Crabbit Copy

What do art directors do?

2012-01-05T16:00:00.000Z

That's a cool ad

2012-01-03T18:27:00.001Z

Things have been quiet

2011-11-24T18:35:00.001Z

Sorry. Not much has been happening on here of late. I promised a follow up QR code blog (which is in the pipeline) but as it's been over a month in coming I felt I should put a stop-gap in place until its appearance.

Things have been a bit slow of late because I've been concentrating on a different kind of writing; the utterly engulfing world of creative writing. I started a course at the end of September at the Uni of Edinburgh in an effort to get my ample arse in gear, and have been furiously scribbling down snippets of stories, poems and I-have-no-idea-what-you-are things in an attempt to learn how to write creatively.

Let me just point out right now that creative writing is NOT THE SAME as copywriting. Oh no. It's a different beast entirely. I'm still trying to figure it out after three months and I'm still nowhere near sorted. In fact, I don't think I'm even off the starting block.

Also, my stuff is absolutely crap. But that's fine. You need to start in a world of crapness to get good. Otherwise how will you ever learn? Right?

I had a chat with a well-established screen writer a few weeks ago and told him about my attempts at becoming something other than a copy monkey. However, I have not idea yet what it is that I am aiming for.

He told me that it took him four years to learn his craft, and another three to figure out where he was going with it.

So a three month flounder doesn't seem so bad after all. If you've got any writers' tips for me, please do share. I need all the help I can get!

The great QR code experiment number 1

2011-09-26T22:12:00.001+01:00

It's been (un)interesting to hear and read all about the latest craze that is sweeping Marketing-Land. The QR code has exploded onto the advertising scene and it would appear that every Tom, Dick and Harry has been jumping on the bandwagon, plastering plukey little squares in the corner of every piece of creative out there.

Don't know what a QR code is? Don't fret, around two thirds of punters don't have a scooby what they are either. This is a QR code:

They're really visually attractive, eh? I bet art directors just loooove putting these on top of a beautiful photo that took a whole day to capture.

In order to use a QR code, you need to have a smartphone with a QR reader application installed. (Never mind that over 60% of the population don't have smartphones, and of the remaining lot that do have one, most don't even know what the jumble of black and white even means. Let's just ignore the fact that most people can't even access a code to begin with, therefore removing the vast majority of an average advertiser's customer base. It's fine to ignore your customers' behaviours when novelty call to actions make an appearance. Honest.)

So. The idea is to open the smartphone application and then scan it over a code in order for it to take you to a website address. That's what a QR code does. It's an alternative for a web address.

In case you haven't guessed already, I am not an advocate of these squares. However, I felt it was only fair to do a test to see whether these things have any merit. If my test was fruitful, I'd have to concede that QR codes are indeed useful and there is a genuine reason for having a monochrome square of 8-bit vomit at the corner of an ad.

I did try to be impartial when I was doing this. Seriously. I've done two experiments in total so far. Number 2 is for another post.

QR Code Experiment Number 1

Picture this. I'm on a packed ScotRail train on its way through to Glasgow. I spy an ad across the way from where I'm sitting with a QR code. This is ideal for a real-life test. The scene looks a little like this:

Okay, this photo is not ideal. But I was sitting opposite a woman (you can just see her head) and I spotted the QR code at the bottom left of the ad. This is a typical situation where a code has been used on a piece of print advertising.

So, now I need to either type in the web address that's on the ad with my smartphone (quick and painless), or take a photo of the QR code at the bottom of the ad. As this is a code experiment, I am clearly going to brandish my phone and attempt to take a scan of it. There's just a slight problem. There's a woman in the way, and she's looking at me like I'm a creepy nutter attempting to photograph her. Which, in a lot of ways, is kind of true. So I decide to wait in order to avoid being arrested.

Ah-hah! Now she's left (you can still see her looking at me like I'm mental) and the seat is vacant so I can take a scan of the code. As we can all see, the code is not going to be picked up by the smartphone from where I'm sitting. I MUST GET CLOSER.

This is a bit better. Now I'm standing up and leaning a wee bit over the table, waving my smartphone about in an attempt to get reception and sort my reader app out. Nearly there... Let the scanning commence!

Despite the space-age reader, it's not working. I'm still too far away. So I need to get closer. I need to get so close that I have to practically snog the David Mach spikey screaming face. I'm wearing low-slung jeans on the day of the QR Code Experiment Number 1, but this is definitely a bad idea as I end up mooning my fellow passengers with ass-crack because I'm leaning over the table so much in a desperate attempt to capture this code.

I get so excited when the code finally works that I forget to screen shot it. You'll need to forgive me. Suffice to say, it eventually works, but the code needs to get to the full size of the phone screen. Still, at least a relevant and informative webpage will soon be presented to me. (Let's just forget that all the information I actually needed was already on the ad.)

Ah, lovely. Despite QR codes being formatted for smartphones, I have not landed on a mobile friendly page. It's formatted for normal web browsers. Never mind, let's negotiate this anyway. There are TWO different links to a David Mach exhibition; I don't know which one is the advertised show. Upon click through to both events, there is no extra info that was not already contained on the ad.

