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It’s a great day
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AMiCollective remains one of the hottest creative shops around. Posting this image because it’s Friday. For the full portfolio mouse over to 10and5.com - it’s a great new creative website showcasing South African talent.
If the office printer/copier actually ever worked…
•This ad by Egg Films for Samsung suggests your staff will need to take out their frustrations on something else if you buy a Samsung printer!
Director: Jason Fialkov
Agency: Cheil South Africa
Advertising is like bad breath…
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Advertising journalist Tony Koenderman just released the world’s biggest collection of quotations about advertising, published in book form, comprising 1 618 quotations from critical or admiring opinion leaders, humourists and some of the industry giants. It is titled Smoke and Mirrors: advertising in a nutshell and published by Jonathan Ball Publishers. We asked Tony for his ten favourite quotes about advertising.
Advertising is like bad breath. It is not very pleasant, but it’s a lot better than not breathing at all. ANON.
In the ad game, the days are tough, the nights are long, and the work is emotionally demanding. But it’s worth it, because the rewards are shallow, transparent and meaningless. ANON.
Corporate advertising is like urinating down your leg in the middle of a dark forest at midnight. You might get a warm feeling out of it, but nobody else notices. ANON.
In the ad biz, sincerity is a commodity bought and paid for like anything else. NEWSWEEK (1967).
The codfish lays ten thousand eggs,
The homely hen lays one.
The codfish never cackles
To tell you what she’s done–
And so we scorn the codfish
While the humble hen we prize.
It only goes to show you
That it pays to advertise. ANON.
Advertising is the most fun you can have with your clothes on. JERRY DELLA FEMINA, From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor (1971).
We want customers to say, “That’s a hell of a product” instead of “That’s a hell of an ad.” LEO BURNETT,
Advertising isn’t a science, it’s persuasion. And persuasion is an art. BILL BERNBACH,
“It may be December outside, ladies, but it is always August under your armpits.” (Sponsor’s slogan heard during a Toscanini radio concert in New York). EVENING STANDARD, quoted in News Review (13 Nov 1947).
Freedom! To spit in the eye and in the soul of the passerby and the passenger with advertising. ALEXANDER I. SOLZHENITSYN.
Jozi better than Moscow - survey
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Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban are amongst the top 65 business cities in emerging economies according to a new survey by Mastercard. “With the most cities in the Index outside the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China), South Africa’s strong showing may reflect the ongoing opening of Africa to Western products, services and companies,” says the survey. “It is clearly a place to watch carefully for new business opportunities.”
Shanghai and Beijing, both in China, are rakned first and second. Johennesburg comes in at number 11, before Sao Paulo, Beunos Aires and Moscow. Cape Town is ranked at 33, and Durban is number 37.
“As the current financial environment shows, globalization is a part of today’s economic reality – capital, talent, technology and even intellectual property now move seamlessly across borders and nations,” said Dr. Michael Goldberg, Program Director, MasterCard Worldwide Centers of Commerce. “Emerging market cities will play an increasingly important role in global commerce and may provide unique market opportunities for businesses in the face of changing economic times.”
The Index, developed by a panel of nine independent experts in economics, sociology and urban studies, is part of the broader MasterCard Worldwide Centers of Commerce™ program – a global initiative to examine the role of cities in performing critical functions that connect markets and commerce around the world.
The full report and ranking. Image from LoveJozi.
Survival of the ad-apted
•[Posted by Mandy de Waal] I was speaking to Clem Sunter the other day when he told me that in Darwin’s first edition of Origin of the Species, Darwin didn’t talk about survival of the fittest, rather the survival of the adapted. The short code = those who survive (and thrive) are those that adapt the fastest. What Darwin meant was that survival is ensured for those who best fit the environment as it changes.
This concept has more relevance for the advertising than it ever has. Advertising saturation and consumer resistance to advertising is rising, while the internet is changing the face of marketing forever. Besides making every man and woman a publisher, convergent media (the Web, mobile phones and other connected devices) is realizing the disintermediation of advertising. Before traditional media held all the power and advertising agencies and brands had to work through these media to reach consumers. The landscape is changing and those media who remain uniquely relevant to the consumer will win through.
The other winners will be advertising agencies who use unique, innovative and relevant means of reaching consumers in a way that excites and engages them. Take a look at what’s happening as creative hot shops connect to consumers innovatively and in a way that rocks their world.
In-flight advertising (as seen on I Believe in Advertising) created by Ogilvy & Mather, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for Golden Holidays.
In France two innovators have solved the fuel crisis and created a new form of outdoor advertising with the Cyclopolitain, (first seen on W3sh).
Then from Nocturnal Design Lab comes an advertising solution that in itself is a revolution - the billboard that provides housing for the homeless.
Although conceptual the billboard-come-abode is reminiscent of the solar powered billboard, the awesome innovation by NET#WORK BBDO for Nedbank that won a slew of local and international awards.
Mandy de Waal is a former broadcast journalist who now writes for a broad range of local and international media. A columnist for MarkLives, de Waal microblogs at Twitter, vlogs at Zoopy and authors her own blog, Artificial Intelligence.
Release the party animal inside!
•This ad for Willards by Ogilvy JHB was produced by Egg Films. It urges viewers to release the party animal inside!
Director: Kim Geldenhuys
Agency: Ogilvy Jhb
Reviving PF Zapu
•An interesting time in Southern African politics. Locally we have seen the launch of COPE and the relaunch of the DA. Now neighbouring Zimbabwe might find itself facing a split in the ruling Zanu (PF). Business Day reports that “leaders of the former opposition PF-Zapu party are poised to break away from President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu (PF) party after weekend talks to avert a revolt failed.” Dumiso Dabengwa is said to be the man behind the move to revive PF-Zapu.
