It must be national bad hair week and I hadn’t noticed. Nothing else would seem to explain the sudden profusion of hair-related controversies in the media.

Most recent is the shocking case of Australian cricket legend Shane Warne’s hair loss. He and his follicularly-challenged partner in crime Graham Gooch have just been banned. But not, you’ll be glad to hear, from playing cricket. No, it’s much more trivial than that. The Advertising Standards Authority has cracked down on an ad created for trichologist Advanced Hair Studio – promoting its laser therapy and “strand by strand” technology – to whom our two sporting heroes have been lending not only their prestige but their balding pates.

I’m a little at sea over why the ASA has taken two years to reach such a Draconian verdict. After all, the ad doesn’t actually say that AHS cures hair loss.

Which moves me neatly on to hair crisis number two: the case of Cheryl Cole’s false locks. How come that Elvive can get away with plying a palpably false impression of bountiful, bouncing, natural hair, while AHS isn’t even given the benefit of a few reimplanted strands? The answer, as so often, lies in the small print. The ASA found in favour of Elvive because it provided subliminally small disclaimers about Cheryl’s hair not being entirely her own (quite a lot is nylon, I gather). This is not, I’m afraid, a finding which sits happily within the ASA remit of  upholding “legal, decent, honest and truthful” advertising. Such dishonesty is more widespread in cosmetics advertising than we would like to believe.

The third bad hair advertising controversy is not so much a case of fairness as of silliness. I refer to the opening rounds of our forthcoming general election campaign and the two stunningly original poster ads it has so far produced: one for the Conservative Party (Euro RSCG) and one for Labour (Saatchi & Saatchi), both pillorying each other as the Jedwards, whose twin misfortunes are to have been evicted from the X-Factor, and to be burdened with a hairstyle that must make Shane Warne think twice about the wisdom of hair implants. The ASA won’t be allowed to touch these ads, more’s the pity.

Agentia: Saatchi & Saatchi Indonesia
Creative Director: Juhi Kalia
Art Director: Audy Sutama
Copywriter: Pancaputera
Illustrator: DeadWolf Studio, Rudy Harianto
via

Beter together – Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive

Werbeagentur: Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney, Australien
Executive Creative Director: Steve Back
Creative Director: David Bowman
Art Director: Peter Galmes
Text: John McKelvey
Regie: Ne-o

via LikeCOOL

Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai is believed to have culled seven creative staff in a move that represents around 50 per cent of the small office’s creative department.

The departures include three creatives who have been with the agency five years or more and a team from London only hired in the summer, who were intended to bolster its output. It is understood that new recruits will be drafted in to replace the leavers. Recent months have also seen the network’s Beirut office suffer lay-offs across the board.

The UAE activity coincides with the recent arrival of Saatchi’s new Dubai-based regional creative director Marc Lineveldt. South African Lineveldt joined the agency in late September, having left his previous post as executive creative director with FP7 Dubai.

Lineveldt’s post was temporarily filled by the UK’s Danny Higgins, who took up the reins after the departure of the agency’s previous long-standing regional CD Ed Jones. Jones and former Saatchi Dubai managing director Steve Anastasiadis moved on from the agency earlier this year as it began was has been a prolonged period of reassessment. The shake-up was originally instigated last October as part of a wider review of operations across the Middle East and North Africa.

Yep, they did… Adam + Dan put my once-every-week-if-you’re-lucky posting format to shame. Still, they’re recent grads, and probably don’t sleep. Anyway I digress.

Cadbury set their bar pretty high with Phil Collins dressed up as a Gorilla. Since then we’ve had trucks coming alive at night,  kids with spasm problems in their eyebrows, and giant dancing cocoa beans dreamed up by Art Directors on drugs*.

The beauty of the Gorilla, which ranks amongst my top adverts of the year, was that it communicated the core idea of Joy in a beautifully simple manner. Both with the joy of the Gorilla totally living his moment, and the joy of watching it for the first time along to Phil’s rock ballad. Ahhh I remember my first time; joy indeed.

The problem was that few people identified with a living truck and the pay-off wasn’t fast enough. The kids came close, but the joy remained with us, the viewer, not with the kids, and I’ve no idea about the cocoa bean apart from their Fair Trade connotations.