Great. I've just spent five minutes staring out a stranger, waving my phone about like an idiot and displaying my arse to the train. And I didn't even get any more information!

Out of interest, here's the page I'd have landed on if I'd just typed in the web address on the phone browser:

Okay, it's still not formatted for mobile web, but the David Mach exhibition is on the front page, there's only one link (less confusing) and in order to get here I did not have to faff about one bit.

What have I gained from this QR code experience? A cold arse.

I have had a nose at the bit.ly link that the code is aligned to and there have been 209 referrals to the website so far; however I don't have a breakdown of the QR code percentage (and no idea of bounce rate etc). So still no clear idea of whether this is working... Do you think this is this proving a successful referral mechanism? Maybe my experience isn't the norm?

What do you think of these codes? I'm always interested in hearing the pros and cons of ad stuff...

Meeee Owwww

2011-09-12T20:48:00.002+01:00

Say hello to the newest members of the family. We welcomed Rebus and Marley into my Mum's abode at the weekend. They're two enormous cats; I'm expecting them to beat up my shins some time soon.

Rebus, named after the nosey Scottish detective. He's fat and friendly.

Marley doesn't have any dreadlocks. I think he needs to listen to some reggae to mellow out.

Why am I showing you photos of cats?Well, it is the interwebs after all. It was bound to happen sometime.

One important question still remains, however. DO THEY HAVE OPPOSABLE THUMBS?!

Here's an ad featuring cats with opposable thumbs in it. Genius.

P.S. If you're a fan of felines and are in the Edinburgh area, get along to Lothian Cat Rescue. They've got dozens of abandoned kitties that need love and affection, so make them your first port of call for cat-related purchases.

Let England Shake

2011-09-05T20:16:00.000+01:00

Have you listened to this album yet? No? Here it is, listen to it. It's the best stuff I've heard for absolutely ages.

If you don't really know much about PJ Harvey (who I saw at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall last night; the fifth time I've seen her) then this is a good place to start. There's nobody like her; I genuinely can't think of a band or artist that has a similar sound or breadth to their career... Radiohead is the closest I can come, but even then they're not a good comparison.

Let England Shake has been nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and I sincerely hope PJ takes home the gong. This is a haunting album about the horrors of war, a topic that is difficult at best to deal with. Listen to the lyrics and you'll be affected completely (have a listen to "The Words That Maketh Murder").

I mention this because it was a completely bizarre experience seeing and hearing people scream and applause the songs on this album which are so sad and desperate. The music was originally recorded in a church; that seems fitting for such a subject that is tackled incredibly thoroughly.

Other Polly material that is seriously fabulously good, if Let England Shake is not quite your thing (although I have no idea why it wouldn't be because it's fecking brilliant):

This Is Love (the white suit, bloody YES!)
Long Snake Moan (my favourite, favourite PJ song)
Angeline (from Is This Desire?... Perhaps my favourite album)
Black Hearted Love (with John Parish, sounds a bit like early Radiohead stuff)

Also. PJ Harvey's costume sense is brilliant. Check out the Flickr pool to see some of the outfits she's been in recently.

I'm a bit of a fangirl.

But seriously. Go listen!

Life continues to trundle on

2011-08-30T22:15:00.002+01:00

I started a new job in January, but after 6 months there I didn't feel like I had gelled with the company and wanted to focus my working hours on things with a digital slant.

So I've moved back into the charity sector and I'm now getting to grips with my new role as a digital comms person. Until further notice all of my work will be related to online stuffs. Does that job title make me some kind of PR? Bloody hell.

I suspect the slant of this blog will probably start to capture more in the way of digital thingymajigs and nuggets of online buffoonery wot with this career move. I definitely want to keep my eye on ATL stuff, but as life moves on and I find my work moving along with it, the nonsense I blog about will likely come along on the journey with me.

What I definitely don't want to happen is for my minuscule little corner of Blogger to turn into yet another piece of social media marketing drivel. Here is a list of things I hope to leave to another nook of the interwebs. I can guarantee I won't bring anything to the party:

New online tool and product launches.
Social media metrics and measurement.
Marketing jargon speak.
Techie jargon speak.
Digital marketing hints and tips.
SEO.

The following topics may creep in now and again:

Cats.
Observations about public transport.
Bizarre email forwards from my Mum.
Stuff that interests me that might not be advertising.
The stupidity of the human race.
Just what the hell is this digital marketing lark all about, anyway?

Just let me know if the content from now on is a bigger load of rubbish than usual and I'll do my best to rein it in...

Extremely brilliant and cool movie posters

2011-08-12T11:10:00.001+01:00

Have a neb at these immense film posters. They are by a 26 year old New York-based graphic designer called Brandon Schaefer.

I discovered Brandon’s work after seeing a tweet from Park Circus. The Glasgow based company have hired him to put together some executions for several titles they are distributing. Again, mega cool; Park Circus clearly have impeccable taste. My favourite is the Kes poster.

What a great stack of creative. Hats off Brandon, hats off.

The Park Circus blog has interviewed the designer, so if you're keen to learn more about the three commissions you can head over.

