Well said and true

Beautifully Sad

These ads from Refuge have been popping up in my feed over the last week or so, you would have thought this type of behaviour from men would have been a thing of the past, but sadly if anything it's on the increase :( but this is wonderful work from a creative perspective to the work they do in supporting women in abusive relationships. Very well written and art directed. #HatTip to work like this McCann Bristol.

Poor Marketing By Tiffany's

I saw this on my feed and it struck me as to why this object made me feel sad? It made me sad for the world we live in where 500,000 kids in the UK leave home for school without a breakfast or where 4.5 million kids are living below the poverty line in the UK, terrible statistics in the modern age. So what has that got to do with a silver can? For many people it's a daily struggle just to put food on the table, and I remember a stat when the country goes into a recession the biggest selling items are cans of beer and baked beans. This silver can reminded me of a baked bean can but this one is priced at 945 pounds. When I was an art student, a 20p can of beans went a long way, beans on toast, the next day, jacket potato and beans, it was and sure still is the stable diet for many students and working class families up and down the country. So for many this everyday object is an object of existing rather than seen as an object of luxury. People need to be reminded that even if they have wealth there's a lot of people who haven't and showing some form of empathy and compassion is required not rubbing their faces in it by wearing stuff like this. Peace and goodwill to you all, especially this time of year

Tech Jargon Flowchart :)

Creativity DeConstructed

Constructvism and disequilibrium I discovered this and I really thought it was gold and worth sharring in gaining undertsanding when it comes to the creative process or the journey we as creatives we have to go through. I agree withthe post in to get the best work you have to go as I call it; the 'dark zone' where there's confusion and unease. And if you look at the theory of learning in Constructvism, it's about experiences of what we have gone through that makes us who we are and how we decode things. I love this graph that shows the process and the feelings we feel duriing the creative process. Disequilibrim should be embraced no matter how uncomfortable it makes us feel.

Love this, sums it up.

Sharing Creativity and Thinking

As a Creative Director with over 25 year's experience 18 years of that in pure play digital agencies one thing has taught me is that we all need mentors or teachers, even after all these years you can never stop learning, that is why I took my teaching degree at Falmouth University recently, spending long nights for over 26 weeks including weekends, all of this was online and while I was doing my day job. It was extremely hard and I now have a real appreciation for students currently studying, they get a bad rap sometimes and for the most part unfairly. One thing that taking this course has taught me is that you need people to talk and share your thoughts, collaboration is key to any form of working relationship either in the office or in the student halls, you need that interaction. Even though the course was all online, the platform we had gave us the opportunity to talk via forums and through weekly Hangouts, I didn't feel isolated far from it. I did however have one mentor behind the scenes a colleague I had worked with when I first started in advertising, the lovely Gail Parameter she's now a lecturer herself and I relied on her a lot, especially when it got a bit wobbly, tight deadlines, papers to write and lead pitches in my day job. So all students out there young or old, a word of wisdom find your mentor(s) we all need them from time to time. Have a great weekend.

Creative Director Is More Than Just A Title

A student recently asked; 'what's it like to be a Creative Director?" While watching this it dawned on me; with looming deadlines hanging over you, this is seriously what it is like to be a Creative Director -fighting for a proper brief, getting that idea, fighting for it, selling it, fighting for it, delivering it. Once done. Repeat.

But what other factors contribute to the stress? Why tight timelimes? Sometimes it is a quick turn around, its the nature of the business, but some stressful timings and working conditions are self-inflicted by many agency folk. We all know the industry is transforming, with start-ups, consultants and agencies reinventing their offerings.It's now not unusual for pure digital agencies to be the 'lead agency' and to do TV spots and across the way, good old PR agencies creating digital experiences with all of them saying that they can create 'micro-moment' rich content in a day. No wonder there's confusion within the departments and even more confusing for our clients. One such client who has become a good friend over the years spoke to me recently with eyes rolling about another offering from her agency of record. She said something quite interesting in the next breath by saying; 'I nod and I always refer to the Creative Director, if you take away all the jargon it will always come back to the idea'. 'No idea no offering' and key factor is can that agency deliever that idea within the agreed timeframe? Is it going to make a difference within my sector in either brand equity or a strong KPI that has been agreed? All basic stuff nut gets missed time and time again. So why the rolling surf bearing down the neck of the Creative Director from the student who asked the original question? I thought about his question long and hard and it's quite simple really, most companies 'faff' and what I mean by that statement is we have too many people talking and not actually doing what they are been paid to do. I remember many moons ago, AMV London had a website that showcased all their work as a simple sketch on a post-it note. You got the purity and genius of the ideas, where all the other agencies at the time where into Flash sites as it looked 'cool' yes a bastard to load but hey; 'they'll love it' was the shout from the new business directors. Experienced CD's have a knack to cut-through quickly, most are as sharp as a razor in thinking and clarity, and there lies the problem, while all departments have been faffing beforehand many turn their attention in cretaing ideas as it deflects what they should be doing but when it comes to the crunch most come up short,so before you try to catch a wave focus on what you get paid to do then maybe the whole process could be less of a kick bollock scramble and the surf deadlines bearing down your/our neck wouldn't be common practise. Just maybe we could service our clients better, just a thought. Have great creative productive week, surfs up!

