Loren Feldman Creates the Best Movie About Social Media You Will Ever See

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Considered by many…and by no one…a genius, a madman, a poet, a puppeteer and, yes, an internet douchebag, Loren Feldman has just debuted #SoMe, a biting satire which skewers the rampant, over blown, buzzword bingo-laden idiocy of social media, its personalities and, as well, how it has brought out the pettiest of behaviors in people and caused journalism to sink to a new low.

At the same time, the hour and 15-minute documentary-style video also examines some of the things social media has forever affected (both positively and negatively) such as the way we communicate with each other, authenticity, privacy, anonymity, friendship and purpose.

Those last two changes, friendship and purpose, are, perhaps, the most important things social media has changed and you will understand why when you learn the plot of the movie. Real friends in real life are what’s important, what’s lasting and what matters.

While social media has enabled people to “get closer” to one another and, yes, with brands, it has also fostered an incredible degree of loneliness. After all, to deeply engage in social media, one has to be staring at a screen and when one is staring at a screen, one is not interacting with the world around them.

The next time you leave your house for any reason, force yourself to avert your eyes from your phone and notice how many people are ignoring the world around them to “socialize” with “friends” online. It’s like we’ve turned into a bunch of robots who are slave to our devices and have lost all ability to interact with actual, flesh and blood humans.

Think about that the next time you try to “create a relationship” between your brand and your customers. Are you just counting Likes or are you actually offering up something meaningful that does, indeed, truly create a lasting relationship.

Publicis Profits up 15% in First Half of 2013

Publicis Groupe announced a 15% increase in net profit for the first half of of 2013 to $412 million, on revenues that were up by 8.7% to $4.4 billion. Organic growth, which strips out acquisitions and currency changes, rose by 5% in the second quarter, reflecting faster growth than earlier in the year. Organic growth was 3.2% for the first half of 2013.

North America, boosted by 12.3% digital growth in the first half, grew 7.7% in the second quarter (6.1% for the first half). North America outpaced even the usually faster-growing BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) and MISSAT markets (Mexico, Indonesia, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey, which grew by 5.6% in the second quarter and 5.5% in the first half.

Maurice Lvy, chairman and CEO of Paris-based Publicis, said in a statement, “The strong organic growth acceleration at 5% in the second quarter allows the Groupe to significantly improve its performance. This should be put into the perspective of an unpropitious economic situation, fierce competition and an uncertain business environment. The emerging countries are slowing, Europe is struggling to get back on the road to growth, while the U.S. is consolidating its upturn.”

Continue reading at AdAge.com

The Iglu Hotel

Les Iglu Hotels sont aujourd’hui 6 répartis entre les Alpes et les Pyrénées, entre l’Andorre, la Suisse et l’Allemagne. Reconstruits chaque saison avec plus de 3000 tonnes de neige, ils offrent un cadre incroyablement atypique neutre en CO2 et respectant l’environnement. Un projet éco-respectueux et amusant.

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Leo Burnett Nabs More GM Work

Well, it appears that Leo Burnett is doing something right as of late in General Motors’ eyes as the automotive giant has given more work to the agency according to those in the know. As you may recall, Leo took over for Commonwealth on the Chevy Silverado duties last December, though the latter agency did produce the recent “Strong” spot for GM’s truck brand before the parting of ways (Update: We should clarify that Commonwealth actually created the Silverado launch spot even after the shift to Leo, which will now handle future work). Anyhow, sources familiar with the matter tell us that Leo Burnett has now taken on AOR responsibilities for three more GM units including Fleet and Commercial Operations, Certified Pre-Owned, and Remarketing.

From what we’ve been told, Leo, which has actually had ties to GM for over 45 years, will oversee brand strategy, digital marketing and creative initiatives for the aforementioned brands, with work for all three being led out of the agency’s Detroit office.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Netflix Makes History With First Emmy Nominations


Netflix has received nine Emmy nods for “House of Cards” and three for “Arrested Development,” marking the first time a series that originated on non-traditional TV landed any nominations in a major category.

“House of Cards” is in the running for categories including outstanding drama series, outstanding lead actor in a drama (Kevin Spacey) and outstanding lead actress in a drama (Robin Wright). David Fincher, who directed the series, was also nominated.

Jason Bateman received a nomination in the lead actor in a comedy series category for his role in “Arrested Development.” Netflix revived the comedy, which previously aired on Fox, in May.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Even: Chicken

Keep food away from your teeth.

Advertising Agency: DM/Blackninja, Recife, Brazil
Creative Director: Lenilson Lima
Head of Art: Bertone Balduino
Art Director: Genival Junior
Copywriter: Cauby Tavares
Illustrator: Saulo Lisias
Published: July 2013

Even: Pig

Keep food away from your teeth.

Advertising Agency: DM/Blackninja, Recife, Brazil
Creative Director: Lenilson Lima
Head of Art: Bertone Balduino
Art Director: Genival Junior
Copywriter: Cauby Tavares
Illustrator: Saulo Lisias
Published: July 2013

Even: Cow

Keep food away from your teeth.

Advertising Agency: DM/Blackninja, Recife, Brazil
Creative Director: Lenilson Lima
Head of Art: Bertone Balduino
Art Director: Genival Junior
Copywriter: Cauby Tavares
Illustrator: Saulo Lisias
Published: July 2013

Dometic: Automatic minibars, 3

A minibar you can truly count on.

Dometic is the world leader in hotel minibars. These ads are published in specialist magazines for the hotel industry.

Advertising Agency: FederhenSchneider, Cologne, Germany
Creative Director: Christian Schneider
Art Director: Ingo Pagotto
Copywriter: Hendrik Spree
Illustrator: Manfred Liersam
Account Director: Marco Federhen
Account Manager: Christopher Irle
Production Manager: Amelie Uhlenbrock
Published: June 2013

Dometic: Automatic minibars, 2

A minibar you can truly count on.

