Caffeinated posts from a copywriter/adgrunt. I write about advertising, design, astronomy, cooking, and pretty much anything else that strikes my fancy, including random bits of reference info for work purposes. You may also know me as 'that other gal' who helps run Adland. | make contact | RSS Feed | ATOM
Sunday, January 18, 2009
[ 5 Reasons Your Creative Might Not Be Innovative ]
+ Innovative advertising takes much more than just a spectacular creative idea. The philosophy of creating communications that wow has to be a group decision, whether that decision is a conscious one as an extension of the brand itself, or something that takes much debate to make a reality.
1) From the start, the strategy has to support a creative and innovative approach or idea. This helps insure that the client is open to the way of thinking and that come time to present the ideas - they are not completely shocked with anger or disappointed. (NOTE: Making the client uncomfortable is not a bad thing, my point is that it's not good to go in with something so unexpected that they get pissy).
2) The creative team has to look at unusual and unorthodox ideas that reach the target in an authentic and unique way. It's helpful to have the creative team work with media at this point as well to discuss the media vehicles to best distribute the messaging/creative.
3) The account team has to back the idea and see the value in it. The creative team needs the support of the account team, especially if the client is not on-board from the start. Starting with a strategy that supports this way of thinking from the beginning is a sign that this way of thinking is understood throughout the members of the team across disciplines.
4) The client needs to understand the value of doing something ground-breaking, innovative, etc. This is another reason why starting with the strategy is so important. As the brief for the project should reflect this thinking, and the client must sign off on it prior to starting the project, it means they know what they are getting into and their expectations are set for something incredible and non-vanilla.
5) The media team has to have a solid understanding of how to best execute this thinking and extend the innovation, as necessary, to the type of media buy. Again, this is why having the media team and the creative teams meet up during the brainstorming or at some point while coming up with ideas is key.
If there's one thing to take away from this, it's to make sure everyone is looking to do great work. It only takes one piece of the entire puzzle to be missing and you end up with the mediocre work that is 99% of what we see in advertising, be it traditional, digital, etc.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
[ Watch Super Bowl Ads All Weekend ]
+ Want to get prepped for the upcoming Super Bowl ad fest? Well then, stop reading this drivel and get yourself to Adland!
We're talking 36 YEARS folks. I this FedEx spot, ""We Apologize" aired 1998 and is probably one of my all-time favorites.
Go on, whet your appetite for advertising.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
[ Crazy "girlie" ad ]
+ So what do you think of GlaxoSmithKline’s Lactacyd vaginal cream ad created by Grey Amsterdam?
It's different, I'll give it that. But do I really need to see the "kitty" POV? I would say that I'm somewhat surprised that the ad was created by a female creative team. Seems something more that the guys would come up with...at least on first pass. And as someone pointed out, it's not really clear what the benefit of the product is or why you should use it.
Friday, January 02, 2009
[ This and That: 01.02.09 ]
+ Five Second Test - The five second test is a simple usability test that helps you measure the effectiveness of your user interfaces. So help out a designer and give some good karma :)
Who's Talkin' is a neat metasearch engine that aggregates results from blogs and blog comments, news sites, social networks, video hubs, images, forums, tag sites from over 60 sites such as Technorati, IceRocket, Google Blog Search, Friendfeed, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. Site is currently in beta, but pretty cool and a nice tool to use to keep track of your brands. (hat tip: micropersuasion)
Round up of 2008 ad campaigns from USA Today and the NYTimes
[ 7 Things ]
+ Yes, my first post of 2009 (and first post in a while) is a meme. Been tagged by the loverly the girl riot(TM). So, I guess I should list off the 7 things about me then I get to tag 7 others. Woot. Funnily enough, I just did a 16 things about me (must be a popular time of the year for these lists). Better narrow it down to the most interesting or whatever.
