The Wilderness Downtown

A lovely piece of interactive media from Arcade Fire and Chris Milk featuring some of the most interesting digital typography I have seen.

Creative or cover-up?

Land Rover have just made their first foray into the world of claymation in conjuncton with RKCR/Y&R and Wunderman.

The ad is visually very endearing, with the claymation a welcome break from the endless shots of cars running through city streets and panoramic country roads. It may go some way to distinguishing Land Rover from its rivals, and certainly is not unenjoyable to watch, but thinking about it, is the new ad really any different from the generic ‘car in landscape’ formula from which it appears to be trying to escape. I think if it wasn’t visually interesting, I might just be bored to tears watching yet another car roll across my screen.

Ok, they are advertising the obvious benefit that the Freelancer 2 can be used in diverse situations – debatable – but is doing something new and interesting with the medium enough? Let’s be frank here, claymation is more fashionable than groundbreaking these days. I’m all for doing something different – the Audi ‘Emociones’ by DDB Barcelona, and Wieden and Kennedy’s The Cog remain two of my all time favourites. However, a lot of ads get by on style over content, and I have a sneaking suspicion that this might be one of them.

One addition to the campaign that saves in my eyes, is the ‘making of’ viral video that is doing the rounds on youtube. Less car, more content, and probably a better ad than the original.

Who knew hair could sell water?

Great new ad from BBDO Argentina. ‘Braids’ is one of those very simple ideas with just a touch of genius. There is some great stuff coming out of Latin American agencies these days, and this just proves it… Hay trabajo para un ornitorrincito en BBDO Argentina? Si?*

*A desperate attempt to become an Argentinian platypus

Super pants!

Here’s a great digital idea from Diesel.

Today is a day of flying men – and bottles – in silly capes. Trading off the recent spate of super hero films, including Kickass. Diesel have created an undie parody. With heros such as Miss Dismiss (her lips say no, but her eyes say hell no) and Iron Boy (only he can solve the creases) modelling Diesels briefs over their super hero costumes, it’s easy to get hooked. This is only outdone in youthful tomfoolery by their ‘be stupid’ (you’ll have more sex) microsite.  Bet the team had lots of fun coming up with those straplines.

Let’s hope this superhero flies

Innocent has teamed up with RKCR/Y&R to create a superhero ad for its smoothie range.

Following the trend of its previous very British deliberately low budget style television ads, this one features blue peter stylee ‘strings and all’ as the smoothie makes his way around London in order to save the peckish. Have to say, I much prefer this to the rather strange rabbit concoction, and it is in keeping with the very simple, straight talking brand image that Innocent has built for itself. So far, however, I have found the ads a little lacking in comparison to the great website, the brilliant packaging and the very strong customer loyalty that their communication strategy has brought about.

Innocent is known as a tough customer – Fallon resigned the account late last year, and it was once again taken in-house due to a difference of opinion in creativity and processes. Let’s hope RKCR/Y&R can live up to Innocent’s seemingly very high standards.

A surprising sell

Platypus and company were watching this over the Christmas holidays. It didn’t strike me until 30 seconds after I had seen the ad, when the television had launched back into VERYLOUDVOICESTALKINGVERYFASTQUICKSELLTHEMSOMETHING! that, hang on, that was actually a nice bathroom ad. It gives all the information in an orderly fashion without trying to sell through eardrum ruction. OK, it’s not avante garde, but good art direction and appreciation for the customer goes a very long way to helping you stand out from the crowd. Well done M&C Saatchi.

Behind bars

Brothers and Sisters have collaborated with a street art collective known as Mentalgassi in creating some arresting images for Amnesty International. The posters have been placed on railings, giving the impression that the haunting neon figures are behind bars.

Tweeting consumer consciousness

A friend and I were discussing journalism over a glass of (very yummy) mulled wine last night when she mentioned how important Twitter had become for finding and following up leads. The rapid dissemination of local information that Twitter provides is becoming essential to journalists, allowing them to find and track stories as they happen, rather relying on a known network of contacts.

That Twitter as a social media tool for business is a given, however I think in a lot of cases this is limited to direct communication with consumers, often with the business, rather than its customers, doing all of the talking.

Earlier this year I was doing some work for an online podcast station. They used Twitter to find out what users wanted from podcasts, what they were missing, what could be improved upon , and after listening to the online community, they ended up changing their entire business model from what they discerned. Social media insight is what the station has based its values upon, and through intelligent conversation with potential users, they have grown from a humbles beginnings as cardboard and cogs to a culturally switched on and consumer conscious station. Sometimes to get the most out of Twitter, it’s best to sit back and listen.

No really, it’s hilarious!

A market researcher was recently preparing for a group session with six year olds. She wanted the children to draw something that made them laugh, so she got her colleagues to draw examples. What was so remarkable was that every single person brought back a variation on the same theme – animals in clothes.

From penguins in stilettos to cows in tweed suits – the first thing that sprung to mind for everyone was an animal with human characteristics. This is not a new phenomenon – the popularity of Icanhascheezburger.com amongst numerous others just goes to show how much people seem to like turning their pets into little people. I think this reflects on advertising trends too – funny animals in clothing have been used to sell everything from jeans to orange juice. Using animals to get a cheap laugh is something the industry is guilty of, and something that often makes me cringe. Is an adorable doggy really going to sell Windows Vista? Yes, they have their place – the Andrex puppy is perhaps cutesy, but has certainly become an integral part of the brand – however, using animals is often just a way of distracting from a lack of real creativity or brand strategy.

Ironically, while writing this a chimp in ice skates reached my inbox, with the obligatory ‘no really, this is hilarious’. Perhaps Platypus should start wearing clothing on comical days.

Musical Kitchens

If VCCP is an animated character, then Mother is a musical. This one from IKEA is a few months old now, but is still infuriatingly catchy. From the gorgeous girls bopping along in the background to the topsy turvy kitchens, everything about the execution of this ad is a hook.