Job Ad

The classic in this genre was by Paul 'Swingers' Bringelow a few years back. It was an all-type ad that just said "Christ I need an art director" in really terrible handwriting. Even the box around it was wonky.

But I've never seen an actual piece of moving film to this brief before. Fair play to Miles for doing something different.

Tuesday Tip No.49 - Working Outside London

Phil Hickes, Creative Head at Golley Slater, Cardiff - one of Britain’s most successful regional agencies – reveals all.

Advertising does exist outside of London. Not that you’d know it by reading Campaign. While you London dandies prance about from one private members club to the next, decrying the latest YouTube derivatives, there are hundreds of us quietly getting on with the business at hand, furiously polishing turds for our latest creatively-challenged client.

See? Life could be worse. The frustration out here is that we creative exiles share your ambitions. Like you, we want to be lauded, feted and carried shoulder high from the D&AD halls. But we’re disadvantaged before we even dust off our pads. We don’t share London agency resources, profile or clients. So we’re constantly struggling to get decent stuff through, swimming against a tide of financial and cultural constraints.

Try doing justice to your beautiful concept with a budget of 50p. See if you can hide the horror on your face when your new client proudly proclaims that their last ad was shot “by the same bloke who directs the DFS ads!” Or when your MD tells you that they’re wooing another ‘exciting new client’ in the insurance industry.

So why do we stick it? Because there are always exceptions to the rule and there are great accounts to be had if you look hard enough. It only takes one good client doesn’t it? And I’m sure you’re not all sitting down to tea with VW and Guinness every day.

Of course we could also stop boo-hooing and get back into the mix. Maybe we’re not good enough to cut it in the Premier League? Well, I don’t buy that. For starters, many Creatives out here have come direct from the Smoke. (You can spot them immediately; the hollow-cheeked, haunted-looking alcoholics.) And besides, if we start to feel a little inferior, then we only have to look at some of the toe-curlers to roll off the London production line and our confidence is restored. Cue Berocca.

I’m on thin ice here though. The regions churn out more than their fair share of excremental advertising – stand up the recent Honey Monster ad. But there are also some cracking examples of what the regions can do when conditions allow: WKD from Big Communications; the Irn Bru campaigns from Leith; the Adidas Manchester ad from McCanns; anything from Golley Slater ; ). If you sift through the shit, you’ll find plenty of golden nuggets.

The other main factor, of course, is the quality of life. The hours are better. The commute is shorter. By the time you’re exiting your plush receptions we’ve been to the gym and are settling down to watch Corrie with a glass of Tesco’s finest. We’re not losing hair and sleep because some cocky young graduate team have just moved in down the hall. Creative careers last longer (one of our AD’s is 67 and still going strong). When a creative team has a result, the rest of the department don’t start muttering darkly about ‘rip-offs.’ There is no ‘I’ in ‘TEAM.’

And…we still get to dip our toe in the London scene and enjoy a Satsuma Bento box at all the best production houses. Just less often.

So if you’re growing weary of the backbiting and the sniping, consider a move to the regions. We’re crying out for experienced people. You won’t be having conference calls with Chris Palmer every week, but it’s far from being a creative bone-yard either. You’ll love the relaxed, relatively stress-free lifestyle. Plus you’ll still get a sniff of awards - though it’s probably best to bid ‘adieu’ to the Hotel Du Cap and say ‘bonjour’ to the Hotel Du Thistle. It all depends on your priorities. Personally, I don’t want to ever stop enjoying what I consider to be one of the best jobs in the world. I’m not sure that would be the case if I was in London. (Whatever Dr Johnson says).

P.S. Scamp, did you get my book?


Do you work outside London? Did Phil tell it like it is? Let us know.


Previous Tips:

