Fred & Farid Quit Marcel

Fred & Farid have resigned from Marcel, to do a start-up.

It will be called Fred-Farid-Lambert, since their partner is an account guy called - like the Highlander - Christophe Lambert.

Here's the report in Le Figaro*

The move has stunned the French advertising world, because the enfants terribles only set up Marcel 18 months ago, on their return from Goodby Silverstein.

Still, the news provides me with the excuse to trot out my five favourite Fred & Farid stories. (N.B. these may not all be true... those guys have a way of accumulating hype & myth...)

1. They once shat in someone's bin

2. They once stuffed an account man into a bin (not the one they had shat in, I'm hoping)

3. They once walked into a creative's office, shut the door, told him: "Your work, it is shit" and walked out again.

4. They once pushed everyone's desks back against the walls one lunchtime, to clear a space so they could practice their kickboxing - right in the middle of the creative department.

5. They once halted a commercial shoot so they could be interviewed by Shots

*N.B. article is in French. I learned that in France the creative department is called the "creation" department. And a rebranding exercise they call "le rebranding". Like "le big mac", I suppose...

My 100th Post

Seems a suitable occasion to look back. So here's 10 things I've learned since I started blogging:

1. Russell Davies is a lot smarter than the rest of us.

2. Writing a blog 'proves' you are up-to-speed on the modern world. When I went for a job interview at an agency in San Francisco, they were as interested in this blog as they were in my reel.

3. Don't publish photos of people doing things that are illegal or semi-legal. They don't seem to like it...

4. For some reason, creatives don't blog (the only others I know of are the excellent Copyranter and American Copywriter. (If you are a creative who blogs, let me know).

5. Just as it is on e-mail, irony is very hard to express in a blog. Steve Hall of AdRants pulls it off. Copyranter pulls it off. And that's it.

6. Writing a blog takes up quite a bit of time.

7. Learning some HTML hasn't killed me. Though it did take quite a bit of time...

8. Ideas have become truly global. This makes a creative's job much harder, since now you've got to come up with things that have never been done before anywhere in the world, not just your own country.

9. A cameraphone is a blogger's best friend (belated new friend, in my case)

10. The lag between a funny clip appearing on YouTube and the idea being released as an ad is now down to just a few days. (See the latest H3 work below.) Sigh.

The Rosenbauer Panther

The mighty Rosenbauer Panther - an airport fire engine - features in this year's D&AD annual (product design section, p.343).

My question is - why didn't it win a gold pencil? Surely it is the coolest thing of the year, if not ever?

It even has electric swing-forward doors.

Press Advertising Today

The new D&AD annual arrived this morning. So I was a bit depressed. Nothing of mine in there. Everyone is better than me. Should try another screenplay. Our industry's finished anyway.

But at lunchtime, I was reading The Independent, and I noticed... quite a few good ads.

This was probably the best one. Great use of irony to make the case.

Then there was this one.

Nice little insight. Strong argument for going wireless. It's an excellent campaign, this, for AOL.


Then this.

I really like the 'Valuable thinking time' thought. A great benefit of taking the train. And this is a witty execution. Hard-working too. It's offering fine food, space to think, and an intelligent funny tone - all in one ad.

Beautiful illustration on this new Orange ad. Seems Mother aren't going to be shifted off the account in a hurry.

Another nice insight. This time for Norwich Union insurance. We all have a cautious side, don't we? It made me read the copy, anyway.

A funny visual. Raised a chuckle. Caught my attention. Not bad for an ad from the government that's literally telling me to sit up straight.

George Bush has just been shot. You can't not look at this image. And one-eighth of a second later, you have taken in the message that there's a programme about this delicious fantasy on the telly tonight.

Of course, there were a few bad ads too. Like these.

OK, it's retail.

V. patronising

Oh well, pays the bills I suppose.

See me beat my chest!

This can't be good, can it?

Huh? It no make no sense.

But all in all, I was pretty encouraged by the day's crop. Who says newspapers are dead?

There was even one further item to cheer me up - a Q&A with one of the legends of our own industry.

He would have enjoyed one or two of the offerings placed around him today I'm sure, being in his day a noted exponent of the print advertising medium. Shit at TV, mind.

