Ad of the Day – February 29 (San Francisco)

Your daily dose of advertising awesomeness from around the world!

Today’s pick:

• Agency: 72andsunny
• Location: San Francisco
• Client: K-Swiss
• Name: “K-Swiss Blades”

Why I like it: I like this because I’m completely powerless against the awesomeness that is this 5 minute Kenny Powers video. Do yourself a favor and watch it. (Kenny Powers is a fictional character from an HBO series, he’s a brash ex-professional baseball player). Of late, he is also the MFCEO (motherfucking CEO!) of K-Swiss. What do you do if you’re K-Swiss and you stand for nothing? If Nike, Adidas and Puma have sucked all the oxygen out of the room, with no chance of letting you in? You need some balls, or said more nicely – courage. Courage to go out and do something that will resonate, that will have a point of view, that will pique interest and get you the most valuable of things: a short window of opportunity into people’s attention, into their consideration. My personal example: I own Nike, Adidas and Puma shoes, you wouldn’t catch me dead even thinking about K-Swiss, it just doesn’t exist for me. But I very much like entertaining, funny, ballsy videos. So I watch this one, and while I do, I open myself up to receiving the well-integrated brand message about the Blades, and they don’t look half bad. It might not work just yet…but at least you’ve got a shot with me now. I respect the brand a little more now. And who knows…maybe if they keep it up? Fantastic work by 72andsunny! Have a look at my post on viral videos and what makes them (or not). You will see that this one nails all the marks, and more. And that’s why I’m sharing it with you now. A brand manager’s wet dream!  Click on the link below to see other ads pulled from this same campaign.

http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/kenny-powers-unveils-fastest-shoe-youve-ever-seen-k-swiss-blades-138463

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Ad of the Day – February 27 (Brisbane)

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Today’s pick:

• Agency: George Patterson Y&R
• Location: Brisbane
• Client: Suncorp Bank – Agribusiness
• Name: “Protect yourself from the ups and downs of farming”

Why I like it: Talk about a vast chasm between the what went into the brief (agribusiness!), and what went out! This is proof that creativity, (and even beauty!) can be found in all categories, in all brands, in all products. And you can tell this is real because, who is going to bother doing a scam ad about this? Delightfully art directed, well written, and suitably elegant for a corporate ad; this is just an inspired effort by the Brisbane Y&R office. Well done, mates!

Ad of the Day – February 24 (Melbourne)

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Today’s pick:

• Agency: Whybin/TBWA Tequila
• Location: Melbourne
• Client: Stihl (a tool manufacturer)
• Name: “Get outside”

Why I like it: One of the rules for the Ad of the Day is that the ad doesn’t always have to be perfect. Sometimes it might be flawed… yet it still managed to catch my eye among all the average stuff out there and made me want to share it with you (which, come to think of it, is not a bad thing to aspire to for an ad!). This is one of those. I was hooked by the striking photography, brought to life by a very elegant art direction. And at its core, a nice idea that feels quite familiar but still makes you stop and think. So basically they took what was a well-traveled path, put a nice spin on it, and executed the hell out of it. Sometimes this is all you need! Of course, this one lacks a critical thing: linking the brand to the message. It might be there if you’re a Stihl brand manager and this is your corporate value… but unless you’re very familiar with Stihl (and who is) you’d walk away not really understanding the link at all, nor remembering the name of the brand…a deadly combo. Despite all of this, I liked it, and it’s a fitting life message to share on Friday from all the way in Melbourne. Have a great weekend, everyone.

Ad of the Day – February 23 (Minneapolis)

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(click image to enlarge)

Today’s pick:

• Agency: Fallon
• Location: Minneapolis, MN
• Client: The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas
• Name: “Just the right amount of wrong”

Why I like it: Oh dahling, these ads are so decadent! I love, love, love it…like a rich visual feast. The print ads reminded me of a previous Ad of the Day for Campari, in their luscious imagery and their elegant cheekiness. This one, fittingly, was even more sleekly modern, and was sprinkled a nice dash of humor to really make it sing to today’s sophisticated, moneyed jet-setter who still prefers to not take himself too seriously. Really, what’s not to love here? This is a poster that I would happily hang in my office, every day to discover a new detail. The TV ad I’m attaching as a bonus – it has a lot of the same elements, and it’s wildly interesting and different…it had me hooked. I just like it a little less than the print because it went a little too campy for my taste, and lost some of that subversive sophistication of the print. And as for the tagline? Wow…what a dream to work with a tagline like that. Just marvelous. Minneapolis may be way up north but the folks at Fallon completely nailed the allure of a certain type of Vegas in this one. Congrats!