Dometic is the world leader in hotel minibars. These ads are published in specialist magazines for the hotel industry.

Advertising Agency: FederhenSchneider, Cologne, Germany
Creative Director: Christian Schneider
Art Director: Ingo Pagotto
Copywriter: Hendrik Spree
Illustrator: Manfred Liersam
Account Director: Marco Federhen
Account Manager: Christopher Irle
Production Manager: Amelie Uhlenbrock
Published: June 2013

Dometic: Automatic minibars, 1

A minibar you can truly count on.

Dometic is the world leader in hotel minibars. These ads are published in specialist magazines for the hotel industry.

Advertising Agency: FederhenSchneider, Cologne, Germany
Creative Director: Christian Schneider
Art Director: Ingo Pagotto
Copywriter: Hendrik Spree
Illustrator: Manfred Liersam
Account Director: Marco Federhen
Account Manager: Christopher Irle
Production Manager: Amelie Uhlenbrock
Published: June 2013

Volkswagen: Safe distance

Keep a safe distance. Volkswagen Automatic Distance Control.

Advertising agency: stv DDB, Milan & Turin, Italy
Copywriter: Luca Bartoli
Art directors: Gabriele Goffredo, Roberto Rotta
Published: April 2013

M.A.D. School: Brightest Bulbs

M.A.D. School (by Chatsworth Mediart Academy) celebrated a decade of creating the brightest bulbs on 21 June 2013. We hit hotspots in Singapore with the brightest bulbs to celebrate, including gatecrashing a live football match. More than just celebrating our birthday, we launched a new identity with a more befitting tagline of “Thinker First. Creative Second.” It’s our way of saying we place strategic thinking above creativity. We want our students to think before they create. Our digital RSVP entails sending invitees a DM comprising a credit-card sized flat bulb and instructions on downloading the Layar AR app via their smartphone. After scanning the propped-up bulb via the app, an AR video is launched depicting a campaign video. A Facebook button brings them to ‘Brightspotter’, a Facebook app where they can RSVP in a fun way. When celebrating a decade of creating the brightest bulbs, we need pretty bright ideas.

Executive Creative Director: Kim Lee
Art Director: Liang Anyi
Designer: Terry Chan
Programmer / Producer: Angie Dang
Copywriters: Kim Lee, Dillon Tan
Videographer / Editor: Juliana Johan

Hidden Message in New Wendy’s Logo Is So Subtle, Not Even Wendy’s Noticed It

StockLogos recently suggested that Wendy's sneakily put the word "mom" in the Wendy character's collar in the chain's new logo—to subliminally associate the brand with motherly cooking and the "safe and loving environment" of home. In short, Wendy's says nope. "We are aware of this and find it interesting," Denny Lynch, the company's svp of communications, tells the Huffington Post. "We can assure you it was unintentional." That's all well and good … but her hair still looks like a grassy knoll, and I could swear those freckles spell out "Paul is dead," more or less, if you look at the logo while jumping up and down and squinting. Her eyes kind of follow you around, too, all menacing and killy. That's it—I'm switching to Burger King.

    

Mobile Targeting at Heart of Ad Tech Acquisition Spree


The long-awaited ad tech consolidation picked up its pace this week, as four online ad companies — retargeting firm Criteo, ad targeter Media6Degrees, ad buying company X+1 and Yahoo — each acquired a mobile ad tech startup over the course of three days.

Mobile ad tech acquisitions aren’t an altogether new trend. Google picked up mobile ad network AdMob in 2009, and Apple followed suit in buying rival ad net Quattro Wireless in 2010. But those deals were largely about being able to run ads on mobile. The recent spate is about getting closer to targeting mobile ads as though they were desktop ones.

“Every ad tech company that’s good at the web has to get good at mobile,” said David Pakman, a partner at VC firm Venrock and investor in Media6Degrees.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Vodafone: Chocolate Mailer

Your number just got sweeter.

Advertising Agency: OgilvyOne Mumbai, India
Creative Director: Shahrukh Dandiwala
Associate Creative Director: Lishoy George
Copywriter: Sonam Yethenpa
Additional credits: Gaurav Magotra
Published: January 2012

Qualcomm: The World Without Mobile

Advertising Agency: The Viral Factory, UK
Director: Michael Sugarman
Producer: Jon Stopp
Production: The Viral Factory

Rankin takes new French Connection campaign ‘from sketch to store’

Veteran fashion photographer Rankin has visualised French Connection’s design process. The fashion label claims that it doesn’t follow trends; it makes them, and that its collections go directly from a designer’s sketch to store.

Zoosk, C+K Unleash ‘Heart Friend’ for Love Advice

In early June, San Fran-based Camp + King took over as the first AOR for the mobile dating site Zoosk. Seven weeks later, we herald the return of Heart Friend, the chatty heart-shaped mascot who is now doling out dating advice for inquiring users. Zoosk asked its users to post questions on Facebook, and then the Zoosk team selected the best posts for our little buddy, Heart Friend.

Each week, Heart Friend will answer one question by video for the site’s YouTube channel. This week: what to wear on a first date. Heart Friend does some rambling about men being bulls and then goes into an awkward aside about a red dress. Heart Friend has a man’s voice, but then shows up wearing a dress, which is supposed to make you laugh, I think? Cupid must already be under contract elsewhere. Credits after the jump.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Noah’s Ark: Ramadan, 2

Ramadan Kareem.

Advertising Agency: Noah’s Ark Communications, Lagos, Nigeria
Creative Director / Copywriter: Abolaji Alausa
Associate Creative Director: Yemi Arawore
Art Director /Illustrator: Kanso Ogbolu