're Eccentric," In ours, your'e a creative thinker.


Ford Creates a living Billboard in Dundas Square


"Living Billboard"
"Living Billboard" that was recently installed on the roof of the Hard Rock Cafe in Dundas Square. I recently spoke with the Production House who shared some of the impressive production details. The plants are real - over 900 of them in total, complete with a full irrigation system attached to the back of the board. The plants and irrigation system alone took 6 men a full week to install. And no need to worry about the plants once they grow. They're tended to by a landscape crew weekly.... thanks to Gladys Bachand from Leo for forwarding this to me

Publicis is hiring !


In the latest issue of Marketing mag. Publics has a 4 page open spread with the big headline "Now hiring"
When you open up the double pager you'll see a big tree like structure with the family of publicis owned agencies. After winning a huge account like Rogers, i guess its standard to celebrate in such mannerism. So if you're feeling hopeful and have a good book on your desk, send it in ... you never know.



Monday, June 20, 2005

Peugeot goes Viral ...


Browsing Adrants i came across this really interesting Viral ... "If you think kissing with tongues is fun, wait until you try catching a car with your tongue as these two car lovers do in this clip. This video, called Tongue Match, for the Peugeot 206CC and created by Euro RSCG 4D in Germany, directed by Thierry Poiraud, gives a whole new meaning to tonguing."

tongue-match



Sunday, June 19, 2005

Commercials galore

So you never knew Kevin smith directed commercials ?
Get your popcorn ready ...


Backyard

Want to be a copywriter at DDB ?

Tribal DDB Toronto needs a junior/intermediate level copywriter with a highly conceptual brain.Interested candidates should be able to write gooder than this.Sound like you?

Visit website or Apply now

(from newstoday.com)

Print from students around the globe


Rene Gebhardt & Bjorrn Kernspeckt
Bauhaus Universitat Weimar


Michael Heay
Anhalt University of Applied Sciences


Sebastian Castro
Universidad Argentina de la Empresa


Elisabeth Weggemann
Kunstuniversitaet Linz
Universitat far kanstlerische und industrielle Gestaltung


Vladislav Ivangorodsky
Pratt Institute


Onanong Yoosuk
International Academy of Design & Technology


For more head over to the students section at the Archive site ..
there is some simply amazing work there ... Link



Saturday, June 18, 2005

Make a mess ... and learn !

Inspiration should be something you always have on your mind. There should be no such thing as a boring moment. If you ever feel bored that means you havent been working hard enough
Inspiration can come from many different sources, for instance I found Conan O'Brian's Commencement Speech to the Havard Class of 2000 to be utterly hilarious yet completely inspiring and insightful.

Link

A beginning of sharing

A lot has happened since I first went into the Advertising program at OCAD, the tipping point I'd say is this summer when I got an internship at LeoBurnett. A lot of hard work and sleepless nights are responsible for where I am now. To my Surprise, a lot of people were astonished when I received the internship, I guess none of them saw it coming. Some even asked how I did it, what's the secret? There is no secret. It all boils down to loving what you do more than anything else.
There was a recent time in my life where I was a bit cynical about Advertising and what is has to do with the world we live in. As my good friend Karen King whom I shared much of those beliefs with would say "meh". Yep ... Meh, I was looking at the picture from one point of view only, I didn't brainwash myself to like advertising, I just started opening my mind to new possibilities.

Advertising is good ... Really!

Yes, there is a lot of negative aspects that tag along, but I believe that the benefits outweigh by far the negatives.
The future is bright ... Tide bright.

After working so hard and achieving something I'm proud of, I had the urge to share what I'm gaining in ways with other people who I noticed are working hard to break into this tough field. I'd send out emails with interesting articles, portfolio tips ... Etc.

This is where this blogspace comes in, to channel everything I come across in the world of advertising and share it with those of you who strive to be the best. Want a place in Advertising? well consider this ... Your trying to get the attention of the people who make they're living trying to get the attention of the masses, so try hard ... Really hard.

I hope to keep this space frequently updated with anything and everything I come across that I find interesting! Anybody can comment on posts ... no sign up needed.

Now go work on your portfolio!