What Would John Webster Do?; What Would Paul & Nigel Do?; The Hidden Flaw; How To Write Copy; Be Funny All The Way Through; How To Do Virals; How To Get A Pay Rise; Be Wary Of Punding; Challenge The Brief; Tell The Truth; Playing To Lose; How To Write Headlines; How To Do Direct; How To Do Radio; How To Do Press; How To Do TV; How To Do Digital; How To Do Posters; Look At Weird Shit; Presenting To The Client; Presenting To The Team; Presenting To The Creative Director; How To Deal With Rejection; Look Creative; Don't Be Afraid To Ask; Your Idea Has To Be 120%; Read Iain's Tips; Don't Behave; How To Discuss Ideas; Read Hugh's Tips; How To Get A Job In Advertising Part IV - How To Turn A Placement Into A Job; How To Get A Job In Advertising Part III - How To Approach Agencies (re-print of Tip No. 7); How To Get A Job In Advertising Part II - How To Put A Book Together; How To Get A Job In Advertising Part I - FAQ; Make Friends With Traffic; Get Reference; Don't Stop Too Soon; Be Very; Breaking Up; Working Well With Your Partner; Finding The Right Partner; How To Approach Agencies; Never-Seen-Before Footage; Dicketts' Finger; Two Blokes In The Pub; Play Family Fortunes; Should You Take A Bad Job?; Don't Overpolish

New Nike Ad 'Take It To The Next Level' - Launches Tomorrow And It's Good

Just when I was moaning they don't make Nike ads as good as they used to, they make one that is.

It's epic stuff, with a strong narrative, and lots of nice detail along the way.

Shot by Guy Ritchie, apparently.

Doing The Right Thing

I’m working on a campaign for a charity at the moment.

So of course, I’ve been spending some time looking at great charity ads that have been done in the past. Not to steal them, if that’s what you were thinking, but just to get my head into that space.

Coincidentally, my good buddy Copyranter who recently announced he had retired but now seems has started again has recently written an acerbic
post about charity advertising.



Commenting on the above ad for Crystal Meth (sorry, I mean against Crystal Meth), he writes:

I'm sure the somber admen from San Francisco agency Venable Bell and Partners, standing on the various ad awards show podiums next spring, will somberly tell the suddenly not goofing-off audience that if the ads stopped just one kid from smoking the Meth, then every pro bono second they spent toiling to craft these graphic, perfectly art-directed scenes will have been so worth it, man.

He goes on to propose a solution to the same brief that he believes would be more effective:

(all type)
GET HELP GETTING OFF METH
MontanaMeth.org

Anyway, that post set me wondering… how many of the good charity ads I have been looking through were created specifically to win awards, rather than help people?

Common sense says it shouldn’t matter, as long as the ads worked.

But if the ‘Ranter is right, and the type of charity ads created to win awards are perfectly art-directed duds, then it does matter.

What do you think?

Supplementary question – the last charity campaign you worked on, what was uppermost in your mind: winning awards, or helping people?

What Would John Webster Do?

The second in a series of tips that suggest, if you’re stuck on a brief, you try looking at your problem through the eyes of someone else.

Today, John Webster - perhaps the greatest writer of television commercials the UK has ever produced.

He had a wide variety of output, but is probably most associated with an ability to create enduring ‘characters’, including the Cresta Bear, the Hofmeister Bear, the Smash Martians, the Humphreys, and the Honey Monster.

Most of these ads are quite old now, but their approach is as valid as ever – just look at the success of Monkey for PG Tips.

Today I’m going to try to analyse how John did it.

Let’s start with the Hofmeister Bear and Smash Martians.





What I want to pick up on first of all is that although John’s characters were often wacky, they were the very opposite of random. There was always a rock solid logic behind them.

The Hofmeister Bear was on the pack. The Smash Martians were robots because Smash was the food of the future. Now, a Hofmeister robot might have been funny, as might a Smash Bear… but they wouldn’t have had the crucial relevance that makes them so satisfying.

So, when you’re creating your character, don’t just pick an animal out of a hat. If it’s going to be a robot, make it a robot for a reason.

Now let’s look at the Humphreys and then the Honey Monster.





The point I want to make here is one of role. I strongly believe that a big part of the success of John’s characters was that he gave them a fantastically simple role to play in the commercial.

The Humphreys want your Unigate Milk. That’s it.

The Honey Monster is obsessed with honey. End of story.

(Similarly, Gary Lineker wants to steal your Walkers crisps).

So if you are creating a character-based campaign, the learning from John Webster is that you don’t need to create a clever strategy. Give the character a simple and clear role to play that connects them to the product. They hate it. They love it. Etc. Most of the power of your campaign is going to come from the character-creation, not the strategy.

Finally, let’s look at the Cresta bear.



The lesson here is a complex one, and maybe the most important of the three points I want to make. It’s this - how do you make your character interesting?

Well, the most important thing a character needs in order to be interesting is a degree of contradiction. (No contradictions = smooth conformity = bland, characterless)

The Honey Monster embodies the classic contradiction of the gentle giant. He is physically imposing, yet mentally kind and childish.