#1) When I started college, I was a Marine Biology major. That lasted one semester. There were way to many crazy premed kids in my classes. I realized that I'd spend about 3 1/2 years in the same classes and after seeing fellow students have break downs in their *first semester*, I thought it was a good idea to explore other career paths. I took a variety of classes my second semester and really fell in love with advertising. It just seemed right. Take that however you will. ;)
#2) The list of places I'd like to visit before I die is massive. MASSIVE. Seriously. The world is such an awesome and interesting place, and I want to experience all of it. It sometimes makes me think I'd be better off as an flight attendant, but then I think again, and realize that if I had to spend all that time on an airplane, I'd go crazy (ok, crazier).
#3) I likes to cook and bake for people. I'll take any excuse I can to do some cookery. I'm not amazing at it, but I'm trying. For 2009, I want to try making my own breads.
#4) I'm weird about music. Often I have no idea who sings what song, but I know if I like it. Depending on my mood, I tend to listen to different things, from Mozart to Red Hot Chili Peppers to The Beatles. It makes for very interesting listening when I put my ipod on shuffle. ;)
#5) Some days, I find the Internet overwhelms me and I just want to hide in a corner.
#6) I grew up on both the West and East coasts.
#7) I have not traveled the Southern states at all. Last year (2008) was the first time I went to Florida, and beyond that, I have not been further south than D.C. or New Mexico.
And now to tag some folks.
@adtothebone : AdToTheBone
@texturl : texturl.net
@KevinMGreen : Socially Adept
@purplesime : purplesimon
@griner : TheSocialPath
@deeped : DeepEdition
@dirkthecow : ThisIsHerd
THE RULES:
* Link to your original tagger(s) and list these rules in your post.
* Share seven facts about yourself in the post.
* Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
* Let them know they’ve been tagged
[ 5 Reasons Your Creative Might Not Be Innovative ]
+ Innovative advertising takes much more than just a spectacular creative idea. The philosophy of creating communications that wow has to be a group decision, whether that decision is a conscious one as an extension of the brand itself, or something that takes much debate to make a reality.
1) From the start, the strategy has to support a creative and innovative approach or idea. This helps insure that the client is open to the way of thinking and that come time to present the ideas - they are not completely shocked with anger or disappointed. (NOTE: Making the client uncomfortable is not a bad thing, my point is that it's not good to go in with something so unexpected that they get pissy).
2) The creative team has to look at unusual and unorthodox ideas that reach the target in an authentic and unique way. It's helpful to have the creative team work with media at this point as well to discuss the media vehicles to best distribute the messaging/creative.
3) The account team has to back the idea and see the value in it. The creative team needs the support of the account team, especially if the client is not on-board from the start. Starting with a strategy that supports this way of thinking from the beginning is a sign that this way of thinking is understood throughout the members of the team across disciplines.
4) The client needs to understand the value of doing something ground-breaking, innovative, etc. This is another reason why starting with the strategy is so important. As the brief for the project should reflect this thinking, and the client must sign off on it prior to starting the project, it means they know what they are getting into and their expectations are set for something incredible and non-vanilla.
5) The media team has to have a solid understanding of how to best execute this thinking and extend the innovation, as necessary, to the type of media buy. Again, this is why having the media team and the creative teams meet up during the brainstorming or at some point while coming up with ideas is key.
If there's one thing to take away from this, it's to make sure everyone is looking to do great work. It only takes one piece of the entire puzzle to be missing and you end up with the mediocre work that is 99% of what we see in advertising, be it traditional, digital, etc.
Labels: adgruntie, agency, creative, inspiration, wisdom, work
Saturday, January 17, 2009
[ Watch Super Bowl Ads All Weekend ]
+ Want to get prepped for the upcoming Super Bowl ad fest? Well then, stop reading this drivel and get yourself to Adland!
We're talking 36 YEARS folks. I this FedEx spot, ""We Apologize" aired 1998 and is probably one of my all-time favorites.
Go on, whet your appetite for advertising.
Labels: adgruntie, adland, commercial, fun, Super Bowl, watch
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
[ Crazy "girlie" ad ]
+ So what do you think of GlaxoSmithKline’s Lactacyd vaginal cream ad created by Grey Amsterdam?
