Hasta La Creative!

As mentioned previously, we’re gathering thoughts from industry folks on the year that was and/or the year that will be. Up now is a quick note from Wally Krantz, worldwide creative director at Brand Union.

“More and more in the past year I’ve been seeing a stronger connection across mediums. I’m not sure if this is because agencies are working better together or if CMOs are more involved in every aspect of communication, or if it’s a bit of both. I would place more of it on the latter, since at the top of every agency there is a creative leader that (should) have a direct line to the CMO, and because of this the objectives are clearer and a vision is set.

When an experience is strong, differentiated, genuine, and honest, and made in a way where the sensibility and tone is reflected wherever you are in contact with it – on a shelf, on your television, on your mobile device – it’s going to be more relevant. Or at least resonate in a way that makes us want to engage.

I’m seeing a kind of brand singularity happening for those companies that have a clear understanding of how all the different ways that a customer connects to them. This will start to happen more and more as marketing teams and agencies are aligned in every aspect of communication.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

When eMarketer revised its programmatic ad spend forecast upward yesterday, the striking number was 75.3% — the percentage rise in programmatic spend it now expects to see in 2013.

We sat down to discuss the trend with AOL Networks CEO Bob Lord who said he expects 2014 to be the year marketers fall in love with automation, and 2015 when winners and losers emerge.

“I think it gives validation and confidence to the brand advertiser who holds all the dollars that there’s maybe an alternative to the way they’ve done it for the last 35 years,” he said.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Creston has backed Loooped, a new creative agency focused on healthcare led by former TBWA\Paling Walters executives Andy Hayley and Dick Dunford.

Since late last week, when we pointed out the not-so-positive reaction many people had to Target's homepage redesign, we've been trying to answer two seemingly simple questions: Who did the redesign, and why?

Now, Target has finally responded to our inquiries, and while the retailer defends the redesign as a way to highlight a larger number of holiday deals, it has declined to reveal whether it was an in-house project or assigned to a digital agency.

"Over the last two weeks we have unveiled several new home pages on Target.com to support the increased number of deals on our site this holiday season," a Target spokesman wrote in an email to AdFreak. "User testing prior to launch, and actual site traffic and sales performance since, have been very positive. We plan additional changes to our design and features, and will track guest response and make adjustments along the way."

Asked specifically whether the redesign was managed internally or by an agency, the rep replied, "Nothing further to share."

AdFreak reached out to four of the largest digital agencies that have high-profile relationships with Target—Olson, SapientNitro, Huge and Razorfish—and each denied any involvement in the redesign. Several said they believed the work was all managed in-house by Target.

Meanwhile, though the initial surge of criticism seems to be fading, most of the feedback to the site redesign remains pretty negative.

"With all the boxes outlining deals and specials," writes Jezebel, "it's like some unholy cross between Pinterest and a supermarket circular."

GoldieBlox went from hero to zero in one short week, putting our ad-loving hearts through a roller coaster of emotions. Now, it's belatedly making amends by removing its parody of the Beastie Boys' "Girls" from its mega-popular "Princess Machine" ad—and posting its own "open letter" to the band (and the world) telling its side of the story.

To recap: GoldieBlox last week released an empowering spot using a rewritten version "Girls" as the soundtrack to breaking gender roles in the toy space. (Sample lyrics: "It's time to change/We deserve to see a range/'Cause all our toys look just the same/And we would like to use our brains.") The ad was clever and cool, and everyone loved it—except they failed to ask the Beastie Boys for permission to use the song. The band objected, and GoldieBlox sued to have its soundtrack declared fair use. That precipitated a PR nightmare (especially after the Beasties' posted a frankly damning open letter in response). So now, GoldieBlox has surrendered—deleting the video, posting a new one with a more generic soundtrack and releasing its own lengthy statement about the affair.

"We don't want to fight with you. We love you and we are actually huge fans," GoldieBlox founder Debra Sterling writes. She goes on to defend her intentions but says "our hearts sank last week when your lawyers called us with threats." Sterling says she had no idea the late Adam Yauch was opposed to using his music in ads (not every "huge fan" of Yauch's knows this, apparently, even one who is looking into doing just that), and adds: "We don't want to spend our time fighting legal battles. We want to inspire the next generation. We want to be good role models. And we want to be your friends."