The Humphreys are ordinary drinking straws… and yet have a sinister methodology to their actions.

The Smash Martians are robots, but they are constantly laughing.

As well, as his understanding of contradiction, John wasn’t afraid to borrow interest at times. But he was brilliant at hiding his sources.

John’s particular trick was to take well-known actors and re-make them in another medium. The Cresta Bear was based on Jack Nicholson in Easy Rider. The Hofmeister Bear was a Cockney Fonz.

That doesn’t have to be your trick. But there has to be something about your character that is contradictory, compelling and memorable… while at the same time relevant, and they have to have a clear role in relation to the product.

Give it a try. Madison Avenue has an annual parade of advertising icons. It’s time we created a few more over here.


Previous Tips:

What Would Paul & Nigel Do?; The Hidden Flaw; How To Write Copy; Be Funny All The Way Through; How To Do Virals; How To Get A Pay Rise; Be Wary Of Punding; Challenge The Brief; Tell The Truth; Playing To Lose; How To Write Headlines; How To Do Direct; How To Do Radio; How To Do Press; How To Do TV; How To Do Digital; How To Do Posters; Look At Weird Shit; Presenting To The Client; Presenting To The Team; Presenting To The Creative Director; How To Deal With Rejection; Look Creative; Don't Be Afraid To Ask; Your Idea Has To Be 120%; Read Iain's Tips; Don't Behave; How To Discuss Ideas; Read Hugh's Tips; How To Get A Job In Advertising Part IV - How To Turn A Placement Into A Job; How To Get A Job In Advertising Part III - How To Approach Agencies (re-print of Tip No. 7); How To Get A Job In Advertising Part II - How To Put A Book Together; How To Get A Job In Advertising Part I - FAQ; Make Friends With Traffic; Get Reference; Don't Stop Too Soon; Be Very; Breaking Up; Working Well With Your Partner; Finding The Right Partner; How To Approach Agencies; Never-Seen-Before Footage; Dicketts' Finger; Two Blokes In The Pub; Play Family Fortunes; Should You Take A Bad Job?; Don't Overpolish

Nike Ads Today

So this is what Nike ads are like today.

First off, it doesn’t own up to being an ad. (It hasn’t run on TV). And, it didn’t cost much to make, with the possibly massive exception of Kobe Bryant’s fee.



And this is the type of Nike ad I grew up with – Good vs Evil.



Production cost - enough to feed a small country for a year. Add in the media cost, and you could buy that country.

So have things got better, or worse? And for who?

Copyranter Quits Blogging

Image via Where's My Jetpack?

Award-winning NYC copywriter and one of the world's Top 10 ad bloggers Copyranter has announced he will no longer blog.

In typically no-bullshit style he gives his reason for quitting as "it takes too much time."

If you never read him, you probably won't care. But if you did, you'll be gutted.

Copyranter encouraged me a hell of a lot when I was starting out, and there's little doubt that he was the world's top 'creative who blogs'... he even got a gig writing a series of columns for U.S. web giant Gawker entitled 'Lies Well Disguised'.

Beneath a facade of contempt, Copyranter wrote about our business with unequalled wit and verve.

The proof that he cared was the special venom he reserved for cliche, sexism and ads that talk down to people. Example - his Most Gratuitous Use Of Breasts To Sell Something award.

If you liked him too, or had a favourite post of his and know how to do links within comments, do add your thoughts below.

Friday Poll. You Work Quite Hard. But Who Are You?

The most common time for Scamp readers to leave work is between 6.30pm and 7.

So it seems we're working quite hard. Not as hard as lawyers, doctors or management consultants. But harder than accountants, bank managers and the people I have been trying to get to install my Sky dish, who never show up when they're supposed to and never return my phone calls.


Actually when I say we're working quite hard... who are 'we'?

Who is actually reading this blog? I get the impression it's mostly Creatives, with a few Planners stopping by to stir things up. But I could be wrong.

Input answer now, in the top right hand corner of your screen.

Previous poll results:
Friday Poll no.21 - Does Juan Earn One Million Pounds A Year?
Friday Poll No.20 - How Much Do You Earn?
Friday Poll No.19 - What Do You Think Of Our Trade Rag?
Friday Poll No.18 - Should A Creative Look Creative?
Friday Poll No.17 - Ad Of The Year 2007
Friday Poll No.16 - