Digital Connections

Nice Olympic London 2012 one year to go ad from Adidas / Team GB

Certainly saves on the cost or time of using an ambassador .........

Apple takeover Skysports.com on #WorldCup2018 day

On the day that England were subjected to another World Cup humiliation, I quite liked this smart media-buy from the chaps at Apple.

A cool takeover of the SkySports homepage, on what even by SkySports standards must have been a high traffic day.

 

Shame that people clicked through to read about massive disappointment - but if we'd won then the mediabuy would have have been a stroke of genius.

Made even better as it only works on Google Chrome and Firefox - leaving Internet Exporer in the cold (ha).

Nice creative, smart mediabuy, shame about the result.

(Also a shame that I'd just done a Google search on Blake's 7 before recording)

K1664: Lemmy beats Lucas with Aces High

Great Kronenbourg 1664 Ad, from the chaps at BBH London, featuring Motorhead's Lemmy.

There's also an opportunity for fans to download The Ace of Spades (Slow Version) track too ... Rarely does a legend lend themselves to a TV Ad and come out the other end with their integrity and credibility fully intact or enhanced.

In contrast George Lucas' pimping of Star Wars is an example of how naff a legendary property can become. Adidas' Cantina bar Ad was good, if not overshadowed by Nikes "Write The Future" campaign, but let down by a bloated and generally weak product range.

George not happy with the cash from Adidas then followed up by cashing in further and licensing the Star Wars francise to PC World / Curry's - and the less said about that teh better - horrific!

Mines a Kronenbourg, cheers Lemmy!!

Lionel Messi: He didn't have the hand of god, just his feet.

Fantastic example of simple and strong ad copy by DDP Paris,

..brought to attention by the chaps at Ads Of The World.

Advertising Agency: DDB Paris, France
Copywriter: Olivier Lefebvre

Creative Director: Alexandre Hervé
Art Director: Benjamin Marchal
Illustrator: Monsieur Barbe
Published: December 2009

The Last Advertising Agency On Earth

Despite it being very bleak and somewhat over the top, it does raise many good points.

And a very good online ad for a conference!

3DTV, Changing The Game For Sports Consumption In 2010

January 2010 has been something breakthrough in world of 3D Television, no longer are we talking about cardboard glasses with red and white cellophane lenses, things have moved on and instead we’re talking about:

• James Cameron’s Avatar racing towards becoming the highest grossing film of all time.

• All of the major TV manufacturers launching 3DTV models at CES 2010 in Las Vegas. 

• O2’s announcement that they’ll be screening the Six Nations Rugby in 3D at Odeon and Cineworld cinemas.

So how big is 3D TV going to be in 2010, and which areas will see the biggest impact?

Many people are asking “Haven’t we been here before with HDTV? “. After all we’ve all stood in Dixons or John Lewis and stared at a bank of TV screens, desperately squinting to try and see the difference between conventional TV and HDTV – dismissing the extra cost as too great.

But that isn’t the case with 3D - the difference is obvious, consumers don’t need to be convinced, its genuine innovation and that’s why I’m convinced that 3D will succeed.

Unfortunately there is a shortage of 3D movie content for 2010, a few classics will be made available and the film studios will begin to make more 3D movies – but there is still going to be a shortage of 3D available for the home.

Not everything is suited to 3D, I’m pretty sure that we won’t be watching Eastenders or Newsnight in 3D –actually the thought of 3D Eastenders chills me to the bone.

Gaming is tailor-made for 3D, it’ll be cheaper and easier to create 3D content and gamers stare directly at the monitor in immersive gameplay for hours so they’ll really get the 3D benefit.

But the area that I’m really interested in is sport and 3D. Sports content is the without doubt the best broadcast content suited for 3D, and the area that consumers will really engage with 3D.

ESPN have announced that they will be showing 25 football matches during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, including the opening game, South Africa v Mexico, on 11th June.

Through ad agency AIS, O2 have also announced that they are screening some of the RBS 6 Nations in 3D. It’ll be interesting to see how many rugby fans actually wish to spend a Saturday afternoon in an Odeon Cinema rather than drinking with their mates down the pub. Perhaps the 3D cinemas will attract a younger audience.  And for O2 it’s a room full of brand receptive fans - putting O2 at the forefront of innovation.

Some sports will be more suited to 3D than others, and for 3D to be a success then rugby and football have to be successful. It’ll be interesting to see the TV manufacturers marketing campaigns behind 3D, sports sponsorship must look very attractive – I suspect we’ll see an increase in sport / team sponsorship with an increase in ground advertising during the World Cup and during the  2010/11 seasons.

So how big is 3D TV going to be in 2010? Well I’m not saying that 2010 is going to be the year of 3D, but it’s definitely going to be the birth of 3D.

Diesel Jeans' Be Stupid Philosophy

Instant thoughts are that this is a cracking campaign from Diesel!

I love the presentation of the philosophy, it's the sort of argument that convinces you that Black is White ... and you're nodding all the way through!

More info here on Creative Review

I've got bloggers block....... So here are my 10 most viewed Posterous posts of 2009

I’ve struggled to write a post so far in 2010...

...maybe I’ve got bloggers block?

Perhaps I just need to upload one "post"..

