Happy the Holidays are Over
There. I said it. I’m glad the holidays are over. I’m glad to be back at work.
Don’t get me wrong. I had Holiday fun with my family and friends. I had a week of drinking coffee in bed. I ate everything that was put in front of me like a starving puppy.
Still…I felt a little empty. Where were my Apple support group? Those who own every Apple gadget imaginable… who Path their every move…
Go out to a restaurant with coworkers and as soon as the food is brought out, conversation pauses, iPhones are drawn from pocket or purse and the plates are snapped. The race begins to see who can post to which social site first. First Place winner shouts “DONE!”, iLifts his phone in the air and the meal resumes until we order dessert, just for Instagramification.
During the holidays, whenever I’d bring out my iPhone in front of my family, I’d hear “You’re not taking MY picture!” or the stinging “Is this really the right time for that?” and the killer “You are NOT playing with your Phone AND driving, are you?” (To clarify, we were SITTING at a red light.)
So, I’m glad to be back at work, where I’m no longer misunderstood.
Near Field Communication
Last week, we were lucky to have reps from HTC and TagStand speak to us about Near Field Communication. For someone who hasn’t heard of NFC (like myself), it’s a closed loop system that allows simplified transactions, data exchange and wireless connections between two devices when they’re in very close proximity (usually by no more thn a few centimeters)or touching.
NFC can be used with Smart Phones or credit cards to send or receive info to or from a reader. It can be used for a range of actions from making purchases, to starting your car, to track customer loyalty.
TagStand makes NFC chips, or tags. They program the tags (which have tiny antennae) and deliver analytics to the client.
HTC is making smart phones with NFC already built in. One of their models currently has it built-in and they are predicting that 70% of their phones will be NFC ready next year.
Will NFC replace QR codes? NFC is definitely easier to use than QR codes. Since stores don’t need equipment for QR codes, this will be one hurdle.
If Apple includes NFC in the future iPhones, it will bring another set of users. Do iPhone users trust Apple enough not to worry about how their information is being shared?
TV in a Cloud
I’m saying goodbye to broadcast tv and getting my services from the cloud.
After paying too much for broadcast tv for too long, I’ve decided that TV just isn’t fun anymore.
Here’s what I did. I bought a Roku box and subscribed to Hulu Plus, for streaming tv programs and streaming Netflix for movies. Plus I bought a digital antenna for local news. Done and done.
Actually, it’s not about the cost as much as a different way of thinking. Apple taught us how to listen to music, one song at a time. Netflix sold us movies without the noxious late fees.
So why should we passively watch television from the couch?
We are all curators, Apple just pointed that out to us yesterday.
Peter Greenaway at the Getty
Movies are dead! That was how Peter Greenaway opened his talk at the Getty last month. After 150 years of being important, cinema has lost its way. They began with DW Griffith and ended with Godard.
Mr. Greenaway, the director of such movies as The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover and Pillow Book has moved on. Since 2006, he has been involved in art installations. Using light, he transforms famous paintings into 3-dimensional, moving experiences. Having been trained as an artist, Mr. Greenaway, brings a voice to art, that enhances, rather than Disneyfies it.
The showing of The Last Supper at the Park Avenue Armory in NYC ends this Thursday.
The Last Supper
Nissan Disses Competitors in Livina Car Campaign by Lew’Lara\TBWA, Brazil
BY LUCILA POUGY. SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL (CHIATDAYNIGHT) – Lew’Lara\TBWA, Sâo Paulo, Brazil created this spot for the 2011 Nissan Livina. The advertisement is a funny polemic which highlights the many awards won by Nissan and invites the public to compare the Livina with similar models from competing car makers.
The ad provokes controversy in Brazil, where advertising codes are regulated and even mentioning competitors is highly unusual.
Within two days of posting on YouTube, the Livina video was the most-watched car video in the world, with 80,000 views over the weekend. Its popularity continues with views reaching over 101,000.
The video is part of a Nissan campaign — “Nissan has an innovative way of thinking about family cars. Think of a Nissan”— which Lew’Lara\TBWA is promoting both in print, and in broadcast and cable TV.
The automobile market in Brazil has huge potential – less than 15% of the Brazilian population owns cars. This market has been poised for growth since Brazilian banks finally figured out how to offer installment loans that ordinary people could afford by extending car loan periods from 24 to 60 months with modest interest rates.
With a population of nearly 200 million, and a burgeoning middle class, Brazil’s economy is the eighth-largest in the world, and the one of the fastest-growing.
Official Nissan YouTube Channel
Credits
- Advertiser: Nissan do Brasil
- Agency: LEW’LARA\TBWA
- Product: Livina
- Creative Directors: Jaques Lewkowicz, André Laurentino, Manir Fadel, Luciano Lincoln
- Creatives: Toni Fernandes and Leonardo Claret
- Account Team: Alexandre Baroni, Fabrício Takahashi, Francine Rosset
- Media Team: Eduardo Shinohara, Luana Gallizzi and Suellen Kiss
- Planners: Paulo Vita and Felipe Azambuja
- TVCR: Mayra de Lutiis, Regina Shnaider, Dani Toda and Cris Leopacci
- Production Company: Cine
- Film Director: Clovis Mello
- Photo Director: Claudio Leone
- Editor: Francisco Porto and Clovis Mello
- Sound Production: Raw Produtora de Áudio
- Client: Murilo Moreno, Heloísa Silva and Rejane Lemes
Type designer Alejandro Paul visits TBWA\Chiat\Day
Brownstone typeface by Ale Paul/Sudtipos
BY HOLLY HODGES. LOS ANGELES (CHIATDAYNIGHT) — Typographer Alejandro “Ale” Paul gave a talk on type design at West Coast advertising agency TBWA\Chiat\Day recently. Señor Paul is a cofounder of Sudtipos Type Foundry in Buenos Aires. He was in Los Angeles for TypeCon2010: Babel, a conference presented by the Society of Typographic Aficionados.
