The Mother of all taste tests. (Well it passed a few hours anyway.)

 

Again apologies to anyone who visits this regularly. I’ve been a bit rubbish lately.

Anyway, during an unbelievably slow day at work yesterday, I decided to subject my colleagues to a taste test. After reading some studies that suggested that the Average Joe could not tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi and that eventually they all came out about a 50-50 split as regards correct and incorrect answers. I decided to try this out.

After purchasing said drinks, I set up an experiment that involved tasting 50 cups of Coke or Pepsi (25 of each) a clipboard, a scoring chart and four “volunteers”. The preference stated was unanimously in Coke’s favour (sorry Mr Pepsi) and the taste test began. After much swishing and sloshing the following results were noted. Stephen and Michael (both smokers by the way) got 29/50 correct. So far so what. Bea got 35/50 but then she did call the Statue of Liberty “The Lady of Opera” the other day so we’re all unsure if she actually knew what was going on any way. But Kirsty absolutely aced it and got 50/50.

So in conclusion, we have somebody working for us that should either be in the perfumery business – as most taste is actually based on smell – or as those “Tasters” that decide when certain products are ready, especially in the wine and spirits sectors. Told you we were quiet.

Bouncing Bunnies and the Sony Bravia Ad

Well it’s here. And I’ve been away for a while. But it’s been worth the wait. (For the ad, not my ramblings). Who said claymation was dead? Anyway, here it is. And it’s just lovely.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLUAbkRUvVQ

Forever in Blue Jeans

Sorry for the radio silence recently, but it’s been busy round here. Anyway, since my last post I’ve been to my usual quota of gigs, but one stands out due to its sheer unexpectedness and it’s similarity to the waiting room to get into Scottish indie heaven.

So we pitched up at the Maryhill Community Centre Hall which isn’t in the most salubrious of areas or the most auspicious of starts but hey, I like that venue and once had the good fortune of seeing Glen Matlock play there too. But that’s another story.

Now, all we knew about this night was that it was going to be a tribute to Neil Diamond – I know, I know, but I had nothing else planned and anyone who can wear a corset and get away with it has to cool. Right? Oh.

So we got in, finally got our tickets after I managed to forget the name of the girl who put tickets aside for us, got our drinks and milled around marveling at just how many people were there. Now to cut a very long set up short, I’m just going to name a few of the people that played. So we had a bit of Belle and Sebastian, Eugene Kelly from the Vaselines, Douglas T Stewart from the BMX Bandits, The Parsonage, Teenage Fanclub members pitched in and even stinky Phil Kay was there just dancing around. God put some deodorant on man! There were more people from various Scottish bands and from the C86 scene and they were all singing Neil Diamond songs and all for the princely sum of a fiver.

Ah, Scottish Indie Heaven indeed.

New Sony Bravia Ad (Update)

I told you I’d update you all when I got any more information about the latest Fallon spot for Sony Bravia. Although it turns out there’s not much to report really. But as promised, here are some pics of the making of the making of. If you know what I mean. Sigh.

Safe or Brave?

When reading the advertising press recently, it struck me that there’s a constant stream of comment and editorial bemoaning the general state of advertising in this country. The same themes are talked about, a lack of creativity, samey ads, stereotypical caricatures of “real” people and the dumbing down of anything that the masses won’t immediately “get”.

There are comparatively few campaigns that have the ability to stop people in their tracks any more, and I feel that the industry in general has got a whole lot more conservative. We’ve been having problems recently in getting concepts through that the public wouldn’t “get” straight away. But does there have to be an instant understanding of what you see/hear/interact with? Take the Cadbury’s gorilla ad. Imagine telling your Account Handler that a drumming gorilla is the way forward? Most wouldn’t even dream of presenting it to the client. Well done to Cadbury’s by the way.  And how about the Orbit campaign? It’s funny and it gets across the message that plaque is invisible and you can’t fight it on your own. But try telling your boss that you’ll definitely need some Flamenco guitar in the background to really set the ad off.

There seems to be a culture that creatives are there to be reined in. And that results in ads that could’ve been good but are a bit, well, blah. Go on, trust us. You won’t be disappointed and you definitely won’t be bored. I mean, just why hasn’t anyone approached Simon Weston with a view to launching his own range of barbecue grills and cooking utensils? I mean, he carried the Commonwealth flame for Manchester for goodness sake. At arm’s length mind, and my, did he deliver that flame quickly.

