My all-time top 10 TV adverts.

I was chatting to a colleague the other day and we talking about our favourite ads of all-time I casually rattled of a couple of mine and she responded and said perhaps you could share your top ten, well I made a list and below is my top 10 ever. > > In first place is 'Snow Plough' from 1964 for VW. I saw this advert in the late 80's and it's one of those adverts that attracted me to go to art college. Timeless and the voiceover is so dry, just brilliant. A very close second was 1999 Surfer from Guinness, I literally got goosebumps when I heard and saw this at the cienma. Those close ups and the beginning combined with the booming soundeffects, the build of the story as we pan out to sea, the editing is top notch. It sold product as it was based on a product truth but it was also the closest to been also a work of art. Tick Tock, tick tock. In at number 3 is Dambusters by Carling Black Label Loved the way this was shot I remember at the time this was one of the first UK TV commercials to have that cinematic feel to it, the pay off at the end and twist is just so good. British humour at it's finest. Another beer advert! Seem to have a theme going on Heineken. 'The Water in Majorca' they say refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach well I can watch this spot again and again and I'll never get tired of it. I know the gags as I watched it so many times but the performances are just esquiste. Gosh. Volvo featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme is in at number 6, here he is carrying out his famous splits between two moving trucks. Apparently it was never done before,and I can see why it bcame viral with so many hits. A wonderful demo and I loved the choice of music from Enya, which has a very sedate pace to it as the story unfolds and with that end shot, for us boys it's eye watering brilliant. I saw this advert for Tonka Trucks one Christmas as a 5 year kid, I wanted one for Christmas. When I did I tried everything to smash it as boys we do but alas the advert was true, it did not smash as mauch as I tried. Another brilliant demo around a product truth. This advert still makes me laugh, it was at a time when a lot of adverts were very Punk rock and disruptive was a common thread as the agnecy HHCL at the time who did this advert also did Ronceal and Pot Noodle. This Tango ad was my favourite it was even better than the orginal 'orange man slap' 'Let's break for lunch' what a line and what a performance!! An idea that'so simple, locked off camera just a mamma mia of an idea. The cast and the surpise product makes this piece, it's so left field in its creative execution. I love it, the dude is brilliant. and my last one for Nike - Parklife, yes it's still a cracker. The blend of superstars with everyday Sunday league players and those third shots too all round a top draw spot from Nike. So there you have it, these are my top 10, any others you think should be included or taken out?

Good ideas are timeless

I love ideas as in creative ideas that are playful with the written word or art directed in a way that captures your eye. (Ideally both of these skill sets work even better in conjunction). Take these two examples which came up in my social media feed, they stopped me in my tracks, my thumb came to juddering halt, I wondered why? Both have charm in tone of voice, both are also informative. They treat the viewer with intelligence and there's no need to 'fill in the gaps' as many marketing director's these like to do. This is what great ideas do, it moves you to act. To buy product, ohh those dirty words that seems to be the trend these days, to avoid selling stuff, ironically at all costs. 'Brand purpose' is all the rage but these posters have a purpose and their purpose is to flog stuff. What is also of interest, these two posters must be at least 40 year's apart, the Tide poster was conceieved just after the end of WW2, when Britain was in rebuilding mode after her cities where bombed, this is my hometown, London, East London to be precise. I love the line, it even has the brands name in the headline. (Dave Trott would I'm sure be impressed) and if you look closely it even has a bit of a special build going on, the use of type and graphics is dated but somehow would look fresh now, it has that retro feel to it. The headline" Tide's in - Dirt's out! what a line - just 4 words and hits a home run and the product benifit pitched in a charming way. Fast-foward to the 90's and we have a poster van driving around selling a bedside cabient. Again what a headline this is, it made me smile and again just 4 words to sell the product. How many ads have you seen lately that can do that? B&Q is the only work out of Uncommon London I can recall that has acheived that lately. These are timeless and like all good ideas will be remembered and recalled, as for the 99.9%, they'll all go in the black hole of nothingness. Work to be done for all creatives to get noticed and sell stuff. Tick,tock.

Podcasts

I was recently asked by one of our colleagues in Malta on how to set-up a podcast and remember many years ago doing a series of podcasts for my PGCHE. I like my colleague had no clue on where to start, but after a bit of digging around online and speaking to a few people in the industry they guided me and I created this which was pretty basic but I thought I would share for anyone else out there who is in the same boat as I was. I also found this article which I thought was gold dust for anyone started out which is well worth a read. A full step-by-step guide on getting started.