There Are No Cool Products

In my short time in advertising, I’ve found that there are no cool products, only great creatives. Its those game changing creatives that I want to work with.

I feel its a good practice to seek out agencies that are doing excellent work and shaping brands into something cool because your more likely to find these creatives. Yet to seek out an agency to specifically work on the nike, apple, burger king, etc. account is a miss. The creatives that established that brand may or may not work there still. Although you will be able to work within that brand and create some good work, you may miss out on the chance to learn from those that have been successful at establishing it. So I've found that the best way to work on those accounts that are redefining and thriving is by tracking the creatives that establish them.

Those that can get excited about redefining a stodgy deodorant brand, infusing life into a personality void brand or creating real positive social impact with a soap, are the types of creatives changing the way to advertise.

The question I have, and still have not been able to answer, is can that excitement and energy be taught or does it only come naturally to a select few?

Ad of the Week: Nike

It's a new thing for me to post about; but, every week there is an ad or two that refuels my love for what I do and shifts the way I think about advertising, design and/or branding.

For my first post I'm glad that it is such an excellent ad, Nike's: Human Chain. The piece that makes this ad stand out for me is the simple message, "Everybody gets knocked down, how quick are you gonna get up?" which speaks to me as a type "A" personality. It speaks to not just athleticism; but, also the drive in each of us to want to be successful and push ourselves beyond all constraints and it reinforces the simple message in the well known nike brand, "Just do it."

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland

Art Director: Ryan O'Rourke

Copywriter: Jason Bagley

Music: "Ali in the Jungle" by The Hours

The Need to Brand Yourself

Could marketing yourself yield the same results as advertising/branding a major company? Yes.

In fact, one of the strongest lessons they pushed at my college, MCAD, was the necessity to treat and market yourself as a brand. Although this made some students a bit skittish, it is important more than ever to treat and market yourself as a brand.

Many people believe that with the rise of social media outlets such as twitter, that significantly shorten our attention span, as proof that brands are dyeing when it is quite the opposite. When you have 140 characters to push a complex aspect of a product or the sleekness of a brand, the necessity to push the brand to keep it short, sweet and repeatable is impartially important.

Treating one’s self as a brand forces you to consider truly what makes you different and what your true selling points are. It allows you to create your paired down elevator pitch, and with repetition, gives you the chance to attribute those aspects to a recognizable logo.

So it than no longer is a question of to brand or not to brand and it turns into what is unique about your brand?

Are Brands Dead?

With the rise of short lived digital experiences, the removal of coke from Cost Co and the reduction of major name brands from the shelves of Walmart, the question on many people’s minds is: Are brand names still powerful?

At present, major name brands are putting more attention on creating utility for their consumers and straying away from big budget commercials. An example of this is Pepsi deciding to not run any super bowl ads this year and instead invested that money into charitable giving driven by the consumer. Yet, is this really a mark of straying away from inflating their brand? In the end, we are going through hard economic times and companies are being judged more than ever when looking at what they are doing for their consumers. Pepsi can with hold from doing brand ads and give the money away instead because they already have such a strong brand clout from previous years.

In the future, many are predicting that brands will have to move away from heavy branding because consumers are wanting to live within their means and see it reflected in media. Yet, shifting from showing an extravagant life to one of means isn’t the removal of brand. Branding can just as easily be about living frugally or responsibly. Toyota is an excellent example of this from leveraging their minor green traits they have created a cult following and even in spite of their major recalls, polls consistently show that their consumers still believe in them. By investing in their customer base, their customers are willing to forgive them.

In the past, the great Marlboro Friday scare in 1993 created the declaration that the brand name was dead. Yet since 1993 strong brand names have been established or reestablished to have created stronger cult followings than we have seen in the past including Target, Toyota and Apple. So is this latest declaration another fable or a true shift in advertising?

Although this economic climate could mean the death to some brands often it’s the ones that forget that they need to continue to grow, change and innovate to stay on top. Just because the brands are moving into the digital space doesn’t mean the brand is dead but simply that it is yet again adapting for the better.

The Asset of Being You

One of the hardest lessons for me to learn, as a young art director, was that your personality and quirks often can prove to be an asset.

I began my working career at Target and Starbucks. Both are good places to work and both are pretty strict corporations that ask that you leave your personality at the door and put on the brand face. When taught to, on a daily basis, remove your personality when at work, it becomes difficult when asked to express myself regularly at an agency.