Ad of the Day – February 22 (London)

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Today’s pick:

• Agency: M&C Saatchi
• Location: London
• Client: read to find out, if I tell you it will spoil it
• Name: “What are you waiting for”

Why I like it: Just a lovely ad. Very elegant in its design, its long-form writing, its pacing, and its purposeful intent to not appeal to everyone. It has a certain snobbery, a sense of “this is probably not for you, mate”, that I find oddly appealing! Partly because it takes balls and conviction to do an ad like this. But mostly because all of this is not for show, or for faux-attitude – it actually serves a very specific recruitment and profiling purpose. This is one of those very strange ads that was not for me, was not for almost anyone…but that will appeal to those very few for whom it is intended. Interesting stuff.

Ad of the Day – February 21 (San Francisco)

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Today’s pick:

• Agency: Cutwater
• Location: San Francisco
• Client: Coolsculpting
• Name: “Let’s get naked!”

Why I like it: I liked the sense of happiness that permeated this ad. It felt fresh, spontaneous, dynamic and fun, and it was all of this without being cheesy. And man, what a tagline – who’s not going to get behind this? To be fair, I have no idea what Coolsculpting is, but if I were in the target demographic, this ad might make me pay attention more than the usual category messaging which either judgmental, condescending, scammy, overly aspirational, or all of the above. I think this core idea is very campaignable, so hopefully they take it further, although how good the product actually is will play a role (you have to deliver the goods once the advertising gets you the attention!). A nice effort from a San Fran shop whom I had not heard of, and an inspiring tagline for everyday life:) Cheers!

Ad of the Day – February 20 (Chicago)

Your daily dose of advertising awesomeness from around the world!

Today’s pick:

• Agency: Y&R
• Location: Chicago
• Client: Craftsman (tool manufacturer)
• Name: “Sandpaper”

Why I like it: This is an outdoor poster, and the hand outline (in white) is printed on sandpaper. Get it? Tom O’Keefe, the North American ECD at Draftfcb had thing about creativity having to be “simple enough”. Not over the top, but not simplistic either. Just simple enough. I think this one qualifies. It’s got humor, a nice art design, it’s well written, and it’s got an “invitation to interact” that doesn’t feel gimmicky, because it’s rooted in the insight and the joke. It’s a lot to be said for a poster! Some of you may know that last year I walked to work in Chicago every morning and afternoon, always looking for cool OOH. I wish I were there to have seen this one! Congrats to the folks at Y&R Chicago, this is really nicely done, and just simple enough.

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A friend of the family is looking to get into the advertising business, and he sent me an email asking for my advice. I sent him back a list of 10 things he should do, and I gave him a 90% guarantee that it would work. These days that’s not a bad number…so I figured I would share with everyone and spread the love:)

Ad of the Day – February 16 (Sao Paulo)

Your daily dose of advertising awesomeness from around the world!

Today’s pick:

• Agency: Fischer&Friends
• Location: Sao Paulo
• Client: Rolling Stone
• Name: “Music is more than music”

Why I like it:It’s catchy as hell. It’s clever. Visually, it’s very nicely designed, weaving a visual storyline with the images and also the positioning of the copy. It sucks you in and invites you to read and see how far they took it. it’s just very elegant. And it ends with a plausible, believable, and interesting tagline/statement about the magazine and its role in musical culture. What’s not to like!? (well, if I’m being completely honest I hesitated a bit with this one – I’ll tell you what’s not to like: It looks exactly like a scam ad. It might not be one, but it looks like one, and the country of provenance doesn’t help with the suspicion. But let’s not be cynical and say this is totally real. I can’t help but deduct a few mental points when a campaign is for Rolling Stone, MTV, or Amnesty International, etc. Some categories just seem “too easy”. Of course they’re not, and that’s why it’s the Ad of the Day!) Parabens, amigos – gostei.

Ad of the Day – February 15 (London)

Your daily dose of advertising awesomeness from around the world!

 

Today’s pick:

• Agency: BBH London
• Location: London
• Client: British Airways
• Name: “The Race”

Why I like it: I try not to have the same agency and city back too soon…and BBH London has been here before, as recently as only 12 days ago for their work on Axe. But hey, when the work is good, the work is good! In their latest ad for BA they took an important-but-pretty-dull consumer benefit (network logistics), and turned it into something engaging, suspenseful, and imbued with a warm, human touch through the use of the little girl. This is an ad that I would enjoy watching, and would leave me with good feelings (both rational and emotional) towards BA. What else can you ask for? If you think this is easy to do, go to Youtube and look through some airline advertising. Right. BBH London, you guys are killing the rest of it. Stop it. Actually, don’t.