Monthly Archives: February 2012

Feb 29 2012
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24. Listen Up

Quotes color coordinated with the professionals.by Lauren Loos

In case you missed it, this is Creative Strategy Winter 2012. This is a collection of important quotes to live by from highly intelligent professionals that gave their time to enhance our education. The quotes are color coordinated with the professional that said it. Thank you to all these amazing people: Deborah Morrison(UO), Dan Wieden(Wieden+Kennedy), Scott Bedbury(Brandstream), Rachel Hom(72andSunny), Kelly Meyers(Code and Theory), Bruce Mau(BMD), Doug Zanger(Ad Week), Jon Steel(WPP Fellowship), John Cage, Marcelino Alvarez(Wieden+Kennedy), and Katie Brennan(COMMON).

Feb 27 2012
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Advertising

23. Red Bull Wings from the Drink or the Brand?

Brands, brand equity, brands “doing good,” brands screwing up, brands inspiring, brands annoying…

Basically, brands are always doing.

A great example of this is Red Bull and their Launchpad. The project begins with people submitting a 30 second video to the Launchpad site that explains an idea they want to see happen; “Here’s a chance to do what has never been done before. Make it big. Make it bold. Make it before someone else does.” The uploaded video clips will go through voting to see which idea will be brought to life.

The project idea lives up to their motto, “Red Bull Gives You Wings.” Finally Red Bull has left the cartoon campaign of old men with wings flying around the screen chugging the energy drinks. Their new campaign, Launchpad, is more realistic and focuses on inspiring athletes and doing the impossible. With the Launchpad project idea, Red Bull tells you they can make your dream come true whether it’s on a court or something impossible you want to see happen.

Here is one of the Red Bull commercials off their new campaign.

(Song – “Outro” by M83)

The campaign has definitely changed my outlook on their brand for the better.

I may not drink Red Bull but I feel this brand has given me some wings.

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Feb 26 2012
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Thoughts

22. Reasons for the Z’s

Visual.ly is a great supply of infographics and data visualizations. Frugal Dad created the infographic below.

“This infographic showcases some studies on just how dangerous—and costly—sacrificing sleep can be, and it concludes with some facts on how you can try and improve your sleep quality if it’s something you struggle with.”
 

 

On that note, goodnight.

 

 

Feb 25 2012
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Thoughts

21. Tiger Woods Perfect at Something

He may not be a role model but maybe a race model.

Now before your palms start to sweat and you stop reading due to the uncomfortable topic of race, relax. I’m just thinking out loud. While sitting in my Comparative Literature class my Professor brought up a quote from one of his students of another class. The quotation was something like “Tiger Woods is the perfect example of the future ethnicity of the world.”  This idea hit me like I had just been introduced to a talking dog, confused but intrigued. The student’s thoughts were that the unity of all ethnic groups will eventually lead to a universal race. Tiger Woods was the perfect example being his race half Asian (one-quarter Chinese and one-quarter Thai), one-quarter African-American, one-eighth Native American, and one-eighth Dutch. On the Oprah show he referred to his ethnicity as “Cablinasian.“

Courtesy of Hunger

This idea of Tiger Woods got me thinking, is a universal race really possible? And is it possible in our world’s future?  We have made drastic changes in society in a short amount of time with civil rights and multiracial advocacy. Yes, anything is possible but will we really abolish all racial issues and become universal? Only time will tell.

A world of a billion Tiger Woods running around, hmm scary?…or sexy?

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Feb 22 2012
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Advertising

20. Ads of the Past that Would Not Fly Today

(“Pears Soap- now with such a soothing lather, you won’t notice that your baby has gotten into a horrible accident!”)

- Special thanks to RetroComedy.com and Leon Watson, Mail Online.

It’s crazy to think that these ads were acceptable in society at one point. I would love to somehow be a fly on the wall during these time periods and observe society’s reaction to these ads first-hand. Well, at least we learn from our mistakes.

