Between bookmarked sites and subscribed feeds which showcase advertising, I come across many new creative ideas every week. As with advertising in real life, only a handful are memorable. Here are my picks for the week ending 25th September 2015. Nike First, take a look at this 2012 ad, if you haven’t already. Then come back and watch this one. Agency: Wieden + Kennedy All that needs to be said about why this ad works…
A comment made by Alok Goel, MD at SAIF Partners struck a chord in me. While talking about startups and entrepreneurship he said, ‘don’t get lured by the ‘sexiness’ or glamour associated with entrepreneurship.” Unless you have an idea that addresses an issue or a problem that needs to be addressed, your startup is bound to fail’. As someone who went through an independent phase, trying to build a business (and failing), these words rang…
There was an interesting discussion on what ails the design industry in India over at Storyboard featuring some industry insiders. Herewith some unsolicited thoughts on the subject: Good design is the best, often only, competitive edge The days of genuine, tangible product-driven USP are long over. Parity is the norm across brands in most categories. Price can be competitive edge in the short term but can be imitated and hardly sustainable in the long run.…
A brilliant set of ads for Evolve USA, is shortlisted at the Clio Awards 2015. The ads advocate gun control through a simple,thought-provoking proposition: if they find it, they’ll play with it. Agency: McCann Erickson While ads are creative and funny, will they be effective in creating a change in behaviour towards gun possession & usage. Gun control is hotly debated in the US, with ‘access to children’ being a subset of a larger topic.…
The residual image of ‘Apple Keynote’ in most people’s minds is likely to be that of a large visual of an Apple product showcased in a dark grey screen or held in the hands of an Apple executive in the same dark grey screen as background . It has been so for years now and it is not by accident. Every little detail of an Apple Keynote presentation is planned and executed meticulously. Well, almost…
The short list for the Clio Awards 2015 have been announced (with 10 short lists from India). While there are lots of interesting entries in new media categories, I was curious to check out short lists in my favourite, albeit old school category: print. Among the many great entries, a standout entry was the one for Shutterstock. The idea: one image from their bank of images can trigger lots of advertising ideas. [Click on the…
It is fairly well known that marketers and agencies consider hashtag trending (preferably No.1 in a geography) as a key success parameter of a Twitter campaign. It is also believed that such a trend can be engineered through deployment of a social media team who systematically tweets to ensure that a ‘trend’ is created. We see that happening during launch events of gadgets and services. I believe that on most days trending topics hardly reflect…
I was watching a segment of a TV show on marketing & advertising and heard a global leader of a well-known digital specialist agency say something like ‘…because the consumers is in charge’ (implying brands aren’t). Sigh. Catch-all phrases such as this and the other all-time favourite ‘brands having conversations with consumers have not gone out of fashion six years on? I feel advertising & ‘digital’ industry insiders are doing great disservice to themselves by continuing…
Between bookmarked sites and subscribed feeds which showcase advertising, I come across many new creative ideas every week. As with advertising in real life, only a handful are memorable. Here are my picks for the week ending 4th September 2015. Gatorade: Serena Williams We’ve all seen lots of ads with montage of sporting clips, held together with a motivational, inspiring line. This one is special because the idea of the film is triggered by what…
Google revealed a new logo and the internet reacted exactly the way it reacts to change: mostly offer brickbats and barbs. Herewith my thoughts on the whole logo change saga and consumer reaction which follows: We all hate change: a change in routine or a break from the familiar is an uncomfortable feeling always. Google operates in high-involvement categories on personal devices. There is a residual imagery of Google in our heads and that font…