It's basically a passive-aggressive non-apology, casting the Beastie Boys as bullies and GoldieBlox as the victim—and also, irritatingly, the bigger person. The company suddenly doesn't want to fight a legal battle, even though it started one. And it wants to be friends, even though it's spent a week trying to be enemies.

Perhaps this bitterness is understandable. The company had a huge hit on its hands—deleting it must be tough to swallow. And the new spot (posted below), without the Beastie Boys song, definitely has less energy—although maybe it just seems that way because most of us are sort of over it.

What do you get for the designer who has everything? How about nothing?

Helvetica The Perfume is literally just water, or "modernism distilled." Created as a gag gift by creative collective Guts and Glory, each bottle costs $62 plus shipping. If you're interested, you might want to hurry, because all shipments go out by Dec. 5.

As you might expect, most of the copywriting around the pseudo-perfume is pretty entertaining, capturing the best of black-turtle-neck designer speak with an implied wink.

"This typeface was to have no intrinsic meaning, allowing the content to convey the message. … It is in this spirit that we have created the ultimate Modernist perfume–a scent distilled down to only the purest and most essential elements to allow you, the content, to convey your message with the utmost clarity."

The Twitter feed is pretty good, too. We've dropped in a few of our favorite posts below.

For those who dare to be the same. http://t.co/JCiY20ULCr— Helvetica Perfume (@HelveticaParfum) November 26, 2013

Even in the dark… you won’t know it’s there. http://t.co/JCiY20ULCr— Helvetica Perfume (@HelveticaParfum) November 25, 2013

The way f meets f and almost forms a ligature, but then doesn’t, much like lifetime partners in separate twin beds. http://t.co/k4gxRESldM— Helvetica Perfume (@HelveticaParfum) November 21, 2013

You have just been served a small cup of clear broth made from a trout and a carrot boiled together in glacial run-off.— Helvetica Perfume (@HelveticaParfum) November 21, 2013

What is the taste of light, the color of time, the tone of forever? What is the sound of the far reaches of space?— Helvetica Perfume (@HelveticaParfum) November 21, 2013

Desde quando soube que Spike Lee iria refilmar “Oldboy”, só uma pergunta me passava pela cabeça: Qual a necessidade disso, minha gente? Mas tudo bem, vou dar um voto de confiança para o filme que estreia hoje, 27 de novembro, nos Estados Unidos.

Porém, o remake agora está envolto em uma polêmica, infelizmente bem comum no mundo da comunicação. O designer Juan Luis Garcia acusa a agência e a produção de “Oldboy” de copiarem seu design de poster. Ele conta como o processo já começou torto, com a “incrível” proposta de pouco dinheiro, mas pagamento em forma de divulgação e possibilidade de notoriedade.

Juan sabia que esse era o tipo de conversa pra se manter longe, mas confessa ter ficado cego pela oportunidade de trabalhar pra um filme do Spike Lee. Ele criou os posters, a agência aprovou, disse que o diretor adorou as artes, e que elas se tornariam parte central da campanha do filme, encomendando ainda novas peças. Ao ouvir uma proposta de grana que considerou um insulto, Juan decidiu declinar, deixando a agência furiosa.

Essa é só a primeira parte da história, e teria acabado rapidamente, mesmo com o sermão de “você é só um designer” dado pela empresa. Acontece que Juan colocou suas criações não usadas no portfolio, e elas se espalharam por diversos blogs. A agência, alegando que ele não poderia divulgar o próprio trabalho, processou Juan e transformou sua vida num inferno.

E aí vem a terceira parte: Mesmo sem pagar nada e ainda processando o designer, a produção do filme decidiu utilizar as ideias de Juan mesmo assim. Suas criações estão sendo utilizadas como material oficial de “Oldboy”, tanto no poster como em outras publicações em redes sociais.

Agora, Juan escreveu uma carta para Spike Lee, sonhando, quem sabe, que o diretor intervenha no caso. Confira: Dear Spike Lee.

Post originalmente publicado no Brainstorm #9
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Les équipes du studio méxicain Manifiesto Futura ont imaginé l’identité visuelle du duo d’architecte Mutuo. Voulant souligner la volonté du duo d’expérimenter au quotidien, le parti-pris de ne pas penser un unique logo fonctionne très bien. Des visuels à découvrir sur le portfolio et dans la suite de l’article.