Hasta La Creative!

We’ve covered the many adventures of Jason Pickar -aka the “Brand Rapper“–over the years, from his time landing on The Price is Right  to his offer to work during Christmas in 2012. Now, the former Deutsch LA copywriter (on Dr. Pepper among others) and current LA-based freelancer, who goes by the stage name, Chozinn, is trying to take things to the next level and conquer the City of Angels via his rhyming skills. Pickar is among the top four MCs vying for the title in the “Who’s Next” contest that’s being held by L.A. station Power 106.

The contest is essentially dependent on votes (less than a week left!), and while the signup process is a little tedious (email signup is recommended over Facebook/Twitter), those who know the man or just prefer his tune to the rest can check out his profile here to help base your decision. And so, the next page in the Pickar saga turns.

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In a Vine video published early this winter, a French transplant to New York named Jerome Jarre approached a baby squirrel sitting on a park bench and began squeaking, apparently trying to communicate with the rodent. The squirrel, sensing Mr. Jarre, perked its head up and then lunged straight at him, slamming directly into his phone’s camera. The frame goes haywire after that.

With a short burst of chaos with an unexpected twist, Mr. Jarre’s video is typical of a brand new form of humor emerging on a Vine, a rising social video platform owned by Twitter. Constrained by a six second time limit, Vine comedy is quick, irreverent and often very funny. It bares little resemblance to standup — imagine trying to fit a joke into six seconds — and is nothing like longer web comedy videos. It can also go viral in a hurry: Mr. Jarre’s video was liked over 344,000 times and “revined” more than 213,000.

But Vine’s unique humor can also present challenges for brands trying to make a mark there. Humor is Vine’s dominant category, so brands looking to reach consumers on the platform need to tap into it to have an impact. But it’s so different, they’re still figuring out how to use it effectively.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Gerdi McKenna, uma sul-africana de 35 anos, foi recentemente diagnosticada com câncer de mama. O processo de tratamento costuma ser muito sofrido, e as amigas dela se propuseram a realizar uma sessão de fotos juntas, como uma forma de demonstrarem seu amor e apoio.

O que Gerdi não sabia, contudo, era o que as amigas estavam planejando para esse evento.

Pouco antes dela aparecer para as fotos, as amigas se reuniram em um salão local e rasparam suas cabeças, ficando exatamente como Gerdi está atualmente: carequinhas.

As madeixas foram todas preservadas e depois doadas para a Cancer Association of South Africa, que faz próteses de cabelo para pacientes com câncer.

O ato de solidariedade das amigas de Gerdi requer bastante desapego e até mesmo coragem, como demonstram algumas das fotos. Como diz uma das senhoras no finzinho do vídeo, é preciso sempre se lembrar de que o cabelo é apenas uma parte de nós. O importante mesmo é que estejamos saudáveis.

A ideia foi do fotógrafo Albert Bredenhann, que ao ser convidado para registrar as amigas todas juntas, propôs que mais do que uma bela sessão de fotos, elas pudessem oferecer a Gerdi um dia inesquecível.

E como hoje tudo parece ser campanha viral, vale destacar que a maratona de cortes de cabelo não foi patrocinada, apesar de algumas marcas aparecerem ao fundo do vídeo. Albert explicou que todos os envolvidos ofereceram seus serviços de graça – a maquiagem foi realizada por amigas dele e até o dono do salão não cobrou pelos cortes, e ainda aproveitou para oferecer às amigas um voucher para que elas voltassem daqui a alguns meses, para cuidar dos cabelos quando eles crescerem.

Até agora, o vídeo já foi assistido mais de 3 milhões de vezes. Sensacional – sim ou com certeza?

Post originalmente publicado no Brainstorm #9
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For the third consecutive year, Saatchi & Saatchi is launching a campaign for CoorDown in celebration of World Down Syndrome Day, which will occur on March 21st. The theme for this year’s World Down Syndrome Day is “the right to happiness and well-being of people with Down syndrome,” with the goal being to “promote a culture of diversity and true integration into society, especially in the worlds of school and work.”

Saatchi & Saatchi’s campaign was inspired by an email that an pregnant mother, expecting a child with Down’s syndrome, sent to CoorDown. “What kind of life will my child have?” the mother asks.

To respond to the expectant mother, and others like her, Saatchi & Saatchi filmed responses from 15 individuals with Down syndrome from across Europe, in their native languages. Through the CoorDown YouTube channel this group replies to the mother’s question, answering that her son can expect a happy life, just like theirs. “He’ll be able to hug you,” says one man; “He’ll be able to talk and tell you he loves you,” promises another girl. They explain that the woman can expect her son to go to school, and later get a job and be able to take her out to dinner on his salary. “Sometimes it will be difficult. Very difficult. Almost impossible.” the group admits, “But isn’t it like that for all mothers?” It’s a really touching video, and a perfect encapsulation of this year’s World Down Syndrome Day theme.

This year, CoorDown Onlus — Coordinator of the National Association of people with Down syndrome — will lead “an international project which includes ten associations from nine different countries: Italy, France, Spain, Croatia, Germany, England, Russia, United States and New Zealand.” The “Dear Future Mom” also has a social component, built around the official hashtag #DearFutureMom.

