Hasta La Creative!

A nutritional energy bar called Balance Bar begins a campaign to strengthen the brand name.

Bob Knorpp, host of TheBeanCast, invited me back on his show this week. Bob Hoffman, George Parker and Augie Ray joined me as a guest. How I got lumped in with this cast of curmudgeons I don’t know, but I’ll take what airtime I can get.

Listen here: BeanCast 251 or directly in iTunes.

This week’s BeanCast opens up with a long-winded discussion of Native Advertising, Content Marketing and whether or not ad agencies are prepared to play a role in this important and growing segment of the business. I tried to remain calm during this segment, but I could not.

My friend Bob Hoffman — who I have beers with on a semi-regular occasion — says the only brands that ought to produce content are sports teams, bands and others with a real fan base. I understand that some companies are better suited to content marketing than others, but I reject the idea. Hoffman offers a pencil manufacturer as an example of a boring product that has no business in the content game. I point out that pencils are tools used by writers; therefore, the content possibilities are as rich as could be.

Later in the episode (about 38 minutes in), Knorpp, who is an excellent host, asks me about the garment factory fire and collapse that killed 1100 in Bangladesh. I am glad he asked. While marketing may not be the first place to turn for a good answer to this immense problem, I contend that marketing does have a role, and a significant one.

I say, “I don’t think the value shopper really cares about slave labor. I wish they did but I don’t think they do, so what is the answer from a marketing perspective? We’ve got to give them something that they care about. I think “Made in America” would be amazing, and Wal-Mart which wants to fly the freaking flag like the Republican Party would be an ideal candidate to say, ‘You know what, were going to raise prices a bit, we’re going to explain this to you and we’re going to create jobs in America.’”

You see, I am not a curmudgeon at all. I am a hopeless romantic who holds tightly to my youthful idealism. I believe in our ability to adapt and improve, as ad men and as people. I know it’s not easy to tell a client that their operations are shit, and if they want to protect brand value, they need to do the right thing right now. But what business are we in? Are in the business of keeping clients happy? Or are we in the business of creating brand value? I reckon it’s up to each one of us to decide.

The post Ad Curmudgeons Speak Up On The BeanCast This Week appeared first on AdPulp.

Hoje, esta foto acima foi encontrada na timeline do meu Instagram. É um anúncio do BuzzFeed em uma revista – que eu não sei dizer qual é – exaltando as qualidades sociais de se anunciar em sua plataforma, quase que exclusivamente composta por conteúdos compartilhados por seus usuários.

Vale então uma reflexão sobre qual é a proposta do BuzzFeed neste bem-humorado ataque à mídia tradicional:

O modelo de anúncio, conforme descrito no site, pode ser resumido em: pague-me para viralizar o seu conteúdo. Como o serviço já possui alcance e usuários suficientes para que a performance dos anunciantes seja razoavelmente boa, seria fácil incluir ali no meio do conteúdo bizarro que circula por lá alguns links interessantes.

Só que, apesar de prometer viralização, o BuzzFeed utiliza-se de subterfúgios para alcançar os números prometidos, como títulos quase pornôs para fotos aparentemente inofensivas e outras inutilidades para uma determinada marca. A questão sobre o que é agregado a uma determinada marca utilizando compartilhamento pelo compartilhamento, que nos proporciona aquelas incríveis imagens “curtir/compartilhar” tão disseminadas por aí, é completamente válida: será que funciona mesmo ou estamos apenas colecionando números que dizem pouco?

O outro segredo da viralização, segundo relatou o Atlantic Wire, é comprar mídia do Facebook para os posts patrocinados. Mas se o Facebook vende likes à granel, a própria empresa poderia administrar suas metas em vez de terceirizar o serviço a um veículo (perceba que a linha que separa veículo e agência virou uma grande área cinza na Internet).

Se funciona ou não funciona, o tempo e os resultados dirão. Mas a provocação é válida em tempos digitais/sociais de consumidores cada vez mais conectados e departamentos de marketing ainda conservadores. Não que eu acredite que mídia em revista não funcione mais: ela ainda pode ser importante dentro de um mix que deveria, sim, contemplar mais opções digitais. E se trouxer um elemento inesperado e não um QR Code ou uma lista-de-canais-sociais-que-não-dá-para-clicar, quem sabe não seja um meio efetivo de impacto e interesse como foi hoje?

Post originalmente publicado no Brainstorm #9
Twitter | Facebook | Contato | Anuncie

'Tis the season for male-grooming brand extensions. Old Spice introduced its shaving gel last week. And now, Axe has updated its range of hair products for men. It's advertising them with four new 20-second ads from BBH London that have launched in Europe and will reach North America this weekend. The creative idea is that well-styled hair is crucial when you meet someone for the first time. The spots present various quirky first-meeting scenarios—the most faux-provocative of which is probably the home-invasion scenario, in which burglar seduces buglee with his perfectly slicked 'do. "We wanted to capture a simple truth about guys and their grooming habits," says David Kolbusz, deputy executive creative director at BBH. "Whenever a man sees a woman he fancies, he tends to touch up his hair before making the initial approach. We dramatized this behavior by setting it in the most extreme of circumstances." More spots and credits below.

CREDITS
Client: Lynx/Axe
Agency: BBH London

BBH Creative Team: Matt Fitch & Mark Lewis and Harry Orton and Robin Warman
BBH Creative Director: David Kolbusz
BBH Producer: Charlie Dodd
BBH Strategic Business Lead: Ngaio Pardon
BBH Strategy Director: Dan Hauck
BBH Strategist: Tim Jones
BBH Team Director: Heather Cuss
BBH Team Manager: Cressida Holmes Smith

Production Company: Outsider and Station Films
Director: Harold Einstein
Executive Producer: Eric Liney
Producer: Jon Stopp/Richard Packer
DoP: Danny Cohen
Post Production: The Mill
Editor/Editing House: The Mill
Sound: Factory

(TrendHunter.com) Ever wondered if Vaseline could be sculpted into works of art? Quirky artist Jungki Beak wondered too, so he decided to accept the challenge and create avant-garde battle art sculpted entirely out…