I Heart Stickers

For this post I thought I'd bring together a few sticker/adhesive sort of campaigns which probably fit under the ambient category (ambient advertising refers to pretty much any any kind of advertising that occurs in some non-standard medium outside the home). Most of these examples take advantage of their situation/positioning, making it part of the ad or joke. So here goes a few of my recent faves, in no particular order...

This one is by the mighty BBDO (Germany) for MediMax... as you can probly tell, the shaver moves as the articulated section of the bus rotates. Only a great (or very bored) mind would look at the articulated section of a bus and think to put an ad there. Super.

This one's by an agency called Marcel (Paris). Though it reduces the effectiveness of the mirror, it can't help but steal your attention - making you part of the ad. The next two examples work in a similar fashion. For the one below, your best seeing the two images in conjunction...

So yeah... clever huh? It's by Saatchi & Saatchi (Cape Town) for Save our Seas. Finally there's this one...

Its by Advico Y&R (Zurich) and is for Acat.ch who are campaigning to abolish torture. Again, this is an ad which utilizes it's position and does so in an unconventional way. I just wonder why I've never seen any ad of this sort first hand. Perhaps I'd see more of them if I went to London or something. I'd love it if each time I went out I saw ads like this, life would be so much more interesting (well... maybe not so much more but a little). 

P.S. Credit where credit is due, most of these ads are pillaged from a collection of blogs eg. I Believe in Adv and Osocio (more on Osocio soon). 

In terms of personal progress - I am still no nearer to finding a job for the year, though I have applied to Blockbuster, Loch Fyne Restaurant, Tesco and shit like that. Hopefully I will get something, then I can start writing some ads. I bought a book in 'Help the Aged' today by Edward DeBono on Lateral thinking (recommended reading for the Watford Course)... it's supposed to de-mystify the concept of 'creativity', pinning it down as something which can be taught, and thus learnt. Sounds a little dry, but I can't wait.

That's all for now. Stay tuned for a blog on 'Ads for change, not awards' and the notion of 'Brand Advocates' which is quite a new one to me! 

I'm learning... slowly.

Food for Thought

Okay, this post is just a few things I've seen lately that I liked the look of. It's a bit of a mish mash - few D&AD award hightlights, and a couple more to boot. Here we go. Firstly there this, which won a Yellow pencil in Art Direction (Poster Advertising). It's called 'Husky & Camel' (one in series) and it's by BBDO/Proximity Malaysia, for Jeep...

It's clear why this won itself some stationary - it's clever, simple, all the things an ad should be. It reminds me of the kind of thing you'd find in 'A Smile in the Mind', where 'getting it' is the whole satisfaction. Next up is 'Rose Campaign' by JWT for DeBeers, (a diamond retailer) one of the winners in the ambient category...

Makes you think how one well placed, engaging ambient ad can do a hell of a lot of work. Apparently it got DeBeers over 2.5 million dollars of free media coverage. Again, a clever yet simple idea well executed. Then there's this ad ('Rabbit') for Comcast by Goodby Silverstein and Partners which also won a Yellow Pencil.

Now, I don't much like this ad - the idea isn't as pure as in my other findings and, to be honest, it kinda creeps me out (maybe it's something to do with my irrational fear of hares)... but it's funny nonetheless! 

Besides the D&AD award winning personal faves, theres this one which I like a strange amount. It hit our UK screens not long ago and is by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO for....... well see if you can guess the brand before the end and you might see why I like it so much! 

They probably could have been really ground breaking and got away with not saying who the ad was for! It just reinforces how ubiquitous the brand really is. As a spokesperson for Heinz said, "This ad reminds consumers that Heinz Tomato Ketchup is so iconic and so irreplaceable that you don't have to see it to know what it is, when it comes to mealtimes it is your best mate." It also has a lot of humanity to it: the kid who uses too much; the bloke scraping the last bit out. I'm a sucker for humanity. So, I guess that's all for now. 

Suddenly I have a hunger for some chips (and a glass of juice)... 

Heg out.