Jon Draper? Maybe not…

It didn’t take long for everyone in our office to get round to creating their own Mad Men avatar… great fun! Created to promote the launch of the third season in the States. Now where’s my martini…?

Inspiring Books: Building Strong Brands - Aaker (Simon & Schuster, 2002)

David Aaker is one of the most respected and widely cited authors in the field of marketing, so it’s with a small degree of trepidation that I’m writing this critique of his 1995 book ‘Building Strong Brands.’ I feel duty-bound to write one nonetheless, as my growing collection of reviews of books that inspire me wouldn’t [...]

Creating Value from Nothing: Diamond Shreddies

Here’s a nice example of the use of marketing to create value out of nothing:

A brilliant way to create reconsideration for a 68-year-old brand.  Apparently the ‘fake news’ idea of turning squares into diamonds was originally a response by an intern to a client brief to redesign the back of the cereal box. The agency and Kraft realised [...]

Mad Avenue Blues

An entertaining and well-crafted commentary on the evolving face of the advertising/media industry.

Cannes Lions 2009 - My Personal Top 5 Titanium & Integrated Picks

1. Obama/Biden 2008: Obama for America

This year’s Titanium Grand Prix winner was exemplary in its use of integrated and participatory multimedia to create a cultural movement for change - setting a new best practice benchmark for political campaigning.
2. Jewish Council for Education and Research: The Great Schlep - Droga5, New York, USA.

In an example of shrewd targeting, this campaign [...]

Cannes Lions 2009 - My Personal Top 5 Outdoor Picks

1. The Zimbabwean Newspaper: Fight the Regime- TBWA/Hunt/Lascaris, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Extremely hard-hitting and intelligent commentary on Zimbabwe’s political and economic crisis, from exiled newspaper, the Zimbabwean. These billboards were produced using trillions of real Zimbabwean dollars, which were in fact a cheaper alternative to paper, and the perfect medium to raise awareness of the newspaper and [...]

Cannes Lions 2009 - My Personal Top 10 Press Picks

1. Latin Stock: Boxing/Napalm/Tank - DDB, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Simply a nice, thought-provoking observation - well demonstrated with suitably iconic imagery.
2. Alka Seltzer: Bear/Paparazzi/Magician/Mafia/Prison - CLM BBDO, Boulogne-Billancourt, France.

Big fan of the left-field analogy of Alka Seltzer being able to handle anything you throw into your stomach - thereby ‘dissolving your problems’. Appropriately refreshing in tone [...]

Cannes Lions 2009 - My Personal Top 10 Cyber Picks

1. Warner Bros/The Dark Knight Film: Why So Serious? - 42 Entertainment, Pasadena, USA.

Epic! I’ve discussed this Grand Prix viral already in an earlier post.
2. Fiat: eco:Drive - AKQA, London, UK

Given the complexity of Fiat’s eco:Drive system, I think the main success of this digital tool is its simplicity. I also think that the strategy of positioning eco:Drive as a ‘no brainer’ in [...]