Check out more of his amazing work at his website and Flickr pool. Well, when I say can, I really mean should… He's got over 150 posters on his Flickr page. Go look and admire; they're bloody great.

The latest National Museums of Scotland campaign

2011-07-22T21:43:00.000+01:00

Let's be perfectly frank. You don't see many great above the line ad campaigns these days. At least, I don't.

I'm not talking about the campaigns you see doing the rounds on Twitter or creative blogs, because you see plenty of great campaigns on them. The problem there is that they hardly ever see the light of day.

The average punter walking down the street is usually accosted by RBS ads and supermarket BOGOFs. Great campaigns are getting rarer than hens' teeth these days.

Although, National Museums of Scotland (which probably has hens' teeth) has come up with a cracker thanks to Glasgow agency Frame. These lovely, lovely executions are starting to pop up around Edinburgh. Here's my first particularly poor effort at snapping "From snouts to spouts":

There are ten executions to help sell the new Chambers Street Museum opening on 29 July. The Victorian part of the museum has been closed for several years for a refurb, and we are finally getting to see the results. Needless to say, I am quite excited.

Here are some much better quality press executions:

The Lewis Chessmen execution is cleverly being placed outwith the main catchment area of the museum in order to try and draw crowds in from further afield. That's clever, that. The Lewis Chessmen are a massive draw for people.

"Dinos to dodos" is probably my favourite one. You can see all ten here. You'll also get a much more in-depth blurb about the strategy behind the campaign here.

If you're not from Edinburgh perhaps these ads won't mean quite so much to you. However, as a born and bred resident the Chambers Street museum was a required staple of childhood and has been an absolute favourite place of mine ever since I was knee-high to a grasshopper.

The museum has chosen some of the most iconic parts of its collection to display in these ads. For example, the dinosaur brings back memories of seeing the fossils in all their glory in the dark and spooky exhibit. The dodo and elephant makes me remember all the stuffed animals on the ground floor...

There are also butterflies and gem stones featured, which pushes my nostalgia into overdrive; I used to love the pinned bugs and the geological exhibits.

The only thing that's missing is the GIANT Japanese spider crab, which used to reside in the museum and scared me silly every time I saw it....

Frame and NMS were aiming to get people excited about the opening. I think they've succeeded. Well done folks, a great campaign and one that Edinburgh residents will most certainly identify with. More please.

Ad images © National Museums Scotland, used with permission,

The best cinema ads ever

2011-06-23T21:11:00.001+01:00

What are the best cinema ads? There have been plenty of polls and articles in the papers over the years with people's opinions. It was refreshing to see some of the industry's choices today at the Marketing Society's Classic Cinema Advertising Showcase.

The event was part of the EIFF and was also timed for Ogilvy Day, the day on which the legendary adman was born 100 years ago. An audience of marketeers, creatives and ad lovers gathered at Filmhouse to see some of Scotland's heavyweights discuss their all time favourite cinema adverts. They did not disappoint with their choices.

This is a YouTube heavy post, but trust me, you'll be rewarded. There were some fabulous choices - some very well known, others more left field but all definitely worthy contenders for the best cinema ads ever.

You don't need me to waffle on about how great this medium is - I'm just disappointed the tiny embeds don't do these fabulous ads justice. My favourites from the bunch were B+H and Smirnoff. I've added my recent favourite at the bottom of the post. Enjoy!

Gerry O'Donnell, The Edrington Group

VW Golf, 1987

Angus Walker, Frame

BA, 1989

Orange, 2008

Heineken, 1980s sometime?

Murray Calder, IPA & MediaCom

Bacardi, 1991

Orange, 2006

Adidas, 2010

Jo Coomber, Standard Life

Smirnoff, Mid 90s?

XFM, 2006

Guinness, 1998

Ian McAteer, The Union

Kia-Ora, 1970s?

Benson and Hedges, 1978

Gerry Farrell, The Leith Agency

Silk Cut, 1979

Agent Provocateur,2001

Virgin Atlantic, 2011

And here's one I picked that I can't believe wasn't on the line-up...

Unfortunately, I couldn't find Ian McAteer's Samaritans ad, and was unable to get Gerry O'Donnell's G+T execution, but I think that's plenty enough to see anyway.

Do you have a particular favourite? What's been left off the list? I love cinema advertising, so if you link anything to me in the comments that you think's worth a watch that's exactly what I will do!

More Chip Shop chat

2011-06-09T21:18:00.000+01:00

Ad students make their annual pilgrimage to the Chip Shop Awards.

Young hopefuls spent the last few days getting excited about the Chip Shop Awards, presented last night in London. Quick searches on Twitter revealed that young creatives all over the UK (and some older ones to boot) were waiting with baited breath to hear if they were to be one of the lucky ones to garner a coveted chip for their advertising efforts.

The winner of the Big Chip, by Stacey & Sareka @ Chemistry. Yes, it's a bag.

The results were announced, probably amid lots of fanfare, booze and backslapping, which is customary of advertising shenanigans. Here is the winning entry above. Very simple and useful and really quite nice. You can see all the other winners here.