What Makes A Good Suit?

Interesting article in Campaign about suits.

Here are some of the qualities that various industry figures say are required of a good account handler:

Patience, diplomacy, negotiation skils, ability to get bills paid on time, breadth of experience, eclectic, ability to do strategy and channel planning, helping stimulate good creative work, make things happen, drive change, clever, fun, to be around, sociable, likeable, rigorous, relentless, fearless, immune to pressure, unfazed by complexity, clear vision, truth-telling, respect confidences, sense of humour, keep things in perspective, don't try to take credit, no whinging, create, lead, manage, make it happen, be on top of everything, be ruthless, respect authority, know when you can flout convention, recognise the primacy of the idea, have a view on advertising, know everything possible about the client's brand.

Phew. Is it any wonder we slag them off, when we expect them to have all these qualities? Nobody has all these qualities.

Let's make today "cut a suit some slack" day.

The Science Of Signs

Hey, no need to thank me.

But I wonder why it's locked during lunch time. Is this cafe so popular that it risks dangerous overcrowding if it allows entry between 12 and 2? Or is it to stop people leaving...?

Merkley

Discovered the super-cool blog of American photographer Merkley. Here's 3 reasons to visit:

1) Pictures like this one
2) His tagline is "I may not be God, but at least I'm real"
3) He has just posted the entire first episode of hilarious new American comedy show "It's always sunny in Philadelphia."

See you there.

Gondry Video Homage On The Simpsons

The original was for The White Stripes 'Hardest Button To Button'

Location, location, location

First, an interesting post by the wise and likeable Northern Planner about his visit to London's soulless Canary Wharf financial district, which is also home to a single ad agency - Ogilvy.

Then - spookily - yesterday's Campaign reveals that Ogilvy is leaving Canary Wharf for that hotbed of creativity... Victoria. (If you've never been to Victoria, you have missed out on a big railway station. And lots of civil servants' offices).

Ogilvy just don't get it. If you want to attract creative people, you can't be in Victoria.

You have to be in Soho, NoHo or the wild East.

Or whatever the trendy/media district is in whatever city you're located. (Is this true, international readers?)

Just as individuals are influenced by their surroundings, companies must be too, mustn't they?

Geography is destiny, as Jared Diamond so brilliantly lays out in Guns, Germs, and Steel.

Are You English?

If so, you'll want to have a look at this wonderful new blog about queuing. (via in defence of the ordinary)

It reads like Alan Bennett crossed with Larry David, if that makes any sense.

New BBC one Idents

Apparently there are eight but I could only find this one. It's okay. Nothing earth-shattering.



But they have caused quite a controversy, mostly over the £1.2m cost.

I did enjoy this quote from someone called Luke Crawley of the broadcasting trade union BECTU: "They won't encourage people to watch. That can only be done through quality programmes."

Sure thing, Luke. Just like you buy a brand of running shoes purely on quality, ditto cars, and you buy beer purely on taste and airline tickets purely on price. Oh, and you don't care what clothes you wear either. And your girlfriend doesn't wear make-up and your kids don't want to go to McDonalds. Image is completely irrelevant. Sure, Luke. Sure.

Here's a fun ad from Y&R New York, via Copyranter that self-deprecatingly demolishes this archaic argument.



We add value, people! Let's be proud.

Russell Davies 1 Maurice Saatchi 0

I am sure you read Russell's blog. Yesterday he (incredibly generously) posted what he calls his schtick, which is basically the presentation he has been giving for the last couple of years. It's the most interesting post about advertising/marketing I have read in a long time. Highly illuminating, and brilliantly argued.

Having said that, I do disagree with nearly all of it.

Mostly, he's arguing against Maurice Saatchi's one-word equity or "brutal simplicity" theory, and advocating complexity.

Now, the ideal way to resolve this is to place Russell and Maurice in a sand-floored arena, stripped to the waist, armed with tridents and nets.

However, this plan is fraught with logistical difficulties. Not the least of which is Maurice's packed schedule. In fact Maurice is so busy, I'm going to do him a favour and take on Russell myself.