This latest spot resurrects that brilliant initial core idea. That moment of joy: Pure pleasure. We’ve all seen them – dogs hanging out of windows – we’ve all thought “that dog must be having the time of it’s life”. But the ad, in my opinion, isn’t as strong as it could have been.

The problem is it lacks identification with the situation. A race track, a second-hand Lambo in a flat looking purple, and too many wide shots and not enough accidental looks of joy on the dogs. For my money, I’d have like to have seen a long shot pull right up close to a glossy purple sports car on a country road, closing up to a dog with a big flabby face flapping about in the wind; it’s mouth up-turned with a look of joy, slobber flying from it’s mouth. Or even have a cute puppy doing it. Finally, set this viral moment to soaring clips from Mr. Brightside by The Killers, Knights Of Cydonia by Muse, or maybe Sex on Fire by Kings if Leon.

It basically lacked that ‘epic moment’.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s still a lovely concept, but it flopped a little on the execution (in my humble opinion), and I’ll still be munching Cadbury’s chocolate after the gym – It’s how I roll, baby.

*There is no evidence I can find that the art director involved has ever taken illegal substances. By all accounts he’s a top man.

Credits:
Creative agencies: Fallon London & Saatchi & Saatch Sydney
Executive creative director: Steve Back
Agency producer: Kate Whitfield, Evonne Sciberras
Directors: Ben Lawrence
Production company: The Feds
Producer: Emma Lawrence
Director of photography: Anna Howard

Watched “The Future of Shopper Marketing“, an insightful speech from Andy Murray, Global CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi X. Here is an excerpt form Kevin Robert’s blog about the speech (emphasis added),

The presentation featured five key points (and a whole bunch of
arresting stories, insights, and examples):

1. Put yourself at the heart of the customer (most companies try it the other way around)
2. Navigate the experience of your customer from the “shelf back”
3. Create ways for customers to participate and be involved in your brands and store experiences
4. Explore the fringe/edge/margin for new ideas (Wal-Mart was a fringe idea, it came from Bentonville, not Chicago)
5. Find new ways for manufacturers and retailers to collaborate authentically based on trust, transparency and shared goals

Enjoy the presentation.

How will Cameron out-Saatchi Saatchi? The advertising agency that followed Thatcher to power in 1979 and in two more victories, is, since 2007, campaigning for the Labour Party. So much for moral conviction. Meanwhile, after divorcing Saatchi & Saatchi, the Tories have enlisted help from a number of agencies. It will be interesting to see the upcoming battle.

Assumiamoli è lo spot vincitore di ONP Award, il concorso dedicato ai video realizzati da Organizzazioni No Profit per promuovere la propria attività.

Il video è stato realizzato per l’Aipd, l’Associazione italiana persone down, da Saatchi & Saatchi, The Family, Gambero Rosso – Città del gusto, Medusa Film e Opus Proclama. L’idea e la sua realizzazione sono state premiate per avere posto l’attenzione sul concetto di lavoro, e non sulle caratteristiche di chi lo svolge.

Lo spot informa sulle difficoltà che le persone down incontrano quando entrano nel mondo del lavoro, ma lo fa in modo allegro. Le differenze sono annullate. Il concetto è ribadito anche dalla campagna stampa, che conferma la scelta vincente. I nostri complimenti!

Joy

Une opé très maline pour l’équipementier sportif (de luxe??) North Face. L’objectif étant d’arriver à se démarquer des autres marques au sein d’un espace de vente dédié au sport, et ce sans aucun espace publicitaire pour communiquer. La marque a donc choisi de packager et de vendre en rayon des éléments pris dans la nature (un bout de bois, une pierre, une feuille) et de valoriser le fait que ces éléments pourraient vous sauvez la vie au cas où vous n’auriez pas sur vous d’équipement North Face. La gamme est baptisée “Survive Outdoors”. Malin et plutôt percutant en rayon. Une belle idée d’ambient qui méritait son billet. Bravo à l’agence Saatchi & Saatchi Philippines à l’origine de ce projet.

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In order to market its then-new Matrix model, Saatchi & Saatchi proposed and Toyota OK’d a campaign whereby people who “opted-in” would get “e-mails for five days from a fictitious man called Sebastian Bowler, from England, who said he was on the run from the law, knew [the person] and where [he/she lived] and was coming to [his/her] home to hide from the police.” And oh, by the way, the participants were entered into the event by people who wanted to set up friends to be "punked."

