McDonald's - Baby

TBWA created this new TV ad for McDonalds. It will be part of a campaign to demonstrate the lengths the staff will go to make a simple trip to McDonalds memorable. It features a new Father trying his hardest to order a breakfast meal while trying not to wake his baby through stopping the movement of the car. I think the ad does what it's supposed to, it is a nice, feel good ad which does make me genuinely think all of the staff at McDonalds are some of the most considerate. So in that respect I think it works very well. But one point I felt stuck out like a sore thumb after watching it a second time, the Father had taken all this trouble to not wake his child, but then he puts the kid at complete danger by taking his hands off the wheel while the car was in motion to grab the McDonalds meal from the window. Call me silly, but isn't putting his child in danger slightly worse that waking the child up?! Maybe it's just me! See what you think:

Museum of London

Today the Museum of London released an Iphone app to promote its new galleries which open 28th May. The new exhibits transport visitors through London's history, from 1666 to the present day. The agency Brothers and Sisters created the free street museum app which allows users to hold their Iphones up to London Landmarks and see an overlay of a historic image of the sight. I think this technology is something I must quickly grasp as it seems to be a fast growing market, the majority of consumers are now on the receiving end of an Iphone or blackberry and can see this kind of information. I think the app works really well, and for me, would make me want to go to the exhibition. It makes me curious of the sights yet to be seen of London in the past. Take a look:

D-Day

Our deadline is tomorrow Friday 14th May. If I'm completely honest, without swearing, I am bricking it. My PPD is complete with amendments made to bring it up to scratch, my essay is complete, but now this live brief is testing my patience. Me and my partner have created our campaign along with full development for The Body Shop, or rather we had created it. Diving in without a thought, and with the mass workload, I am aware the quality would not be up to scratch. But when we asked the opinions of our peers I was not prepared for all the negative comments. Fear sunk in as I knew what they were saying was completely correct, but I didn't think there were enough hours in the day to go back to the drawing board. The thing is that I am a perfectionist, and I could not let this slip. In the industry this would be no excuse either, so I figured why not begin the sleepless nights now and attempt something much better. Fortunately my partner has the same outlook, which is why we work so well together, and provide motivation for one another. So 3 campaigns later we feel we have created something much more successful.

Our strategy being 'Leading the way to ethical beauty'. I think this is a positive line which meets the brief. Along with this strategy we have decided to create 3 poster campaigns, featuring a trail of the ingredients leading up to the product. For example one would be a trail/path of cocoa beans leading up to a tub of The Body Shops Cocoa body butter. It would be used on a plain white background, with the strategy along the bottom and the logo. I think this campaign has been more successful than other ideas, containing a simple yet clear concept and only hope our hard work will show in the final result. We have also created some ambient which would run in conjunction with the ads. I better get on drawing these up now, fingers crossed for tomorrow!

I can honestly say my first year at college has been interesting. I feel I have developed my skills in many areas. Although there have been hurdles to conquer, while difficult at the time, they have taught me that I can never get too comfortable or lazy, because life isn't plain sailing, and advertising certainly is not. Although one thing is for certain after all my efforts, I know I want a career in advertising and I have a genuine passion for the industry.

On my last note for my first year at college I will leave you with a couple of ads I found interesting.

Crunch Time is here.

With the recent mess-up with deadlines, projects and tutors it is more than acceptable to admit everybody in the class in under complete stress. Thankfully my live brief is almost complete for The Body Shop, but some adjustments do need to be made. I have been adjusting my PPD file all today and it appears to be crunch time. Working under the circumstances of our tutor Alison leaving and her not informing us on several aspects that were needed a.k.a. PPD and Digital Skills (to my horror). I have unfortunately not enjoyed the course these last few weeks, which is very unusual. I am more than aware on the hectic, short deadlines I am to expect in the Advertising industry, but at least I will be able to organise them there. I feel almost frustrated at the moment that I do not have the time to put my usual efforts into my projects. I just hope that everything turns out well.

On a more positive note... One of the first ad's out to promote the BBC showing the 'World cup from the Rainbow nation' a.k.a. South Africa I have to say intrigued me in comparison to the usual World Cup ads. It was created by RKCR/Y&R and its aim is to show the country's heritage along with the diversity of the competing countries. I think it works very well. Being a person who does not get very excited by football at all, I felt the excitement in this ad. It made me want to watch the football, and think I would experience the culture of South africa through this. Now I know through experience that football will still bore me if I put it on the TV, but the ad has in some way fooled me into thinking it will be something more, a better kind of football. That for me, is a successful ad.

