Pertamina picks agency roster to tackle poor reputation

JAKARTA – Pertamina has finalised an agency roster for its petrol station business as the state-owned petrochemicals giant looks to reassure Indonesian consumers of the reliability of its services.

Bank NISP and OCBC appoint Lowe Indonesia

JAKARTA – Bank NISP has awarded its US$2.5 million advertising account to Lowe, which has also picked up a direct assignment for OCBC Bank, the Indonesian banking group’s Singaporean owner.

Geico Caveman Finally Peaks, Begins Slow Humiliating Decline

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And he’s channeling John Travolta!

Ayala Land appoints BBDO Guerrero Ortega

MANILA – Ayala Land, a leading property developer in the Philippines, has selected BBDO Guerrero Ortega to handle its 20th anniversary corporate brand campaign.

ATV ties up with Yahoo

HONG KONG – Yahoo Hong Kong’s Knowledge Plus portal has joined hands with ATV quiz show “Zero on Line” to launch a crossover platform called Zebra Knowledge+.

It’s a Skid Steer Smackdown!

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See big mean tractors climb hills, lift dirt, pop wheelies and whatnot. Every once in awhile you might catch a glimpse of Vanna White proteges in hard hats.

47 Minute Movie of Surfer Babes A Commercial for Roxy Clothing

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There simply aren’t 47 minutes in a day which can be allocated to watching a video simply to appreciate the fact, so we’re told, the whole thing’s a commercial

Disney promotes Woo

HONG KONG – Anna Woo (pictured) has been appointed vice president of business operations and finance at Disney Channel and Disney-ABC International Television, Asia Pacific.

Sony Bravia Embraces Blogs, Blank Palettes and Bubbles

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Sony’s PR people sent The Bottom Rung some teaser shots for the 2008 Bravia campaign. Instead of deluging us with color like in previous ads (yarn pyramid, technicolor bunnies), looks like Bravia’s gone soapy, sudsy, foamy white.

You Know What Makes a Great F*ck? A Lexus

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Check out Blue, Dots and Blips, three ads by ATTIK for the saucy Lexus IS F.

Google Removes Trademark Restrictions In UK/Ireland

Google has made a policy revision that applies to complaints we receive regarding trademarks in the UK and Ireland. For complaints received on or after Friday, April 4, 2008, they will no longer review a term corresponding to the trademarked term as a keyword trigger. Whilst they have stated they will continue to perform a […]

‘Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis’ Brings Garish Colors Out in Soccer Match

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Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis, a movie that plays on southern French stereotypes about northerners (the “Ch’tis”), recently beat Titanic’s record at the box office in France.

Faking Naughty – 5 Ads That Made You Look Twice (GALLERY)

(TrendHunter.com) From the 12th International Erotic Cinema of Barcelona ad (my favorite) to ordinary bread, super sexy ads always make you look. These photos prove my point.

The endless fascination of womens’ bodies, the eternal love affair with phallic symbols, as in the “Bread is Life” ad, all combine to bring o…

Once You Go Black, You Go Jeff Dahmer. Wait, What?!

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That probably generated traffic trouble.

Top 10 YouTube Music Videos of All Time

(TrendHunter.com) This collection showcases 10 of the hottest Youtube music videos of all time (+ 3 bonus videos, because I couldn’t stop myself). To videos were hand picked from Trend Hunter’s collection of more than 2000 viral flicks.

Each of these videos exude creativity and demonstrate the power of thinking o…

How To Be Creative On Shelf In ’09

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Copywriter, blogger, cartoonist and marketing consultant, Hugh MacLeod, has a book deal.

His online manifesto, “How To Be Creative,” has been picked up by Portfolio Books.

I am happy to report that I have just signed a book contract with Portfolio Books [a Penguin imprint] to develop it into a book. Portfolio, by the way, is the same imprint that publishes Seth Godin’s books. We even have the same editor, and I’m told the book will have the same graphic designer that designed Seth’s “Purple Cow”.

Of course I’m excited and happy. Not only do I have a book deal, I have a book deal with a second-to-none, blue chip publisher. Big thanks and kudos to Seth for introducing me to them.

When Rex Hammock heard about the book deal, he said, “it was nice to learn that while it may kill you, blogging can also help you land a book deal.”

Hugh is also considering making larger format art pieces and selling them from a gallery space in Alpine, TX, his recently adopted home.

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No word yet on the size of Hugh’s advance, but the PDF version of his manuscript has been downloaded over one million times, so I hope his publisher sent him a decent check.

Christian Lander, the writer of Stuff White People Like, recently landed a $300,000 advance. That kind of loot could go far in West Texas. It might even fund a storefront for cartoonish fine art by the author of a book on conjuring creativity.

Shockvertising Smokefree Campaign – NHS: Get Unhooked (VIDEO)

(TrendHunter.com) What a powerful campaign!

With a slogan of “Get Unhooked”, these print ads from NHS smokefree show young guys and girls literally hooked. And by hooked I mean a painful hook up their lips.

The ads say “The average smoker needs over five thousand cigarretts a year. Get unhooked” and provide contact…

Flexible LCD Cutting Boards – Digital Cutting Board is Eco-Friendly (GALLERY)

(TrendHunter.com) Kitchen cutting boards have been receiving some design attention, but I did not expect such a high-tech makeover as Nardo Design’s new high-tech Digital Cutting Board with its built-in flexible LCD display that displays cooking instructions!

Designed by Marc Nardangeli, the cutting board has rub…

Nice Concept: Sustainable Innovation

Research in Motion founder Mike Lazaridis spoke to BusinesWeek about innovation, management theory and other hot topics of the business day.

Here’s a small part of what he has to say:

If you really want to build something sustainable and innovative you have to invest in R&D. If you build the right culture and invest in the right facilities and you encourage and motivate and inspire both young and seasoned people and put them all in the right environment—then it really performs for you. It’s what I call sustainable innovation. And it’s very different from the idea that you come up with something and then maximize value by reducing its costs. But building a sustainable innovation cycle requires an enormous investment in R&D. You have to understand all the technologies involved.

I see a lesson here for the ad biz. I often think of ads as communications products. But we don’t do traditional R&D in Adlandia (not on our own “products”). Maybe that needs to change. Don’t we want to advance our thinking as the markets we serve advance? Of course we do. But is there one person inside your agency working on this challenge? Is there two, ten or twenty?

It’s been said that an agency can’t all of a sudden become “creative”—that its ability in that area is coded in the shop’s DNA. If you buy that, then there’s either a culture that spurs innovation at the agency, or there isn’t. What do you think? Can the agency biz learn from RIM and improve its product via R&D?

Olympic Mascots – China’s Panda Idol (GALLERY)

(TrendHunter.com) Make a panda (specifically one called Jingjing) an Olympic mascot and it goes straight to their huge black and white heads.

There is no doubt, Panda’s are everywhere at the moment – a fact cemented in my mind by the panda website – panda fix – which is dedicated these furry beauties… …with even…