Hasta La Creative!

I must admit that I’m not the avid videogamer I once was. I hung up my gaming cleats in my late teens (about five years ago) and have watched the new releases from afar, flexing my knuckles, trying to avoid a destiny of Carpal tunnel syndrome. Usually, videogame ads all look the same and sport some generic 9/10 rating. But occasionally, a commercial will stand out and make wonder whether I should play again. For those of us who are worried about falling off the wagon, a compelling game ad can be both exciting and scary.

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified trailer – created by Team One, which also handles Lexus of course – may be vague, but it is certainly not generic. The three-minute spot sells tone in a cinematic style, and according to Team One, contains 20 Easter eggs for future customers. The game is set in the Cold War and re-imagines a doomsday Cold War where aliens invade instead of Russians. You then have the fearless protagonist who will stop at no costs to complete his mission. The game will be out August 20, and the creators have promised more mysterious pieces of ad content leading up to the release date.

Credits after the jump.

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Not the best way to end the day, but Holly Brockwell, a London-based digital copywriter’s note to Hyundai and its agency, Innocean, regarding their new ad campaign, had us figuratively chopping onions for a few minutes. If you haven’t seen the campaign, which promotes the automaker’s ix35 in the most awkward of ways, look above (Update: It looks like the videos keep getting taken down, so don’t be surprised if it happens again; We’ll just provide screen grabs if need be. Update 2: And, yes, it’s now been officially pulled by the brand) . Anyhow, the man in the ad survives his attempted suicide thanks to Hyundai’s apparent 100 percent water emissions. Unfortunately, Brockwell’s dad died in the same manner, and after watching the spot, she penned this letter to the brand and agency via her blog. It’s, as mentioned, a heartbreaker and we truly feel for her. Here’s just an excerpt:

“When your ad started to play, and I saw the beautifully-shot scenes of taped-up car windows with exhaust feeding in, I began to shake. I shook so hard that I had to put down my drink before I spilt it. And then I started to cry. I remembered looking out of the window to see the police and ambulance, wondering what was happening. I remember mum sitting me down to explain that daddy had gone to sleep and would not be waking up, and no, he wouldn’t be able to take me to my friend’s birthday party next week. No, he couldn’t come back from heaven just for that day, but he would like to if he could. I remember finding out that he had died holding my sister’s soft toy rabbit in his lap.

Surprisingly, when I reached the conclusion of your video, where we see that the man has in fact not died thanks to Hyundai’s clean emissions, I did not stop crying. I did not suddenly feel that my tears were justified by your amusing message. I just felt empty. And sick. And I wanted my dad.”

Her final note to the parties involved says it all: “My dad never drove a Hyundai. Thanks to you, neither will I.” We obviously can’t blame her. Let’s just see if and when or how agency and/or brand responds.

Updated: Well, that didn’t take long. Barely 90 minutes after this post, Hyundai has offered this to us verbatim:

Hyundai Motor America Statement:

“We at Hyundai Motor America are shocked and saddened by the depiction of a suicide attempt in an inappropriate European video featuring a Hyundai. Suicide merits thoughtful discussion, not this type of treatment.”

Hyundai Motor Company Statement:

“Hyundai Motor deeply and sincerely apologizes for the offensive viral ad.

The ad was created by an affiliate advertising agency, Innocean Europe, without Hyundai’s request or approval. It runs counter to our values as a company and as members of the community. We are very sorry for any offense or distress the video caused. More to the point, Hyundai apologizes to those who have been personally impacted by tragedy.”

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Last week, I posted some contrarian views on Dove’s “Real Beauty Sketches” idea. Writing in Forbes CMO Network, Will Burns leaps to the defense of Dove and smacks down the criticism of the video, calling the criticism “ugly” and “absurd.”

Burns is off the mark here with his characterizations. There’s nothing ugly or absurd about the reaction to Dove’s advertising idea. When people feel a personal, visceral reaction to an advertising idea and express that opinion, it’s terrific. Even if someone misinterprets an idea or projects their own feelings onto it, it’s still valid, as advertising is a subjective art. It means we as advertising people have touched a nerve, and hopefully it leads to productive discussion. There aren’t any mass boycotts, protests in the street, or violence related to this Dove campaign. That would be “ugly” and “absurd.”