What could possibly go wrong with that?

Plenty. So much that Amber Duick of LA has filed suit against the carmaker over emotional distress caused by being on the receiving end of the stunt.

Although Bowler did not have Duick’s current address, he sent her links to his My Space page as well as links to video clips of him causing trouble all over the country on his way to her former house in Los Angeles, according to the lawsuit.  "Amber mate! Coming 2 Los Angeles. Gonna lay low at your place for a bit till it all blows over," the man wrote in one e-mail.

You may not have thought it possible, but it gets even stupider.

Duick’s attorney said the marketing company went so far as to send Duick a bill for damages the fictitious man supposedly made to a hotel room. "Amber, ran into a little problem at the hotel," a note with the invoice stated. "After I’m done visiting you, I’m going to go back and sort out that front desk Muppet."

The company’s defense? “Well, she did agree to the opt-in.” Said opt-in was buried in an emailed “personality test” which contained a link to a web page allegedly explaining what was going to happen. Duick’s lawyer characterizes the explanatory note as “indecipherable.” This point seems reasonable as you could hardly expect to punk someone who knows what’s coming.

The entire thing begs two questions:

• WTF was someone smoking when he/she OK’d this?
• What the hell was the campaign supposed to accomplish?

Saatchi & Saatchi told the marketing magazine OMMA last year that it had developed the campaign to target men under 35 who hate advertising. The prank campaign, Saatchi creative director Alex Flint told the magazine, should gain the appreciation from "even the most cynical, anti-advertising guy.

HUH? How the hell does this actually sell the product? It sure as hell isn’t going to make anyone less cynical or anti-advertising. I want to ask did it ever once occur to anyone that even “men under 35” have been known to have problematic people in their lives – but we already know the answer.

Sadly this campaign is excluded for this year’s list of Top 10 (or so) marketing blunders as it took place in 2008. However, I suspect it may receive a special citation from a certain special interest group.

I don’t agree with Saatchi’s Kevin Roberts on everything, but there’s a big overlap in our thinking and, hey, differences are what prompts innovation and make the world go round, so that’s good.  Yes?

The thing is that on the fundamentals we are on the same page and its always reassuring to know, when, as we marketers do, you are ploughing the lonely innovation furrow, that someone of Kevin’s gravitas agrees with you, at least in part.  That’s why I was delighted to hear him make three key points in an interview in Singapore recently (he probably made many more) that really resounded with me.

1. The current economic situation is causing far more radical change than most people still realise and it’s going to go on for a year or two yet.  As a result, business leaders are desperate for ideas, but nervous of change, so the ideas that we take to them have to be bigger, better and more than ever before, grounded in sound commercial thinking.
2. Marketing services businesses (Kevin focusses on Ad. agencies, I’d put brand consultancies up there too but all the other disciplines are failing their clients too) are generally way behind their clients and end users/consumers when it comes to realising what’s happening and responding to it (which, given that we are paid to be thought-leaders, is pretty damning)
3. Awards are becoming counter-productive.  They are encouraging agency people to entrench in old-thinking.  It’s almost as though given their failure to deliver in the real world, agencies are retreating to a world of mutual admiration inhabited solely by their peers.

Where maybe I differ from Kevin is that I believe that its our job to lead our clients.  Not just to give them great ideas, but to help them fully exploit them.  This requires bigger thinking.  I am trying to go much further than most agencies, by not only coming up with new creative ideas, but having ideas about how business can change and reshape themselves, communicate internally as well as externally and do new things operationally that will enable them to get more out of the ideas.  And I go further than that even, because, as I just said, business leaders are not only desperate for ideas, but nervous of change too, so its my job as a marketer (and if you are a marketer, its your job too) to help them along the way with implementation.  That’s why I spent months working with buyers at a supermarket group to get them to think differently about their role and what they were buying and why I just devoted weeks to convincing a software organisation to take another look at the environment their otherwise great software creates for users, before they take it to market.

Sure its a lot of work, but that’s the game we are in now.  Be sure about that!

The evening papers in London tonight are reporting the story of David Rowe, an unemployed history graduate who spent five days walking the streets of the capital last month wearing a sandwich board. His pitch? He’d work for free for a month. After that, you could either hire or fire him.

Well, his innovative advertising idea produced exactly the  result he was looking for. In addition to widespread media coverage and about 250 enquiries, Rowe attracted the attention of JCDecaux’s managing director Spencer Berwin who literally bumped into him on Fleet Street.

Berwin said: “I was very impressed by David turning himself into a human billboard – he’s displayed a natural talent for outdoor advertising. His sales pitch showed enormous confidence and a determination to succeed that is highly attractive for any employer.”

He is now a junior sales co-ordinator with JCDecaux and will work on billboards and street furniture.

Now the cynics with long memories amongst you might remember that this little trick has been used before. 20 years ago Paul Arnold got national media attention using a very similar ploy. He was eventually hired by Tim Bell at Saatchi & Saatchi and went on to become an account director there.

To me eyes at least that doesn’t make Rowe’s stunt any less worthy of admiration. As they say in advertising, there’s no such thing as a new idea, just old ones repackaged. And sometimes that’s innovative enough.

Congratulations, David, and good luck with your new role.

The Wire : Advertising – the solution to our refugee woes?
Produced by Shevonne Hunt

Download audio report here.
Listen to audio report from source here.

The Government has hired advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi to dissuade Sri Lankan would-be refugees for making the perilous journey to Australia. But is the expense worth it? Featured in story: Ian Rintoul- The Refugee Action Coalition, Paul Powers – CEO of the Refugee Council of Australia and Mark Mcrindle- Mcrindle Research.

ABC – Ad campaign targets people smugglers

News.com – Street theatre to stop boat people

Monstor and Critics – Australia hires advertising agency to battle illegal immigrants

CathNews – Advertising campaign to halt illegal arrivals

Ninemsn – Ad gurus hired to deter refugees

SBS News – Tamil Tigers Asylum Claim

Tantos días oyendo hablar de la dichosa venta sin receta de la píldora postcoital que nuestro cerebro se ha ido derechito al rincón de la memoria donde conservamos la, seguramente, mejor campaña hecha nunca en relación con la anticoncepción. Eran los 70’s, era una agencia publicitaria que casi recién empezaba y era (es) un lema que todavía hoy tiene todo el sentido del mundo. Hablamos del famosísimo hombre embarazado de Saatchi & Saatchi y su “Would you be more careful if it was you that got pregnant”. SIMPLEmente genial.

Estos dos creativos franceses, estudiaron en la Facultad de Bellas Artes de la ciudad de Poitiers y son unos grandes de la industria videoclipera actual, y es que desde hace algunos años han venido realizando videos dignos de admirarse, renovando la concepción de la imagen y el diseño gráfico, que a la par de los magníficos intérpretes para los que han trabajado, o marcas, como Nike y Converse, terminan por entregar materiales no sólo creativos, sino inteligentes, que incluso la agencia Saatchi & Saatchi les ha reconocido.

Basados en una estética de ilustración, los dibujos que realizan cobran vida con cada beat, entre colores y tiros de cámara perfectamente planeados, que lo mismo van de los planos detalle a los planos generales con cameos espectaculares, en el caso del video Testarossa Autodrive, por ejemplo; o geniales ensambles entre dibujos animados, gráficos, colores y secuencias grabadas, siempre dejando algo al espectador, en un fuera de campo, algo que él mismo descifre al compás de la música, con camisetas animadas como instrumento, tal y como sucede con D.A.N.C.E., otro de sus materiales.

Jonas & François se sirven de momentos cotidianos para refrescar su imaginación y lograr las construcciones gráficas en atmósferas diversas, además de escuchar mucha música que los hace crear cosas pares, imaginar cada imagen con un sonido.

Estos directores suelen trabajar con los artistas como The Presets, firmados por la Ed Banger Records, que dicho sea de paso, es una de las productoras con muchas promesas musicales y bien valdría dar una pasada por su cartera musical; aunque también han realizado materiales para Madonna, Kanye West o Justin Timberlake, entre otros.

Aquí les dejamos dos grandes muestras de su talento, de proyectos interesantes, inteligentes y divertidos; el primer material realizado para Kavinsky y su track Testarossa Autodrive , y el segundo video hecho para Justice y su canción D.A.N.C.E.

othername®

Not sure about everyone else, but when I was a child milk was practically forced down my throat every break time, something about growing nice strong bones. This piece definitely portrays Calcium Sandoz as being strong and able to withstand anything.

