The Singapore Egotist RSS Feed

The Centaur by Honda

The Singapore Egotist — Mon, 20 May 2013 08:54:15 +0000

National

Eh.

Design & Thinking Screening at the Hub

The Singapore Egotist — Mon, 20 May 2013 01:13:00 +0000

Local

This great film is screening at The Hub on the 29th of May, mark your calendars.
Check out the event information here.

And take a look at the movie site here.

A different kind of BA plane

The Singapore Egotist — Sun, 19 May 2013 14:16:07 +0000

Local

Nice one done by BBH Singapore.

Fiat - Crowdsourcing future vehicles

The Singapore Egotist — Wed, 15 May 2013 03:50:11 +0000

National

Great project by Fiat for their new Mio. Really simple idea supported with a robust platform.

Fiat Mio (Brazil) from Isobar on Vimeo.

3D Printing and the Culture of Creativity

The Singapore Egotist — Wed, 15 May 2013 00:50:30 +0000

National

All you need is an idea.

Shapeways 3D Printing & the Culture of Creativity from Shapeways on Vimeo.

Nice Piece from the Red Cross

The Singapore Egotist — Tue, 14 May 2013 05:32:04 +0000

National

Holbrooks // Red Cross 'Parcel' from Blacklist on Vimeo.

Strategizing is for Prom Queens

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:47:00 +0000

I hear the word “strategy” thrown on just about everything. Like rhinestones on a South-Texas-prom-queen’s dress, “strategy” is too often a cheap and easy bedazzle on everything from PowerPoint slides, to someone’s superfluous commentary in a meeting that is already running too long with too many attendees. Anymore, in my day-to-day, Strategy is quite the loose little buzzword.

Often, it is a noun, as in “brand strategy” or “I am a strategist." Sometimes it is an adjective, as in “strategic vision” or “strategic insights." Also, as an adverb, such as “strategically developed” or “strategically placed.” And let's not forget it as a verb, as in “strategize” (which for the record, makes me want to punch the speaker in the nose every time I hear it).

And that isn’t to say that I don’t use the word often myself. But I used to accept the word at what I believed was its face value — a sense of something great and purposeful. A sense that when I heard “strategy” — I knew we were talking about the key to winning whatever was at stake, the secret sauce critical to achieving the mission. I knew we’d be talking about something tangible, and most importantly — something actionable. (Strategy is, by definition, a military term that, in a nutshell, means using your brains and your guts to not only stack the odds in your favor, but empower you to make the right decisions when confronted with any obstacle.)

Now, given the bedazzling trend, I’ve made it my personal charge to pay much closer attention when the word “strategy” is presented. Analyzing it quietly in my head, from every angle. Challenging my own application of it constantly. Because the real disturbing trend, is not that the word gets overused, but rather that the very concept of strategy has become a crutch. A well disguised excuse NOT to act. An exercise in lengthy requirements-gathering to plan for problems and scenarios that don’t yet exist. A perceived need to create a long list of tasks for what should happen in the future, when instead we should be driving for real feedback via iterative launches in the present. I see terms like “strategic goals” and “strategic vision” plastered across PowerPoint slides, and the actual bullet points associated with most of these goals and visions, amount to little more than minute tactics positioned as passive options to explore. Presented in the context of “we are working on,” or “working toward,” or “think there is great opportunity within this area.”

And with that lack of conviction, certainty, drive — fucking nothing can be won. It’s all a lot of bling with very little bang.

So here is what I'm really driving at — let's all of us in the industry be more thoughtful with strategy. That when creating, executing, presenting or thinking about strategy in any context, let’s be critical of ourselves, of our interpretation of strategy and when/how/why it matters or is applied. As an example, do we sometimes create formality where it isn’t warranted — like laboring over a “social media strategy,” when maybe all we really need is to just be social? Or when our strategy feels like it is a moving target, and people struggle with how to articulate it — should we check our premises? Are there assumptions at play that have been driving a weak, obtuse strategy? And if the goals are ill-defined, then no amount of “strategic planning” is going to get us anywhere, even if we wrap that anemic goal in a shiny label called “strategic vision.”

Diamonds are a girl's best friend for a reason — because they have real value. The real, lasts-for-a-100-years-and-cut-glass kind of value. Fortunately, making sure your strategy has actual value is really pretty simple — just ask yourself, is your strategy something your team can:

• Articulate without a slide in front of them?
• Apply in any given situation?
• Execute against to deliver desired results?
• Feel empowered and confident in so doing?

This piece is cross-posted from The BRAT Blog from The Aha Method — a company that coaches teams around a better working dynamic.

Happy Labor Day...

The Singapore Egotist — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:04:50 +0000

Local

Now go do something.

Nice projection mapping on a miniature Tokyo

The Singapore Egotist — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 05:33:41 +0000

National

Lupine Illumination Ad

The Singapore Egotist — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:13:43 +0000

National

Great idea for what many think to be basic ad units.

Agency - Publicis Deutschland

Nice Apple Ad.

The Singapore Egotist — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 06:46:08 +0000

National

One Size Doesn't Fit All

The Singapore Egotist — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 07:59:14 +0000

National

We love this. And we wish every agency thought like this.

Guns have changed, shouldn't the law?

The Singapore Egotist — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 07:48:28 +0000

National

Not too applicable for Singapore, but a great piece of advertising.

Grey NY

Who wants to go to space?

The Singapore Egotist — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 08:06:41 +0000

National

Win a trip to space on the first commercial flighy courtesy of KLM. All you have to do is guess the altitude at which a balloon, to be released today, will pop.

Who? What? I don't Care.

The Singapore Egotist — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 05:22:29 +0000

National

“No gays please, we’re advertising.”

