A Creative Review: Draw Something 2
Welcome back to A Creative Review with James Cooper. Today Coop’s all about Zynga’s wild posting campaign for Draw Something 2.
I’ve said before that I believe outdoor can be an interactive medium. People talk about digital being the way forward for everything, but what I think we really mean by this is interactive. Digital just makes it easier to interact. But if you are smart and have some balls, you can invite your audience to interact with you in a more public and permanent way.
When I worked with Sony Ericsson, I did a lot of photo upload sites. And our client would always ask us about the potential for user abuse. It was the first question: ‘What do we do about naked pictures’? Well, of course, it’s easy enough to employ moderators, and most folks will act like grown ups. But, there is still some primeval urge by men - I’m assuming it’s men! - to upload pictures of their naughty bits and draw pictures of them too.
Photo credit: ADstruc
The why of that I will leave for the more Freudian of you, but my reaction is the same now as it was back then in early Internet days: at least these people are interacting with your brand. They have at least read your message. That’s more valuable than a simple dismissal. And if you think about it, drawing genitalia on something makes it more likely that the next person who walks by will take notice.
So props to Draw Something 2 and Zynga - an Internet era company if ever there was one - for using outdoor as a medium, but staying true to the ideals of web company that values interaction over inaction.
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That’s all folks! Want to get involved? Send us shots of the best [or worst] outdoor advertising you’ve seen, and we’ll choose one every week. Just email coop@adstruc.com.
A Creative Review: The Original Hipster
Welcome back to A Creative Review with James Cooper. Today Coop is befuddled by a new campaign from the Catholic Diocese.
Sometimes you see something and you say to yourself ‘I don’t get that’. Other times you see something and you say, ‘I see what they were trying to do here, but it missed the mark by a little bit’ - that’s curse of being a Creative Director. You never switch off. And then there are times when you just completely have no idea what’s going on. Case in point - The Original Hipster.
A. What? B. Hold on, what? C. Oh, I think I get it…wait….no I don’t.
Photo credit: ADstruc
I literally have no idea what’s going on here. And that’s not because I’m English, and therefore am a heathen, or that I’m one of these people that is a hipster but furiously denies it. For the record, I think I’m a semi-hipster. ( I don’t have any tattoos, wear skinny jeans, or ride a fixie - but I do live in Brooklyn and do artsy fartsy stuff every now and then).
Of course, it could be that this poster is so random that it just makes you stop and think about its true meaning. The true meaning of the poster - and of life. And if that is the case, then it’s a work of divine inspiration.
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That’s all folks! Want to get involved? Send us shots of the best [or worst] outdoor advertising you’ve seen, and we’ll choose one every week. Just email coop@adstruc.com.
A Creative Review: Sign Painters Documentary Trailer
Welcome back to A Creative Review with James Cooper. This week’s post is a departure from the norm, and comes to us via former summer intern Regy Perlera.
I have two lasting memories from my art school days. When I was about 10, my teacher told us that we were going to have double art (that’s English speak for an extended art lesson). I must have said ‘yes!’ or something similar, because she replied with ‘I don’t know why you’re so happy, your art is lousy.’
Later when I was 14, I got really into graffiti and was doing a lot of lettering in my art classes. I went to a fairly stiff school where art was basically oil painting. So when I said I wanted to pass my exams doing graffiti, well you can imagine how that went.
Long story short, I have always been into lettering, the doodling of, the painting of - anything I can get really. Is it art? Hells yeah. Just look at someone like Jenny Holzer of Ed Ruscha, or way back Toulouse Lautrec. And are those guys in this amazing film about sign painting artists? Double Hells yeah!
I can’t wait to see this film in its entirety. I know I go on about how digital and outdoor is a great space to play in, but sometimes there is nothing better than a beautifully painted outdoor piece.
For more info, check out the official Sign Painters website.
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That’s all folks! Want to get involved? Send us shots of the best [or worst] outdoor advertising you’ve seen, and we’ll choose one every week. Just email coop@adstruc.com.
A Creative Review: The Walking Dead
Welcome back to A Creative Review with James Cooper. Today Coop casts his eye at an indoor installation for Season 3 of The Walking Dead.