For those who are unfamiliar with the Awards, they've been doing the rounds since 2002, claiming to be the only gong-show that celebrates sheer creativity. It probably started out as a pure and unbridled exercise, eager and optimistic about how it was different from all the other big-hitters. Nowadays though, it’s arguably just as bloated and expensive as all the other award shows out there.

Some of the work is really good, brilliant even. Some of it is funny, some is dark, some is affecting, some is clever. But much of it suffers from a complete lack of boundaries which are generally mandatory in good advertising – a brief. Call me old fashioned, but I find it genuinely bizarre that advertising is rewarded when it hasn’t met a brief (I hope the planners stick up for me here...).

The whole point of advertising is that it is required to convey an effective message for the client. If it can do this with creativity then the adman has done a good job. I'd argue that a lot of the work submitted to the CSAs doesn't do this. After all, anyone with a crude idea can find a funny photo and stick a logo over the top of it, but if it doesn’t meet a brief then it’s just a bit of a giggle.

I’d be inclined to be much less of a whinge about the whole thing if the CSAs had a totally different perspective on the awards obsession in adland. But they don't really; I get the feeling that they’re the same moneymaking enterprise as all the rest of them.

They still have the swish and expensive ceremony, still charge zillions to submit entries, still stroke creatives’ egos, still have an incessant and unrelenting PR machine just like all the big guys. Where’s the celebration of difference?

The PR people choose paedo gag for distribution. Err.

The work might be full of fart jokes and paedo references, but I find it strange that these kind of gags are considered the pinnacle of creativity and worth rewarding. Surely the ad industry is better than some offensive print ad? Surely?

A CD explains to me that I clearly have no sense of humour, totally don't get the Chip Shop Awards and look like complete danglebag. CDs are always right.

I realise a lot of people will probably disagree with my opinion on the CSAs. Call me a stick in the mud, tell me I have no sense of humour, say that I’ve missed the point with the Chip Shops entirely. Maybe I have. Maybe I just don’t get it?

After all, Dave Trott says that “I think the purpose of The Chip Shop Awards is to take the piss. To take the piss out of how seriously advertising takes itself.”

He's usually right about things. After all, it's supposed to be a bit of fun and I need to lighten up. My next post is going to be REALLY POSITIVE.

IPA, Chip Shop Awards and EIFF

2011-05-30T14:41:00.000+01:00

A couple of advertising-y bits and pieces have caught my eye over the past couple of weeks that are worth a quick mention.

Firstly, the IPA has declared war on the crappy state of advertising in Scotland. Murray Calder, the new chairman of the Scottish IPA, has got some fighting talk as well as a long list of bullet points to help reinvigorate floundering agencies north of the border. Fingers crossed his plans make a difference. You can read more here.

Next up, it's the Chip Shop Awards. If you work in the advertising industry and you haven't seen the endless stream of conversation about these awards I want your job. I made my thoughts clear on the Chip Shops in this blog post last year, so there's no need to bang on about it. The Awards are on 8th June and you can see all the entries here.

Lastly, the Edinburgh International Film Festival's programme was announced a couple of weeks ago. There are two Marketing Society events that might be worth consideration if you're rich (the two events will set you back £75!). Maybe you can get your work to foot the bill?

The first is definitely worth a visit if you can wangle the £25 price tag. The Classic Cinema Advertising Showcase is a two-hour foray into some of Scottish ad royalty's favourite cinema advertising. Featuring Gerry O’Donnell, Gerry Farrell, Ian McAteer, Angus Walker and Murray Calder, the event looks to be quite an interesting educational experience for those looking to find the perfect cinema ad. Do not attend if you avoid the first twenty minutes of trailers and noisy car commercials at the cinema. Get booking for 23rd June.

The second is a Peter Fisk Masterclass setting you back a tidy £50 (that would buy me five books on advertising which I can annotate forever more). The theme is lights, camera, action and there looks to be lots of discussion on brand-building. I suppose since it's a workshop there will be "hands on" elements? Who knows... That's also on the 23rd June.

Both events are in the Filmhouse. I am going to try and attend so if you can't make it along just wait for my helpful and in no way tongue in cheek write-up on this blog after the events.

How to make a great movie trailer

2011-05-11T19:12:00.000+01:00

At the start of May I went to an event about movie trailers. For an ad person that's obsessed with film it was a perfect opportunity to indulge in two of my favourite things at the same time whilst feeling like all my Christmases had come at once (I know, I need to get a life).

It was hosted by Turner Classic Movies, who have various movie channels all over the world and an extremely loyal fan following in the US particularly. The UK channel is a poorer shadow of its American parent, but the schedules still far outweigh most of the other dross you get on the tellybox over here.

The event itself was hosted by a panel of experts. People band the word "expert" around like sweeties, but this panel was seriously serious stuff. There was significant marketing presence going on on the stage:

Terry Press, the ex-marketing chief of DreamWorks who has been in the trailer business for over two decades.
Benedict Coulter, the founder of the outrageously successful Trailerpark, who has worked on stuff like Avatar..
David Sameth, the Senior Vice President of marketing at a little back water company called Walt Disney.
Lastly, Michelle Jackino, the Executive Creative Director at the Ant Farm, who has Gladiator, Rango and American Beauty under her belt, amongst countless others.