As mentioned, the campaign marks the third consecutive year Saatchi & Saatchi has teamed up with CoorDown. Their previous two campaigns met with tremendous success, including 11 Lions at the last two Cannes International Festivals of Creativity and a Grand Prix at ADCE. Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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Adult Swim is trying a new tactic to promote an existing series, premiering a new episode of “Rick and Morty” via Instagram video.

The half-hour animated series, about a sociopath scientist who drags his unintelligent grandson on dangerous adventures, will be cut up into more than 100 clips to meet Instagram’s limits of posting 15seconds or less.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

If you’re an agency thinking about bringing on a recreational marijuana client, the first thing you should know is not to talk about “marijuana.” Clients prefer the term “cannabis,” according to agency executives already having these conversations, probably because it doesn’t have the same negative connotations and is far away from the stoner undertones of “weed,” or heaven forbid, “pot.” Cannabis almost sounds artisanal by comparison.

“We don’t want to be the weed guys,” said Wexley School for Girls CEO Cal MacAllister.

That might be the smallest issue facing agencies considering work in the sector as restrictions on the growth, sale and use of marijuana loosen in Colorado and Washington State.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

JWT Atlanta President and Chief Creative Officer Perry Fair has had a busy week. He, along with his agency, was behind what might have been one of the best brand activation at SXSWi in Austin: a life-size Mario Kart experience for Pennzoil — a client that came on board when Mr. Fair first took the leadership role at WPP shop’s Atlanta office in 2011.

It was a homecoming of sorts for the creative, who went to college and ad school in the Georgia city. He previously spent time at Mullen, Grey and TBWA/Chiat/Day. Now, he oversees all accounts within JWT’s Atlanta, Dallas and Houston networks, is responsible for strategic and creative leadership for all brands and sits on the global JWT creative council.

We asked Mr. Fair to take some time out to tell us six things we didn’t know about him.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Boise, Idaho-based Woodland Empire Ale Craft has taken a unique approach to signage. To promote its location, which is directly next to a main road leading to a major intersection, the brewery erected a billboard atop its roof which mimics green street signs.

The billboard consists of a green background, much like street signs all over the country, white lettering which reads. “Craft Beer” and a yellow portion on the bottom which reads, Right Here.”

Of the fact the sign may confuse of mislead drivers, Dave Cook, creative director of Oliver Russell, the agency that created the sign, said, “All billboards distract drivers. Especially the good ones.”

While the brewer initially had permission from the City of Boise to erect the board, its proximity to a state highway has caught the attention of the Idaho Transportation Department.

“We’ve been asked by the Idaho Transportation Department to remove the sign because it interferes with the effectiveness of nearby traffic signs and potentially creates a highway safety issue,” said Dusty Schmidt, a partner in the brewery. “They said it was a danger to our public highway.”

While the brewer discusses the matter with the ITD, it’s also enjoying the fact 37,000 people pass by the sign each day.

“The printed athlete: sports embraces 3D printing”
No palco: Jeff Beckham (autor), Mike Vasquez (Tribal Sciences)

“Connected TVs & the future of sports entertainment”
No palco: Hank Adams (Sportvision)

O SXSW contou com uma série exclusiva sobre esportes que pode ser acompanhada pela hashtag #SXSWsports. Do que eu consegui ver desse tema, duas coisas me chamaram atenção: uma direcionada aos atletas e outra direcionada ao consumidor de esportes.

Do lado do atleta, a impressão 3D tem feito grandes avanços no campo de personalização. Nunca foi tão barato – e tão rápido – criar chuteiras para cada tipo de pé, pranchas de snowboard com a aerodinâmica exata para aquele corpo ou tacos de golfe perfeitos para tal pessoa. E o uso vai além dos equipamentos de esporte.

Mike Vasquez contou que participou de um projeto no qual eles precisavam desenvolver cadeiras para os jogadores alto escalão de basquete para eles descansarem ao máximo nos intervalos dos jogos. “Além de serem muito altos e já não se adaptarem aos tamanhos comuns de cadeiras, eles ainda possuem corpos assimétricos. É comum, por exemplo, um jogador de basquete ter um joelho mais alto do que o outro”, explicou Vasquez.

Já do lado do consumidor de esportes, me chamou a atenção o live gaming, uma tecnologia que permite que uma pessoa faça parte de um game baseado no que está acontecendo em tempo real.

Por exemplo, o usuário vai poder inserir via game um carro extra numa corrida de Fórmula 1 que está sendo transmitida em tempo real. Ou seja, ele assiste a corrida e ainda pode competir com os pilotos oficiais em sua televisão.

De acordo com Hank Adams, “isso ainda está sendo elaborado para cada tipo de esporte, uma vez que é muito mais fácil inserir um carro extra na Fórmula 1 do que inserir um jogador a mais no campo de futebol. De qualquer jeito, em breve todos poderão competir com os atletas reais”.

Dica que aprendi: a personalização de roupas e acessórios têm níveis de utilidade. Pense em classificá-los de forma diferente para o consumidor final e para o atleta profissional.

Pergunta que não quer calar: será que experiências tão imersivas de games tiram o foco do esporte como um espetáculo?

[Ilustração: Fernando Weno]

Post originalmente publicado no Brainstorm #9
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Situé au Turkmenistan, ce champ de gaz naturel appelé depuis « Door to Hell » par les locaux n’a jamais cessé d’émettre des flammes depuis que des scientifiques soviétiques l’ont allumé en 1971. L’occasion pour des milliers de personnes de découvrir de plus près ce phénomène naturel impressionnant.