Hark - Strong Female Characters!

This cartooning makes me laugh. Especially since I spend a lot of time working on a brand that believes in empowering women (the brand book says nothing about this though).

Hark - Follow This Link

The Other Side by Tiny Tim

The ice caps are melting, this Tiny Tim guy is acting like a fish and little girls are singing a chorus including the words "the tide is rising to wash away the sins". Sheer lunacy. It's beautiful. Your day will be better for watching this and singing along.

Green Washing

It's Where You Take Things To

CR Blog had a post that raised a traditional issue in advertising and design. Namely the "stealing" of ideas and techniques.

YouTube provides a steady stream of inspiration to advertising creatives, but it also leaves young directors vulnerable to having ideas stolen and agencies open to accusations of plagiarism. How can both directors and agencies protect themselves?

That started a fun discussion. I argued that nothing (advertising, design, art, music) is original. Everything you do is based on the work of someone else. You don't necessarily have to proclaim from the roof who you borrowed from, but don't be shy when someone points out that you are not a true original. I like Jim Jarmusch's quote, "Don't bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it." Just remember that you borrowed and will be borrowed from in turn (if you're any good). Just try make it better and stop feeling so damn guilty. Love your history.

How about this: Love Your Influences As You Would Be Loved. Okay, now where's that D&AD annual...

Is Dripbook Aptly Named?

I'm updating this blog post after a few e-mails with Dripbook. They are a group of people trying very hard to make an excellent service. Most of my reasons for writing this post could have been dealt with better communication on their website. I suppose that's been done by now.

Photographers, illustrators, hair stylists etc are typically a little crap at keeping their websites maintained, if they exist at all. I appreciate any efforts to help these busy creative people show their work to the world. Dripbook is one of those efforts. I found out about them through a comment in one of the Virb art groups and Mashable have written about them too. I'll check anything out and it seemed like a good project. Easy portfolio tools combined with a social network aspect to help you connect and promote. So I sent them an application. I had to apply because... they're pulling the exclusivity card as a marketing stunt really. I said I'm handsome and make nice work and sent them my portfolio site (ironically). Thank goodness I was let in or my street cred would have collapsed like an underfed model. The feature I wanted to explore was their ability to publish to third party sites. Widgets that create a bit of code that refers to your dynamically updated portfolio instead of you having to create the books on your own site. I use viewbook.com for a site I built for a photographer which does that exactly. Unfortunately I never did get to trying that feature.

Most of Dripbook is fine even if it's a bit dull in the design stakes (a web 2.0 phenomenon apparently). The upload of images was easy enough, the networking idea is a good one. After I uploaded I found that my images came out looking soft. Which is odd considering they were sized down for web use and were sharp, black and white images when they left my desktop. Even that I could figure out given enough patience. My irritation is that the site is not recognizing that I have "published" a book of drawings. It says it's published. But it's not visible to anyone else it seems. I've tried every "publish" button three times and now I'm bored. If you can't publish, you can't promote and then the social network is useless.

Turns out that because I put a "Mature" marker on my book because it contained drawn nudity, I encountered a legal fix:

You followed the instructions exactly and did exactly what you were supposed to do. When a user goes to look at your book, he / she is asked whether he / she wants to look at mature content. Then a cookie is places on that user's computer, and the warning does not show up again.

 A fact that would have been good to know a few days ago.

Not wanting to spend any more time on the site I figured that I'd cancel my hard won account and focus my efforts on other tasks, like my real job. Except I can't find anywhere to cancel, suspend, deactivate, kill my account. Really. I've looked pretty hard. The FAQ neatly ignores the fact that anyone would be brazen enough to leave their services. I wonder what happens when you buy a premium account ($9 per month)?

Dripbook have informed me that they hadn't got to that detail yet.  It'll be done now.

Dripbook is in Beta phase which may excuse any screw ups and my decision to leave their site is based on a few personal impressions, not only some basic technical glitches. The site is slow, I don't like their presentation options and I don't like their design.

I'd leave, but I can't.

ps. Turns out that no one had ever asked to leave. I have that dubious honour. My apologies, Dripbook, for being that guy.

