Hasta La Creative!

Stephen Colbert’s jump to CBS solidifies the new regime in broadcast late-night, and with it a group of funny men who are embracing advertisers.

Mr. Colbert has more than proved he is willing to work brand integrations into his show, referring to product placements as “sponsortunity.” And while his mocking of brands can pose some risk to marketers, it’s one they are willing to take.

Mr. Colbert, along with NBC’s Jimmy Fallon and ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel, represent a new guard of late-night hosts who are embracing edgy and innovative brand integrations. “All of the new guys are of the mindset that this is the way it works now,” said David Campanelli, senior VP-director of national broadcast, Horizon Media.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

(TrendHunter.com) Overcrowding is something many cities are beginning to address as the world’s population continues to rise and one of the more innovative solutions comes in the form of the SCADPad. The…

The line between ad-sales and editorial at some fashion websites is getting about as thin as the sheer tops they’re showing for spring. Digital natives including Refinery29 and PureWow and magazine sites like Harper’s Bazaar and Elle are enlisting their editors to produce content on behalf of advertisers. In some cases, editors even model the advertiser’s products.

Editors’ involvement helps ads resonate with readers, the publishers say. “Readers are bombarded with crappy ads,” said Justin Stefano, co-founder and co-CEO of Refinery29. “This is a positive marriage between advertising and editorial.”

But the labeling varies, from “sponsored” to more opaque terms like “dedicated.” And editors’ involvement doesn’t make it any harder for readers to mistake an ad for, well, editorial. “The minute your editor creates content for every advertiser you lose credibility,” said Matt Rice, associate publisher at Style.com, part of the Conde Nast publishing empire.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Who says print is dead? If anything, it's alive and sounds delicious!

This unique poster, created by Grey London and print production and software developer Novalia, is essentially an app made of paper promoting British food brand Schwartz's Flavour Shots.

The paper is coated with conductive inks that act like a touchscreen, and can send signals to your Bluetooth-enabled device to play music. Pretty neat. 

"Conductive ink is a prototype technology that puts the same type of capitative touchscreen you have in a smartphone or tablet into plain old paper—effectively breathing new life into what many believe is a dying medium. Schwartz is the first brand to use this technology in a commercial application," says Kate Stone, founder of Novalia.

Check out more pics and a video demo below.

As of press time, the paper is NOT EDIBLE. Do not attempt to eat the posters!

CREDITS
Client: Schwartz
Brief: Stimulate interest in trade about Schwartz Flavour Shots range
Creative Agency: Grey London
Chief Creative Officer: Nils Leonard
Creative Director: Andy Lockley
Art Directors: Andy Lockley, Andy Garnett
Copywriter: Dan Cole
Creative Producers: Georgie Moran, Lucy Dunn
Managing Partner: Philippa Baldwin
Business Director: Camilla Ashenhurst
Account Manager: Lucy Gregory
Account Executive: Rowenna Trevellyan
Original Music: M.J. Cole, Soho Music.
Sound Design: Holly Clancey
Illustration: Billie Jean
Illustration Agent: Agency Rush
Typography: Alex Camacho
Design: Joe Towsey, Jessica Tibbles
Print Production, Software Developer: Novalia

IBM is using the Masters golf tournament to launch the next phase of its Smarter Planet campaign. Over the course of five days, the company is airing more than 50 individual spots. But you better pay attention: They’re only airing once.

Known as “Made With IBM,” the effort showcases what other companies have made using IBM technology. Each spot is numbered with a “bump” at the end promoting the next one to watch. (Digital versions of the ads don’t have that feature.) The campaign includes a mix of 30-second and 60-second spots and will air on CBS and ESPN.

In addition to TV, IBM will push the campaign through digital and social outreach (#MadeWithIBM), print, a microsite and out-of-home later in the year.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Diesel's promoting its new Jogg jeans collection via a fun and informative A-to-Z of Dance video featuring all manner of talented dancers sporting the flexible jersey-denim hybrid line.

Each letter represents a different dance, and they range from grand jetés to Indian Bhangra to yes—of course—twerking. The video, while perhaps a bit too reminiscent of Puma's similar "Dance Dictionary," is amazing, and I guarantee you'll be entertained for the entire three-and-a-half minutes.

My only complaint is that the Harlem shake featured isn't the real Harlem shake. Other YouTube commenters had the same critique, and my only guess is that all of us were likely born prior to 1988.

The video might be NSFW if your work frowns on twerking and pole dancing, but it's all quite PG.

Via Fast Company.

Durham, N.C., resident Keil Jansen may have quit his job as a teacher to start a nanobrewery, but judging by its name, Ponysaurus Brewery, his old profession clearly rubbed off on him.

Raleigh ad agency Baldwin& designed the brewer's unique logo—half pony, half dinosaur—which looks like a McSweeney's parody of a medical illustration.

"There is a certain tension within the entire Ponysaurus design, where we are trying to balance a sense of the absurd and fantastical with the fact that we are dead serious about making the best beer," Jansen tells Cool Hunting. "The combination of 'old-timey' details, for example the style of the Ponysaurus drawing that invokes old medical or biology textbooks, with the fact that the drawing itself is of a half-pony, half-dinosaur is an excellent shorthand for what we wanted to achieve."

I don't know how well "The beer beer would drink if beer could drink beer" stacks up against every other goofy-named microbrew on the market right now, but I'd like to see Ponysaurus take on Kegasus in a drinking contest.