27. Call Out to Gillette 

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve seen Gillette’s TV Commercial “5 Weeks Around the World” multiple times (I blame being home and having to watch ESPN with my brother). Initially the ad had me thinking it was a pretty cool concept. Send a guy around the world for 5 weeks, documenting his travels and experiences, all while he uses the same razor. 

However after doing some research, I’m skeptical of Gillette’s credibility behind the ad. Initially I loved the idea of telling a story in a creative way. Seeing this man in various parts of the world evoked emotion and memories for the viewers, helping built Gillette’s overall brand.

After going on Gillette’s website to learn more about the ad, I was disappointed to find nothing about the campaign. No other videos about the man’s trip. No pictures or blogging about how the commercial was made. 

Did this “5 weeks around the world” actually happen?

This is no stab at BBDO, the creators of the ad. I applaud them for the innovative in the razor market and succeeding in telling a unique story.

But in a current society that demands transparency and credibility, companies can no longer afford to lie and deceive their customers.

Maybe I’m missing something, but as of now this is a call out to Gillette: Where’s your credibility? 

26: The AWSC

Sometime around February, my creative strategist class has the honor of stop in from Doug Zanger. He’s the guy behind the Advertising Week Social Club, a community of those involved in the advertising world. A couple weeks ago I created a blog post for the new college section blog for AWSC, answering the question “What my generation will bring to the advertising world?” Hope you enjoy!

Got Brands?

24. Tondeo Mini Trimmer

I love ads like these.  I love when an advertisement can creatively incorporate the environment around it.  These Tondeo Mini Trimmer ads were created by Publicis in Frankfurt, Germany. They’re smart, creative, and definitely get the idea across. Enjoy! 

via Ads of the World

22. Wise Words from Tracy Wong

I wish I could stay in my creative strat class every term, and guest speakers like Tracy Wong are the reason why.  A UO alum, he started his work in advertising in NYC, eventually leading him to his home at Wong, Doody, Crandall, Weiner in Seattle. Charged with enthusiasm and passion, Wong laid down for us the 6 pearls of wisdom, aka the shit your boss won’t tell you.

1 :: The biggest hurdle to being creative is your big, fat ego

2 :: 99% of any great idea is strategy

3 :: Ears are your greatest creative weapon

4 :: The secret to success in advertising is to embrace compromise

5 :: Engaging in democracy garners the best work

6 :: Love your client like you love your dog  

Bottom line, advertising is about team work and keeping your mind empty.  As Tracy explained, keeping your mind empty is better then keeping an open mind.  When your minds empty you absorb everything, where as an open mind is still blocked by your own thoughts and ideas. Having an empty mind, keeping your ears open and not letting your own ideas get in the way makes for better team building, and in the end better ideas.

I really hope I can remember these in the future.  Good thing I blogged about it right? 

Tracy’s Blog: Democracy of Good Ideas 

WDCW

17. Conde Nast Extends Brands

Today publisher empire Conde Nast announced that they have hired for a new Senior Vice President of Brand Development position.  Although reluctant in the past to push for brands on new social platforms, Conde Nast has finally embraced the movement forward with recent hires.  The woman taking on the job is GIllian Gorman Round, the previous Senior Vice President of Marketing for Lancome, USA.  

It speaks volumes that one of the largest magazine publishers is embracing the importance of the brands.  It looks like they’ve finally realized the importance of each magazines individual brand to the consumer.  And plus, the new hire is a woman!  Can’t help but love that! 

Looking ahead of the future, I feel like this is just the first position coming from large corporations making brand hires.  It will be interesting to see what new jobs come from this at Conde Nast in the years ahead…. 

Article from Adweek 

15. Go Beyond the Cover with Dermablend Pro 

This is by far one of the coolest make-up advertisements I have ever seen.  In such a simple video it was able to not only show the success of the product, but also tell a story and make an important human connection.  It speaks to its audience on a deeper level, touching on the topics of judgment and how quickly we stereotype.  The simplicity speaks louder then words and along with the music makes a big statement.  

Company: Dermablend

Agency: Agence Tuxedo, Montreal

Talent: Zombie Boy (aka, Rico Genest)  

13. Dave Allen at North

Last week the UO Ad Society was fortunate to host guest speaker Dave Allen, Director of Insights and Digital Media at North.  His inspiring presentation on social media and brand strategy brought to light for me the importance and unique significance of social media.  Using the metaphor of a Silo to explain the common misconception of social media, it does not stand alone but rather is an integrated part of the broader media family.  Social media is necessary for a successful brand strategy, but is not the only component.

The biggest takeaway from Dave’s presentation for me was his insight on webpages.  As a fan of numbers and statistics, it was surprising to hear that over 3/4 of consumers visit sites on their phones or tablets, while only 4% of businesses have compatible websites.  As our world heads into a future full of smart phones and iPads, Dave stressed the importance of websites that work on all platforms, effectively engaging their fans and building a meaningful brand. 

Another great point I took from this presentation was Dave’s view on customers and agency competition.  As Dave explained,  ad agencies compete with each others customers, not with one another.  It’s an interesting idea since traditionally I’ve always been taught that businesses work to beat out the competitors in their field.  After thinking more about it, I realized that this idea of competition amongst customers can be translated to all companies and businesses, as in order to be successful they need to build a large fan base to beat out competitors.  

Businesses aren’t competing against themselves, but for customer interest and loyalty.

Overall Dave’s presentation was inspiring and insightful, while also being stressful and motivating.  With the advertising world undergoing so many technology changes, its even more innovative and fast passed.  I guess its a better time then ever to dive in headfirst and start building shit. 

In the wise words of a true creative strategist:

Learn -> Define -> Build -> Test -> and then do it again 

@DaveatNorth 

12. Brand Bowl Review

I’ll admit, I know next to nothing about the NFL but I was glued to the TV yesterday with the rest of 111.3 million viewers to watch the best of the best Super Bowl commercials. Here’s my personal review after viewing the ads and participating in Mullens Brand Bowl 2012 via twitter hashtag #brandbowl. Enjoy!

My #1 Pick - Budweiser, Eternal Optimism 

I loved both of Budweiser’s spots based around ending Prohibition in the early 1900s, and continuing celebrating world changing events up to the current 2000s.  I think it made a personal connection as it was able to tell an outside story around the Budweiser brand. The ads were light-hearted and fun, and made me want to join in the on the party! Great work by Anomaly

Close #2 - M&Ms, Just My Shell 

Not going to lie, my friends and I were laughing out loud when M&Ms revealed their Just My Shell commercial.  It was cute, funny and stayed connected to the M&Ms characters they have built over the years.  From BBDO, New York   

Other personal favorites: Chrysler, Its Half Time In America and Doritos, Mans Best Friend

I also loved Honda’s Matthew’s Day Off commercial, but since it was leaked the week before, I wasn’t as excited to see it shown live.  I think Volkswagen was successful in releasing a preview of what was to come with their dog barking Star Wars paraody, but the full pre-release of the ads ruined the live experience.

10. Conceptual Logos

Here’s my new goal as a creative strategist:  to redesign a logo to something cool and conceptual.  Here are some conceptual logos I recently came across thanks to the help of Most Inspired Blog.  I mean if your going to be creating a logo, might as well make it strategic and awesome…. (and I will admit, it took me a couple times until I finally noticed the arrow in the FedEx logo)

Check out more at LogoPond

9. The Anti-Brand Movement

The Anti-Brand or “No Logo” movement was recently brought to my attention by Wally Olins’ interview with Debbie Millman in Brand Thinking.  It was a topic that I’ve seen in my day-to-day web surfing, and I decided to look into what the weight was behind it.  

The anti-brand movement is the idea that brands are harmful to society, and that the logos and advertising that come with them are taking over consumers lives.  As Olins points out in his interview though, it is really an attack on capitalism and big-businesses selling things we don’t really need, not an attack on brands themselves.

Being a resident of Eugene there are plenty examples of anti-brand protesting.  You know, like those signs that say “Fight the Big Business” or “Screw Wal-Mart”.  Personally I think even the Occupy movement seen over the last year can be an attack on branding, as brands are associated with evil corporations taking over the minds of the American people.

However, these people who are anti-brand activists don’t realize that they are buying into brands themselves.  We’ve all encountered the guy who doesn’t support big companies, so he only wears Patagonia and eats Cliff Bars (and this is nothing against either of those companies, for I too treasure my Patagonia shell jacket and eat at least a Cliff Bar a week).  What he doesn’t realize is that these are brands as well!

A brand is so much more then a evil big business or public company.  A brand is an idea, a belief that people familiarize themselves with.  Its something that makes them feel comfortable, much like how I know my Patagonia shell jacket will always keep me dry on my way to class. 

Like Olins says it best in his interview, “When someone attacks a brand, they are attacking a symbol, whereas the reality of what they are attacking is the capitalist system.”

So I say go brands, and let people decide if they’d like to buy into them or not.  Maybe we should start thinking about changing the anti-brand movement to the anti-capitalism movement instead 

Branding Strategy Insider article here