We are not talking chicken feed here. To say I wanted their jobs with waaaaaay less responsibility (but current salaries) is an understatement.

Unfortunately, the reality of the situation was a bit less impressive than the panel's collective CV. I was really looking forward to learning some cool stuff about the marketing of movies, but I have to say I was a bit disappointed.

It's not that the event was bad, it just that ironically I don't think the panel knew who their target audience was. The auditorium was rammed with massive classic film fans (their fandom, not gigantism) that wanted to learn about the history of trailers and the format of them before today's slick marketing execs got their mitts involved, but instead the panel discussed topics like their favourite trailers and that the most common complaint they hear is that their work gives too much of the movie away.

As a marketeer I was looking forward to some marketing chat about how movies are rolled out, but failing that (as it was an event for the general public) as a classic film fan I was desperately keen to learn more of the history of trailers. It's such a shame that neither of these points were fully addressed and instead the panel was given free rein to chat amongst themselves.

So I can't really report on any juicy marketing insights. I can give you the trailer 101 chat e.g. targeting trailers to the correct demographic, editing it well and using a great soundtrack, but this is stuff we already know so nothing new there.

On a more positive note here are a couple of my all time favourite trailers. The Alien one in particular is near perfect. I think Benedict Coulter may have even worked on the Jurassic Park trailer as that's one of the notches on his employment bedpost (so he gets extra thumbs up).

There's a better quality version but embedding has been disabled by request, so you'll need to clickety click.

If you want to see what the panel showed as their examples of brilliant movies trailers, here they are:

Black Hawk Down
What Lies Beneath
V For Vendetta

Genius? Good? Guff? (I think my picks are better...)

Kermit the flog

2011-04-20T20:05:00.000+01:00

Filmhouse is doing a fantabulous little season on the muppets, much to many people's delight. I attended a showing of Jim Henson's "Commercials and Experiments" on Monday night and discovered that Mr Henson was one hell of a great ad creative.

Did you know the muppets started out doing commercials as part of their repertoire? I knew the furry critters moved into ads, but had no idea they started out on them so early on in their career.

Here is a selection of some of my favourites I saw. They are often supremely violent and have a tangible hard sell that is difficult to package up without turning people right off. However, Henson manages it without any effort whatsoever.

There are a lot of 8 second spots, so sit back and enjoy the muppet advertising madness...My favourite is the "ideal toys" spot last on the list.

So what do you think? Advertising genius or naive attempts? I am definitely going for the former.

If you want to catch the full show reel on the big screen you'll need to be quick! It's on again tomorrow (Thur 21 April) and you can get more details here. It's a must for any curious creatives, ad fans, muppet lovers or folk that just love a good chuckle.

Now, I'm off to have some of those noodles made with real dragon fire...

I'll huff and I'll puff and all that guff

2011-04-17T22:27:00.001+01:00

I am posting up a quick one, just to say that I have decided to try and fund raise for the 10K run at the end of May as part of the Edinburgh Marathon Festival.

I am attempting to raise much needed funds for Myeloma UK, who are an Edinburgh-based charity that help people suffering from myeloma. They are the only charity in the whole of the UK that offer specific support and help to people with this cancer, so it's pretty clear that they need all the dosh they can get so they can keep doing an incredibly important job.

My family has been directly affected by this absolute scoundrel of a disease, so I'm hoping I can beat my target of £150. I felt I should post this up here in case anyone who reads this blog has been affected by this cancer in some way and wants to help kick its arse.

If you want to you can donate here. Thanks very muchly!

Silence is golden

2011-03-20T17:58:00.001Z

Shhh!

Never has the phrase "silence is golden" been so true than at the Bo'ness Silent Film Festival, which wraps up this evening after three days of movies and events. I was treated to a great programme of silent celebrations in an even greater location; the Hippodrome is Scotland's oldest fully functioning cinema and is quite a sight to behold, with beautiful architectural details and an electric atmosphere to match. It was renovated a few years ago and now basks in renewed glory that harks back to its hey-day in the early years of the 20th century.

I have to admit, I'd never have thought that a fabulous little festival embracing silent film would be tucked away on the cusp of the Forth estuary, but film-goers from all over Scotland were treated to just that. I didn't manage to see the full programme as I completely neglected Sunday's line-up, but never the less I was treated to Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy and Clara Bow amongst others.

The tenuous link to advertising

So what did I learn from this brilliant little oasis of film that I can shoehorn into some kind of advertising-related blog post? Err. Well. I think that what I've learned isn't really specific to advertising, but more to creativity in general.

Perhaps the most important thing is that if you're a creative person and if you want to write well or art direct beautifully for advertising then you should be watching silent films. Silent cinema is where it all began, so the artistry and skill you'd use for making ads today can all be traced all the way back to the days when film was in its infancy. The physicality and the visual elements of the silent era are refreshing and don't rely on gimmicks or technology to get meaning across.

If you want to see the idea in all its naked glory then watch some silent film. It's creativity in its rawest form and something we should all embrace. Sometimes we should be looking back to look forward.

