Saturday, November 29, 2008

leave the talent, take the idea



this idea is not new to some of us in the promotional world. there have been plenty of meet 'n greet, driver ride-a-long, experience of a lifetime claims before. like most of these promotions, they blow their wad on securing the talent that they don't have any dough left to produce a quality idea. or perhaps they settle on the notion that just having the big name alone will get us to take notice? it's a self-gratifying, ejaculatory ad filled with big logos and contrived studio shots, just for yourself, and no one else. and if you are going to use a big name athlete, do it in a way that stays true to that talent and what they're all about. find synergies between what you're trying to say with how that talent would interpret that message. if there isn't any...next time, leave out the talent, and take the better idea.


Thursday, November 20, 2008

the future of the workplace



I really need to get a proper home office going. Although i'm very fortunate to work only 5 miles from garage to the office car park, it's nice to have the option of working from home once in awhile. i find myself able to collect my shower time thinking and roll right into work mode. i've recently come from a mandatory, almost militant "butts in seats" culture, that it is presumed that you can only be working if you're in the office at a prescribed time. and then you'll have those superstars, "oh look at me in the office 30 minutes early" or "i was the last one to leave." no one cares when or how long you were chained to your desk. We care about the thinking, the contribution, the work that you do. in our line of work, thinking, inspiration, creativity, can take place anytime, anywhere. my best thinking is in the shower at 6am. and even as we set our heads onto the fluffy white pillow, we're probably checking one last look at the handheld. that's a bad habit i have, and my wife is gonna chuck that iphone out the window soon. point is, we're always on. hopefully, not too much though. enjoy life. I'm off to throw back a few with the girls. peace.

via Daily Joey


Wednesday, November 19, 2008

get over it



i felt inspired tonight to post a thought after going for a couple rounds discussing the observation over at Deceptive Cadence regarding the lack of originality in the ad biz. we ad folks need to get over ourselves sometimes. it's just advertising. i never talk about advertising when i'm w/my friends and family. well. maybe just only 1 time out of the year, and that' when we're drinking heavily, enjoying chips 'n salsa, and watching some dudes bash each other's heads in over some pigskin.

we can certainly take pride in our creative work, discuss, analyze, critique, praise, hate, whatever. we're talking to ourselves. i've been hearing a lot of discussion around changing up what we do as an industry. rather than creating ads for the sake of increasing transactions, why not create "ads" that create relationships and conversations? and even better, why not create ads, or conversations that DO GOOD. there are a lot of brilliant thinkers and agencies out there, that are on this tip right now. when we do get to that place, maybe my wife would want to have a chat about ads over dinner and drinks w/me instead of talking about the scandalous wedding that we're going to next weekend. yes, i'm using the same image again from a few posts ago, but, hey, i like it and it's still relevant.


Tuesday, November 18, 2008

yeah, it's kinda like that...



like giving birth to a baby. slightly amusing spoof on what it's like to "give birth" to an idea and take it thru the developmental process at an agency and with clients. i'm giggling a bit inside. This one had me more in stitches tho. now onto more pressing matters concerning tacos and bubbly sugar water.

via Brand Central Station

Monday, November 17, 2008

Monster



Screw those "stick and ball" jocks that get paid millions of dollars. Big wave surfers get all the mad props from me. How can you not see something like this and feel dwarfed by the sheer power and mind-blowing enormity of an ocean ready to swallow you up? This is gonna be a contender for the Billabong XXL Big Waves Awards next year for sure. BTW, if Kerby wins, he gets a $1,000 for every foot of wave surfed, doing the quick math on this, remember to carry the one, and he's got about $40K in the pocket between him the photographer. Pennies compared to any rookie baller in the MLB or NBA. But he's not doing it for the money , right?

More pictures and the story behind Kerby Brown's experience here.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

KISS



Keep It Simple Stupid. Nothing worse sitting thru long prezos with eye-charts. I've always found the short, succinct, visually stimulating ones much more compelling. kinda like a great campfire sit-around or sharing a few cold ones with friends at the bar swapping stories. This is a great reminder of that.

thanks Peter for sharing this with me. more examples here if this video isn't working.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008