So to break the ice, I’m blogging my 5 most viewed posterous posts from 2009.

Enjoy ..... hopefully this will open the 2010 floodgate.

10: Johnny Cash: Personal Jesus

Awesome track and possibly my favourite cover of all time ... hats off to Depeche Mode and Johnny Cash... I'm so glad it sneaked into the 10.

9: Lego: Matrix - Trinity Help

Lego had to get in there somehow.. after all its the retro story of 2009. This is my favourite, slo mo animation + Lego + The Matrix = The  Whole Enchilada

8: Basketball: I Think We All Get a Bit Of This

If you feel like the guy in the white on a regular basis, then maybe pop on over to AdLandSuit's blog,  ....you're not alone!

7: Tactical Advertising: BMI & BA

In Mid -December BA announced their planned Christmas Strike, BMI ran this ad in the Evening Standard the following day... brilliant stuff!

(Pic spotted and taken by Andrew Grill)

6: The Mill's 2010 Showreel

Stunning work....

5: Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban: 2010 FIFA World Cup Venue

Pretty awesome shot of the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.

The stadium will host a total of seven FIFA World Cup 2010 football matches including Germany v Australia, Spain v Switzerland, Holland v Japan, Nigeria v Korea Republic, Brazil v Portugal, A round two game and the semi final.

4: "If You Kiss Jesus" by Robin Skouteris

My favourite UGC from 2009, I love this stuff, featuring Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Depeche Mode, Flo Rida, Goldfrapp & Hilary Duff

3: "Procrastination" Tales of Mere Existence

I guess we all need a kick up the arse every now and then, this usually does the trick

2: Wenger, Henry, Mourinho Impressions

Hey, I have no idea who this boy is - but he's damn good.

He's got Thierry Henry absolutely nailed.

1: Buggy Rollin: Crazy, Awesome and Quite Frankly Insane

It still leaves me speechless.

Thats better I think I'm unblocked now ;)

Odd Outdoor Advertising Media Buy in Lima, Peru

Jeepers!

An outdoor billboard gainst the backdrop of San Cristobal hill in Lima, Peru - (photo The Telegraph)

Iwish I knew the name of the brand... if anybody with a knowledge of the Peruvian Ad industry can drop me a line it would be much appreciated.

After the Windows7 banner on MacUser website I'm going to start a new category #MediaBuysofTheWorld - feel free to contribute ;)

Timeless Marketing Classics: The Search Continues

A recent post by Charles Frith and a conversation over a pint with Will Humphrey, reminded me of a blog project that I started earlier this year, namely "Timeless Marketing Classics".

Inspired by James Webb Young's "A technique for producing ideas" and a blog post by Neil Perkin, I set out to identify which books were perceived by modern day marketers as true "Timeless Marketing Classics".

Timeless Marketing Classics: Books that have survived the test of time; haven't aged, and are just as relevant today, if not even more so, than when they were first written.

 

Image: Weeping Willow (Flickr)

Dale Carnegie's "How to win friends and influence people" has always been relevant in the workplace, and in a digital world where Twitter followers and Google Page Rank contribute to determining influence, its value is definitely retained. On many occasions I've found that James Webb Young's 50 year old masterpiece can more often than not provide the catalyst for an idea. Other titles such as Eating the Big Fish, The Cluetrain Manifesto, and Truth Lies & Advertising were all written over 10 years ago and their core insights are still influential and relevant a decade later.

Back in April, I knocked on the door of several authors, bloggers and planners, (namely Seth Godin, Jon Steel, Chris Anderson, Russell Davies, Adam Richardson, Helge Tenno, Neil Perkin, Eaon Pritchard and Charles Frith), and asked them, 3 simple questions:

-     What you consider to be a Timeless Marketing Classic
-     Why was it relevant then?
-     Why is it relevant now?

Their responses were varied, interesting and in many ways surprising. Jon Steel, a man who has written two outstanding marketing books, explained his preference to gain inspiration elsewhere - "I prefer to spend my time reading novels, quality newspapers and good magazines like the New Yorker. I've learned more about planning from that than I ever would have done reading most of the books written by advertising people", a view shared by Charles Frith. Although Jon did go on to name Ogilvy on Advertising and The Book of Gossage as the only books he would ever recommend.

Overall the project threw up a hugely varied selection of titles, only books by Seth Godin, Clay Shirky and Jon Steel received more than one nomination and it was hard to identify any real trends. I was surprised to see Clay Shirky's "Here Comes Everybody" named as a timeless, after all the book is only a couple of years old - surely that's akin to naming The Dark Knight as one of the greatest films ever made? Russell Davies had a couple of interesting selections in Britain by Mass Observation and Dorothy Sayers (Murder must Advertise), whilst Seth Godin's selections were all totally unknown to me.

Six months on and I still don't feel that I've identified a solid group of "Timeless Marketing Classics".

So in the pursuit of identifying a definite list, I've decided to throw the question back out to a wider audience, and to also encourage an open source response - so please feel welcome to blog, tweet or comment with your own suggestions to enhance or add to the list.

Hopefully in a months time I'll be able to reveal a fairly conclusive list.... or at the very worst a Christmas present list for that planner in your life!