Advertising
Credit where it's due

Credit where it’s due

John Lewis on London’s Oxford Street. Image courtesy of Timothygareth This is the new John Lewis ad from Adam & Eve. I guess in a way is easypeasy to create emotional advertising for John Lewis, after all thats what we got in spades last Christmas with the ‘sweet child of mine’ spot. Trickier to do...
Are Superbowl really that super?

Are Superbowl really that super?

Image courtesy of BeckyAV This is an article I wrote in the week after the Superbowl. So it lacks a little in the topical department. Thought I’d post it anyway. In the distant past when advertising was a simpler and somewhat more lucrative business the wine bars of Adland would fizz with excitement every third...

Childline campaign

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The Childline remixing tool

We have created a new campaign for the NSPCC aimed at making Childline a part of the fabric of children's lives. The idea is to encourage children to express their emotions and to position Childline as the place they can do this freely with immediate...

Brand new Visa ad

This is the new Visa commerical supporting their sponsorship of the Fifa World Cup in South Africa this summer. It was written by Xander Smith and Jonathan Santana, planned by Martin Smith and Directed by Chris Palmer through Gorgeous.

Is it me?

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Image courtesy of Josh.Brastead

This website is usually known for its thoughtful opinion and considered approach. But I am having a Superbowl moratorium on well argued polemic. Is it me or were all the ads in the Superbowl complete arse? For christ sake if that is the best creative work...

More sex please, were British

More sex please, were British

Image courtesy of Dave Gorman I have long believed that advertising is not a profession. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not embarrassed about what we do and I certainly have little sympathy with the sentiment of that terrible old joke. You know the in which someone asks that his mother is not told that he...

Josh’s Band

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In the Autumn we went out and about on behalf of T-Mobile and asked people what they would do if they had free texts and internet for life - which is what you get as a T-Mobile Pay As You Go customer that regularly tops up.

And in the course of...

Shock and awe

Shock and awe

From 30 ways to shock yourself. Image courtesy of Bre Pettis If there is one enduring fascination the mainstream media has in our business it is with shock advertising and specifically whether shock advertising actually works. Other preoccupations of the journalistic classes come and go – greenwash, teaser campaigns, neuroscience and the like – but...
Who is to blame?

Who is to blame?

Image courtesy of Planoscorpio Say what you like about Cannes but at its best it still serves as a barometer for where our industry and our product is heading. Most notably the Titanium shortlist, packed as it is with the coolest work from the coolest agencies and representing the new creative dividend that is on...
Brand respsonse - a case of having your cake and eating it

Brand respsonse – a case of having your cake and eating it

Image courtesy of Blake E. Marquis. Eddie Izzard has a standup routine about how useless the Church of England would have been at the Spanish Inquisition, because everyone appearing before it would have been given the option of cake or death. Naturally most people end up choosing the cake option.
How come Sainsbury's is doing so well and Tesco isn't?

How come Sainsbury’s is doing so well and Tesco isn’t?

Image courtesy of avlxyz. I love Facebook. But its not often I stumble across a real revelation there. Not so a couple of weeks ago when a feed from Paul Mcenany’s excellent blog heehawmarketing popped up between the updates on the previous evenings inebriations and indiscretions.

Nostalgia Blackmail

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Image courtesy of Old School Paul

One of the defining features of this recession is the number of brands immersing themselves in utterly self-indulgent nostalgia trips in a desperate attempt to curry favour with increasingly cynical consumers.