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Feb 20 2012
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What's Poppin'

19. An Editor’s Unforgivable Mistake

Photo Credit: Rob Carr/Getty Images

Jeremy Lin, the New York Knicks’ unexpected talent, has been hitting headlines, search engines, YouTube replays, and sports gossip across the country for the past couple weeks creating “Linsanity.” Most of the talk had been positive until Lin had an unsuccessful game on Friday, February 17th when the Knicks lost to the Hornets 85-89. Lin’s 9 turnovers led to an unacceptable headline made by an ESPN editor reading: “Chink in the Armor.” Antonio Federico, the editor behind the offensive headline, was fired Sunday just hours after the headline was discovered.

The sad part about this racial remark is that it wasn’t ESPNs first time using the word in their stories headlines. They had been called out about using related offensive language during the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing on a story about the US basketball team. Point is, learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of others. And always edit, edit and EDIT!

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Feb 20 2012
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Advertising

18. Creativity for Change

In Brazil only 5% of Brazilians speak English. Ogilvy Brazil decided to do something to promote the education of English for kids in Brazil. At an English-language school called Red Balloon, Ogilvy got the kids to creatively use English. Ogilvy asked the kids what they wanted to be when they grow up. Ogilvy helped translate the responses into English and created a personal kids business card for each. The point was to show that all dreams begin with English. The kids were so proud of their colorful and fun cards that they shared them with friends, families and neighbors. It created a “workforce of 12,000 kids.”

I saw this ad while stumbling through The Ads of the World and it reminded me of the advice from Carson York in my Creative Strategy class. Carson explained the importance of companies doing good for the world and how it’s not about covering up mistakes but about building brand equity and leverage ahead of time in case mistakes happen. Carson says you must back up the company’s mission statement with action that benefits many people, more than just the initial parties involved.  Ogilvy changed the lives and goals of many children in Brazil by providing a base to start dreaming about their future with the influence of the English-language.

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Feb 12 2012
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Advertising

17. “Cultivate a Better World”

Chipotle’s “Back to The Start” short film aired during this years 2012 Grammy Award show. The advertising agency was CAA with the help of Chipotle. The production company behind the brilliance was Nexus Productions. Willie Nelson’s version of Cold Play’s “The Scientist” complimented the ad perfectly.

It’s about time that food brands start to promote a sustainable future. Way to lead by example, Chipotle!

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Feb 12 2012
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Advertising

16. Ad War: Google Chrome vs. Bing

Google Chrome‘s tear-jerker commercials have been hitting hearts for almost a year now. “Make It Happen” is their most recent ad on television.  While watching the Grammy‘s, this ad grabbed my attention above all the other expensive commercials. This ad is the definition of connecting to the culture of its target audience; which includes anyone with internet. The ad was made with clips of viral videos, Google searches, and common actions on the Internet, like planning trips, emails and homework. The ad gives viewers a special feeling of connection to the content. When viewers see a viral video that they have personally seen on their own, it makes them feel as if they were “in” on an “inside joke.” The viewers can then laugh with the ad and feel as if they are up-to-date with the Internets treasures.

Google Chrome’s ad also brings in the famous action of “google it.” The words typed in to the search bar in the commercial was “be a better dad.” With the technology of Google, we can “google” practically anything and get a related result. The key to this ad is how well all the clips relate to the viewers. This humanizes the company and allows the viewer to feel comfortable with the brand.

Another great one by Google Chrome is Dear Sophie.

Bing is the competing search engine with Google. Since Google Chrome has been coming out with inspirational and story-telling ads, Bing felt the need to bring in their own style of narrative ads. Inputting the “ing” in the same type as Bing was creative but I don’t feel it supplies the viewers with an understanding of what Bing can really do, compared to the Google Chrome ads.

I feel Google Chrome is winning the war. Suit up Bing, this war is never-ending.

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Feb 12 2012
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Advertising

15. Spike and Wacca Present: Microchipping

Here is a public service announcement that I created for my Journalism class.

Don’t forget to microchip your pets!

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