Hasta La Creative!

Think you know all there is to know when it comes to your (or your client’s) social media strategy? Certainly you have your ducks in a row but everyone can use a few additional tips and data points now and again, right?

Right. And we have them for you right here. Spredfast has put together “15 Stats to Inform Your Social Strategy.” The five-page tip sheet is broken into three sections: Social Network Trends, Social Consumer Behavior and Brand Intention and Results.

Download this tip sheet now and make sure you’re social strategy is as on track as it can be. If anything, the tip sheet will arm you with awesome stats for your next presentation.

If the name Schuyler Hunt doesn’t ring a bell, perhaps we can refresh your memory by recalling some of his fun projects during his two-and-a-half years at Mullen including the “Agency Fight,” “The Riddlist” and the cat-friendly, seizure-inducing and brief retuning of his old agency’s “Work” section. The “Zach Braff lookalike” as one tipster has coined him (ok, maybe they’re onto something) has joined up with NYC-based Translation, which is fresh off of hiring a new CCO in Martin Agency/Chiat LA alum John Norman, as an ACD/creative technologist. Prior to his time at Mullen, Hunt also had a brief spell or two at the Martin Agency as a CT and spent 15 months at the VCU Brandcenter.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

It’s funny how a logo change can incite more online hyperactivity than, oh, Russia invading Ukraine of the crisis in Syria. Actually, it isn’t funny. It’s just plain sad but that’s what we’ve turned into; a country that bitches about inane, meaningless bullshit rather than important world event.

But since we’re not CNN and our mission is to report on all things marketing and advertising, it’s out duty to cover the hubbub that surrounds Olive Garden’s new logo.

To say the least, the new logo has not been well-received. While the new logo now actually has an olive branch in it instead of a — WTF — grape vine, it’s, shall we say, lacking meat.

By lacking meat, we mean there’s no substance to the new logo. The previous logo, tacky as it was, at least had some substance to it, some texture. Some depth. OK, yea, now design is all about flat but it shouldn’t be all about 5th grade art class either.

In an effort to turn around declining visits, down 13% in December, and plunging sales, down 5.4%, the chain is grasping at straws (olives?) to turn things around. The new logo, in the words of Darden Restaurants executives is to create a “brand renaissance.”

More like a funeral march.

Much like the Gap logo change debacle four years ago which caused the brand to revert to a previous logo, Olive Garden likely should have left well enough alone. The original logo might have sucked but no one cared.

Perhaps heeding the “if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it” mantra would have been the right decision for Olive Garden. At least that way, people could have gone on ignoring the brand much like they do every other brand that just stays its course.

Facebook research has found that 42 per cent of adults start activities on one device and finish on another, suggesting device-switching has become mainstream among adults in the UK.

After 14 months spent overseeing strategy and client services in Crispin Porter + Bogusky’s Gothenburg, Stockholm and Copenhagen branches, Anders Davidsson has moved up the charts, landing his new gig as CEO of the Scandinavian region. Davidsson succeeds Gustav Marten, who now assumes the post of executive chairman/chief innovation officer of said region (the lads are pictured above). As for Davidsson, prior to his stint at CP+B, the agency’s new Scandinavian chief exec served as director/board member of  brand agency Greenspace in London, working with clients like Carlsberg and Toyota. Prior to the Greenspace gig, Davidsson oversaw the Volvo Cars account at SCP/GREY in Gothenburg.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

(TrendHunter.com) The incredibly edgy Italian-based Calzedonia Spring Summer 2014 legging collection is ultra feminine. The popular European swimwear and hosiery brand is stepping it up this season with edgy never…

Ah, it's the old hollowed-out-book-with-a-phone-in-it trick!

FP7 in Dubai got smart by taking a novel approach to avoid hefty headhunter fees. The shop placed cellphones inside die-cut, faux ad industry books and mailed the volumes to creatives it wished to hire.

The volumes were impressively designed and personalized to match each recruit's interests. (The one using Coke's colors and type style, promising guidance for "Creating Campaigns for the Coolest Brands on the Planet," is especially impressive. The soft drink giant, always a good sport, should bring a lawsuit any day.)

The phone number for FP7's executive creative director was programmed into each of the handsets.

By using this "Poaching Phone" technique to poach talent, FP7 ultimately added four key staffers—an art director, a design chief and an award-winning creative team—and claims to have saved more than $80,000 in recruitment costs.

Clearly, the project shows the agency's fun, creative spirit. But $80K for recruitment? I know Dubai's a pricey place, but $80K, really? Even paying $1,600 to make the books seems a tad excessive. Why not just call potential recruits, invite them to the office, or take them out for dinner? I guess today's recruits need a little more excitement than that.

Ah well, what's the point of being in the ad biz if you can't execute a gloriously overproduced idea every now and then?

CREDITS
Executive Creative Director: Paul Banham
Creative Directors: Ali Mokdad, Paul Banham, Husen Baba
Art Director: Joseph Alipio, Ali Mokdad, Husen Baba, Paul Banham
Copywriter: Ali Mokdad, Paul Banham
Head of Design: Ryan Atkinson
Design Director: Erol Salcinovic
Junior Graphic Designer: Laila Mokdad
Agency Producer: Khalid Hamza
Other Credits: Jacques Mulder, Ashraf Muhammad Unnay, Adam Browning Hill

Yolanda HB Halston from pioliang.com discusses the key take-aways from the recent debate at Big Questions Live.

Em parceria com a Chaotic Moon Studios, a Pizza Hut criou uma mesa conceito que, de forma interativa e com superfície touchscreen, deixa seus consumidores visualizarem e customizarem seus pedidos na mesa do restaurante.

A ação permite que a pizza seja “montada” do início, sendo possível selecionar o tamanho, molhos, queijos e demais ingredientes que resultam em pizzas de diferentes sabores e criadas à gosto.

Junto ao pedido, também podem ser adicionadas porções complementares como asas de frango, tipos de pão e sobremesas. Por último, seleciona-se o modo de pagamento.

Para complementar a experiência, enquanto a pizza não chega, a mesa libera alguns jogos para os consumidores se divertirem durante a espera.

Para a Pizza Hut, a mesa conceito é algo que será aprofundado em um futuro próximo, pensando em melhorar a experiência do consumidor no restaurante, principalmente aquele momento chato de fazer o pedido e esperar a pizza.

Post originalmente publicado no Brainstorm #9
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