11:11:11

This was posted over the weekend, just stunning work, beautiful idea that has real class. #HatTip

Greggs You cheeky Monkey

When I saw this on my Twitter feed I laughed out loud. I think Greggs by doing this really plays to their strengths, they saw an opportunity to do a cheeky Christmas marketing stunt by flipping around its shop logo to capitalise on the popularity of Fenwick's famous Christmas window display opposite in Newcastle. Stroke of genius and hat tip to them as they have gained a lot of free media from the stunt, all positive I might add. To many brands now are to scared to do stuff like this, responses like; what would the customers think if we put our signage backwards? Where does it fit in with our marketing plan, and our 'brand playbook' we all follow doesn't show our signage flipped.

. Great stuff and might be the best piece of content created all Christmas for a retailer. The original post is here on Twitter with the video.

Trash Isle

Just amazing idea to bring about change

Google My Line

Living on a desert island and having super-fast internet – well that would be the dream! And with Google My Line, I will stay connected to the rest of the world. A beautiful idea using modern and old tech to make the internet more accessible.

Rapid Rescue

This is old but I love this idea, great ideas never die. (pun intended) Like the fact that this idea harnessing trained first aiders already out there, who in effect could respond quicker as they are nearer to the scene.

Insta Depressed

I saw this idea from WWF, called #TooLatergram caught my eye and I thought it was clever way to draw attention we are doing to the World we live in from crystal clear seas, to Alice In Wonderland Coral reefs and snow-topped glaciers covered in snowdrop coloured flowers. Through the lens of travel bloggers they truly look awe inspiring the locations just look like a place we all want to go. There lies the problem, as earth’s natural wonders have disappeared because of people. In this social activation WWF tries to engage millennials to take environmental action. They invited famous travel Instagramers to post images of international beauty spots as if they were paying them a visit. But thousands of followers who gushed over the pics discovered there was a bleak story behind the post. The sites had already been ruined and bloggers responded by posting a picture of the current situation at the same place. #TooLatergram well one thing it did for me is depressed me on what we have done, I clicked on the link at the end and as it was in French, didn't give me the option for English version and the site was pretty slick in interface, but that's it just information on the places and a newsletter sign-up, surely we should be doing something more? Pre-perpared letters to Govs? Protest? Not sure but it just felt a bit design and idea over end output. I go back to feeling miserable after watching this.

Random objects creating a great beat. Word

Maggi Fish Sauce Launch

Some work I was involved in from a Creative Director's perspective, Nestle Maggi new launch of their fish sauce. I was pleased with this piece in the idea and art direction which translated from TV, digital into paid and earned media channels. A complete 360 degree marketing campaign. If you know anything about Vietnam you'll know the Vietnamese love their food and I mean love their food!! Communities are built around food, the sharing of stories, and families still sit around the dinner table. Which is wonderful to see and hear. We played to that human interaction and it became a good way to share our story from Maggi on how they salt and barrel their black anchovies from Phu Quoc this gives its unique premium taste. #HatTip to all the people who we're involved in making this happen, you know who you are, a great project to be involved in.

Draw a gasp of creative delight

Certain things pop in your feed ever so often that grab your attention and stir those creative juices, this is just one. This is a belter and I would love to demo this on my wall at home. Mind you; I'm not how the kids will react considering when they were very small I used to tell them not to draw on the walls but not with standing that this mesmerising gadget can draw any image on a vertical surface - instantly turning walls into art. The Scribit is a small 'writing robot' that is installed using just two nails and a suspending cable. Using a smartphone app, it can then be instructed to draw anything from an elaborate artwork to reproducing Twitter messages. This I would say would be the must have gadget for any artistic geek.

Nike dope ad

Coming from London as the right side of London as in East London, I saw this piece from Nike and just was literally knocked out by it's creativity, a knock out in one hit, bang! I saw it coming as it's from Nike as they always set the creative bar very high, but this still caught me off guard, I tried to duck and dive and cynically gave a dig back, especially when they mentioned anything about Sarf London or as we West Ham fans say, 'Cowboy country' but it was in vein, my heart pumped with pride coming from a city that has produced some of the greatest sports people this country has ever produced. It hit me with how well it was shot, the cast, the writing and the insight itself, one punch is all it took and when I came round, dizzy and confused it dawned on me as I thought; yes they talk of the good old days when advertising was at it's peak around the 80's early 90's; the heavyweight champions as in Dambusters- Carling, Guinness- Surfer and Parklife- Nike, but this one is the real thing and a contender of best of this year. Now I need to get back in there and get training and see if I can match and take it on in terms of creativity and originality. Hat tip Nike and W&K London, stellar work, you gave the ad industry a fat lip, which is a good thing as it really needed it.

Unreal Virtual Reality

HYPER-REALITY from Keiichi Matsuda on Vimeo.