 I have been deleted. After the short e-mail chat with Dripbook I appreciate that I was rather harsh on their Beta site. I only wish they had been a bit more forthcoming with how Beta they were. I mean, who doesn't have a delete account button?  If you think I was a putz let the comments fly.

Is Boundless Gallery the Height of Boundless Tackiness?

 

Looking for a piece of art for your home, office or car? Simple! Select the colour you'd like. How much you'd prefer to spend. The dimensions of the space you have. And Ta Dah! Boundless will spit out a list of objet d'art that match your green curtains or lilac bed sheets.

It sounds like a good thing right? It gives minor artists exposure to a public that prefers to be told what to like. You can get a painting that matches your curtain pattern. It's as easy and painless as only Web 2.0 can be.

Then why do I find this service quite horrible? Perhaps it's too many years of liking art.

Link 

We The Robots - Silicone Declarations

 

Chris Harding is working on a few projects. One of which is his web comic "We The Robots". Nicely drawn, simple and satirical up the wazoo. Perhaps there are a few things we can learn from the Robots.

Link 

Lateral Thunking

 

Sometimes I despair of social networking sites. They have a promise of interesting connections and influences and then fall a bit short of the dream. Much like any kind of technology I guess. I'm thinking that Virb is not going to live up to it's designer promise. The pages dedicated to Art, Photography and other creative output have not arrived, despite months of promises. I'm sure they're busy and music is the easiest way into this business, but c'mon! Most of the people I chat with on the site are designers of some sort and how awesome would a chart of top illustrators on Virb be? Anyways, every now and then I'm surprised by someone that wants to be friendly and what they're attached to.

The other day a guy called Franks contacts me on Virb. And it turns out he is the Head of Design (and a damn good drawer) at a company called Lateral, based in London. They're an interactive type of agency who've done boat loads of work on Nintendo DS and Levis. While their portfolio is impressive, it's their website that caught my attention. It's a damn clever piece of information design. Slick, simple and fast. The expandable blocks provide excellent bite size pieces of information and the colour work is fun and intuitive. I think it's built in Ajax.

It's a lesson in how a single page can be an entire information architecture.

Lateral 

The Viral Palette

One of the problems that Marketers are concerned with is how do they maintain Brand Values while trying to maximise reach with Viral Media. They're uncomfortable with the stunty craziness associated with YouTube but realise they can't miss out on the opportunity. What do they do?

I'm going to bust the misconception that you need to be off strategy and whacky in order to get millions of people interested in your content. In fact, the most viewed, most memorable corporate content is all about brand strategy and brand values. You have to have something to say, why not say what you believe in?

Instead of talking about the sociological theories of viral media or showing a powerpoint slide with the "marketing approach" shopping list (which only provides the illusion of brand control) I'll show some examples and do a quick precis of what I believe they do. This is by no means an exhaustive list of options but I'll try to cover the main bases.

How do you get people to pass along your message? Here's what worked for a few brands.

Take a Stand

A couple of guys jump an airport fence under cover of darkness and tag "Still Free" onto the fuselage of Airforce One. It's a political statement. Well, it's a corporate political statement. Marc Ecko and Droga 5 decided to make a film that embodies the spirit of the Ecko clothing label: The Art of Street Graffiti, Freedom of Speech (Ecko had sued New York City over the right to a graffiti competition) and champion of the youth. The sheer audacity of the prank meant it spread like wildfire. Ecko quickly (nearly the next day) explained why they did it in a statement from the owner himself where he mentions all of his Ecko properties. He did it for the kids of America, because he believes it's the right thing to do, because it creates an altruistic brand character for people who sell t-shirts to kids from the hood and the burbs. They claim nearly 80 Million views.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eP0iSJQLfJ4]

Buy the Still Free t-shirt
Read about the Still Free Game
The Marc Ecko Brand
Still Free Official Site