Well situated by a busy road so that it gains maximum attention, hopefully not too though as people are supposed to be driving! A good solid piece (see what I did there? Haha) from Mumbai, by advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi.

Marc Lineveldt, formerly executive creative director at FP7 Dubai, has joined Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai as regional creative director. 

The post was previously occupied by Ed Jones, who departed the agency earlier this year following a shake-up of operations in the MENA region.

The agency has actioned several hirings of top tier management in a bid to improve its product.

Prior to his 3-year stint at FP7, South African-born Lineveldt was creative director at Team Y&R. His accolades include trophies at Cannes, D&AD, Clio, One Show,Dubai Lynx and Mena Cristal.

Lineveldt will also continue to serve as chairman of the Creative Club in Dubai, a group established to give a united voice to the region’s creatives and raise creative standards.

A l’approche du triste anniversaire du WTC, Adland affiche sa crise post-traumatique de l’événement. Après le tollé de l’annonce DDB Brazil pour la WWF (cf billet du 4 septembre dernier), c’est au tour du quotidien The Moscow News de remettre le couvert. En plus soft, certes, mais néanmoins. Réalisé par l’agence BBDO pour la version anglaise du quotidien, l’annonce signe  “Things hard to explain, in a language you understand”.

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Une autre déclinaison de cette campagne, cette fois-ci version Hiroshima.

Depuis le 11 sept 2001, les tours jumelles ont été l’objet de nombreuses pubs. L’occasion donc de faire un petit tour d’horizon de ce qui s’est passé en pub depuis 9/11.

MTV Magazine (2003 Brazil)

Cette campagne brésilienne pour le mag MTV comparait le nombre de morts de l’attentat du WTC à ceux du sida, de la famine ou de la pauvreté dans le monde. Choc.

Text next to the towers: 2863 death
Text next to the man: 40 million HIV infected in the world.
“The world united against the terrorism should do the same against AIDS”

Text next to the towers: 2863 death
Text next to the boy: “630 million indigents in the world”
“The world united against the terrorism should do the same against poverty”

Text next to the towers: 2863 death
Text next to the boy: 824 million undernourished people in the world
“The world united against the terrorism should do the same against hunger”

ASH New Zealand (2008)

“Smoking kills more than terrorism” une autre façon de comparer les chiffres, cette fois-ci il s’agit du nombre de décès dû au tabac depuis les attentats du 9/11/ 2001. Une campagne signée de l’agence DDB New Zealand.

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BIC “White out”

La campagne chilienne pour la marque de papeterie BIC a été interdite quelques semaines seulement après sa sortie. Signée de l’agence TBWA Chili, ces annonces ont provoqués un véritable tollé à leur sortie. L’agence chilienne a eu bien du mal à s’en remettre. C’est probablement un des meilleurs exemple de choc post-traumatique post 9/11 en publicité. Les annonces jouaient sur le bénéfice produit (ici, le typex) sur le thème “il y a des images que l’on aimerait pouvoir effacer”. La campagne comprenait plusieurs déclinaisons sur la même idée.

Fondation Nicolas Hulot (France 2007)

Cette annonce signée CLM BBDO Paris pour la fondation Nicolas Hulot joue sur les attentats que subit la planète tous les jours “For Nature, every day is 9/11″.

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CoBis (print 2006 The Netherlands)

“Some day your computer might become a target.” résume cette annonce hollandaise pour CoBis, une entreprise de sécurité informatique. L’annonce décrit l’intérieur d’un circuit d’ordinateur prenant la forme d’une ville, avec ses tours…jumelles.

Lego “Rebuilt it” (2006)

Un message qui se voulait au départ positif “rebuild it” mais le choix du WTC était mal venu. Une annonce signée Saatchi & Saatchi China qui a mis le feu aux blogs en 2006.

Humo magazine

“Reading HUMO can have serious consequences” cette campagne pour le magazine HUMO se voulait avant tout humoristique. mouais. Un peu facile.

Pour finir, juste pour rappeler qu’il y a eu un avant et un après 9/11, de nombreuses campagnes ont joué par le passé sur le symbole qu’incarnait les tours jumelles (finance, économie, modernité, réussite, USA etc….). Cependant cette annonce de 1979 pour la compagnie aérienne pakistanaise PIA ne laissait présager rien de bon.