According to Wikipedia it contested the 1980 elections in Zimbabwe as the Patriotic Front, but lost to its rival the ZANU. They merged into ZANU-PF in 1987 following the Gukurahundi massacres in Matabeleland.
The move is expected to weaken Robert Mugabe’s already beleaguered regime.
Livin’ La Vida Loca?
•Not if you drink Windhoek. This ad by The Jupiter Drawing Room Cape Town features Louis Gossett Jr. who is the face of the new Windhoek ‘keep it real’ campaign. I didn’t realise the brand needed butching up…
The creative team on this campaign was:
Livio Tronchin: Creative Director
Jonathan Commerford: Copywriter
Lucas Van Vuuren: Art Director
Production House: Velocity
World Cup murals for Bloem cooling towers
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Draftfcb Johannesburg has branded four more cooling towers for First National Bank as the bank gears up to exploit its sponsor status of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
The cluster of four towers is (sadly?) one of Bloemfontein’s more prominent landmarks. Two have been wrapped in FNB’s 2010 FIFA World Cup livery, while the other two feature vibrant artwork depicting the city’s heritage.
In 2003, the two cooling towers of the landmark Orlando Electricity Plant in Soweto were transformed through similar artistic works and have now become instantly recognisable icons of the City of Johannesburg for locals and international visitors alike.
The Bloemfontein task involves 12 800m² of canvas (that’s just over 3 acres), which has been used to wrap the towers, over 12 000 litres of paint, a team of 8 including 7 artists, and 720 man-hours per artist. Each tower is 60 metres high and has a circumference of 120 metres at its base and 70 metres at the top. The Draftfcb Johannesburg team included executive creative director, Marthinus Duckitt, Janine Kleinschmidt, Dawn Franke, Jenine Skinner and Alistair Mathie.
Incorporated in the paintings are images of San rock paintings, sunflowers, sheep and mielie fields, as well as famous citizens such as Olympian Zola Budd, comedian Leon Schuster, the ANC’s first president Rev John Dube and Bloemfontein Celtic Football Club founder Petrus Molomela.
Mark hopes Cape Town’s cooling towers are next in line. They could do with a coat of paint…
Animating Absa
•General Motors keep on sinking
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Chances for a bail out for the embattled General Motors are fading, according to the New York Times. It seems the bail bill faces ‘unsurmountable’ opposition on the Hill. The White House is also opposed to the bill - warning against throwing taxpayer money at companies that may not be salvageable (for one George Bush might actually make sense).
The paper quotes Republican Senator Richard C. Shelby of Alabama as saying that “The financial straits that the Big Three find themselves in is not the product of our current economic downturn, but instead is the legacy of the uncompetitive structure of its manufacturing and labor force. The financial situation facing the Big Three is not a national problem but their problem.”
Some sources suggest that that GM might need up to $30 billion in aid to turn itself around. General Motors has ignored people’s need for smaller cars, instead sticking to its established, gas-guzzling brands.
JZ hearts Dbn
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Disturbance recently created this poster for i (heart) dbn - a bi-monthly party held by a DJ crew down in Durbs. S’HOT!
The Meaning of Youth
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A youthful outlook is no longer the sole preserve of the young. This according to MTV Networks International’s advertising and marketing sales division. It was one of the key findings from The Golden Age of Youth, a new market research report released by the group.
Here are some of the key findings;
* The Golden Age of Youth study analysed the three stages of youth - ‘Discovery’ (16-19 years old), ‘Experimentation’ (20-24 years old) and ‘Golden’ (25-34 years old) - with ‘Golden’ indicating that they are the happiest, most confident and financially secure of their peers.
* Findings indicate that globally people are staying younger for longer and are connected to contemporary youth pursuits for a more extensive period of time.
* 25-34 year olds are continuing to consume music, gaming and the internet and are enjoying the pursuits of their younger years whilst benefiting from a greater level of personal and financial freedom.
* It is a mistake to assume that 25-34 year-olds respond to the same marketing as teens.
* While teenage youth are highly focused on material gain and employ brands to define their identity, ‘Golden Youth’ own and enjoy premium and luxurious brands in order to affirm their identity.
* Traditional adult brands need to adopt a more youthful tone to avoid being seen as irrelevant, for instance 23% of the 25-34yr old global sample felt that financial institutions were aimed at someone older than them; while youthful brands have a new market beyond the core teenage target.
Frankly I think MTV is stretching the concept to the extreme but it makes for some interesting reading none the less.
Vice coming to SA
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NeonInternational created this viral campaign for the Vice magazine which may soon get a SA edition. Music was done by local act CATWALKTRASH.
Seeing is believing?
•It’s no secret that consumers use the Internet to do product research. Before making important product-buying decisions, more and more people are going online to research products, prices – and alternatives. Even though word-of-mouth and recommendations from friends remain the most important methods for deciding on future purchases, even these are moving online with the help of e-mail or services like Twitter and social networks like Facebook.
It has become critical for businesses to pull out all the stops online on their own Web sites and on the commerce sites that sell their products. With access to broadband increasing rapidly, video has become an important method of highlighting product features. This isn’t only true of International audiences – think how popular YouTube is among South African Internet users.
So, how exactly does an online video presentation influence customer behaviour? See the full story on at HelloHerman or on ITWeb.
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