And now to provide some creative stuff

So for those advertising types (or regular types who made better career choices) with no exposure to silent cinema, here's a couple of links to really famous silent films that you can watch online. If you can get them in the cinema even better:

Le Voyage Dans La Lune (A Trip To The Moon) - 1902
The Great Train Robbery - 1903
Broken Blossoms (1919)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1920)
Metropolis (1927)

And for those who'd like to investigate more about silent film, the cinema and Scotland:

The Scottish Screen Archive collection
Scottish Cinemas and Theatres Project

One more thing

The weekend's festivities were excellent and were supported by a variety of funders who helped make it happen. We hear about the death of creativity in Scotland, the exodus of talent and the desert of opportunities in this country, but if more festivals and celebrations of the creative can be given the green light in the future then maybe this talk of decline can be reversed. Isn't it time that more events of this calibre were given the opportunity to shine?

If the Bo'ness Silent Film Festival has piqued your interest in all things pre-sound, then have a look at the various articles on Reel Scotland, along with interviews and videos from the event. You'll get a better flavour of the festival over there than here.

Oh, and cheers for some of the photos, Falkirk Council.

The pen is mightier than the paintbrush

2011-03-16T22:15:00.002Z

When I was at school I lived in the art department. The thought of trying to write stuff for a living had never crossed my mind; I didn't even know what a copywriter was, let alone creative advertising. Nope. I wanted to be some sort of artist or something.

Creativity was all about the freedom of expression for me when I was still at school. Advertising isn't really freedom of expression - it's a set of parameters that have been set, within which you can be creative. Creating art was never about answering a brief.

I suppose it's one argument separating the two practices. Can you even call advertising a kind of art? Maybe you can. It's a long and complex topic that I can maybe attempt to cover another time without going too philosophical on everyone's ass (I think it's pretty interesting, so probably worth a look at some point even if my pathetic attempt at evaluating the subject is about as helpful as a punch in the teeth from a smelly guy on the bus who's just sneezed without covering his face and then wiped the resulting snot river onto his swinging hand).

Anyway, the reason I am waffling on about this is because I found some old bits and pieces I did around ten years ago, hiding on my external hard drive that I had completely forgotten about. They deserve a bit of airing so here are a couple of studies:

I realise I was never oh-my-God-we-have-a-child-prodigy-on-our-hands-AMAZING!!! at this stuff, but I wasn't totally balls at it either. Still, I haven't drawn or painted properly for at least eight years. I keep wondering if I'd be any good now if I'd focused on that creative side of me, nurtured my sketch pads and paint brushes and worked hard at improving. I wanted to go to art college but never finished my portfolio due to lack of discipline and now everything's rusted over like old iron railings.

Maybe if I had really grafted I'd be an art director now? But then, I suppose I can tell my left from my right so the vocation as an AD was never meant to be (insert smiley face sticking its tongue out here).

Normal service will resume shortly

2011-02-14T20:55:00.003Z

I usually steer clear of personal posts on this blog. I've been neglecting writing for at least a month because of a lot of changes in my personal life so I might as well get back into the swing of blogging by writing about it for a change. If I only ever contribute one rant to this blog, I feel the time has finally come. (Sorry in advance but I really need to get this out or I'll suffer writer's block for quite a long time yet.)

I recently left my last post and started a new job at the beginning of January. Since beginning my new job I have had a kind of epiphany, like what happens when you finally realise what food has been giving you the runs on and off for three weeks in a row.

There are a lot of things that people don't tell you when you first start out in your professional career for fear of giving you over to the dole queue and a lifelong addiction to Jeremy Kyle and jogging bottoms. I am still trying to recall the conversation with my school and/or university advisor where I was informed that you need to actually be useless in order to get anywhere.

You see, when I was in school and university I knew that if I worked hard then I would be rewarded. Put in the effort and you will see results. Straightforward, right? Study and get good grades. Behave in class and receive praise and reward. Work hard with people and build lasting relationships. If you want to be a shitbag in the learning environment then fine, but you won't learn anything and where's the fun in being an idiot?

HOWEVER. Working for an employer in this annoying place called reality doesn't follow the rules you are taught for the first quarter of your life. Working hard, sweating blood, sweat and tears and generally doing the best you possibly can doesn't reap rewards.

In fact, it does the opposite. People take you for granted. You are almost wholly ignored. Yes. Indeed. I know. Well, I was shocked when I finally realised that possessing any kind of talent whatsoever or being in receipt of a hard-working attitude actually doesn't do much for you at all. Having these attributes tend to mean that you are instead shat on from a great height and left standing under the shitpipe without an umbrella.

There are two main kinds of people that tend to do well in the world of work. The first is the incompetent, crazy git and the second is the brown-nosing git. Both have masses of attention heaped on them until you're left looking at an enormous mound of nonsense upon which they stand at the peak, caressing their private parts and looking smug.

The incompetent, crazy git does well in work because people with talent and ability hold them up and allow them to mask their incompetence. Because they are also crazy (either in an all-out, belligerent way or a quiet, potentially stabby way) they are remembered by management and somehow end up climbing out of the way of the shitpipe.

The brown-nosing git just agrees with everything the management says. This means they too can avoid the endless stream of crap afforded by the shitpipe.

