Taking of Pelham 123

Would not usually get excited by a remake but starring Denzel Washigton and John Travolta and directed by Tony Scott cannot be ignored.

Bruno

Apparently this is even more outrageous than Borat in every sense. However not sure anything can be as funny as the MTV stunt with Eminem.

Definitely one to take the niece and nephews to. Trailer feels a bit like Donnie Darko for kids.

Anyway here are some of the interesting things I took out of the book:
1. How you can use your own passion for your product to grow a brand – Innocent being a fantastic case in point
2. How important it is to ‘be the consumer’ – Nike being an extreme example whereby they only employ people who love sport and are actively involved. It is for this reason we include someone from the target audience in all of our own brainstorms
3. How you should consider every single part of the experience of the brand – Geek squad being an excellent example
4. How service is still fundamental in building brand affinity. Pret is a fantastic example of this

Also some nice tips at the end of each chapter and here are my favourites:
1. Avoid becoming focused on the strategy itself and becoming too intellectual about branding;
2. Using the brand vision as a trampoline for idea creation provide a double whammy: you bring to life your ideas and get some good ideas for innovation
3. Differentiation is a combination of smart strategy and excellent execution
4. Brand engagement starts with having a product or service people feel proud to work on

Finally I loved the quote from the editor of Campaign when talking about the highly successful M&S work when she said ‘These ads haven’t troubled creative juries much. But they’ve sold puddings, pants and party dresses. Job done and sod what the creative cliques thing’

Amazing release from Kaws with the 4ft release of Dissected. Would be an amazing item to add to my existing collection of Dissected Companion’s but think the price tag is going to be just too high. No release date published yet but likely to be released on Kaws One.

As a fan of James Jarvis I was always going to love this Nike commercial. If you can get past the first one minute (yes it does have no sound – amazing how disconcerting that is) a really lovely animation to represent the pain and joy of long distance running. If anyone has heard James Jarvis speak (I saw him at D&AD a number of years ago) you will know is one of the Top 50 cross country runners in the UK which is not surprising given his compulsive nature (he once spent a whole week drawing the hands of one of his characters). I think this fact really shines through in the work as he really understands what it means to be a runner and is actually inspired by his own experience:

I had become interested in the idea of characters that were less referential and more iconic and abstract. I particularly wanted to do something with a potato-headed stick-man that I had been drawing at that time.
The film was inspired by certain personal experiences in running – a favourite run over Blanchland moor in Northumberland, being attacked by a crow in Singapore – and also by the transcendent, almost psychedelic experience of the simple act of running.
Rather than a marketing project inititated by Nike, the film was something proposed and produced by myself, and as such I hope represents a much more equal collaboration with a brand.
James Jarvis

First person to tweet James Jarvis runs to @CreativeSocial gets one of the new mini King Kens

Also gave further insights into what is needed to win awards. One of the judges, Russell Buckley, wrote an interesting piece entitled ‘10 Secrets To Winning Advertising Awards‘. The areas I would add to this are:
Create a campaign video which really tells the story (it really can bring a campaign to life). You will be competing with others who have created these
Do not use gimmicks. A couple of videos had children in them while another used a synthesised voice (which just could not understand). Tends to only take away from the campaign itself
Treat the process of entering awards like you would a client’s campaign. This means doing to review process if you did not win – look at what actually won in your category. This might either influence/inspire you to do better work or may give you indicators of how you could have improved your entries
Also would add that entering poor work is not just about wasting time and money. It also influences reputation. There is no doubt that jurors spend more time with work from agencies they respect. Poor entries can destroy this trust. Having a reputation for only have great entries will enhance chances of winning (as judges will spend more time with your entries)

Finally well done to the Profero Performance team who were Highly Commended in the Performance and Affiliates category:

Do like this as a little bit of experimentation from Poke

My latest addition to my Onitsuka Tiger collection (front row on the left). Maybe I am getting a little obsessive with my Tigers!