Anyway, I’ve always wanted to open an exhibition of failed ads, but instead of explaining what the ads are on that wee bit of safmat/foamex/card, I’d give the reason why the Account Handler or client rejected them. My favourite ever reason for a client rejecting an ad concept was, and I quote, “I like the headline and the picture, but I’m not sure people know how to read Latin nowadays.” Anyway, here’s one of the Orbit ads for you to enjoy. Lovely. Alan. 

An Affiliate Manager, a PPC Manager and an SEO Manager walk into a bar…

I know. Everyone’s heard this one. But it’s the way I tell ‘em.

So a few nights ago a few of my friends went out for a drink, and as usual, the talk soon got very technical and started to revolve around the interweb. Now I’ll be honest and admit that my knowledge when it comes to such matters is pretty poor. I have a very vague understanding of how the worlds of Affiliate, PPC and SEO all work but it’s more like my understanding of how a photocopier works (now that really is magic) and nothing that really gets into the whole technicalities of each sector.

So anyway, we got talking about different ad campaigns, their relative merits and how we felt about them – bearing in mind that one of the group hates everything unless it begins with Dinosaur and ends with Jr – and it came round to that interweb buzz word, measurability. I was more or less shouted down when I suggested that I didn’t think that every single part of a campaign had to be totally quantifiable. Even to the extent that some of my friends wouldn’t use TV, Print or Outdoor advertising for any ad campaign because they’d have no real idea of the effectiveness of the campaign.

This troubles me somewhat.

I mentioned that I thought completely integrated campaigns were/is/are/will be the way forward but this was met with a “you’re just trying to justify your job” comment. Or are they trying to justify theirs? Dun. Dun. Daaaaaaaaaah.

I can see how some products don’t necessarily need a huge presence in the “real” world, but is having your campaign 100% online for good not a wee bit dangerous? As Jack Nicholson would say, “Why can’t we all just,…get along?” Well, I just put this post up to elicit debate. Comments please.

Rabbit. Rabbit. White Rabbit.

 

This post has got nothing to do with my usual themes but it’s formed a fair part of my day today and I just want to share. I’m good like that.

Anyway, apparently, on the first of every month, you should wake and utter the words “Rabbits. Rabbits.”And you shall then be bestowed with good luck for the rest of the month. At least, that’s the simple version.

After a little bit of investigation, it turns out that there are endless variations of the rabbits rabbits lucky superstition. Here are a few more examples. It works better if you read them out to friends and colleagues, especially if they’re trying to concentrate on something. I’ve never said the word rabbit so much in my life. Well, apart from that Chas ‘n’ Dave Tribute Karaoke Night.

adidas Consortium Sneaker Pack

Oh dear Lord they’re so beautiful. Identified by a small gold lace eyelet, custom box and insole, the Consortium Series launched in June (a wee bit late by all accounts) and I’ve already seen two pairs that I may have to kill for. First up are the Grand Slam Oddity edition which I really love – unusual for me as they’re predominately white and I can’t abide white sneaks – anyway, I’m still humming and hawing over whether I should purchase as I might have to buy the ZX8000 Monaco version instead. Or both.

Limited to 300 – 500 pairs in each design, they’ll only be sold at Tier One stores like DQM, Foot Patrol, Huf etc so they’ll be super difficult to get your hands on. I do accept Luncheon Vouchers by the way.

I thought Phil Collins was a gorilla, but seriously…

Wowzers. I guess by now you’ve seen the new Cadbury’s Dairy Milk ad. If you haven’t, it’s just so bizarre but I actually really like it. Imagine trying to sell that one to the client though? There’s more to come in a similar vein too apparently and there’s been a healthy debate at work about its relative merits.

Thankfully, I don’t have to go into my colleagues’ opinions as I’m not the BBC, but my final point is – when was the last time a chocolate bar got you talking? I’m guessing it was the whole Marianne Faithful incident.

View the milk chocolate madness here

Wax on, wax off. Wax on, wax off. Wax on, wax off.

The sobering Ying to his raging Yang, the dynamic duo of Mr Miyagi and Daniel San drop-kicked, crane-kicked and waxed their way through the 80s with their subtle blend of Zen calm and action-packed fight scenes. And before you think you’ve stumbled across an IMDB synopsis by mistake, I’d better tell you that it’s all for a little ad for my current employers.

Note the misty eyes and the aspirational aura that even the thought of working with Red Cell gives these reluctant urban warriors. Hyeee Ya.

View the Karate Kid ad here