It's different, I'll give it that. But do I really need to see the "kitty" POV? I would say that I'm somewhat surprised that the ad was created by a female creative team. Seems something more that the guys would come up with...at least on first pass. And as someone pointed out, it's not really clear what the benefit of the product is or why you should use it.
Labels: ad review, adgruntie, commercial, creative
Friday, January 02, 2009
[ This and That: 01.02.09 ]
+ Five Second Test - The five second test is a simple usability test that helps you measure the effectiveness of your user interfaces. So help out a designer and give some good karma :)
Who's Talkin' is a neat metasearch engine that aggregates results from blogs and blog comments, news sites, social networks, video hubs, images, forums, tag sites from over 60 sites such as Technorati, IceRocket, Google Blog Search, Friendfeed, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. Site is currently in beta, but pretty cool and a nice tool to use to keep track of your brands. (hat tip: micropersuasion)
Round up of 2008 ad campaigns from USA Today and the NYTimes
Labels: ad news, ad review, adgruntie, branding, interactive, online advertising, social networking, twitter, web
posted @ 4:55 PM | Link to This | 
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2 comments
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2 comments
Comments:
Hey there! Thanks so much for talking about WhosTalkin.com! Feel Free to email me any thoughts or ideas that you might have joe@whostalkin.com
As long as five seconds ... ?
By 
On the Money, at
4:54 PM
[ 7 Things ]
+ Yes, my first post of 2009 (and first post in a while) is a meme. Been tagged by the loverly the girl riot(TM). So, I guess I should list off the 7 things about me then I get to tag 7 others. Woot. Funnily enough, I just did a 16 things about me (must be a popular time of the year for these lists). Better narrow it down to the most interesting or whatever.
#1) When I started college, I was a Marine Biology major. That lasted one semester. There were way to many crazy premed kids in my classes. I realized that I'd spend about 3 1/2 years in the same classes and after seeing fellow students have break downs in their *first semester*, I thought it was a good idea to explore other career paths. I took a variety of classes my second semester and really fell in love with advertising. It just seemed right. Take that however you will. ;)
#2) The list of places I'd like to visit before I die is massive. MASSIVE. Seriously. The world is such an awesome and interesting place, and I want to experience all of it. It sometimes makes me think I'd be better off as an flight attendant, but then I think again, and realize that if I had to spend all that time on an airplane, I'd go crazy (ok, crazier).
#3) I likes to cook and bake for people. I'll take any excuse I can to do some cookery. I'm not amazing at it, but I'm trying. For 2009, I want to try making my own breads.
#4) I'm weird about music. Often I have no idea who sings what song, but I know if I like it. Depending on my mood, I tend to listen to different things, from Mozart to Red Hot Chili Peppers to The Beatles. It makes for very interesting listening when I put my ipod on shuffle. ;)
#5) Some days, I find the Internet overwhelms me and I just want to hide in a corner.
#6) I grew up on both the West and East coasts.
#7) I have not traveled the Southern states at all. Last year (2008) was the first time I went to Florida, and beyond that, I have not been further south than D.C. or New Mexico.
And now to tag some folks.
@adtothebone : AdToTheBone
@texturl : texturl.net
@KevinMGreen : Socially Adept
@purplesime : purplesimon
@griner : TheSocialPath
@deeped : DeepEdition
@dirkthecow : ThisIsHerd
THE RULES:
* Link to your original tagger(s) and list these rules in your post.
* Share seven facts about yourself in the post.
* Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
* Let them know they’ve been tagged
Labels: fun, social networking, trends
posted @ 2:03 PM | Link to This | |
4 comments
|
4 comments
Comments:
This post has been removed by the author.
Well let me know if you'd like a VIP tour of Alabama on your inevitable pass through the South.
By David Griner, at
4:04 PM
Thanks! I will definitely take you up on that - if not ask for a list of all the best places to fuel up on good Southern cooking :)
Wow, I've finally gotten around to actually writing out these 7 things! Sorry about the wait! You can read it here!
I hope you find it interesting! Now, try and get some lunch around, you know, lunchtime! :D
purplesimon out...
By 
purplesimon, at
5:19 AM
Cup of Java © 2002-2009
keep on using that brain.