Tag archives: advertising

Heineken, it’s always the same

A nice Tv ad by Heineken. The world changes, the beer stays the same. If you know the agency who did it, please leave a comment. [found at Coolz0r]

File under: advertising, heineken

Switzerland “for women only”

The Swiss Tourism Board has created a tv-spot “for women only”. The video (opens .mpg) shows a series of good-looking and kind of sexy men welcoming the viewer to the country. As explained on Persoenlich (in German) the campaign idea is to target the wives of the men who will go crazy next June watching the World Football Championship. The campaign will mainly run in Germany and France, but also in other European countries. While your man drinks beer, watches 22 men running after a ball, and yells at the referee, come to Switzerland and enjoy its natural beauties… An unusal but smart idea to promote a country!

File under: advertising, football 2006, switzerland, tv campaign

Advertising industry lacks talent

Interviewed on Media Guardian, Bartle Bogle Hegarty founder John Hegarty believes the lack of talented people in advertising industry is a “major, major problem”. The industry is getting more and more complex and this sophistication requires people with skills and talent, ready to adapt to the new challenges.

Before, it was easier to get people because what we needed them to do was less than we need them to do today. (…) We have an industry that’s totally appalling in training people. I think it’s hard, the creative department is unbelievably hard. There’s a dearth of good creative directors out there - a complete dearth.

File under: advertising, Bartle Bogle Hegarty, talent

Should chief execs feature in their own ads?

The Sunday Herald asks the question, providing the answer in two articles supporting the opposite answers YES/NO. Tina Korup (managing director of edoMidas Leadership Development) supports the NO party, saying CEO should not link their personality to a product. First of all, says Korup, CEO come and go, furthermore a CEO in ad could impact staff morale (“No CEO should be bigger than the company. As soon as a CEO puts themself in a television advertisement, they’re taking the credit and the glory for the achievements of the business’s hardworking employees. That’s very demotivating for the staff.”). On the other side, Campbell Laird (founder of brand consultancy Three Brand Design) says CEO in advertising can prove very effective for building the brand of a business since today’s chief executives have the skills and personality to carry off starring in the company advertising.

File under: advertising, ceo

Lost in translation aka the decline of Hollywood stars in Japanese ads

Do you remember Bill Murray flying to Japan to promote a whiskey brand? Well, the happy hour for Hollywood stars starring in Japanese Tv commercials is almost over. They haven’t disappeared yet, but they aren’t as requested as in the past. The LA Times has an excellent article on the evolution of the advertising market in Japan, saying there isn’t a unique explanation for their decline. Some advertising industry analyst say this is due to the reduced ad budgets. Some other explain that, because of the Internet and the globalization, Japanese people no longer need American pop culture highlighted through Tv ads, because they have it just one click away. Whatever the reason, the fact is that Japanese agencies are increasingly turning to more affordable Japanese talents. The other option is to hire Korean stars, who are becoming more and more popular now that the drama series called “Winter Sonata” has achieved an incredible success. Tomoko Kamiguchi of Dentsu Casting & Entertainment, explains the cultural change:

“Five years ago, two years ago even, I could never have imagined this happening. After ‘Sonata my clients are all looking for synergy with this Korean drama. The Japanese market has changed. We have accepted Asian talent. After ‘Sonata,’ we no longer have an allergy to Asia.”

File under: advertising, cultural change, japan

Amsterdam, the new capital of advertising

Having recently moved to The Netherlands to start a new job, I was particularly happy to read that Amsterdam is emerging as a plucky player in the global advertising market. An article on the IHT points out the advertising market is flourishing, not only at local level but most of all with international accounts winning. In Amsterdam you find, among the others, 180, Wieden + Kennedy, StrawberryFrog, KesselsKramer and Selmore. I’m here from three weeks now, (but I’ve been studying here in 1999) and I can really tell Amsterdam is an excellent place to live (and work) in. The people is really nice, there are a lot of cultural events and things to do to keep your mind alive and kicky, everybody speaks English (but I’m already learning Dutch), there are no cars in the city center and you meet people from all cultures and backgrounds. Let’s go Dutch

File under: advertising, amsterdam

Olympic advertising: forget about de Coubertin

Advertisers targeting Chinese people at the next Olympic games in Beijing in 2008 will have to think different and forget about the traditional “soft and fuzzy”. Quoted on The Guardian, Tom Doctoroff, the chief executive of advertising agency JWT greater China and area director of north-east Asia says:

“Don’t go soft and fuzzy in the western humankind brotherhood tradition. Chinawill view the games with completely different eyes. Chinese revere and fear winners. You should directly link the product with the conquering spirit of the victors”.

The Chinese market is huge and therefore extremely attractive, but brands need to learn playing by the rules, the rules provided by the government but also the rules set by the Chinese culture and tradition.

File under: advertising, Beijing 2008, china

Fan Club Germany, an advertising challenge for Germans

Product: Germany. Target: Germans. Looking at the surveys, 89 percent of French and 79 percent of Russians have a favorable view of Germany. Unfortunately, the same surveys say only 64 percent of Germans perceive their own country in a positive way. This is an issue the government will try to solve with a $20 million advertising and public relations campaign. As The International Herald Tribune explains, a business and government-funded group called FC Deutschland (Fan Club Germany) in soccer fashion has been created and further similar initiatives will start soon. The advertising campaign, branding Germany as “The Land of Ideas” will target Germans but also Americans, who apparently haven’t a good opinion of Germany since it objected to the US-led invasion of Iraq. Scholz & Friends will handle the creativity.

File under: advertising, branding germany, germany, land of ideas

The unperfect: advertising gets real

Even fat women and ugly men can be the models in advertising. After years of sexy bodies and beautiful faces, eventually “normal” people starts starring in ads, ending the age of perfection in advertising. Business Week points out that just like it’s happening with reality Tv, advertising tries to get real, to help consumers identify with real stories and therefore perceive products as real also. Dove, Eileen Fisher and now also Nike are among the brands following this new trend. As the article points out, reality ads might not change mass perceptions of beauty, we can expect the trend to continue as they fuel sales and draw connections with people who see the ads.

File under: advertising, fat, nike, perfection

Advertising in the age of terrorism

On The Guardian, Tess Alps writes an excellent article on advertising in the age of terrorism. Commercial sense and sensibility investigates the relationship among advertising and tragic news, looking at the reaction in the UK media industry following the July attacks, but also taking a wider and “theoretical” perspective. Among the points touched in the article, the author wonders whether different media have different impact on audience perception of an ad placed closed to a tragic news.

One of those clichéd truths is that TV is a more emotional medium and print a more rational, analytical one. This might suggest the presence of a print ad on the same page as a report of terrorist attack is going to cause less offence than a TV or radio break. I think that is so, but not just because print is usually less emotional. A still image can sometimes be even more powerful than moving film. Various papers have covered the recent discovery of photographs from Hiroshima, yet the appearance of ads on opposite pages has neither diminished the editorial nor damaged the commercial message - something to do with the reader’s voluntary selection of what to look at, I guess.

File under: advertising, perception, terrorism