Silverspoon Advert

On the 29th April Silverspoon released the advert 'Half Spoon' created by Adam & Eve. Featuring Matt Lucas from the Little Britain TV Show. I admit it isn't a groundbreaking advert, but I think it works very well and breaks away from your usual mundane adverts which look at low calorie objects. I found it straight to the point, humorous and memorable. Take a look:

http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/thework/news/1000207/Silver-Spoon-half-spoon-Adam---Eve/

The end of the year is looming.

I am now currently working on my final brief. The live brief for The Body Shop. The brief asks us to create a campaign to re-establish their position in the market as the original pioneer of ethical beauty. They want the campaign to embrace the tone of voice from Body Shops past. So myself and my partner have done research into the works of Anita Roddick. As the original founder of The Body Shop, she found inspiration from travelling the world, seeing the beauty routines of different cultures and bringing them into her products. She seemed to be a very inspirational, strong woman and cared very much for those less fortunate along with the planet. Beginning charities to raise awareness for AIDS/HIV, domestic violence, Greenpeace, and for those less fortunate in third world. The products used today contain ingredients from all over the world, providing fair jobs for people in these places and putting food on their tables. It is this background that has made me and my partner feel we have to bring the advertising back to these roots, and create a campaign that focuses on these aspects once more. From looking at the advertising from The Body Shop's past it seems they have slowly started to loose their identity. Hopefully by next Thursday we have created the campaign which sufficiently brings The Body Shops true identity back to life.

Ultimate satisfaction

After much stress, worry, and panic, I have successfully completed my essay! All that is left now is to see if it makes sense to my tutors, and I'm satisfied! Now onto my next brief...to create a campaign for Body Shop. I am very excited to be working on a live brief, and only hope that the result is pleasing.

Just before I go..an ad I found the other day which I found of interest. Watford College advertising their advertising course via viral. It shows a very old creative team still searching for a placement, they get an interview with creative Graham Fink and fail miserably. Finally the line comes up 'time to go to Watford?' I think it has a lovely feel, and has a very humorous take on the creatives who fail. Hopefully I wont be creating ads for interview in a nursing home years from now, and instead be feeling satisfaction from ads that have aired! Check it out:

My current position.

With our main tutor leaving not long before our last day, it has been very hectic as it turned out she had not mentioned a vital assignment we were supposed to have been given. So my current position is to complete 3 different components in for 2 weeks time! This is where I need to put my organisational skills to the test! Thank fully after many red bulls over the weekend I managed to clamp down and complete the first component, my PPD file. Now I must begin the second, my essay. This will be extremely excruciating for me, I am an extremely visual person, I take notice of images, colours and shapes around me. Now where do I begin with words?! Hopefully when I next update this blog it will be done!

Just on a good note, I will leave you with a TV advert created by Adam & Eve called 'never knowingly undersold' I saw this today which I think works really nicely. It is for John Lewis to communicate it's lifelong commitment to customers. I think it is a very successful advert in my opinion, as there are not any adverts at all that I can remember from this brand, and this one has stuck in my mind, it seems to give a very reassuring, warm tone of voice. Take a look and see what you think!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMtyOCoqHTk

Digital Skills

On Thursday the 22nd I came to the end of AD107 Digital Skills. Fortunately I can honestly say it was thoroughly enjoyable, contradicting my original thoughts on the project. I rarely admit I am wrong, so here's a first. This whole module was basically set to prepare us for industry, because lets face it, these days you'll get no where without skills on Photoshop, Imovie and so on. So this is why I was dreading this module, although I'm not completely rubbish with these programs, I'm not the best at all, so I thought this module was going to be excruciating! We were given the task to compile a research file on Digital Skills, and an Imovie on 'Greed'. For the Imovie I worked in a group of three, me, Amy and Johnny. I think we all worked brilliantly together, with constant equal input and the same determination in producing work we were pleased with. I was very pleased with using Imovie, as it was the first time I had used it and I feared it would show that! We all wished to show 'greed' in a much more creative way, and I feel using the monopoly table played on how life is a game of greed. You can win money, you can loose it. Take a look, and see what you think!

New York, New York!

