In the advertising agency landscape today there are 4 broad kinds of offerings: 1. large global behemoths who belong to holding companies (they could offer specialist units within an agency) 2. independent agencies (full service with or without specialist units within them 3. independent specialists (these could be digital, healthcare or activation specialists) and 4. specialist media planning & buying outfits. Sometimes, companies work with an agency for what is generally termed ATL work and…
Political figures have long been used in advertising, especially by Human Rights organizations like Amnesty International. Kim Jong-il was a popular (if you can call it that) figure in such campaigns. Mainstream media and bloggers too have used him as a punching bag: Kim and his eccentric state were a frequent butt of jokes by U.S. television comedians and also immortalized in ‘Team America – World Police’ a 2004 film. Bloggers got into the act…
Old Spice is back with Isaiah Mustafa. This time he is ‘MANta Claus’ (brilliant!) promising gifts to ‘all 7 billion people’ – the ‘very least he can do’. Like with the ‘response’ campaign, the Old Spice man mentions Twitter users – @beautyjunkies to kick things off. @beautyjunkies responded to with a thank you tweet. The other videos (there could be 100s in matter of hours, I guess) include a gift for Baltimore and Australia (a gift…
Came across this lovely video produced for YPO (Young Presidents Organization). It’s fast gaining popularity on YouTube and on Facebook. Deservedly so. Client : YPO, Calcutta Chapter Producer/Director: Priyanka Rungta, supported by Arka Bhattacharyya, Navsoft Creative Agency : 100 Watts Design Studio Branding, Art Direction & Copy : Kritika Malhotra Production House: Arko Sen There was an ad for MP Tourism along similar lines, but so what? This is just as creative and riveting. Nice.
Harvey Nichols. Land Rover. Braun. Ads for global brands such as these have been regulars at top notch creative awards of late. These aren’t created in the UK, South America or Thailand but in the UAE. There was a time in India where advertising from the Gulf wasn’t viewed favorably by the creatives. Not any more, I think. The quality of execution in particular is world-class. The ad campaigns for Batelco, Harvey Nichols, EA, Career…
Nowadays virtually all static media advertising is visual led, with minimal or no copy. Interestingly, at the recent Epica Awards 2011, the Epica d’Or was awarded to a print campaign which is devoid of any visuals. Agency: Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett, Zurich Needless to stay the headline is the show stopper. It gets your attention with that ‘huh? what was that? twist. And when you figure what the product category is the message is driven home clearly. Nice.
Among advertising awards, I find Epica Awards fascinating because it showcases work which is not normally featured in popular ad blogs. The Epica awards were created in 1987 and celebrate their 25th anniversary this year. According to the website: Epica’s aim is to reward outstanding creativity and help communication agencies, film production companies, media consultancies, photographers and design studios to develop their reputations across Europe and the EMEA region. Aside from UK one gets to see…
Came across this ad for McDonalds (its been around for 3 months actually) which demonstrates the product attribute of three ingredients in a charming way. McDonalds – Go With The Flow from Blink on Vimeo. It may not be a Honda ‘Cog’ in terms of scale, but conveys the idea very well. And what I liked was the fact that a story was told without the aid of any computer graphics. Nice.
Given the focus on smartphones and tablets nowadays, the Mac vs PC debate has probably given way to Mac vs. Android debates nowadays. Given that Windows does not have a significant presence (yet?) it is understandable. While passion for the Apple brand goes back decades, the rapid rise of Android fanboyism (just over the last 3-4 years) is extraordinary. Needless to say, there are many things that have helped Android gain popularity: the fact that its…
The online banner campaign for Snexy.in has been quite visible on ad portals like afaqs.com over the last few days. Pegged as the Hunt for India’s True Snexy, ‘7 snacks are going head to head with each other over a period of 15 days and 5 rounds to garner most love and vote from people so as to come out as India’s most loved snack’. The campaign, created by Experience Commerce is a brave and refreshing…