These are just some of my recent observations. I wonder if anyone else has noticed this? Anyway, my advice to people just starting out is to embrace mediocrity. It actually makes you a more successful person!

Right, rant over. I think I feel a bit better now. Back to what I normally write about...

Penguins + snow = social media success

2011-01-11T21:43:00.001Z

I've been meaning to blog about Penguin Cam for ages - but to save me all that faff I managed to get interviewed by Jonathan Melville! He got me on tape and everything, even though I sound like a child inhaling helium crossed with a Weegie drunk.

His audio slideshow has been doing very well so far; people just frickin' love these penguins.Have a neb below and listen to what the social media explosion involved for Edinburgh Zoo.

Edinburgh Zoo's Penguincam from Jonathan Melville on Vimeo.

I think the audio slideshow format works really well, despite my Scottish twang spoiling an otherwise good story. If you're interested in other online formats to convey info, stories and content, get over to Jonathan's Posterous, where he's currently doing a cool challenge called "A Month of Multimedia". Well worth checking out!

Five things about 2010

2011-01-04T21:07:00.000Z

I've been tagged by the Northern Planner...

Due to my inability to keep completely up to date with my RSS feeds, I missed the Planner's tagging of me in this little ad meme that has been doing the rounds. However, as my bedroom mantra goes (ha), it's better late than never so let the opinions commence!

1/ Best single thing [personal &/or professional] you did/achieved in 2010
Hmm. Professionally, I think one of the biggest things that people will have (hopefully) some inkling of was the Edinburgh Zoo Penguin Cam. I was very chuffed to send the cam on a snowballing road to viral fame, and it was amazing to witness the power of the internet when it's harnessed for a brand you roll your sleeves up for. The aftermath of the Penguin Cam is finally calming down, so I'm interested in seeing what could have been done better in order to channel all that energy more effectively.

Personally, probably running my first 10K after working very hard to get there. My finishing time was 1hr 2mins, something I'm very happy with. It's not something that seems particularly admirable, but as a personal thing I still feel proud of the achievement. Running has become a slight addiction - it's one of the few things I've seen myself improve almost exponentially since I started doing it. Highly recommended!

2/ Most shameful thing [personal &/or professional] you did/achieved in 2010
A low point of the year for me was managing to hang on to my job in a redundancy process that claimed the professional lives of colleagues. It feels shameful because I have a loyalty to my colleagues - and may I even say friends - so although I survived the onslaught I still feel sad.

Shamefully, on an amusing note, I had the opportunity to meet Dave Trott this year at an STV advertising workshop and had the cheek to squint at his handwriting after he signed a free book for me. After the squint I managed to sound like an absolute cretin by asking what he'd written, then running away with embarrassment and starstruck jangly nerves. I'll never live that one down.

3/ Ad industry scandal or scoundrel of the year.
Scottish Government. Their miserly procurement procedures and tender processes have helped to rip the heart out of Scottish advertising and left it floundering and destitute.Saying that, clients have evacuated the country at a rate of knots too. What's the solution?

4/ Your overall rating for 2010 out of 10.
[1 = shit / 10 = showoff]
As my last post summed up, I haven't been particularly enamoured by advertising this year. Especially in Scotland. The fire has gone out in my belly a little bit due to a swathe of other personal commitments that have eaten up my lust for the industry, but I'm hoping that the spark will re-ignite in my gut now that the new year has started.

I'm feeling a little lacking with respect to stand-out ads from Scotland (sorry, please correct me here!), but industry wide there's no getting away from the Old Spice guy and I've also been a big fan of the Skoda TV spots.

Anyway, post waffle, I'd give 2010 a 5 out of 10.

5/ What do you think will be the most overhyped advertising related subject of 2011?
Oh, smartphone applications. EVERY BRAND IN THE UNIVERSE NEEDS AN APP!!! Let's all jump on the stupidity bandwagon and see where everyone ends up with that...

I tag:

Andy Peel

Larner Caleb

Half a Pair

Mark Gorman

Just a quick one

2011-01-02T21:35:00.000Z

As we all wave goodbye to 2010 with gummy grins and expectant expressions for the year ahead, I've decided not to do much of a retrospective because a zillion other blogs will have already done it.

I think we can all happily say that nothing much exciting got pulses racing in the world of Scottish ads and marketing last year. I felt like there was a distinct lack of buzz and innovation, probably due to slashed budgets, procurement processes and the Scottish Government withholding its ad bounty like a petulant child.

There have been successes too though. Social media has become the latest word people use to sound knowledgeable, but there have been some really nice bits and pieces of it throughout the year that have had Scottish creatives smiling. Tache of the Titans by the guys over at Blonde immediately springs to mind as a lot of fun for a good cause.

I am looking forward to what the new year brings though. Hopefully Scotland will have some sparks of energy and creative opportunities for advertising up here will be more free-flowing. I'm interested to see what will unfold over the next 363 days...

While we're on the subject of snow, here's Jon Snow

2010-12-08T16:05:00.001Z

A couple of weeks ago I toddled along to see Jon Snow, complete with notebook and a quiet desperation to see his socks. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the Batman of current affairs, but I’m happy to say I enjoyed spending my Friday night at an educational lecture. I’d otherwise be sitting at home eating beans out a tin with my fingers.

