Canned or Cannes?

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We will not be going to Cannes this year. It’s a sad reality that we’ve come to grips with &#151 oh and we’re in a wedding, so it wasn’t really possible anyway. Nonetheless some of you will make the trip and blow a bunch of cash on lavish hotels, caviar, champagne, hookers and blow &#151 only to sleep through the awards ceremony. Just be sure to wipe the nose candy off your lower nostril before staggering in.

In these tough times, we wonder whether the American ad community will make its usual debauched appearance at the festival. Let’s be blunt for a moment and list a few agencies that should not be there. We’re basing this list off Jim Edwards‘ (of B|Net) comprehensive list of agencies worst hit by layoffs.

1. Campbell Ewald
2. BBDO Detroit
3. Enfatico (lack of work > lack of money)

Sure, there’s others and sure, these shops will still (probably) be at the show. But, as with holiday parties, shops that have dropped any more than five percent of staff should probably stay away from dropping mad money at Cannes. Though, winning an award or two would definitely help an ailing shop. Dilemma!

Who’s up for SXSW? We’d rather give our hard earned money back to the hippies down there in Austin (we love y’all!) than the folks in Francie pants. Isolationism, ho!

More:SXSW, Advertising And A Shit Show

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Why Peter Kraus’ Apartment May Look Familiar to Some of You

What hasn't been made much of in the coverage of Peter Kraus' apartment is that the mahogany-paneled, marble-floored, crown-molded and wood-burning fireplace-graced seventh floor residence until recently belonged to Carl Spielvogel.

Ad Agency Creativity: Necessity is the mother of invention.

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Plato did say that, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” That’s also the common belief of the advertising industry. It’s why upstart agencies often steal that big account from the behemoths and was also echoed in the papers of Ad Age way back in 1932:

“More than one advertising executive has publicly acknowledged his debt to the Depression, admitting that it was not until the pressure of necessity exerted itself that he really found out how to get 100 cents’ worth of value from the expenditure of every advertising dollar.”

Once again, agencies are dealing with smaller budgets, greater demand to improve the bottom line and hopefully, a surge in creativity. It’s 1929 all over again. As Bradley Johnson, Advertising Age director of data analytics, told USA Today there is a silver, sliver of a lining. “The Depression ‘was a horrific time, yet consumers still consumed, advertisers still advertised and commerce went on.'”

Does this mean that advertising will quit the irreverent prose a la the Seinfeld/Gates ads and make campaigns that are more aligned with more basic ideas of advertising such as Rosser Reeves’ Unique Selling Principles? As a refresher course, those principles include the ideas that:

– Each ad must make a proposition: “Buy this product and you get these benefits”.

– The proposition must be unique: something that your competitors do not, cannot or will not offer.

– The proposition must sell: it must be something prospects really want; it pulls them over to your product.

Does it all go back to basics when the bottom falls out and consumers are looking for value on the dollar? If you ask Sean Puffy Combs he’d say no,, but it’ll be interesting to see if the message changes to more utilitarian slogans as we begrudgingly head into a very rough 2009.

More: The Dark Battle To Stay In The Black: Publicis Vs. WPP

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Pringles Pop Art

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Durante as férias, as pessoas estão procurando maneiras de doar tempo ou dinheiro para causas beneficentes, e Pringles Potato Chips tem oferecido, desde de outubro de 2008, a oportunidade única para as pessoas fazerem a diferença.

Com o projeto sócio-responsável e interativo Pringles Por Art, a marca pretende doar US$1,00 para a Children Miracle Network a cada embalagem personalizada no site (www.pringles.com/popart).

A promo vai rolar até o dia 30 de junho de 2009, e o limite máximo a ser doado pela Pringles é de US$20.000,00. Nada mal para quem vai arrecadar dólar por dólar.

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A Children Miracle Network é uma organização sem fins lucrativos, que levanta fundos para hospitais infantis em toda a América do Norte.

Hulu Makes Gains On MySpace

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Nielsen is reporting that YouTube is still the number one video site. Number two? MySpace. Who is number three and moving rapidly up the ladder? Want to take a guess? That’s right. Hulu. MySpace clocked 244 million streams to 20 million unique visitors in November, which is the same as their October numbers. Hulu brought home 221 million streams to about 7.5 million unique visitors last month, an increase from 206 million videos. The site is serving more videos to less people, but still… that’s impressive.

I wonder what the time spent on each site is, especially for MySpace versus YouTube. Naturally, you would guess that Hulu is logging more face time with consumers considering their content is episodic or full feature length videos.

NBC/Fox owned Hulu has recently made some updates to their functionality. Users can now embed content across multiple platforms and soon, content will be accessible from anywhere in the world. Jason Kilar, the CEO of Hulu, recently told Mediapost that his focus is not on competing with iTunes for pay downloads, but providing instant access to content for consumers:

“I absolutely believe the streaming business is and will be a bigger business than content downloads. The main reason is that it’s instantaneous and people are spending more time being connected. The notion of downloading heavy files to a device that takes up a lot of space is something that had value several years ago when we were not connected all the time. So, the bigger opportunity for users is to focus on the streaming part of the business.”

