by David Burn | Jan 14, 2005 | Advertising, Digital culture
The ebcb is faultless – look at the aesthetics, nicely reduced beans, those modern crunchy chips which really absorb the bean juice, and a beautiful pale egg. And the bacon is hugely flavourful – it tastes fresh off the pig. -Russell Davies, account planner and cafe lover
For those considering a venture into the blogosphere, may I point out the value in blogging a niche. The tighter the niche the better. You can be the expert on something meaningful, or something quirky. Either way, there may well be an interested audience waiting. Take Egg Bacon Chips and Beans, Russell Davies’ blog about a dish served in London’s diners. I don’t live anywhere near London and I’m interested in it. If I did live nearby, you can be assured I would enjoy eating said dish at the recommended cafes. Minus the eggs. I don’t like eggs.
by David Burn | Oct 14, 2004 | Advertising
Plan B, a San Francisco-based “strategic and creative sparring partner for brands in pop culture,” just blew my mind. Here’s the first three (of ten) points in their brand hijacking manifesto:
1) Let go of the fallacy that your brand belongs to you. It belongs to the market.
2) Co-create your brand by collaborating with your consumers.
3) Scrap the focus groups, fire the cool chasers and hire your audience.
Umm…this is what I’ve been saying for the last 18 months, but not so succinctly, nor with any real authority. On one hand, I’m insanely jealous that I’ve been beaten to the punch. On the other hand, I feel completely validated and more prepared than ever to put these insights to good use.
by David Burn | Oct 8, 2004 | Advertising
from Adweek:
The New York office of Portland, Ore.-based Wieden + Kennedy won the first Yahoo! Big Idea Chair Award, which honors unconventional ideas in advertising, for its campaign for Sega’s ESPN National Football League video game. The work centered on Beta7, a fictional video game tester who claimed playing it made him black out and tackle people at random, and thus the game should be banned. TV and print ads were also part of the mix.
“What we were trying to do with the Beta7 work was really create a multidimensional storytelling experience, something that people could not only watch but actually participate in,” said Ty Montague, an Andy judge and Wieden creative director about the Beta7 campaign.
“It’s so ahead of its time it’s almost unjudgeable,” added judge Guy Seese, creative director at Cole & Weber/Red Cell in Portland. “It’s a campaign that manifests itself on a grassroots level and proliferates online.”
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Here’s some of the award-winning ad copy from the Beta-7 site:
Sega is a deceitful corporate juggernaut that will stop at nothing in it’s short sighted pursuit of the almighty dollar, even if it means destroying the lives of innocent people.
And I DON’T mean Sega destroyed my life as in, “Their games are so addictive I sat on my ass playing them until my girlfriend left me and I weighed 450 lbs. so now I want a hefty cash settlement.” No friends, my VERY REAL problems, which are a direct result of the very real and deliberate actions by the Sega Corporation include:
-Bruises and welts on and about my head, neck, torso, arms, and legs, as well as a debilitating sprain to my right ankle and cuts on my right forearm.
-Threat of further physical violence.
-Destruction of my personal property.
-Loss of my job and livelihood.
-Unpredictable, uncontrollable, violent outbursts that I have no memory of, which have made me a stranger to my friends and family.
Sega thinks they can just use human beings as guinea pigs in their sick experiments, then toss them aside like trash and forget about them. They MUST NOT be allowed to get away with this, and with your help they won’t.
—
Naturally, customers*, in this case gamers, might find this approach confusing, as never before in the history of advertising (to my knowledge) has a firm taken this bold of an approach. I’m still formulating my opinion as to the campaign’s merits. For sure, this is an interesting development, and one that involves the customer directly. That part I salute. But it concerns me that the central character in this drama is fictitious, not because of the fiction itself, but due to the fact that consumers were not clued in to the fact that it was fiction. This is advertising masked as something else. I envision a much different, more honest use of blogs and other media, as the future of marketing.
In a prelude to this hoax, Seattle agency Wong Doody introduced Skyhigh Airlines on the web, ostensibly to benefit their client Alaska Air, but the Skyhigh site is obviously pure humor with no deception.
Many thanks to my former colleague, Jay Roth of Integer Denver, for bringing this work to my attention.