Cannes Cyber Grand Prix 2006

Tell the Truth

A woman sits down in a studio full of lights. Through time lapse we see her transformed from a normal person with pimples into an idealised fiction on a billboard. This is an invitation from the Dove Self-Esteem Fund to take part in their sponsored classes. It's also the most viewed film of 2006/7 in the world. We all know the story, you can read the story here if you missed it. Why does it work? Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty is all about debunking stereotypes. In this case they expose the very techniques used by their competition that they have vowed not to use. It's a moral and ethical statement from Dove. It's perfectly on strategy and connects with people. It might have gone terribly wrong but they displayed the right amount of honesty to be believed.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U]

With over 150 million U.S. dollars worth of free media exposure through millions of hits on YouTube and every talk show in North America and Europe singing its praises, our Unilever clients say this piece has to have the highest ROI in the history of advertising.

Something that is hardly thought about is the amount of PR that contributed to the free exposure. The film needed to be amazing but without real world support it would never have reached the number of people it did in the end. Evolution has also been flighted in a number of countries as a full duration (75") TV spot and was the 2006 Superbowl ad for Dove.

Find out how you can be part of the Campaign for Real Beauty

Cannes Cyber Grand Prix 2007
Cannes Film Grand Prix 2007

Say It All

VW Passat had 120 new things to say about their car. How do you possibly explain 120 features in any meaningful way? Especially when they couldn't be vague, "the VW Passat films needed to communicate a very specific technical feature of the car". What Arnold Worldwide did was commission 120 short films. You may only have ever read about this campaign in a business paper but 120 films to dramatise 120 new features on a car is something to remember. Distilled to the nth degree, this campaign is only about the number "120". You may only watch 5 of the films ever, but you know they are part of a set of 120 (each spot opens with it's serial number eg. "38/120"). You may not like all the films, but you'll love some of them.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKpQAvL8MeY]

the Arnold-devised 120 Feature Films web blitz that began in the fall not only represents what's being called the largest use of online spots for a single branded entertainment initiative, but also illustrates the new roads agencies are taking to create a buzz-worthy campaign.

The amount of online buzz around the films has resulted in between 15 and 20 of them being formatted for broadcast. Considering that the spots were relatively inexpensive to make (around $2,000 per film says Weist), spreading them across various mediums certainly gives the client much bang for the buck.

'boards

You could say that VW tested 120 concepts and then aired the favourites on TV to everyone who didn't see them online. Buzz and research all in one package.

See the first 25 films at Brand New School

Cannes Cyber Bronze 2006

Have an Adventure

You land on a site where a Mini suddenly erupts from a traditional looking banner. The thing drives out of the box! It then invites you to follow the car, promising that it won't take you to the Mini site. What ensues is a fun ride through the darker recesses of the web. Stuff you didn't know you could or should search for is brought to you via your Mini web adventure. The campaign in Britain for Mini at the time was "It's a Mini Adventure" and was supported by TV spots featuring Martian attacks and Print showcasing comics about mad scientists driving invisible cars. I suppose one of the reasons it worked was that it used real websites as it's destinations, not made up weirdness. Respecting the web even as they drove all over it.

With four destinations within one journey and three unique journeys created, the user is unlikely to go on the same adventure more than once.

The Mini Showcase

Cannes Cyber Gold 2007

Play The Game

The California Milk Processor Board brought their "Got Milk?" campaign to the web with a brilliantly realised "board" game. It's a bit like Monopoly with mini stage games and some amazing animation. They've brought the production values of Pixar to a website. It's just so well done that people can't help but tell other people about it. Yes, there is the "milk is good for you" educational messaging liberally spread throughout but you forgive it any heavy-handedness because of the sheer entertainment they give you. The game is educational, fun, engaging and all about the milk. It's also the centre of their new campaign, 7 TV spots and a poster/print campaign drive to the game.



Play Get The Glass

Cannes Cyber Gold 2007

Fake Real

In 2004, at a time when webcams were finally getting headway on the net and ordinary people could see each other talking on the other side of the world, Crispin Porter + Bogusky engaged the skills of The Barbarian Group to help Burger King tell people that you could Have Chicken Your Way. How better than to go to a site where you can order a guy in a chicken uniform to be an idiot? You'd think that after all these years the guy in the chicken suit would be tired... well, I'll tell you a secret. There is no guy in a chicken suit. The interaction perfectly demonstrated the BK promise of "Have It Your Way' though.



