Iceland Drone Shots!! WOW

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.

Award

I've won Cannes, D&AD's and everything in-between but nothing beats this. So chuffed in recieving this as recognition for one of the people who is fighting for more diversity and inclusion within the work place. Thank you Flutter and all my colleagues who awarded me this honour and a #HatTip to those who have stepped up to the plate and took on the challenge to get greater equality within the work place. Once again, thank you.

London Smiling Again

Got in my grill

The Lil Jif Project | TVC animation from motif on Vimeo.

Taking shortcuts with business risk assessment.

Extremely effective warmup 😂 #Olympics #Tokyo2020 #tuesdaymotivations pic.twitter.com/4887wWpA79

— Evan Kirstel the $B2B Techfluencer (@EvanKirstel) July 27, 2021

Dad brings home his work. Delightful

Sick Beats

When you see so much work throughout your career and as a Creative Director you see a lot - the good, the bad and the dam right ugly and then, a couple fall out of the bucket that come under the title; 'fuck me that is so bloody brilliant, oh my God what a fucking brilliant idea' title. 

Kids with cystic fibrosis have to go through a daily chore of airway-clearance therapy, it's not nice to say the least. 

So some smart people have created Sick Beats which is the world's first music-powered airway clearance vest. The prototype, a redesign of Woojer's consumer vest, syncs with a smartphone to pull therapeutic 40Hz frequencies from music and send them to the chest. Which helps clears the patients lungs of mucus. Bloody amazing.

Rightly it won awards but if I was the creative who came up with this idea, would I care it won? Not really but seeing the joy on the little girl's face after her treatment through Sick Beats, now that's worth its weight in gold. #hatTip team at Woojer and Area 23 FCB 

Neymar and Pokerstars shaking up poker

New office pool

Had the chance to go back to the office and collect some mouldy running shoes that had been left in my draw since lockdown suffice to say it wasn't pretty but hey I did get a chance to look at the new office across the road and look at the new pool, now that is a cracker.

 

#InternationalWomensDay

For all the women out there #InternationalWomensDay 

I'm drawn to Heinz

How about this for brand recall? To be fair it’s a bit like Hoover. Top draw work though from Heinz.This is also another great example of true 360’ thinking. Love the fact they also used the research as part of the actual campaign output.

So cute

this is the best thing, ive ever seen, on twitter dot compic.twitter.com/UfSr50uxRj

— shiraz (@shiraz) August 18, 2020

Something so nice about this which popped up on my Twitter feed, why do I like it? The creators apply the same principles as those pesky marketeers like me who use storytelling, emotional hooks and music to pull the viewer to carry on watching. I now can't get the tune out of my head. Very clever. #HatTip

Wow!! I need a cigarette after watching this

Wow. When advertising is done right. An incredibly powerful new campaign from Bodyform developed by a female led creative team out of AMV. #WombStories Truly magical story-telling. Serious #HatTip.

Lovely design

Bit of Retro

These vintage fast food ads by TBWA\Paris for McDonald's are a classic and noteworthy example of clever advertising. To celebrate the restaurant chain's iconic burger — the Big Mac. Loved the art direction and I'n noticing a trend at the moment for comfort during Convid19 lockdown many of us are resorting to watching old films as kids and teens. Call it comfort food in this instance. Nice work.

Caples Awards

Caples Awarads was announced last night 13/4/ some really lovely work all announced via Zoom in these strange times but two things that never change and always remain, one, creatives will always have a drink in their hand and the two; there's even more importance in the value of the creative idea, like I said, even more so now. On a side note you might rightly question why do awards while this is going on? Well it was this year free to enter and I think it was good to bring many creatives together from all over the world via Zoom, creatives from Sydney, NZ and LA all coming together, much better I think than some gaff in London, seemed more inclusive. Anyway clients need to be brave, innovate, explore new ways of doing things. Companies regardless of size or sector need to stand-out combined with creating ideas/products/approach that is aligned with the reality of Convid19. Create work as John Hegarty mentioned at the start of the Zoom presentation that all great creative must adhere; be memorable, motivating and truthful. The work tonight I saw some real corkers. />