Hasta La Creative!

A billboard campaign for US-based Catholics for Choice in Kenya has raised the ire of the Catholic church over its stance on condoms. The billboard reads, “We believe in God. We believe sex is sacred. We believe in caring for each other. We believe in condoms.” The ad is signed off with “Good Catholics Use Condoms.”

Of the Catholics For Choice campaign, one Kenyan Catholic told Jewish News One, “Let the Americans talk for the Americans. Because the Americans have their own concepts, they have their own practices, they have their own values. But for us, we are able to retain our morals, are able to retain our values, we are able to bring our children and especially the youth to value sex.”

In response, Catholics For Choice President said, “The aim of the campaign is to ensure that Catholics know that despite what the bishops say, Catholics can in good conscience use condoms. Catholics in Kenya are no different. They can take the steps to protect themselves and their partners against HIV.”

As the news business implodes and content marketing explodes, journalists are migrating to advertising. But which journalists? The hard-nosed gumshoes who seek truth at all costs, or the milquetoast pseudo reporters who do and write what they’re told?

Brett Arends, writing for Market Watch, reflects on what kind of personalities work(ed) best in news.

Do you want to know what kind of person makes the best reporter? I’ll tell you. A borderline sociopath. Someone smart, inquisitive, stubborn, disorganized, chaotic, and in a perpetual state of simmering rage at the failings of the world.

Do you want to know what kind of people get promoted and succeed in the modern news organization? Social climbers. Networkers. People who are gregarious, who ‘buy in’ to the dominant consensus, who go along to get along and don’t ask too many really awkward questions.

Arends could just as easily be writing about the ad industry here. Contentiousness is par for the course in a business where ideas, and the people with them, compete every day for primacy. Yet, when you show this side of yourself, a.k.a. your fangs, you’re a bummer, a dick, a persona non grata.

Let me ask you a question. When did we become so damn soft? So afraid of our own voices?

We work in an industry where our job is to seek brand truths and make brilliant communications in support of these truths. To do this kind of work at a high level, you’re going to need to contend, to speak up, and sometimes say things no one wants to hear. The best people in advertising are skilled at this. For example, Crispin told Domino’s to make better pizza. Can you imagine what that meeting was like?

The fact is, if you want to make better advertising, you need to honor your own “simmering rage at the failings of the AD world.”

Watch TV tonight and ask yourself, what did AT&T spend on this crap? What did Dish spend to beam their crapvertising into our homes? Many millions of dollars are spent every week, and no one has the nut sack to say “This is shit.” Not to the client’s face, or the creative director’s face, as the case may be.

The post Hey Buddy, Your Personality Is Showing appeared first on AdPulp.

We’ve received confirmation that Minneapolis-based digital agency space150, which also counts offices in New York and Los Angeles, reduced some of its workforce last week. From what we’ve been told, 10 staffers across a few “key departments” (we’re hearing creative, media and account) were affected. According to a spokesperson, the reason for the move was “both to realign our business with current and forecasted projects, and refocus resources in areas that better serve the needs of our clients.”

The Twin Cities shop has worked with notable brands over the years including Target, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dairy Queen, American Eagle Outfitters and was most recently named digital agency for record for electricity/natural gas provider, Xcel Energy. Following the reduction, we’ve been told that space150 staff count is now at 100.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Ladbrokes is parting company with its top marketer Stephen Vowles as it restructures to move its digital marketing operation to Israel.

Every year, Swiss lingerie brand Triumph debuts a concept bra. Past efforts have included a tourism-themed bra, the Hanshin Tigers Bra which honored the Japanese baseball team and a bra that claimed to help women quit smoking.

This year the brand has introduced the Abenomics bra which is named after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The bra is a nod to Abe’s “three arrow” economic plans which aims to hoist Japan out of its present deflationary state by raising inflation 2% each year.

In line with that goal, the bra promises to increase women’s bust sizes by 2% which, you think about it, really isn’t that much. The golden bra — which is really more of a camisole of sorts — sports upward skewing arrows and is worn with a mini skirt with a target.

Of the effort, Triumph spokeswoman Keiko Masuda said, “We hope that, as the Japanese economy grows, we can also help bust sizes to get bigger.” Hitomi Tanaka could use the company.

Coup de coeur pour le design de « Thorncrown Chapel », une chapelle située à Eureka Springs dans l’Arkansas. Pensée en 1980 par E. Fay Jones, ancien apprenti de l’architecte Frank Lloyd Wright, cette structure alliant acier et verre se marie parfaitement avec son environnement. Plus d’images dans la suite.

Challenge
The once elusive, now strongly emerging Russian middle class still prefers big, expensive cars, an obvious proof of its social success. Although most of them are in dire need of a second car, our potential customers showed virtually no interest in our Smarts.
Our objective was to bring the most reluctant consumers to test drive the Smart and change their state of mind from “Smart is not really a car” into being true believers and advocates of the Smart.

Solution
Our secret weapon: once you take the Smart for a ride, you’ll fall in love with it.
Core audience’s weakest point: their big cars and all the problems they bring along.

Context
Most illegally parked cars in Moscow are picked-up during the weekend shopping. Once car-less, drivers go through a real ordeal – exorbitant, hours long cab rides through Moscow’s traffic, in order to get back their cars.

Idea
At the peak of the driver’s desperation, the Smart Teams jump in, offering free rides, a unique opportunity to test drive the versatile Smart in some of the World’s worst traffic jams.
Being there for them exactly at the moment when they needed a car the most turned reluctant, condescending consumers into true believers – a 100% realistic test drive of the very car that could have saved them from all the hustle.

Results
40 Smarts saved 623 car-less drivers during 3 days, in parking lots around 8 shopping malls
Over 400 drivers became true belivers (“Smart is a real car”) – rate of conversion of 70% – advocating Smart on their vkontakte and facebook profiles
Blogs and news portals picked-up the stories, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars in earned media and incalculable amounts of positive emotions around the tiny cars that saved the day of Moscow car-less drivers
Test drives increased 10 fold and Sales increased by 300% in the 2 weeks following the event

Advertising Agency: BBDO, Moscow, Russia
Chief Creative Officer: Igor Lutz
Creative Director: Mihai Coliban
Deputy Creative Director: Sergey Kozhevnikov
Senior Art Director: Darya Agapova
Senior Producer BBDO: Valery Gorokhov
Producer Assistant BBDO: Natalya Abzalova
Animation: Kirill Kulygin
Producer Park Production: Irina Lanskaya
Director Park Production: Ivan Oganesov
DOP Park Production: Georgy Leonov
Managing Director Pelican Event: Elena Novikova
Account Manager Pelican Event: Maria Stepkova
Client Service Director: Christina Tancher
Group Account Director: Anna Sokolova
Account Manager: Yana Bader

(TrendHunter.com) Plane failures usually end in catastrophic disaster, but one man is trying to capture every miracle crash with a happy ending. In a series of photos entitled ‘Happy End’, Dietmar Eckell…

NBC has released previews for many of the new shows it is promoting to ad buyers at its upfront presentation today at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Tell us what you think.

Continue reading at AdAge.com