Order the Chicken
The Alexa.com Stats (demonstrating a very long ROI tail)

Cannes Cyber Gold 2005

The Limited Experience

Two gorgeous and crazy girls stole the new Diesel Intimate collection, kidnapped a nice guy, locked themselves (and him) in a hotel room. Then, using six video cameras they broadcast their experience 24 hours a day, live for 5 straight days on diesel.com. Branded Reality Interactive TV. As a viewer you could participate in their experience so it became your own experience. They blogged, took photographs, had parties and generally lived the perfect Succesful Life. All, of course, in Diesel's Intimate Collection. Unlike the Subserviant Chicken above, this had a lifespan of only 5 days. It was a short, powerful experience for viewers and then Diesel moved on. Which is exactly how a rock star would do it.



Watch what happened over those 5 crazy days.

Cannes Cyber Grand Prix 2007

Make A Useful App

Nike and Apple collabrated to create Nike+. Not just an iPod add-on or a social website but an entirely new product. Their video tells it better than I can, but this is a situation where the agency, R/GA, forged a new worldwide business with their clients. It's a bit of a holy grail to be honest and probably required the blood of virgins to be sacrificed to actually make it happen. They've created a tool that's useful, fun to use and includes a community of like-minded users from all over the world. At the core of it is a back-end sales tool that R/GA originally developed independently of Nike+, it's purpose is to sell shoes with as little fuss as possible. They hand over this powerful application for the price of a widget that sticks to your shoes.



The iTunes store even added a Nike Sport Music section with special workout mixes, athlete inspirations, podcasts, etc. A well rounded product. Is it an ad though?

Nike+
The hack around if you don't want to buy a pair of Nike.
Buy your own Nike + iPod Sportkit

Cannes Cyber Grand Prix 2007

Immersive Content

A guy named Justin tinkers with a system of broadcasting video signal from a small camera on his body, from any location, to a website. It takes him about 6 months to figure out the technology. When he does he goes live 24 hours a day. Real time. From his car, to his office, to the first virtual date between Justin.tv and iJustine, his life is laid bare for us to view at our leisure. Which is a trend young people are exhibiting online, sharing everything. As near as I can tell no one other than Justin has created any PR buzz, brand experience or ad awards with this technology. Yet.



Watch Justin.tv
The Alexa Stats

I've obviously missed out on about 99% of the cool stuff on the web. What I hope I've collected are some awesome pieces of brand work that defy the "whacky" label. User generated content about a kitten falling asleep may grab eyeballs but no one believes it when there's a logo stuck on the end. These brands have told the truth, been honest and generally surprised us. I've missed out on the Nine Inch Nails Year Zero launch and about another 8 million other clever ideas. Oh well. Maybe later.

Presentation Created & Assembled by Ivan Pols, Associate Creative Director @ Ogilvy Toronto
All works are copyright of the respective brands and agencies.

ps. An experiment gone wrong:
Chivas "This Is The Life"

pps. Here are a few other interesting experiments:
See More Side Effects
Volvo - The Hunt
Ikea - Come into the Closet
BMW - Pace

MTV Switch "Faces" vs Audi A4 "Faces"

Play MTV Switch "Faces"

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CViMSIGHh8s]

This is a classic example of ideas stepping on ideas. Which is to say these two ads almost come from the same cutting room. I appreciate that the takeout is different, one is about the hungry mouths of power outlets and the other is about the big mouth of the Audi A4. I also understand that the creative teams were oblivious to one another (MTV Switch 2007, Audi A4 2005). And the MTV ad is for an environment saving "charity" and Audi is an environment destroying car. Despite all these dissimilarities, they are ridiculously similar (and I'm sure similar to a hundred other references).

So, the important question is: Which soundtrack do you prefer?

ps. The Audi A4 ad is mine by the way.