ss_blog_claim=5f03e3e7fa6ca8c951b6fbd30fa71c10 2008 November | 12pointtype.com

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Keeping up with the Pace

We are entering some pretty hard times. I know of four major Florida newspapers where the Advertising Departments have been hit really hard–stories abound of being outsourced to India. I was indeed expecting to take a slow start in a new design studio that I’m particularly invested in. However, we have had to jump on a bullet train with a demand in web site design. Whether it’s new upstarting companies, non-profit organizations, or existing companies, there seems to be a non-stop demand for on-line presence for businesses, and one-stop shopping when it comes to advertising/marketing/graphic design/web design.

So, even though there…

Looking at the world a different way…

I began watching this spot for Canadian Tire scratching my head thinking “What the heck?” But this is no normal spot gone awry; this is actually a well-executed concept. This is the type of commercial Philip K. Dick would’ve created if he had been in advertising. Philip K. Dick was a mind-bending novelist whose works inspired Blade Runner, and Total Recall. Indeed, such mind games are probably best suited to films and books, as they require more attention to detail than the average consumer normally gives to a 30-second commercial, but it works in this spot.

Guitar Hero with a challenge

I was emailed this viral video about Guitar Hero World Tour last week, and have been trying to find out if it was professionally done. I had suspected Droga5, and its obvious that it was professionally done – so I had to find out. Sure enough, the clip is a meticulous creation from the same people who brought us the evil cell phone and the Brian Morrissey Shopping Network. Some people seem disappointed that “Bike Hero” is professionally produced…oh well. Please enjoy this video from Droga5 for Guitar Hero World Tour.

Ping Pong…Bruce Lee Style

None of the big shots featured in Celebrity PingPong magazine would stand a chance in a match against a nunchuck-wielding Bruce Lee. This spectacular video leads to a Web site where a digitized Lee kicks butt with his Nokia N96 phone. Though this spot was made for a Chinese audience (the product is only sold in China), the video has traveled around the world in just a few days. The first thing I want to know is: Is this for real? Is someone really playing like that? Please enjoy this awesome video from Nokia.

How to tell if an agency is flush

I went out for a beer with a graphic designer friend of mine the other night there. We talked shop all night, because that’s what disgruntled creatives do when there’s no work but plenty of rumours flying about. Amongst other things we discussed, I was given this rather bizarre piece of advice: the best way to assess whether the working environment is good at an agency is to inspect their bathrooms.

Perhaps my friend has a point. How does one effectively gauge if a working relationship with an agency would be mutually beneficial? Is feigning bladder discomfort in order to undertake…

Fernet 1882 Helping A Cab Service?

Now, don’t get me wrong. I have seen my fair share of strange commercials, but this is strange in a good way. This is a commercial for Fernet 1882, which is some sort of alcohol from Argentina . Its a different way to approach advertising, but in a non-creepy way. This spot comes from Madre, Buenos Aires. Enjoy!

The $64,000 Question: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

The economic downturn is renewing interest on Madison Avenue in a marketing mainstay that is particularly popular during tough times: cash giveaways. Who wants to be a millionaire? These days, just about everyone — even people who a few months ago were billionaires.

Contests and sweepstakes with money prizes rather than merchandise like cars, furniture or trips are appearing more frequently as the financial crisis continues. In some instances, the dollar amounts are as high as seven figures, for example there is a contest with a $1 million bonus being sponsored by the Doritos brand of snack chips sold by Frito-Lay.

“Everyone…

U.S. Push for Adidas Originals

It’s Adidas’ 60th anniversary and they are having a party — on TV at least — and the guest of honor is Adidas Originals.

The German athletic apparel giant is giving its lifestyle brand, Originals, its first U.S. TV advertising ever. It will feature music stars like Katy Perry, DMC (of Run-DMC) and Method Man cavorting with sports phenoms David Beckham and Kevin Garnett.

The ad, breaking this week via Sid Lee, Montreal, shows the star-studded group at a party decked out in Adidas Originals shoes, shirts, jeans and jackets. Instead, of talking in the ads there will be impressionistic shots of the…

Happy Thanksgiving!

I’d like to wish everyone a very hardy and Happy Thanksgiving and hope that in the next year we all have much better times to be thankful for. Travel safe and don’t think about the rough times for a few days. Enjoy what’s good in life and know that things will get better and we’ll all get through these times, no matter what! Have some turkey, watch copious amounts of football, a drink or two, be with family and friends and remember the best thing about challenging times is when we overcome them, we have even more to appreciate and be thankful for after… JOEL KIRSTEIN.

TV: Chicken Little Was Right!

