Bollocks

Found this interesting little film of Dan and Amber at RKCR/Y&R. 

http://www.careerplayer.com/careers/advertising-and-pr/advertising/creative/dan-hubert-and-amber-casey---senior-creative-team.aspx

They answer questions about advertising, and attempt to sell us Helix rubbers. 

They used to work at DDB London, where they did this.

John Webster lives on.

Is it just me or is there a theme here? 

Everyone seems to love Comparethemeerkat.com

People who don't have cars.

 Kids. O.A.P's, my dog. 

But why do they love it? Not for the cheesy pun. 

But because of the character and the personality? (a la Webster) 

To be fair to Comparethemarket.com they are backing it and pushing the campaign as far as they can and are being rewarded for it. Making people talk about an insurance comparison site!

But with this campaign being such a success.

Why aren't more brands using a character or personality? Is it now going to become cool again? or is it still a creative no-no?

Heineken have been using a character in the US, 'The Most interesting man in the world' which has increased sales of their import brand so should brand characters be back on the table?

It's Pitch O'Clock

Budweiser has decided it wants a change. 

The UK account (Fallon) and the Ireland account (DDB) are both up for pitch.

As well as Budweiser, Beck's has also decided they want a new agency. According to Campaign, Lowe resigned the account but it sounds mutual. 

So that's £5.5 million for Budweiser and £25 million for Beck's. 

Of course both are owned by Inbev so it's no real surpise their both up for pitch.

When brands go up for pitch i always assume they're not happy with how the ad's are going at the moment, but i'm sure there is more to it than that. 

But can anyone remember the last great beer ad? 

Sure, the Bud spot up there is good but it's not something you will remember like Wassup or John Smiths (TBWA/London are on the pitch list for Budweiser). Beck's latest spot below didn't exactly blow me away, i know it's said beer is such a difficult product to advertise but it's also one of the briefs everyone seems to want too.

Less Than Zero

Great book i'm reading at the moment.

Sharp, short and very matter of fact.

Nice to read something with a different kind of tone and i always admire writers who can keep you interested whilst nothing much seems to have developed in an obvious story line kind of way. 

Any recommendations for something to read next?

Simple Thinking Works.

First of all, no i haven't adopted a Polar Bear. But it's possible to adopt anything from a Polar Bear to a Donkey these days.

This appears to be a simple and straight forward idea but look at charity advertising on the whole and it's actually a lot of cleverer.

How do you solve a problem like getting people to give to charity? Give them something back.

You never meet the animal you adopt (i assume they don't actually exist?)
But it's a brilliant idea that gains your initial interest and then maintains it for a significant period after the original donation.

As Dave Trott would say, simple preditory thinking. Executed brilliantly.

Scamp is alive

Sympathy For The Devil - Egos of the Advertising Industry from Toodle Pip on Vimeo.

Found this video on Toodle Pip's website, a student team trying to get into advertising. Featuring bloggings very own Scamp.