1. Russell uses this funny video to ridicule the idea that the consumer is just sitting there, waiting to receive our messages. His alternative model is this other funny video portraying ad messages as interruptions to something more interesting that we're doing. I think he's only half-right. He's right that we're not 'waiting to receive' a message. But he's wrong that we're doing something more interesting. Often we're not. We're ironing when a radio ad comes on. We're slumped in front of the TV after a hard day at work when a TV ad comes on. We're staring into space on the underground, when our eyes rest on a poster. And in those situations, if your ad can do something like this then that's fine.

2. Russell shows this ad:

and wonders "What would you say the 'message' of that ad is? No idea. Me neither. Because it doesn't really have one... it's not about a single, clear message." Hmmm. Surely it's just saying "Nike is cool"? " It does this by associating Nike with basketball players, fancy basketball moves and hip-hop, which are cleverly connected by the 'idea' of having the players and moves create the track. Simple.

3. Russell says that "this:

is the model of idea creation that most agencies (advertising, digital, whatever) sell their clients. A bunch of smart strategists narrow down the strategic possiblities (with their clients or without) getting to a simple, smart, sharp, focused strategic idea which forms the basis of a controlled explostion of creativity. (Not too big, not too small). This idea is then implemented across a number of media channels to the happiness of everyone . This model is, of course, complete bollocks, and it's designed chiefly, to save money by a) keeping the really expensive people (the creatives) working for the minimum amount of time and b) making the process look calm and predictable. No good idea has ever happened like this.

The reality of any good process that produces great work is more like this:

It's a mess. A good strategist involves the executers as soon and as often as possible. She allows execution to feedback into strategy and vice versa. Something that happens at the end changes something you thought of at the beginning. It's chaotic, wasteful and unpredicatble. It involves lots of people, lots of dead-ends and wastes lots of ideas. But it's the only way to produce stuff that goes beyond the everyday run of communications. Something that people actually want to engage with. Something that works."

Brilliantly argued. But completely wrong.

"No good idea has ever happened like this."

Really?

So M&C Saatchi have never had a good idea? Not their road safety work? Or Vogue.com poster?

There were never any good ideas in the old days, before Honda, before complexity, before the internet?

And ruthlessly simple ideas like 'Lemon', 'Snowplough', the Hamlet campaign, the Lynx/Axe campaign, and Apple '1984' are no good?

Speaking personally, the (admittedly very few) good ideas I've ever had came from a simple brief.

Creatives spend ages sitting around discussing briefs. And all the creatives I know prefer simple ones. Our number one complaint about briefs is that they are confused, unclear or complicated.

Yes, Wieden & Kennedy do produce great work. And yes, it apparently does come out of complexity and chaos. (This no doubt explains the place's nickname - Weekend & Kennedy). But they are not the only people producing great work. And theirs is not the only way to produce great work.

Is The Future Finally Here?

Two brilliantly executed and very 2.0ish items on AdRants have convinced me that maybe it is. First, NBC's hilarious Bill The Promo Guy ad on YouTube. Second, an anti-smoking website from Colorado (pictured) that is so under-the-radar it may even work. Neither of these could have been done three years ago. They're great. And they're for big, mainstream advertisers.

Find Your Tribe

Fun game, maybe more relevant to the UK than other countries, which supposedly identifies which urban subculture you belong to, e.g. Goth, Indie Kid etc. In case anyone's interested, I was a Blinger.

Who Goes? You Decide

We all know that ad agencies, as currently structured, just aren't making enough money nowadays. So the question today is... which department do you axe? Account handling? Creative? Planning? TV? Traffic/Progress/Project Management? Or do you combine some of them, like Mother has done? Vote now.

Mufftastic Viral For Remington

Here's the link.

Not Sure What This Is But I Like It

Genpets

'Vulcan Death Grip' Kellogg's Ad

Not a client known for outstanding commercials. Until this one.

Early Start

Went to a meeting at 8.30am this morning. It was very interesting.. but definitely felt a little early. Aside from shoots, it's the earliest I've ever got up to go to work. What's the earliest time that a meeting can legally be arranged for? Is 8.30 acceptable? Or should it be 9? 10 even?

Another Offender

The general public think that advertising is deceitful nonsense. But can they do any better? No. This London shop owner can't even get a simple open/closed sign right. He's left it on 'open'... and padlocked the door.