Encouraging discussion, positive and negative, is something more brands should aspire to.

It’s no surprise that brands which have emphasized a belief system or aspirational messages — Dove, Nike, Apple, Tom’s Shoes, Chick-fil-A, Whole Foods, and many others — have found themselves the object of criticism. Any business practice or customer experience that seems to be contradictory to the ideals professed in the advertising or marketing gets a closer look.

As consumers, and as marketing people, we criticize because we love. We criticize because we care. We want brands and companies to live up to the values they preach.

It’s the subject of my new column on Talent Zoo.

The post Authentic Brands Attract, And Deserve, Authentic Scrutiny appeared first on AdPulp.

On Monday night, Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul hit a 15-foot bank shot as time expired to put his team up 2-0 over the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the NBA playoffs. You should have seen it—it was really cool.

You know what’s even cooler? The fact that Chris Paul finally met his long-lost brother who we learned existed during the holiday season. Finally, State Farm and agency Translation’s sick little experiment, which included separating twins at a young age and documenting their lives for over two decades in the name of insurance, is coming to an end. Finally, Chris Paul can be at peace. And, finally, Cliff Paul has enough money to quit his job at State Farm once an for all, pursuing a new career of professional moocher.

However, having established a reputation for inhumane cruelty, don’t count out the possibility that Translation isn’t done toiling in the lives of the brothers Paul. Sure, they may have reunited the twins, but that doesn’t mean that before the NBA Finals, Cliff is “accidentally” run over by an uninsured driver. I’m just saying, if Blake Griffin shows up to Cliff’s funeral wearing an argyle sweater in a few months, don’t be surprised. Credits after the jump.

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Marriott and Grey New York are getting that much closer as the brand has now awarded PR duties to the agency, thus expanding a relationship that began last September when the latter succeeded McGarryBowen as AOR for the hotel/resorts brand. No word yet, though, if president/CCO Tor Myhren and now-COO Michael Houston sent a short and sweet memo to staff like last time in regards to this latest win.

Instead, for now, we have this statement from Marriott VP of global brand PR John Wolf, who says, “We chose Grey for its expertise in integrated consumer brand marketing that will help us amplify the innovations Marriott is bringing to market to appeal to Gen X and Gen Y travelers. We were impressed by Grey’s passion, creativity and best-in-class PR practices to maximize the buzz factor across business and lifestyle media.”

We’re checking to see if there was a review for this. While we’re on the subject of Grey, we’re hearing from sources that the agency is still one of the finalists in the Gillette creative pitch and a decision is expected to made by this coming Monday. Update: There was no review for the Marriott PR biz; the appointment just grew out of Grey and the hotel brand’s existing ad relationship. Burson Marsteller, meanwhile, continues to handle corporate PR for Marriott.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Consider this a left-handed compliment: Time Warner Cable has better commercials promoting their cable service than they do actual cable service. That’s not an exaggeration. Anyone who lives in New York has either experienced firsthand or heard of the terrible reception and customer service. And for anyone planning on writing some snarky, contrarian comment about your perfect Time Warner service, don’t jinx the good cable karma by being an idiot.

That being said, Time Warner is back with another commercial about its sports package, which, according to the above spot, can be watched on just about every mobile device ever created. Victor Cruz, the man in half of all commercials on television, makes an appearance along with golfer Ian Poulter, driver Kasey Kahne, and former NFL coach/current CBS football analyst Bill Cowher (who tipsters have been taking for his acting skills in the last few days). The spot is a short and clever way to include four endorsers at once, a compliment directed completely at the agency behind this, Ogilvy, not Time Warner itself.

In closing, one more reason to dislike Time Warner Cable: Victor Cruz has one contract with TWC and zero contracts with the New York Giants. See another TWC spot with Cowher and Cruz called “The Test” after the jump.

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Another McCann-related p0st, you say? What the hell. Well, it looks like Houston-based Ignite Restaurant Group has gone all in with McCann Erickson, handing its full brand advertising duties to the New York office, which picked up AOR duties for its Joe’s Crab Shack chain last November. Apparently, the spot you see above for Joe’s helped spur the move. In a statement, Ignite CMO Robin Ahearn says, “The positive feedback from ‘100% Shore’ and the great working relationship we’ve developed with McCann led to this consolidation. Our goal is to drive frequency with our current guests and introduce our restaurants to new guests across the country.  McCann is helping us do just that.”

