the power of branding

via: swissmiss

Lemonade

"More than 70,000 advertising professionals have lost their jobs in this Great Recession. Lemonade is about what happens when people who were once paid to be creative in advertising are forced to be creative with their own lives."

Believe me I'm all for "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." I'm into the inspirational feel of this documentary and fully intend on seeing it.... I just hope that the film acknowledges that suddenly having the time to do explore your passions in life requires money and financial stability ......at least until your life passions translate into a living.

Read more at http://www.lemonademovie.com/

(via SwissMiss)

District 9 Viral Marketing

I love the viral marketing campaign for the upcoming movie District 9..... for awhile I would see these around LA and was clueless to their significance. Yes, I was too lazy to look up the website. However, after seeing the trailer for the movie I finally got it. Anyway, such a cool campaign.

(photos via FilmJunk)

Fun advertising

Yoga Studio

Fed Ex

3M Security Glass

Denver Water

Mr. Clean

Calcutta School of Music Advertisement

(via here)

"More approachable" rebranding

Maybe it's all the advertising classes we took in college but we've come to appreciate anything having to do with branding and lately rebranding. Check it out...

Read the full article at The New York Times

(via Casey at Design Muse)

GM's 'New Slate' Commercial

Blah - is all I really have to say in regards "The New GM" commercial. Can 60 seconds of that good old-fashioned patriotic can-do American spirit really reassure viewers? I hope not.

A-Z Brand Project

The basic idea of this project is that a brand exists entirely in people's heads.
TAGS are showing what Burak Kaynak's think about each brand.
Kaynak broke each logo into pieces.
Re-constructed them from his own perspective...

visit : www.atozbrandproject.com

Top 10 Worst Ads of 2008 - 5-1 CONT.

Hilarious... via AgencySpy...

5. The question is - do you really want to be this guy that Grey slapped up in their E-Trade ad? This is clearly a "dude" who has no life, uses the word "bra" liberally and is so far behind the technology curve even his Mom is embarrassed.


4. McDonald's decided that it would be a good idea to continue their aggressive push to black people. Yeah, yeah. But, whose idea was it to put an R&B song with some chicken Mcnuggets? Pair that with the whole narrative being about infidelity and I'm almost offended. Sure, you're so down with with the darker nation that you can poke fun at R&B, the drama of it all? Think not. Oh and - black folks singing about chicken is not cute. Got it?



3. Salesgenie's 1930s era spot during the Super Bowl spawned legions of press lines and blog mentions. People still talk about it. Oh stupidity and racism. Where would we be without you?


2. The "I'm A PC" spots make the list for one big epic fail of a reason: the celebrities in the spots are known MAC users. It took internet users a mere ten minutes to pull supporting evidence both written and video that Deepak Chopra, Pharrell Williams and Eva Longoria were unabashedly in love with their MACs. Oh Crispin. With all that talent beneath your doors, perhaps you need to hire a researcher or two.


1. By far, the most craptastic ad of 2008 the Toyota "Save By Zero" ad from Saatchi & Saatchi. The spot has inspired legions of haters, Facebook groups and even a letter writing campaign. Aren't you glad you aren't the CD on that account?

Top 10 Worst Ads of 2008 - #10-6

Via Agency Spy... Tune in tomorrow for #5-1. 

10. The Jerry Seinfeld/ Bill Gates combo makes our top ten list not for the reason you may think (too long, too byzantine in purpose), but because Microsoft and Crispin pulled the ads before anyone could get the punch line. The cost of the series was beyond expensive and you yanked it? Because some bloggers and consumers were confused? Weak. Weak. Weak. You guys had a plan. You should have stuck to it.


9. This Saatchi and Saatchi ad for JC Penney makes me want to shut my laptop in despair. The whole Breakfast Club thing? Listen, let me point out just a few of the ways in which this ad sucks:


8. You've got three of the biggest names in sports: Tiger Woods, Roger Federer and Thierry Henry. You've also got a well established brand in the men's grooming category: Gillette. Think of the possibilities! So, what's with the corny music and cringe worthy creative? The bile full of creative? This thing plays like a second rate colleges ad on cable access. Blah.


7. From KP+B comes these Mohegan Sun spots that make almost everyone I want to know never, ever, ever gamble in their casinos. When we first mentioned the ads, one commenter wrote: "These could destroy the world." No, but we're pretty sure that if we ever travel to Connecticut for some gambling, we'll be going to Foxwoods.


6. Guitar Hero is such an awesome game, so what was with their truly awful celebrity filled spot directed by Brett Ratner? Oh yeah. Brett Ratner. Again, we see three big name celebrities wasted on cheesy creative. DDB is responsible for this hot mess. I don't even like Tom Cruise, but the way they bastardized his film Risky Business is just down right deplorable.

Chanel ad spot

beautiful...

Audrey Tautou's Chanel No. 5 Ad from James Buford on Vimeo.

Matt and Kim for Barcardi

Love this commercial... even if it's for Barcardi. Can you tell I'm on a Matt and Kim kick?

BMW vs AUDI

Next time you're on Santa Monica Blvd...
Check out the billboard chess match going on between Audi and BMW. Audi started the game by having a billboard with a picture of an A4 with "Your move BMW" next to it. BMW responded with one for the M3 with "Checkmate". It appears BMW is in the lead for now, but wait till the Audi RS4/5 comes out. (via: 944)

Adidas Ad Campaign

play the game here

Super Bowl Ads Reviewed

AdAge: Bob Garfield reviews The Super Bowl Spots
*recommend this 10 minute video for a solid overview of all the ads... gotta love AdAge

Adweek: Barbara Lippert's Super Bowl Ad Critique

New York Times: Ads That Pushed Our Usual (Well-Worn) Buttons

I find this ad campaign disturbing...

Ad Campaigns Part 2

Part 2 of a series of ad campaigns I hold near and dear to my heart.... the Clorox television ads.. 1st edition- "Mermaid" and 2nd edition "Pirates." Usually, I stop what I'm doing to turn to the television to watch either of these spots, regardless of how many times I've seen them. Maybe it's the fact that when I was 8 years old, I had these same kinds of fantasies.

Or perhaps it is the songs in each of them that initially ignited my devotion. (Francois-Paul Aiche & H. Scott Salinas - "Mermaid" and "Pirates" respectively - Yes, they are on iTunes and yes, I did go through a phase where I would listen to these two songs on repeat as I did housework)

I do want to note the (personal) connection to music that is evident in both of these first two campaigns (see Part 1- Liberty Mutual). Although music isn't always a component of a campaign I like, it usually does play a significant role in campaigns I find memorable in the long term. Furthermore, I've noticed that in my case this concept can be applied to movies and their corresponding soundtracks. Sigh, the power of music. Cheers.

Ad Campaigns Part 1

I love this ad campaign.. especially the first edition. I don't know if it's still running but it would make me happy every time it would come on. "Half Acre" by Hem is a must download.
Developed by Hill Holliday for Liberty Mutual
1st edition
Song: "Half Acre" by Hem


2nd Edition
Song: "The Part Where You Let Go" by Hem

http://www.hhcc.com/

A Brief History of Communication (AD)

A breif History of communication from ljudbilden on Vimeo.

Client: Carphone Warehouse
Agency: Chi
Director: Kristofer Ström

Heidi Klum + Guitar Hero

Client: Guitar Hero
Ad Agency: DDB