Digit-al Marketing
One could make argument that its ‘easy’ to do great ads for a show like the Walking Dead. Certainly as a creative, if you get that brief you’ve got to be pretty happy. But it’s not always the case that great work is produced. Sometimes people get lazy, they think they have such a great product that they actually don’t need to do anything with their advertising (ahem….Apple). So whoever got this particular piece through - well done!
Photo credit: hart_andrew via instagram
Ok, it looks gross and is a spectacle you can’t ignore - that’s your basic housekeeping - but the fact that it countdowns the days to the show with each finger coming off, that’s what really makes it cool. I always like to stress the difference between digital work and interactive work - they are not the same. This is a great interactive piece with nary a pixel in sight.
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That’s all folks! Want to get involved? Send us shots of the best [or worst] outdoor advertising you’ve seen, and we’ll choose one every week. Just email coop@adstruc.com.
A Creative Review: The Grammys
Welcome back to A Creative Review with James Cooper. Today Coop rocks out to the hashtag heavy ads for this week’s Grammy Awards.
The World is Listening
It’s always tough to follow a really good campaign. The Grammys ‘We’re All Fans’ campaign with Lady GaGa a few years ago was somewhat of a watershed moment. GaGa was at the top of her game, she was the undisputed Queen of Social Media. Kids were uploading stuff on YouTube - genuinely - rather than because a brand told them to. It was a time, and the Grammys nailed that.
A few years later and we have a hashtag #TheWorldIsListening.
I did a brief search on Twitter and it seems the world is not. Apart from a few retweets from people like Carly Rae Jepsen, no one is using that hashtag. It’s not natural. For starters it’s too long. The best tweets are short. They travel the most. But it’s also confusing.
Photo credit: marianne237 via instagram
If the Grammys was on radio only, then yeah maybe. I bet they thought about the ‘world is watching’ but then went ‘no, it’s about music’. And then someone said, “How about just #Grammys’ and some smart ass said that would be too boring.
Photo credit: xaviscorner via instagram
But even with a boring hashtag, they still could have done some amazing work - the promo film with Rihanna is pretty cool. In fact, I bet it would have made everyone concentrate on producing better content rather than worrying about a ‘hip’ hashtag.
By the way, when the band The #Hashtags finally launches, you’ll know that’s the time to pack it all in and go live in the desert.
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That’s all folks! Want to get involved? Send us shots of the best [or worst] outdoor advertising you’ve seen, and we’ll choose one every week. Just email coop@adstruc.com.
A Creative Review: Kraken Spiced Rum
Welcome back to A Creative Review with James Cooper. Today Coop dives headfirst into a gripping 3D wallscape from Kraken Spiced Rum.
Release the Kraken!
Disclaimer first. I have an affinity for Giant Squids. Just before the holidays I released a kid’s book for the iPad called The Little Giant Squid (it’s free, download it, go on)
So when I saw this piece for Kraken Spiced Rum, it immediately lept out at me. And I don’t think I’ll be the only one to feel like this. Kraken are doing what every small, challenger brand should do, creating work that stands out.
Photo credit: ADWEEK
I like the attitude of this wallscapes. You have to be a cold hearted person, or a very, very bleary eyed commuter, not to do a double take when you see this enormous tentacle scooping someone from their window. Whether the name and the product is enough to stand out in a crowded - and well funded - market remains to be seen. But, the ads are doing their job and we can’t say fairer than that.
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That’s all folks! Want to get involved? Send us the best or worst billboards you’ve seen and we’ll choose one every week. Just email coop@adstruc.com.
A Creative Review: Clorox’s Bleachable Moments
Welcome back to A Creative Review with James Cooper. Today Coop’s all about Clorox’s interactive billboard.
What Happens in Vegas…
Judging by most of the gas on Twitter, CES seemed like a pretty yucky affair. What with the booth babes and let’s just say a ‘less then stellar’ keynote, perhaps the opportunity to cleanse onself is a pretty good one. This interactive billboard from Clorox lets you do that for all to see.
Photo credit: Daily DOOH
This is not a new idea - Method did a very successful site where you could wash your hands of something you regretted - but it is a cute use of technology and placement. I do like it when brands like Clorox try things like this, as we used to be told that there was no place for packaged goods in the digital space: Go to a website for a bleach? Why would I do that?
