Filed under: Advertising [Planning] School On The Web
Remember the Hummer assignment I gave people a while back?
The goal was to come up with a strategy that would encourage men to buy a Hummer – despite being bigger, more costly and expensive to run than the competitive set.
Anyway, whilst there were alot of interesting suggestions … Gareth decided to put his money where his mouth is and make his strategy a reality.
Yep, despite television advertising in the US costing a bloody fortune, Gareth dipped into his pocket and paid for a bunch of ads to run across all the major networks just to prove his point. Now that is impressive [not to mention confident!]
You can read all about what he’s done here [though for some reason the article gives the impression General Motors paid for the ads rather than him!?] … however despite going beyond and above the call of duty, his submission is 3 months late so I have the sad duty to notify him he has been automatically disqualified from the assignment.
Sorry mate, but rules are rules! 🙂
Filed under: Comment
Hairless-bum-owner Charles [don’t ask … trust me, don’t ask] gave me some news today that I’m still not sure is a good thing or not.
Basically if you go to google … the search engine of search engines … and type in OPINIONATED SOD, I am the first person who comes up.
Think about it, amongst the billions of webpages out there – covering every topic from the past and present – some bald, angry, 4-eyed Nottingham git comes up as number one where being an argumentative shit is concerned.
Thanks, that means alot … I’m sure my parents are very proud. [Actually my Dad probably would be but the juries still out on what my Mum will say!]
Now I’d better let you go as I know you want to see if we’re talking shite, ha!
My #1 Fans. Allegedly!
Filed under: Comment
I am genuinely shocked anyone comes to this blog and yet somehow, quite a lot of people do … sooooooooo I thought I’d take a moment to encourage anyone who hasn’t yet signed to go over to GIVE-ROB-A-JOB and ‘do the right thing’.
I personally find it outrageous this man hasn’t been hired yet – and while I know it will happen, I’m hoping the industry will get off their collective arses once they’ve seen how many others believe in him.
[Promote it on blogs … put it on noticeboards … tell friends … cynic got almost 200,000 people sign their Boringe petition so this still has masses of potential left in it]
Filed under: Comment
I love this ad from Fallon for Walkman.
Without doubt it’s way better than what I’ve been able to do with Walkman in Asia … however there is one thing I hate and that is the the end line.
The thing that bothers me is that ….
1 It’s not exactly true to [what I think is] the idea behind the ad
2 It doesn’t really ensure Mr and Mrs Consumer see this as a real alternative in the iPod dominated mp3 category
[I know they say ‘MUSIC: Like No Other’ but that’s underselling the ad and the real product benefit … abit like ‘COLOUR: Like No Other’ did]
If it was up to me, I’d of pushed for the endline to be: “Hear Every Single Note” … but hey, that’s just me.
Saying all that, Fallon deserve a big hand for this campaign [the website is cool too] … infact in my opinion it’s the best thing they’ve done for SONY and I include the [in my opinion] over-hyped BALLS.
Time for us to pull our socks up whilst also encouraging our clients to aim even higher … though if we do get to make the Walkman campaign we’ve been pushing, then I’ll happily say we can give this – and Fallon – a run for their money.
Fingers crossed!
Filed under: Comment
So as I think alot of you know, I’ve been spending quite a lot of time in Australia recently.
Well, whilst I’ve mentioned there are a number of ‘issues’ going on in the background, I do have something to show you that comes from the work we’ve been doing.
Whilst the spot you are about to see comes from the new core idea, it’s not the core ad … infact it’s role is rather different to what we had originally envisaged.
Initially it’s purpose was to act as a sort-of bridge to the bigger, more pragmatic repositioning … however with so many things now ‘up in the air’, it has been decided that it should be put out while the other issues attempt to be ‘fixed’.
Without doubt this spot will mean much, much more if you’re an Aussie [mainly because the ‘piece’ that is being played has been religiously attached to the brand for over 40 years] … however when I tell you that the people ‘performing’ are the real members of the Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra … they took a month to learn, practice and rehearse the piece and there are absolutely NO CAMERA or SOUND tricks in the whole film, then maybe the none-Aussies out there will tip their hats in approval.
Please know this is not a piece of communication to shift product … it’s a piece of communication to help shift the brands perception, whilst still being true to the values of its past.
[FYI: The brand has become a sort-of ‘yobs beer’ so I’m sure you’ll agree this is a rather major shift – however it’s still not as big as the one we were proposing!]
Whilst it might not sound it, I really do think its a great spot and I am very proud of everyone who helped contribute to its creation,
Sure I wish I could of shown it to you as part of the overall campaign but I can’t and when you consider we’ve still come up with a really interesting spot that stands on its own two feet and is waaaaaay different to the category norms, then I realise I should shut the fuck up and enjoy the moment. 🙂
With all that in mind, it gives me great, great pleasure to introduce you to a bunch of guys who truly deserve a badge of honour.
[And that includes everyone who worked on the spot!]