With eyes focused on the team USA in London - Ireland puts up a challenge to those who could careless about the sport of the games are are looking for a relaxing break.
Had the chance to be a guest judge for Best Ads on TV- this was a great chance to review work from around the world. There were some inspiring pieces-take a look and you be the judge: http://www.bestadsontv.com/news/blog.php?id=18376
In 2011, Sweden became the first country in the world to let go of an official communication channel and hand it over to our citizens. Together with the Swedish Institute and Visit Sweden, they decided to break all branding principles and revolutionize the voice of a country.
As the Cannes Lions festivites have gotten underway and the predictions have been noted and posted, the shortlist for 2012 is about to reveal a few winners. For me, I ask a few simple questions - did the work change the industry? Was there a value exchange that linked business objectives with consumer interests in a way that was ownable to the brand. Did the idea provoke a connection to brand?
As I peruse the submissions here are a few that caught my eye.
AMERICAN EXPRESS In the Promo category, Year 2 of the Small Business Saturday does it for me. American Express and Crispin have submitted chapter two of an idea that is riding a cultural trend in the states.
HELLMANN'S What's for dinner tonight? A common question that is aswered by this app from Hellmann’s which prints recipes on a personlized grocery receipts based on the food that you have purchased. While some might find this a bit big brother - i think that the use of data creates a value exchnage that will generate more uses of the product.
SPRITE While Sprite and Ogilvy did not change the industry with this one they did dramatize refreshing for these beach goers in a simple fun format.
C & A FASHION LIKE This one struck me as pure genius as it played off a simple and true insight. The majoroity of woman question their fashion judement while shopping. Knowing that, why not offer to let a network of people help you decide. C & A's Like Fashion app brought the social network to the physical store. This was a great use of technology in the physical world.
Update: The Direct Grand Prix for American Express's Small Business Saturday campaign, which already won a Grand Prix in Promo & Activation.
Burberry has approached traditional advertising with a great new entertaining spin to introduce its Summer 2012 Eyewear Collection. The fashion brand has teamed up with a selection of emerging British musicians, who have all created a new track for the campaign. The bands are then shown performing the songs in a series of videos, where they also sport sunglasses from the new collection.
The project is curated by Burberry chief creative officer Christopher Bailey, and the videos have all been created in-house. Burberry is releasing them weekly on YouTube during April. Three tracks are out so far: shown here are videos for One Night Only, Marika Hackman, and Life In Film.
A fourth video, starring The Daydream Club, will be released next week. The tracks are also available for download from iTunes and the bands will headline Burberry showa that will take place on May 3 and 4 in Paris, Milan, New York and Sydney.