The London Egotist 2 — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 09:15:49 +0000

Advertising is a pretty progressive industry. We like to think of ourselves as an enlightened bunch. Some of our best friends are gay. Hell – some people in advertising are actually gay. Seriously. And yet, we all seem reluctant or incapable of portraying same-sex lifestyles in our work.

There are gay creatives, planners, producers, directors, clients and actors. And yet in adland, it seems gays don’t need mortgages, don’t drive cars, brush their teeth, play bingo or use low-fat spreads as part of a calorie-controlled diet.

There’s no question we should include ethnic minorities in our advertising. Who would even dream of digging their heels in to preserve an all-Aryan cast? We’ll feature empowered women. Strong-willed kids. And moonwalking Shetlands. But where’s even the token homosexual? They can’t all be at G.A.Y. screaming for a Kylie encore – or in hiding, surreptitiously unpicking the very fabric of our society.

Did Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’s child-catcher change tack and start prowling the streets playing Barbara Streisand from a float pulled by French bulldogs, loaded with rainbows and glitterballs?

Dropping the G-Bomb

Benetton have deliberately courted controversy over the years – some executions playing ‘agent provocateur’ with same-sex relationships as their political football. But why can’t gays feature in ads because they’re normal consumers who just happen not to be heterosexual?

Look, it wouldn’t take much to stand out a mile in the UK straight-acting ad-scene. Feature gays. Leading normal lives. Arguing over dog food, trying out sofas, comparing their car insurance, living out their later years with a private pension.

Ikea ran the first gay commercial ever aired on US television in 1994. It ran for a few weeks until there was a bomb threat at one of their stores and was subsequently pulled. Have we moved on since then?

It must seem alien for gays to see themselves represented in TV shows and films but have their very existence given the cold shoulder when the ad break arrives. The few examples I’ve seen just use homosexuality as the rug-pull, the reveal, the joke. “Oh I get it, she’s actually a lesbian.” Gag, packshot, endline. Cheap.

JC Penney vs One Million Moms

JC Penney in the US used Ellen deGeneres to front their campaign which led to a storm of protest spearheaded by a Christian group calling themselves One Million Moms. They wrote, “By jumping on the pro-gay bandwagon, JC Penney is attempting to gain a new target market and in the process will lose customers with traditional values that have been faithful to them over all these years.”

So far, so predictable. But two silver linings emerged:

1: One Million turned to be a tiny fraction of that figure.
2: The backlash spawned its own backlash. The #StandUpForEllen campaign gained 50,000 signatures almost overnight and helped prompt JC Penney to er… ‘come out’ and say Ellen was their perfect brand ambassador.

In that distant land called real life, gay marriage is here. The Prime Minister – a Tory – is pushing for more rights for gays. And who’s to say he’s wrong?

Guinness made an infamous commercial portraying a gay couple back in 1995. It was ready to run, word got out, people were up in arms, the world was clearly going to end and the client lost their nerve. And in so doing, they compounded the very problem they set out to address.

Is it time for another try?

Papas and Papas

One recent exception is a Mamas and Papas campaign in the UK for their Urbo buggies, featuring heterosexual mums and dads, single-parents and a genuine gay couple and their little boy, Blu.

The press release states, “How We Roll celebrates the diversity and individualism that forms the makeup of the modern family, for whom parenting has simply become a positive extension of their current lifestyle.”

There have been mixed reactions. On Netmums, some are highly supportive – “The world is changing and it’s about time all loving parents are catered for in adverts” – while others chime in with not wanting to have this sort of thing “shoved in my face.” Freud would have a field day.

Even the gay community was sceptical. Were they being used simply as a PR stunt? Were the ads really running? It seems there are pitfalls and suspicion whatever your intentions.

Creatives want to create. We want to invent brand new stuff, never before seen. And yet there’s this vast expanse of unexplored territory: overlooked at best, taboo at worst.

It’s a rich, emotive area, surely. Love against all odds. Unconventional is cool, right? Overcoming prejudice, defying conventions, being true to yourself. You could have this space all to yourself. Column inches galore and plaudits for being progressive and well… real.

It doesn’t have to be gratuitous. No need to shock. In a way, the most shocking thing is that one of the most enlightened industries in the land is lagging so far behind the real world.

This post originally appeared on the DLKW Lowe blog >

Happy Friday

The Singapore Egotist — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 08:25:29 +0000

National

What a little Javascript and Google Maps can do.

Google Street View Hyperlapse from Teehan+Lax Labs on Vimeo.

Mercedes A Class Launch

The Singapore Egotist — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 08:35:44 +0000

Local

We really wish more brands would do things like this in Singapore. Lets have some more fun. Well done BBDO.

Check out the page here.

Oh the 90s

The Singapore Egotist — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 07:44:37 +0000

National

Book Jackets to Parcels

The Singapore Egotist — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 06:15:52 +0000

National

Great idea and execution! Love it.

Via

Enjoy the long weekend

The Singapore Egotist — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 09:39:33 +0000

National

EVERYBODY WANTS TO KILL BRUCE from Pierre-Alexandre Chauvat on Vimeo.

And we thought pay phones were boring

The Singapore Egotist — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 01:38:36 +0000

National

Recalling 1993 from Droga5 NY on Vimeo.

The Singaporean Fairytale

The Singapore Egotist — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 01:11:20 +0000

Local

What the hell is going on with this site? There doesn't seem to be any connection between the "facts" and fairytales, nor does it make sense.

This Slate article sums it up nicely.

HSBCs The Mint

The Singapore Egotist — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 03:41:25 +0000

National

Suppose as a sponsorship spot it's okay.

Game Theory

The Singapore Egotist — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 10:32:38 +0000

National

Interesting mash-up of video game music.

Game Theory from Ithaca Audio on Vimeo.