Our APG Project: There's a magical place, we're on our way there...

After 10 weeks of hard thought, graft, and (some) dicking about, APG is over. The project brief was how to launch Best Buy in the UK, when it comes over in 2010. We answered it with verve and bombast, including reverentially watching the old Toys 'R' Us ad in silence.

Here's my bit - a madman's ramblings about recession psychology.

A Big Idea For Best Buy

View more presentations from Vituperative.

(what the bloody hell happened to the font? Use your imagination)
But the real payoff came when Ramzi (Yakob. No relation - or is he?) took the stage and went off on a beautiful, utterly impromptu serenade about the universality and creative depth of our concept.

We didn't win. She did. But I had a really, really good time.

Enjoy!


Still gives me goosebumps.

Trail of Breadcrumbs 2: Trust!

Is it the subject matter? Is it the execution? Either way, this thing grabbed me.

Global Gathering have found an interesting way to reveal their lineup this year. Why should this even be an issue?

The truth lies in what it means to host an event. There is nothing, absolutely nothing to draw anyone to a music event, other than who is going to be there and the inpalpable nature of the crowd. The second one is your emotional draw, and is a branding job. The lineup, though. That's your meat. How to take the lid off the silver platter?

Most events have a fairly standard procedure for doing so - reveal most of the 'good' acts before sale date, and allow speculation and fever to build up around the identity of the headliners (promoters' note: this may very well be because the headliner hasn't confirmed, but that's another story). So it's a system of withheld information. But if this is only an strategy of patience, well, how is that interesting?

So GG wove the possibilities of interaction into it. Basically you drive the car, and every checkpoint reveals the identity of another headliner. That also gives you a little extra time, as does picking up fuel. Avoid cars and potholes.



The game is eminently playable. It has 4 buttons and 3 elements - not far from 'AVOID MISSING BALL FOR HIGH SCORE' (thanks Pong). You only go forward. The artists are not revealed in order of 'importance' so there's always motivation to keep trying - and yeah, I left unsatisfied with plenty left to uncover. I did discover the identity of a certain out-of-retirement duo that will guarantee I go, though.

It's simple, playable, and shareable. And there's a hell of a lot of bravery involved here. When was the last time you trusted consumers to use their skill to 'get' a piece of comms, let alone their intelligence>

Good job, Global Gathering!

P.S. I got 30th. Though that's certainly gone down by the time of post...

What if: Celebrities actually tried the things they endorsed?

MMMMUHHAAAAAAHtheFRENCH champagne.

I'm thirsty.

Nike Be Transformed

How great are these? I wish I was a girl. And lived in the asia-pacific economic region.



Statement from Nike:
For women wanting to experience their own transformation Nikewomen.com also offers a unique training program- the Nike Training Club. With Nike Training Club, customizable training programs can be created to target key areas and maximize dynamic training such as core, strength and cardio. The customizable program can be shared and downloaded to an iPhone/iPod touch®.
That'll be Nike+, then.



An enabling message combined with arresting, imaginative visuals is alright by me, thanks. And it beats the UK comms' obsession with football...

(thanks AKQA)

Beating a dead meme How-To

No

Yes

You wouldn't perform an AWESOMELY SWEET BANK ROBBERY...

Really really sorry for the lack of updates, everyone (mum), but it's been a busy time at work and it turns out moving to Lambeth takes a lot more effort than I thought.

But I still had time to notice this on an old DVD I got for christmas:



There aren't many adverts that actually the binary opposite of what they're intended to do, but here is one. How did this happen?

Ring, ring.

Hello, Federation Against Copyright Theft, how may I help you?
O hai this is ur agency. You want an advert abt d0wnloading and haxx0ring amirite?
That's right. I don't really understand the magic of advertising but I suppose you'll want to highlight the problems of downloading and de-emphasise the benefits?
Lol! No. Ya know what wld be 100% sw33t?
Is it, "achieving the purpose of our comms"?
We could have liek fast-cut camera shots, whip pans, and a kickin' rad Matrix soundtrack so that everyone knows that downloading is like being in Snatch. Totally kewl.
Um...
...except even better cause you can't be hurt! And if we don't show the faces of the peeps who get stolen from then it looks like a victimless crime!
Yes, but that isn't...
Oh oh AND then cut to a girl downloading something, and the download bar is filling up in abt 5 seconds even though she's torrented about 3 gigs of Heroes. We can make illegal downloading look not just danger-free, but rly rly quick and easy!
O rly?
Ya rly. And then BAM! The strapline... wait for it... Piracy. It's a crime.
Wow. That is totally mindblowing. My mind is, like, blown. Thankyou, agency, have some more money! :D

I'm firing up bittorrent tonight, just out of spite.

This is how you generate buzz, mate

Take a bow, Tourism Queensland. Fuck. You know the idea's special when you don't realise the damn thing's been sold to you until after you've bought it.

They're advertising for someone to take on 'the best job in the world'. They contend that this would consist of dicking about with the fishies and coral and generally having a good time around the Great Barrier Reef. Oh, but you do have to document it. A bit. Benefits include a million-quid beach house and respectable wage, to say the least.

"Hold on!" you cry, "this sounds like a prize, not a job!". Well, yeah, now that I read it back. But I didn't when I first saw it. I took it at face value (to my shame), because it was pitched so earnestly and well-toned. In the Vacancies section of the Metro. It's only when it reappeared as articles that I reconsidered.

Most people will have had more brains and spotted it for what it was, but there's still plenty going for this campaign:

-Its job angle seems strangely resonant considering the current employment situation.

-The idea that you actually do give something back to them adds a weight and sincerity to the proposition. It recognises the reality of the exchange - it is them who are looking for something from you.

-The uniqueness has allowed all the major press sites to pick up on it without feeling like they're prociding free publicity. Except that they are.

-It's a prize that pretty much anyone would want - and The Best Job In The World is pretty memorable. Punchy and confident.

I think this $1.7m campaign has the potential to work. It's based on a few sound insights and some cunning twists in the prize formula.

Apply at the sexual-practice-like http://www.islandreefjob.com/, and this could be your office.

Mate.

Well? Do ya?

So the 'Advanced Medical Institute' is ignoring the ASA's ruling that it must pull out early, with regard to the Longer Lasting Sex poster campaign. And this on the same week that Virgin Atlantic is applauded by others for its testostofest 25th anniversary campaign. Why is sex seen as a bit of harmless fun in some cases, degrading to our fragile minds in others? If anything, Virgin has offered a more graphic treatment of sex, while it is the AMI that have resorted to the abstraction of language:

The ASA is, in fact, slamming the ad for promoting a prescription product, which is undisputedly against guidelines. But can we believe that this has absolutely nothing to do with the 450 complaints received on grounds of taste? Personally, well done them for capturing attention (though using the word 'sex' is a bit of a gimmie), shame its a miss-sell. The controversy, if it can be fanned into a scandal, might generate even more notice. Whether you think that's a job well done is probably down to what you think advertising is for.