*There’s reason to believe this supposed consumer’s site, is actually part of Sega’s Beta-7 campaign. For one, I just sent an e-mail to the address provided and it bounced back.
by David Burn | Oct 6, 2004 | Advertising
“Everyone likes to seek praise. But criticism is much more useful: it gives you progress. In concrete terms praise doesn’t add anything. You know, never be afraid to ask because first you get to know and secondly there’s always someone happy to tell you. Seeking criticism goes against our culture but I don’t understand why: praise just allows you to prove to yourself that your work is good. It will probably be OK. But it won’t be great. It’s better to ask, ‘What’s wrong with it?’”-Paul Arden, a surly Brit with 40+ years in advertising
Paul Arden looking the part
by David Burn | Sep 25, 2004 | Advertising, Chicago
“In retrospect, the real beginning of Lands’ End probably lies interred with the bones of some distant ancestor of mine, who passed along those genes compelling me toward total independence. The idea for the company though, appeared the winter of my discontent, bumming in the Swiss Alps around Davos. I read The Magic Mountain and contemplated whether there would be life after 33, and what it might consist of. One thing, I did not want to go back to the job I left (but I did go back to Young & Rubicam for a year) and I wanted to start a business, something to do with my hobby, sailboat racing.” – Gary Comer, former Y&R copywriter
I’ve been pondering what some of the Forbes 400 richest did to achieve their great wealth. Often, when I see a mansion that’s simply too big or some other ostentatious display, I’ll point and say, “Arms dealer.” I’m only too pleased to report my speculation is off kilter. In Chicago, the richest people got that way by building great companies–Lands’ End (now operating out of Dodgeville, WI), CDW, Oprah, Hyatt, Wrigley, and Motorola to name a few.
In a twisted insight into consumer buying habits, the richest Chicagoan (at five billion in net worth) is H. Ty Warner, the man behind the Beanie Babies phenomenon.
by David Burn | Sep 8, 2004 | Advertising
In each issue of Communication Arts readers are treated to a profile of one of the nation’s most creative ad agencies. The current issue looks at Huey/Paprocki in Atlanta. Writing for Adweek in January 2003, Ron Huey, a brilliant copywriter and agency head said:
“Great work is most often readily apparent to the client. It takes precious little arm twisting. No plunging down the throat. No “Trust us on this one.” In fact, smart, insightful work usually sells itself. That’s because the client can find little room for rebuttal. The idea is clearly relevant. Strategically, it’s a bullet between the eyes. Creatively, it hammers on emotions like Professor Longhair banging on an upright piano.”
by David Burn | Aug 15, 2004 | Advertising
Mikela and Philip Tarlow suggested to me a year and a half ago that I write a book about Internet radio. At the time, I thought no, I want to do it, not write about it. Today, I see how intertwined the doing it is with the writing about it. The book is to help establish one’s authority on the creative consultant circuit. It’s a calling card and a necessary credential to play with the Big Boys. Which is cool. I’ve always wanted to write a book. And a guide to Internet radio is a highly marketable book proposition.
by David Burn | Aug 13, 2004 | Advertising, Digital culture
I’ve been saying for awhile now how blogs can and will transform marketing on the Web. Coudal Partners, a small advertising and design firm in Chicago, has brought the corporate blog to new levels of sophistication. This is the way an agency’s site needs to look today. Stale brochureware buys you nada. Letting people in, sharing ideas freely, that’s the route, and Jim Coudal and his partners have taken this high road by storm. It’s great to see.
Read my article, New Tactics | New Tools for more.
by David Burn | Jul 13, 2004 | Advertising, Media
Sun Times advertising columnist, Lewis Lazare, has a dry wit and a sharp bite. He doesn’t mind ripping up ad campaigns, often from the best agencies in the business, into little tiny bits. He grades the work. C. D. B-.
He pontificates on the dangers of advertainment’s emergence in a recent piece: “Madison & Vine (McGraw-Hill, 202 pgs., $21.95) is a disturbing little book about a trend that should infuriate anyone who still cares about the future of both entertainment (and by extension, the arts) and advertising.”
I can’t say I share his assessment here, but I do like Lazare’s voice and the topics he covers. One thing I do agree with from his piece: “The fact of the matter is that in recent years the public has become increasingly fed up with traditional advertising because it has grown excessively intrusive. What’s more, the vast majority of the work simply isn’t sufficiently creative to command the public’s attention.”
by David Burn | Jul 12, 2004 | Advertising, Digital culture
Ad persons with blogs more popular than my own are using their media properties to find work, among other things. I like the idea, although I do not know how many potential buyers of creative services exist among my readership here.
Perhaps, a broadening of my job description is in order. In my last two agency jobs I began to shift my focus away from winning a Lion or Pencil (not that I was in position to be so honored) and toward the development of new areas I believe have the potential to remake the agency services game. Specifically, I’m talking about the potential in Internet radio, Wikis, and blogs as tools that can help marketers define and develop a truer branded voice.
It’s been said for every Gold Pencil earned, you can add 20 grand to your salary. Thus, the lingering allure.