The major broadcast networks are seriously considering making more blocks of broadcast time, weekday evenings and Saturday mornings available to their local network affiliates because of the lack of ability to sell programming that sponsors are willing to buy.

This Works! Skin It…


http://www.skinit.com/
When I watching my PITT Panthers lose their football game on Saturday, the highlight of my night was a commercial that caught my eye. That should tell you how crappy the game really was. Similar to the pro sports licensing concept that exploded on the scene five years ago, Fathead, SKINIT takes the same idea, but to a smaller arena: cell phones, gaming devices, laptops, DVD and MP3 players, digital cameras and camcorders, even tiny cellphone headsets.

The idea, which by the way I had 10 years ago and everyone said, “No Joel, no one will do that, it’s tacky!” Well I…

Del Monte Bows ‘Fruit Undressed’

Del Monte Foods is spending more than $20 million on a new online and print campaign in an effort to undress its fruit.

Suitably tagged as “Fruit Undressed,” the campaign is a bold move for the San Francisco-based client, which typically spends less than $5 million advertising its refrigerated fruit business. In 2007, the maker of 9Lives and Meow Mix spent $16 million in measured media (excluding online), and $11 million through September of this year, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus. You can read more about the campaign here.

Gap ‘Mixes’ With Celebs

This holiday season, San Francisco-based clothing retailer Gap is inviting shoppers to “Merry Mix It” in an online campaign that features Web videos of unexpected pairings of celebrities performing renditions of holiday classics.

The campaign, via Laird + Partners, New York, showcases the apparel company’s winter collection of brightly colored and patterned pieces that are being marketed as “fun and mixable.” The videos went live on Thursday and feature, among others: Selma Blair singing “Baby It’s Cold Outside” with Rainn Wilson; The Dixie Chicks performing a rendition of “Deck the Halls” with Sandra Bernhard; and Jason Biggs, Romany Malco and Freddy…

Black Friday Calls for a Strategy Session

HERE is how Black Friday works: In order to start the holiday shopping season with some gusto, retailers turn the day after Thanksgiving into another national holiday.

Some popular products, particularly personal technology ones, are marked down to levels that turn ordinary people into a rabid horde of bargain seekers, ready to camp out overnight and do in-store battle over limited inventory.

Given this year’s economic climate, with retailers desperate to increase sales and shoppers looking for even steeper discounts, Black Friday 2008 is hoped by both parties to be, in the words of Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap, “none more black.” You…

The Truth Can Hurt Ya

The Truth anti-smoking campaign commercials have been a tad bit on the strange side. Cartoons and humans dancing around a park or in front of a Tobacco company is not my idea of a great campaign – but it works. It gets the point across while being extremely memorable.

Well, MTV has paired with The Truth campaign to come up with “The Blaze”. It will be a four part reality show that plays by the same rules as Big Tobacco. These first aired during The Real World Road Rules Challenge “The Island”. Here is one of the episodes, but I just…

Chevrolet gets Symbolic

Here is the newest spot from McCann Erickson, Buenos Aires for Chevrolet. It features a couple sitting in a Chevrolet Spark across from a huge wedding cake. Then after smiling at each other, they drive straight into the cake; destroying everything. I’m getting the symbolism…but does it work for this spot?

Summer in Beijing Was Strong for Sports, but Weak for Ads

WHAT happened to the “Beijing bounce”? It was the surge in advertising spending that the Summer Olympics were supposed to provide.

“Going into this, we expected a substantial spike,” said Martin Sorrell, the chief executive of the WPP Group, the world’s second-largest advertising company, after the Omnicom Group. “That spike didn’t materialize.”

Mr. Sorrell said the shortfall in what WPP had billed as the Beijing bounce was global, despite strong television ratings for the Games in vital markets like the United States. You can read more here.

Where to house an idea

The advertising creative’s biggest asset – creativity – is parceled up in one large, black, leather-bound book. The portfolio. Slung over the shoulder or clutched in a sweaty palm, the book is the junior creative’s first and most important weapon in the sometimes long, arduous quest to secure employment.

Having left my portfolio to fester for a year and a half it has become so rotten that I’ve had to address the situation and get stuck in. Fine-tuning your best hope of garnishing employment is like the world’s longest job application; it’s genuinely time-consuming and stressful.

There’s plenty of fighting goes on…

The Simpsons: MAD MEN Style

This year, I did not get a chance to watch The Simpsons Halloween special, but I had heard about this awesome spoof they did. The Simpsons spoof Mad Men. Sorry if you have seen this already…but I loved it so much I wanted to share it. Enjoy!

Source: Video Gum.