Okay, so don’t expect to be paying $3.99 to own Iron Man anytime soon. The man has a plan and he’s sticking to it.

More: TNS Vs. Nielsen: We Ask The Questions To George Shababb

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Morning Media Menu: December 30

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Well, since most of you are still on vacation, we thought it wouldn’t hurt to inject a bit of new media into your lives. This morning, I had the pleasure of joining TVNewser.com’s Steve Krakauer on his daily blog radio show, Morning Media Menu. Steve is an Editor at TVNewser, which is part of the mediabistro family. Take a listen via the player above.

We cover a few interesting points &#151 namely, a story in today’s NYT about how advertising dollars are still strong for network television (Personally, I think TV is going the way of the newspaper, but that’s just me). Check it out, and let us know what you think.

More:No ‘Recession Specials’ in TV Ad Space

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media

15 Steven Klein Masterpieces – From Angelina Jolie Brad Pitt to Dolce Gabbana (CLUSTER)

(TrendHunter.com) American photographer Steven Klein is one of my personal favorites and a Trend Hunter staple. He has had a big impact on pop culture by capturing icons such as Madonna, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Victoria…

50s Housewives Shoots – Eva Longoria in Glamour Magazine (GALLERY)

(TrendHunter.com) Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria is featured on the cover of the February 2009 ?Man Issue? of US Glamour.

And while she wears a casual jeans amp; t-shirt ensemble (like a typical guy would) on the…

Hollywood Self-Parody – Rebecca Romijn Jerry O’Connell in “Mystique is Pregnant” (VIDEO)

(TrendHunter.com) Hollywood actress Rebecca Romijn spoofs her “Mystique” character in the X-Men movies with husband and fellow actor Jerry O’Connell in a hilarious clip for Funny or Die.

The “Mystique is Pregnant” parody…

Recreating Famous Paintings With Photography – Julianne Moore by Peter Lindbergh for Harper’s (GALLERY)

(TrendHunter.com) Famed photographer Peter Lindbergh captured Hollywood actress Julianne Moore earlier this year in a very artistic photoshoot for Harper’s Bazaar magazine.

The photoshoot involved Julianne Moore recreating…

Monster.com: Ballet Soldier

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Advertising Agency: JWT, Hong Kong
Executive Creative Director: Steven Lee
Creative Directors: Kwong Chi Kit, Barbara Fu
Art Directors: Arthur Tse, Ciff Luk
Copywriters: Cheung Yee Mui, Steven Lee
Photographer: Tim Lau

Modern Cleopatra Portraits – Cate Blanchett by Annie Leibovitz Dazzles in Vanity Fair (GALLERY)

(TrendHunter.com) One of my favorite actresses, Cate Blanchett, is featured in a captivating photoshoot by the legendary Annie Leibovitz in the February 2009 issue of Vanity Fair magazine.

In the shoot, Cate Blanchett…

Goodbye GM, Hello Hyundai Genesis Coupe

Hyundai Genesis CoupeGeneral Motors has pulled out and this makes the promotional opportunities to capture a larger target market better for car companies that have stuck it out as far as the NFL advertising tactics are concerned. Hyundai for one has been serious about it all and will be officially unveiling its Hyundai Genesis Coupe at the upcoming Super Bowl.

The title of both commercials is “The Epic Lap.” Shot at Road Atlanta, the racetrack didn’t do much damage to the car. The company says the Genesis only needed a new set of tires after three days of filming.

So while GM is trying to recover from its tracks, other companies like Hyundai are on the offensive. Will their investment pay dividends?

(Source) Kicking Tires

Fake Vampire News – Twilight Filipino Adaptation is a Hoax (GALLERY)

(TrendHunter.com) Robert Pattinson and Twilight fans who were upset about news of a Filipino TV adaptation of the vampire film should be relieved to know that the news was a hoax.

There is no such adaptation by ABS-CBN…

Yum Brands Launches Healthful-Eating Website


CHICAGO (AdAge.com) — The parent company of belly-busting chains KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver's and A&W is banding its brands together in an effort help consumers lose weight.

TVC Campaign: Zain’s backup service is the solution!

Agency: JWT, Kuwait

Using Twitter as Your Focus Group


Social networking has taken conversations that previously happened around water coolers and put them online, making them searchable by marketers. What marketers do with that information is up to them.

Postal Service Gets Its TV Land on


The U.S. Postal Service unveiled its plans for new commemorative stamps next year, and a series it will unveil Aug. 11 is dedicated to classic early TV programs.

Tremor Lands Former Coca-Cola Exec Shane Steele


NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Shane Steele, former director of emerging media and online advertising for Coca-Cola Co., is joining video ad network Tremor Media as VP-marketing.

Adidas swimwear …..

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Agency: Impact BBDO, Lebanon

Via [Arabad Zone]