Brand Gondry
Posted on
2007-Sep-23
at
07:59
I'm fascinated with Michel Gondry's work. His creativity spills into everything from films, indie music videos, of course ads, and a slew of other random outlets. Some thoughts after digging up his various outlets of creativity:
Gondry-Directed Ads:
1. Motorola: Experience
Razr
Reminds me of Happiness Factory and snags the same feel-good factor. I love that the treatment is so unexpected ( I'm over the rivalry between the Sprint-Alltell & Zeta Jones sales pitch characters). Definitely the most imaginative display of product features.
2. Levi's
Prophylactic
Best damn denim ad. Accentuating the innocuous watch pocket whilst maintaining the brand's heritage, and using to tell a classic story is fetching. Now, I'll laugh every time I see someone rocking the Red Label.
Levi's: Mermaids
Sirens
I'm sure there's a robust population of males who prefer their jeans shrunk-to-fit in this fashion. Kudos to BBH UK Bronze Lion '97
Gondry Featured in an Ad:
Gondry & HP
And since every creative has at least one defining quirk, His Kermit-in-Paris accent is perfectly captured in the last line: "I'm not a very good sleeperrr."
His work is certainly polarizing; some think he's a fruity hack, other's think his genius is on another level. I like it. Obviously, I've been up to word-of-mouthing it along.
EVERY Thing Becomes a Canvas for Creativity
Drum & Drummer
I bet if that was turned into an ad for a single brand of drums that would be huge. Every drummer/musician I know is constantly tapping out beats on any available surface, or mentally recording sound experiences like traffic, the cadence of a person walking etc. for later use.
Brazenly Integrates Channels of Expression:
Spin Me Right Round Baby
Fuses art & music with the ol' Spin Paint turn table, a piano & Bjork.
Next Movie :
Be Kind Rewind
Looks like a hr. & 1/2 commercial for the longevity of consumer generated content.
(Or, watch the clip again, and mentally cast Jack & Black & Mos Def as representing boutique shops vs. original full-length films as larger "bureaucratic" agencies, and notice the parallels.)
I've been thinking a lot lately about the concern that "advertising isn't considered a popular career choice early in one's education", and the cry to "diversify & attract talent from disciplines other than advertising."
Which is why Gondry's work, along with Guy Ritchie's BMW shorts, strike me as a solid shot at hopping over the silos between design, advertising, screen writing, directing, etc. in order to produce content that creates ideal brand experiences.
That perhaps, it will be more common to use an open-source model: bringing in talent (outside the advertising profession) , earlier in the concepting stage, rather than just hiring them for production. i.e., when I'm stuck creatively, I call my friend who's in architecture. Because she approaches problems differently than I've been trained to, it always triggers synapse flow in a new direction. As a result, she pays more attention to advertising, I'm more aware of design & structure, giving us both another technique for our jobs .
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