This campaign joins the Domestos Flush Tracker, a site in the UK that tracks your - well, you get the idea - as a good example of a fun way to get people talking about your brand.
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That’s all folks! Want to get involved? Send us the best or worst billboards you’ve seen and we’ll choose one every week. Just email coop@adstruc.com.
A Creative Review: MailChimp
Welcome back to A Creative Review with James Cooper. Today Coop digs into MailChimp’s enigmatic SoHo billboard.
Advertising, Art, or Audacity?
You know what? I actually took a picture of this MailChimp billboard and posted it to Instagram. I’m not lying – look: here. That’s a good thing right?
Photo credit: ADstruc
Certainly this is all about the location. Downtown New York is where there are a whole bunch of internet start-ups that are familiar with the MailChimp, er, chimp. And also creative companies that like the idea of an almost non-branded billboard. Not being a MailChimp user myself, I had a feeling that I had seen the image before and couldn’t quite place it, but still thought it interesting enough to snap it. I think a lot of tourists might do the same. Is it an art piece or an ad?
Sometimes start-ups like MailChimp do things like this, just because they can. It’s a show of strength. It says to potential clients and investors, ‘Our shit is so locked down that we can spend thousands of dollars on a billboard on a prime time New York block and not even put our name on it’.
I have to admit, I kind of like that. Happy New Year everyone!
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That’s all folks! Want to get involved? Send us the best or worst billboards you’ve seen and we’ll choose one every week. Just email coop@adstruc.com.
A Creative Review: Cole Haan
Welcome back to A Creative Review with James Cooper. Today Coop dives into Cole Haan’s #DontGoHome campaign.
What If You Can’t Go Home?
Whenever a brand interacts with the public, there is an opportunity to get an idea across. It could be a person that opens the door at a store, it could be the back of a receipt. Most obvious is of course advertising.
As you know, I like ads that have ideas in them. I like pieces of communication that advertise an idea, rather than pieces of communication that are advertising ideas. It’s a subtle difference, but brands that ask people to do something or become a part of something are seeing good traction. So, I applaud Cole Haan for trying that here. Though, I’m not exactly sure it works.
Photo credit: ADstruc
The ‘Don’t Go Home’ hashtag feels a little too negative to me. It feels like ‘Don’t Go Home’ because it’s boring, or you have an abusive partner, or…and this is the bummer for this particular campaign, ‘my apartment is under 10 feet of water and has no power and the streets are looking a little like The Walking Dead.’
Of course there was no way Cole Haan could have predicted Sandy, it’s an unfortunate coincidence, but anyone who lived anywhere near this billboard or the store it’s promoting really didn’t want to go home. And all those nice sparkly sequins that were on the board? Sandy was not impressed by those either.
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That’s all folks! Want to get involved? Send us the best or worst billboards you’ve seen and we’ll choose one every week. Just email coop@adstruc.com.
A Creative Review: Dishonored
Welcome back to A Creative Review with James Cooper. Today Coop tackles an enormous painted wallscape for Arkane Studios’ new first-person adventure: Dishonored.
What’s In a Name?
This wallscape is for a new game called Dishonored. Apparently it’s set in a place called Dunwall, which is some sort of cross between Victorian London and Edinburgh - somewhere dark and damp basically - in the 1800’s in a time where whale oil is used as fuel.
I mention all this because from the piece alone, you really wouldn’t get any of that. You also wouldn’t know that it features voice talent from the likes of Susan Sarandon and Carrie Fisher, or that despite it being a first person shoot ‘em up - you can actually win the game without killing anyone.
Photo credit: ADstruc
All of this seems interesting to me. Maybe it would to other people too? Clearly the main the drivers for game purchases today are product reviews and trailers. No amount of amazing advertising is going to persuade you to part with fifty bucks if your gameplay stinks. But, as with movies, I just feel like we could do so much more with this space.
I get that it’s a reminder and it has to be clear - but if you’re painting the side of a massive building in Manhattan, why not use something more intriguing than game art and a big title? Sorry, don’t send this guy after me!
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That’s all folks! Want to get involved? Send us the best or worst billboards you’ve seen and we’ll choose one every week. Just email coop@adstruc.com.