Last week I returned from New York. Travelling for over 10 hours on the way there, I thought nothing would wake me up, or make me shake out of the travel grumps! But when we arrived at JFK airport i sharp sat up! Even the first bus ride to our hotel told me I would experience something totally different to what I had expected. Before I arrived I only knew New York on the TV, the amazing lights, magical feeling, the city that never sleeps. But I never thought that everywhere I looked would live up to this ideal. I can honestly say I fell in love with New York. I felt the culture was so rich, the advertising was so dominant, and the people were some of the nicest I've met. We visited two agencies over there, McCann Erickson (http://www.mccannny.com/), and DDB (http://www.ddb.com/). While I found both trips very interesting I found DDB more appealing, it seemed less intimidating, more fun, and while we received talks from the creative staff, I found myself visualising myself there more and more! This was when I decided, I want to crack New York. Not only do I feel advertising in this fantastic place would be amazing, the possibility to see your creation in the middle of Times Square in lights does not cease to entice me there but I also know I would just love to live there. I never never felt so relaxed walking around somewhere so far from home. On our way back home, although very dramatic, I felt so sad! Knowing that although I would return to New York, it may be a while until I am able. Back in Newcastle now it has only reinforced what I was thinking throughout the trip, I will not be satisfied until I am working and living in New York!

The advertising game

Recently me and a few friends have been playing 'the advertising game'. Just while watching the TV. Its a funny game, sometimes I tend to think that it's only advertisers or advertising students who get overexcited about adverts, but I am completely wrong. I saw a competitive war brake out before my eyes of dispute as to what advert was what. Below are the rules:

1. You win a point if you guess the name of the ad before anyone else

2. You cannot name an ad if the name appears on the screen or is spoken already, it MUST be before or a point is deducted

3. You can steal a point from another player if you are able to name the song name.

These are rather simple rules, and it is these rules that do allow for a really fun game. I found it interesting seeing how many adverts you do subconsciously take notice of, I even found myself shouting out names of many of those terrible 'cash my gold' ads! While the game is a bit of light hearted fun, it's intriguing to learn what trademark features make up an ad for a certain brand, what names you accidentally call out for some ads that look similar to others and quite basically who remembers which adverts! You can rapidly see which ones work as to how many people try to grab the point. If I ever loose my excuse is always that I only spend my time looking at good ads!

I will be leaving for New York tomorrow for the week with college which I can't wait for, just to see how the city works, and how the agencies operate over there...I shall soon see if I'm able to play the 'advertising game' over an 8hour flight to bide my time!

New Specsavers ad.

This week while watching the TV i came across the new Specsavers Ad. On first glance I thought it was another 'The Lynx Effect' ad, but that was the whole point, it was mimicking a previous ad of women running on a beach to a man spraying himself in Lynx. The Specksavers version used this same set, but then when the women arrived at the man, he put on an awful pair of glasses, to which they all ran away and the strategy line appeared. Specsavers cleverly combined their strategy line 'Should've gone to Specsavers' with Lynx's strategy line to create 'The should've gone to specsavers Effect', with permission from the owner of the Lynx brand, Unilever. The ad was created by Specsavers in-house creative team Simon Bougourd and Neil Brush. I think the ad works really well, it ties in well with their current humorous campaigns so stays on brand, and they have essentially used some of Lynx's popularity but in a polite manor! It's refreshing, light, comedy but still clever.

Check out the ad...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x89xAXHd2l8

Strategy.

Our most recent brief at college has been on strategy. Quite frankly the whole subject seemed impossibly difficult but although I still know i'll never be a copywriter, learning the whole subject gave me more clarity on the meaning. The golden rule I found which helped me most was 'benefit, truth and insight'. When you get a brand or product you filter information under these headings. It just makes things much more clear and more feasible to create a strategy line. I now know what a strong strategy means, and they are generally the most simple.

After this brief we went onto an Art Direction and Copywriting module. During this I complied a research file studying and discovering famous Copywriters and Art Directors, looking at their backgrounds and work. This provided me with the knowledge to understand how they got into the advertising business, and to my surprise the majority had very unrelated backgrounds. For the brief, in teams of two we had to create two campaigns for Philips HD ready TV, one which was copy based and one which was visual communication. I found these very helpful in providing me with a great understanding of the vast difference, and how both ways can be effective in completely different ways. Personally I found the visual communication campaign a much more natural progression into creating ideas or concepts, whereas I found the copy based campaign a much more difficult task to create the idea. All in all, I was very pleased with the outcome, but me and my partner felt our strengths lay in separate areas. Mine in art direction and hers in copywriting.

London.

Between the 8th and 11th of Feb our advertising course visited London. It was a certain highlight of this year. We visited Y&R (http://www.rkcryr.com/), Dave Trott (http://www.cstadvertising.com/blog/) and Fallon (http://www.fallon.co.uk/). Visiting these agencies and learning how they worked and got into advertising gave me drive to work. Particularly I found Dave Trott interesting, he has a whole different outlook on things and although rather blunt at times I admire his honesty. Advertising is a job, course and area which cannot be sugarcoated. In the industry your ideas can be shot down in an instant, so learning to be brutally honest now will definitely help me in the future. Check out their websites.