TV Ads Contribute to Childhood Obesity, Economists Say

Banning fast food advertisements from children’s television programs would reduce the number of overweight children in the U.S. by 18 percent and decrease the number of overweight teens by 14 percent, economists have estimated in a new study.

The researchers used several statistical models to link obesity rates to the amount of time spent viewing fast food advertising, finding that viewing more fast food commercials on television raises the risk of obesity in children. You can read more about this study here.

Free! When?

Where do we go from here with cell phones go? What is your professional opinion in regards to what we the masses, can expect next?

Game Changers

In the past 30 years, there’s been plenty of great advertising, but only a handful of campaigns truly changed the rules. Here are three of them: one from the ’80s, one from the ’90s and one from the current decade. This is work that got the industry thinking about creativity in new ways, and moved the sales needle as well. And if anything ties the three very different campaigns together, it’s that they all generated tons of buzz, whether or not the Internet was around to help them out. You can read more about the game changers here.

Microsoft Rocks It Again!

Calling all shower singers, wanna-be rappers, pop princesses and bedroom yodellers: “LIPS” is finally here. The highly anticipated singing party game exclusively on Xbox 360, will be hitting stores on 21st November 2008.

Lips is the only music video game that comes with two wireless motion-sensitive microphones, allowing you to put your fantastic dance moves to the test! You can even get other people involved in your songs by having them playing percussion with your Xbox 360 controllers. Whether you’re throwing a party for your friends or simply staying at home with your family, Lips will have everyone singing and dancing…

Welch’s Touts Concord Grape as ‘Superfruit’

Call them grapes with capes. Welch’s is touting its purple Concord grape as the original “superfruit” in its $20 million ad campaign kicking off this month. The veteran juice brand is adding some heft to the hottest segment of the beverage business that includes hard chargers like Pom Wonderful and Honest Tea.
 
Overall, more than 200 beverage products bearing a superfruit launched this year, per Mintel. While there is no exact definition as to what a superfruit is, the category includes pomegranates, goji berry, noni, mangosteen and Oprah Winfrey’s favorite: acai. Each is considered to have functional qualities, most commonly high…

The Power Of Storytelling

“TELL to sell,” is making a comeback as marketers seek to engage consumers with compelling stories rather than peddle products in hit-and-run fashion with interruptive advertising like 30-second commercials.

A newcomer to the ranks of what are called brand storytellers, which include agencies like 42 Entertainment and Story Worldwide, is being formed by Epoch Films, a company that produces commercials for advertisers like Apple, Nike and Procter & Gamble as well as films like the quirky 2005 comedy “Junebug.” You can read more about the changes here.

Know Your Own Strength

One of the strongest words in advertising is, well, strength. The Army, which for the last two years has proclaimed it can make you “Army strong,” is adding a second theme to its campaign, “Strength like no other.” The American International Group has “the strength to be there” — or had, anyway, until the financial crisis hit. And from the hall of fame comes “Stronger than dirt,” for Ajax detergent.

 Making the ranks of strength marketers even stronger is Gold’s Gym International, with a campaign that carries the theme “Know your own strength.” The idea behind the campaign — the first from its…

This Works!

clients are always looking for maximum impact that is invertly proprtionate to the their acceptable level of investment! the secret of survival in trench warfare is “Adapt, Overcome and then Make It Happen!”

Toshiba’s TimeSculpture

Toshiba shines in it’s newest spot from Grey, London. There have been very few spots that make me say wow…and this is takes first place. It’s rather hard to explain the spot…except to say that this is spectacular! This spot was made not with special cameras, or special film…but with 200 of Toshiba’s hand held video cameras. Andy Amadeo, Creative Director for Grey, London says: “This commercial is simply demonstrating Toshiba’s commitment to staying ahead of the technological advancements that are being made in film and television.” I have to say that they have accomplished that completely. You can watch…

Samsung and Ozzy

Marble-mouthed British rocker Ozzy Osbourne gets some translation help in this hilarious new spot for Samsung Propel from Leo Burnett, Chicago. Following Osbourne throughout his day, the spot begins with the rocker trying to order a cup of black coffee but after several attempts he still gets a look of confusion from the barista. So he pulls his spiffy green Samsung phone out of his pocket to tap out his order in a text message instead. This goes on throughout his day, a closing voiceover tells viewers the phone can  “make yourself heard.”

The spot is entertaining and gets its point across,…

42 Below Vodka does it again

This newest spot for 42 Below Vodka makes you wonder: what in the heck were they thinking? When an agency called The Glue Society makes an obscure spot for the most generic of products (vodka), and they tell you they did it “Because we can,” what are they trying to get across? The marketers at 42 Below, a New Zealand vodka, must have been drunk when they approved this ad. Because it can’t be enjoyed any other way.