Handwriting. One of Paul’s goals in typeface design is to keep the look as close to handwriting as possible. Usually he begins with one word, and then extends that into an alphabet. Then he completes the font with ligatures and flourishes that are available with a tap of the keyboard.
Influences. For inspiration he looks at ephemera, old books, hand-lettered street signs, and architecture.
Retail Packaging and Typography. While working as an art director at the turn of the millennium, Paul had observed that Argentinian retail packaging and displays used typography indiscriminately. Sometimes the same typeface would be used for a box of dog biscuits and for a package of children’s cookies!
Sudtipos. Paul decided he could make a difference in typeface design. With Ariel Garofalo, Claudio Pousada, and Diego Giaccone, he established the first Argentinean type foundry collective, Sudtipos, after his job as an art director had been threatened by the great Argentinian economic crisis (which climaxed in 2001 when the government froze all bank accounts for a year).
Sudtipos typefaces have been featured around the globe on magazine covers and CD artwork, and they have won several awards.
Sudtipos has a reputation for elegant display type, scripts, and calligraphic faces. One of the newest is Brownstone, which was inspired by the ornate iron railings of the row houses in the Park Slope neigborhood of Brooklyn in New York City.
Creative Partnerships. Ale Paul enlisted Angel Koziupa — who designed the famous Quilmes beer logo — as a creative partner at Sudtipos. Together, they created Habanos, a full working font derived from the Quilmes logo. Years after designing Habanos, Paul and Koziupa continue to collaborate on beautiful fonts for packaging.
Advertising isn’t just a job
Working in advertising is not just about the work. It’s not about the long hours. It’s about believing in what you’re selling.
You can’t dabble in Advertising. As David Ogilivy said, “Good copy can’t be written just for a living. You’ve got to believe in a product.”
You can’t feel like you’re better than your client’s product. Not because you can’t sell it, but because it will show in your work. This applies to everyone working on the account, from Creatives to Group Assistants.
Alex Bogusky has left the building. He’s declared himself better than advertising and left a monk behind as a parting gift. Alex Bogusky Tells All
Are you dedicated to advertising? Or are you above it? Don’t overstay your welcome.
Don Draper jumped the shark long ago
Don Draper jumped the shark the first time he slept with a client. Now he’s so far out to sea, that he may be lost forever.
Matthew Weiner is making Don Draper hard for us to like anymore. Remember Tony Soprano? Tony had rules. We knew what those rules were. We may not have liked that he whacked Big Pussy, but we understood why he did it.
Just like we understood why Don had affairs with women who were the complete opposite of his dull, oppressive wife.
Don Draper is running away from his past. What better place to test out a new identity than in advertising? He has carefully cultivated his persona at work. Don Draper was created for work. That’s why he doesn’t hook up with clients or secretaries- those women are a match for Roger Sterling, who couldn’t care less about his job.
We could hardly imagine Don paying a prostitute to hit him. That’s a silly, literal translation of Don’s low self-esteem. If getting slapped made people in advertising feel better about themselves, agencies would have S+M clientele on staff.
I miss the Don Draper of Season One. He wasn’t a perfect character, but I could understand him.
TBWA agencies take 2 Grand Prix’s and 67 Lions at Cannes 2010
TBWA Cannes 2010 Scorecard by @chiatdaynight
LOS ANGELES. BY HOLLY HODGES (CHIATDAYNIGHT) — Twenty TBWA agencies won 2 Grand Prix Awards and 67 Lions at Cannes in 2010. 134 TBWA entries were short-listed. Here is a rundown of the winners:
Lew’Lara\TBWA São Paulo — 3 Gold Lions, 1 Silver Lions, 8 Bronze Lions
TBWA\RAAD UAE — 6 Bronze Lions
TBWA\Chiat\Day, New York — 3 Gold Lion, 2 Silver Lions, 2 Bronze
TBWA\Paris — 2 Gold Lions, 3 Bronze Lions
TBWA\PHS, Helsinki — 2 Gold Lions, 2 Silver Lions
BDDP Unlimited, Paris — 1 Gold Lion
TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris, Johannesburg — 1 Gold Lion, 7 Silver Lions
Creative Juice\Bangkok — 1 Gold Lion, 2 Silver Lions, 1 Bronze Lion
TBWA\Chiat\Day, Los Angeles — 2 Grand Prix, 3 Gold Lions, 1 Silver Lion and 2 Bronze Lions
TBWA\NEBOKO, Amsterdam –- 2 Silver Lions
TBWA\Media Arts Lab — 3 Bronze Lions
TBWA\Vancouver — 4 Bronze Lions
TBWA\FREDERICK, Santiago — 2 Bronze Lions
ID\TBWA, Sâo Paulo — 1 Bronze Lion
TBWA\TEQUILA\DIGITAL\SHIFT, Auckland — 1 Bronze Lion
TEQUILA\LONDON — 1 Bronze Lion