As far as Ignite’s new move, McCann NY is now serving as AOR for  Romano’s Macaroni Grill  brand and will handle strategy responsibilities for Brick House Tavern + Tap. From what we’ve been told, there was no review. Instead, McCann NY asked for an opportunity to present ideas for the Romano’s Macaroni Grill business and Ignite gave a thumbs up, awarding Brick House strategy in the process.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Fact: When it comes to marketing spending, analog still outstrips digital by a factor of three to one.

Jake Sorofman, an analyst with Gartner, supplied the cold hard fact above in a Harvard Business Review article.

It’s the kind of fact that my friend Bob Hoffman likes, and likes to use to convince CMOs and other innocents, that digital is a good place to experiment but to move metal or sell cheeseburgers, stick to broadcast.

Oddly, TV isn’t all that easy to measure, whereas digital initiatives are all about measurement. From Sorofman’s article:

…with digital techniques, everything is measurable. Feedback loops tighten, segmentation becomes microtargeting, and optimizations can happen on the fly or even in real time. The relationship between investment and impact becomes correlated and causal — and the CMO becomes accountable down to the dime and moment by moment. Light dawns on the marketing spend! This transparency is powerful when quarters are turning into dollars for the business — but potentially perilous when the opposite is the case.

Knowledge is power. Let’s not deny a core principle. But can we entertain that not everything in advertising or the universe is knowable? Can we allow for magic to happen? Is there a line item for magic? There needs to be, because a brand is so much more than a series of A-B tests, performed ad infinitum. A brand is the grand sum of experiences people have with a company. A brand is customer service, product and look and feel.

Sorofman reflects on imagined days gone by. “Like Mad Men’s Don Draper, the CMO became the master of the soft-shoe performance.”

I don’t argue that there are charlatans in every line of work, but I do contest that knowing what works is an act of some kind. Knowing where to put a word, where to place a support beam in a house, or where to make an incision during surgery, are all practical skills that also require intuition and a deft touch.

I have no issue with Quants storming the CMO’s office, or my own office for that matter, but let’s keep some perspective and our eyes on the prize. Brand building is a human enterprise, and humans are observed from every angle, yet continue to surprise.

The post Marketers Are Brand Architects And Building Brands Takes More Than Math appeared first on AdPulp.

We truly had no idea the creative account was in review for retail chain Burlington Coat Factory, where we’ve bought our share of oversized jackets and what not back in the day for half the price. But apparently, it is so, and from what we’re hearing from sources in the know, Silver+Partners–aka, the Eric Silver-run, New York-based shop formerly known as Amalgamated–is in the mix. S+P would not comment on the matter and we’ve yet to hear back from BCF, which has worked most recently with Cramer-Krasselt.

Building on what we initially reported a month ago, C-K hasn’t worked with the brand for the past three months and only did project work involving concepting creative but did not produce actual creative, which was handled in-house by the client. This, like before, leaves us a bit confused considering that in 2008, it was reported that Burlington Coat Factory awarded the agency its creative duties following a review. Whatever the case, C-K was invited to participated in BCF’s current review, but declined. While spies are saying Silver+Partners is taking on the biz, we’re hearing that it’s yet to be awarded. We’ll keep you posted.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

In case you missed the lengthy AdAge piece about this since it was seemingly harder to find than Jimmy Hoffa, we’ve received word from sources familiar with the matter that McCann has indeed won the $50 million account for the American Frozen Food Institute.

The AdAge piece did note that McCann was the odds-on favorite to win the account for the AFFI, a trade/lobbying group of supermarket standards in aisle eight, nine, whatever including Nestle and…wait, where’s the Totino’s Party Pizza? As a result of the win, our sources in the know tell us that McCann, which would not officially comment on the matter (try getting a hold of the AFFI), will handle a national consumer campaign on behalf of the newly formed Frozen Food Roundtable that operates under the auspices of the AFFI.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.