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Honest and True

In swinging 1960s London, scanning the property pages of the Evening News for a new pad, you might have come across descriptions like this:

“Do not be misled by the trim exterior of this modest period res with its dirty broken windows; all is not well with the inside. The decor of the nine rooms, some of which hangs inelegantly from the walls, is revolting. Not entirely devoid of plumbing, there is a pathetic kitchen and one cold tap. No bathroom, of course, but Chelsea has excellent public baths.”

A Brand Ol’ Story

I was founded many years ago.

Bringing something new that was better than the old.

I got some attention, interviews, positive reviews and even some fans.
People liked me. People talked about me. People bought, used and loved me.
It was absolutely great.
I was welcomed into their cities, streets and homes.

Desperation

Since the beginning of 2013, two rhinos have been killed in Southern Africa every single day. Poaching of rhinos for their horns has been on the rise, with over 600 killed last year alone. Poachers fly low over game reserves and dart them with tranquilizer guns. They are quieter that way. After having its horn hacked off the rhino dies slowly from loss of blood. The situation is desperate.

In Defense of Time

Marketing and advertising today are dominated by a culture of obsolescence. This may be a lever for consumption, but it is potentially counterproductive for brands (apart from other problems – environmental, for example). For the digital environment is merciless and brands have no other choice than to be zapped or clicked: it is a race for novelty played out on social media in a matter of hours.

Creative Gluttony

Even after all of the exorbitant and extravagant holiday feasts have come to a close, for those in the ad world, there’s one that tops them all.

It’s always held on a Sunday night several weeks into the New Year, and anybody who can cough up the ever-increasing, and always outlandish, charge per plate is invited.

Yes, of course, I’m talking about Super Bowl Sunday.

A Super Bowl Ad Powerful Enough to Influence Lives

In the weeks leading up to Super Bowl Sunday, there was great debate in the marketing community (and beyond) about whether releasing spots in advance of the Big Game was a smart strategy to leverage a $3.5 million investment, or, if by eliminating the element of surprise, something was lost.

Great creative can influence lives in powerful and beautiful ways, so in my opinion, the sooner these spots air, the better – especially for the next generation of storytellers in the U.S. and beyond.

Although the Super Bowl seems U.S.-focused, its fame crossed the seas all the way to Brazil years ago.

Once Upon a Time

Our job is to communicate. And to motivate people to feel a certain way or take a specific action or group of actions. We start with a brief that outlines the problem. We put together an idea and get it in front of the people we hope to move.

So often it’s a really small thing that we assemble and slip in front of people. OUR BRAND IS FRIENDLY. A sliver. The smaller or shorter it is, the more directly we ask for action. CLICK HERE. We have a burden to communicate so much in so little and yet most of the time, we jump from a brief into concepts and executions that might take the form of something so minor. We wonder why it is so often ignored.

Interactive Storytelling: Living in a Parallax Universe

Storytelling has been at the forefront of modern life. Whether it is TV, cinema, books, radio or YouTube, we all have access to consume stories that others have created. Indeed, we create our own for the Internet audience. More recently, with the progression of technology, we have had the opportunity to interact – to a certain degree – with online storytelling.

You Have Been Watching…

There is a malign influence stalking our industry, turning formerly enthusiastic, optimistic creative professionals into Munch-Scream-faced misanthropes, shivering, twitching wrecks, desperate to get out, to get away, to go anywhere to escape the next two-minutes of fresh hell that awaits.

What began with just a few, isolated cases is now a scourge, infecting otherwise good work and turning it into a will-sapping grey-goo of guitar-driven banality, all wrapped up with a perky VO.

I speak, of course, of the BAD AWARD CASE STUDY FILM.

I’m with Stupid

We live in strange times. But not as strange as during the Napoleonic wars between Britain and France. Especially if you were a monkey.

When a French ship was wrecked off the coast of Hartlepool in northeast England, the only survivor was the ship’s mascot; a pet monkey dressed in a military uniform. He was promptly arrested as a French spy and hanged. Pretty stupid, most of us would agree.

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