Although not every career expressly wants you to be yourself on a daily basis, no one wants to work with someone that is dull or rude. When interviewing for design and art director positions at agencies, I’ve found that the agencies that were always heavily interested in me were the ones in which I was very relaxed and simply being my normal, odd self. By being someone that is naturally happy and spreads humor to others I have an asset outside of my ability to create good work and pitch it well to clients, I have the ability to help create a stronger team through being myself.

Yet, the hardest lesson to learn for those that have radically different or unusual personalities is the necessity to do what I call, “Easing people into your crazy.” By with holding much of your personality initially to gauge others, find your niche and allow for your personality to gradually come out, you become a natural fit. On the other hand, being extremely out there from day one can often create apprehension, unease and the feeling of being ostracized from the group.

So in the end I’ve found the best practice is to show your personality, craziness and all; but, don’t jump the gun (ease people into your oddities).

It's Not The Choice Itself Thats Important

Like most people, I get on kicks and as of late its playfully threatening to shank my co-workers. I was asked by a close coworker why I have such a violent sense of humor and the first thing that shot to my mind is, “Violence is the way to live life.”

Not literally of course; but, I feel there are two ways to live life: violent or secure (with most people living somewhere in the gray between).

The violent ones are the ones that are incredibly passionate and narrowly focused on what it is in life that they love and seek. They will take ballsy risks in persuit of what they love and are willing to give up some everyday luxuries to get it. These people either burn out fast or rise to the occasion and achieve what it is they are pursuing.

The secure ones are those that put a greater emphasis on family, security and an everyday life well lived. They also may have a passion they are going after; but, choose to do it in a far more calculated and methodical way. Although they may not create the sweeping change the violent ones create they also don’t run the same risk of burning themselves out before they achieve their goals.

It’s not that one or the other is good or bad it simply is a choice and my choice is to live violently. The film Revolutionary Road does an amazing depiction of the struggle between these two extremes in a married couple.

My Super Bowl Ad Picks

The Super Bowl is, in comparison, the British Television Advertising Awards for the U.S. It has historically held some of the best advertising in the current market.

I would agree with the common sentiment that this year, due to the economic climate and waning interest, the ads didn't live up to the usual glory; but, there were still none the less some gems in the mix. Here are my picks for the 2010 Super Bowl:

1. Dove: Journey to Comfort/////Ogilvy

Although I felt the voice over was a little off, it had a relatively original, funny approach to selling a men's skin care product without making men appear to be unintelligent. I also love the reference to the scene in A Clockwork Orange with the use of music, content and cuts.

2. Cars.com: With Knowledge Comes Confidence/////DDB Chicago

Rarely does a serious ad seem to hit the mark on the Super Bowl; but, this in one of two that really did. It wasn't too preachy and had just enough dry humor to make it memorable. The best part though, it drove home it's main selling point, be confident with the knowledge you get from cars.com.

3. Google: Paris/////???

Again I was surprised with how memorable this simple ad was. It was one of the more innovative concepts, to tell a story through a simple search box and it seemed to target the 40% of female viewers that most ads ignored or openly offended.

4. Motorola: Megan Fox/////Anomaly

Although most ads featuring a half naked woman tend to be mindless and forget to talk about the product, this is one of the rare few that was very funny, sexy and left you with a clear idea of the product motorola blur.

5. Intel: Jeffrey the Robot/////Venables Bell & Partners

The first sweet and funny ad I've seen that is part of the larger excellent re-branding efforts of intel (putting faces to the name). I also feel that this is another great ad that was talking to the 40% of female viewers that most of the ads ignored.

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Worst Ad of the Super Bowl

Boost Mobile: Shuffle Dance/////180 Los Angeles

I would have to say this ad was terrible from the post production of trying to make it look dated, to the terrible copywriting and finally the horrible editing that destroyed the jokes. The worst part, everyone was so distracted with what was going on that they completely missed the message of the Boost Mobile's cheap rates.

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Best Social Media Ads

Brand Bowl///// Mullen & Radian 6

The sixth highest trending topic on twitter and a great way to stay on top of the winners on twitter in real time.

Squawq/////Colle+McVoy

Beautifully designed and a great analysis of the brand winners on all of twitter.

That wraps up the 2010 Super Bowl Ads. The biggest surprise this year, for me, was how memorable and well done the serious ads were over the funny ones.