With my trusty notebook by my side I am now going to break down his informative lecture for all my loyal readers (hello, Mum).

First things first. Jon’s socks were purple and white stripey. His foot regalia was matched perfectly by his pale purple stripey tie. But the piece de resistance was his suit jacket lining, which was hot pink. Bravo Jon, bravo.

Anyway. On to “A Changing Media In A Changing World”.

Jon has been in journalism since 1976. He made it extremely clear that things have changed monumentally since the ‘70s; back in the day hacks would be set loose overseas for weeks at a time. The only communication would be by Telex or crackly telephone lines. There was no instantaneous news and time was taken to investigate and bring together rounded reports with complete information.

No longer.

Technology has moved at such a fast pace that people are still running to catch up. Jon made the astute comment that “the human is in trouble” and maybe that’s more true than we like to think. As things rattle along without stopping for breath there is no depth or longevity any more. This is something he finds problematic, as TV journalism has become a “sausage machine”, where editors require live feeds, vox pops and various other formulaic elements. It’s difficult to have any freedom in today’s media environment.

Nowadays, Jon argued that the journalist is on a journey with the viewer and the hack doesn’t lead the way. They both find out what’s happening together, as news has become a real-time entity.

However, real-time is something also associated with the online world, with sites such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Google all using information in this way. It seems to be a particular bugbear for Jon that the vast majority of media content is still provided by broadcast media outlets, and the vultures of online quickly profit from this as they do not need to pick up the bill. As he pointed out, Yahoo does not pay for the TV helicopters in the sky.

Jon argued that new media is not sustainable without the quality content created by broadcast media (I'm not sure I agree with this).

But he was not wholly negative about the online world. He reminded the audience many times that he considered himself an optimist, and that where people think that new media "bleeds" TV, it actually "feeds" it.

Whether traditionalists like it or not, online communication is here to stay and will drastically alter the media landscape.

Jon's perspectives were interesting. There was only an hour to get through an enormous subject, but he did a great job of distilling the argument of new vs old. I think he's a bit advocate for online media as his Twitter feed will show, but has issues with how broadcast constantly foots the bill. What is interesting to see is how the two now work together in tandem. Don't you think there's a big argument for the two different forms of communication to nurture each other, rather than try to win a race?

Interestingly, Jon also announced the death of the newspaper. It's got 20 odd years left. I'm inclined to believe him.

And in case you're interested, here's the full lecture from the University of Edinburgh. Well worth a watch.

Some snowy banter

2010-12-01T15:11:00.000Z

I don't usually post this kind of stuff up, but seeing as we're all miserable with the snow I thought it was fitting to share. I laughed.

In the interim

2010-11-14T19:56:00.000Z

There have been many opinions proffered with respect to my last post concerning eye dildos. I am going to write about them more thoroughly when I have my thinking brain switched on (do I even have one?). My writing has taken a bit of a bashing by an arsenal of sharp distractions puncturing my concentration right now but I'll get there in the end!

In the interim, here's an ad I saw the other day for mental health discrimination. Quite interesting. You'll need to click on the image to read the body copy. I'm not sure if I like this, but it gets a solid point across. The website expands on the press with Erik's search for a flatmate, so worth a shoofty.

Advertisers think women are absolute idiots

2010-10-24T21:04:00.001+01:00

I think everyone and their cat that works in advertising knows that approximately 80% of consumer purchasing decisions are made by women.

Obviously, everyone and their cat is well aware that practically 100% of consumer purchasing decisions for female oriented products are made by women. It's unlikely that a bloke will be out buying tampons just in case he grows a womb. This kind of thing is not rocket science.

Generally, women are pretty savvy. They are not idiots. However, if you bother to scrutinise an ad directed at a woman you will quite often find a compost heap of copy riddled with moronic claims, shambolic pseudo-science and witch-doctory nonsense.

Take, for example, this gem I pulled from Vogue the other day there. I don't know what "collagen micro-vibration eye" is, do you? Does anyone? Does it even mean anything?

You'll feel the power of my boot up your arse in a minute, L'oreal. What a load of nonsense.

This kind of copywriting is endemic when it comes to women's products. See below for a few more examples I pulled from a single magazine:

You can click on the scans to get a better read of all the ludicrous copy.

All I can think is that this kind of rubbish writing must shift product and for that I wince with dejection. These words don't mean anything at all - they are empty space - but for some reason advertisers include spurious phrases and rely on sciencey sounding hot air to embellish product claims.

You can see through all this crap in two seconds flat if you bother to read it. I hate it when advertisers talk to their audience like they are absolute idiots. Whatever happened to clear, concise language that sells benefits over features?

I suppose when you think about it these types of products are probably all a load of crap anyway. Slathering cow placenta over your mug won't do much to alter twenty years of sunbed use and mascara with elastic won't stop your lashes looking like tarantulas.

Still, some people will no doubt be inspired by the science of genes, use the aura of science to detoxify their complexions and be reborn with precious cells. Yikes!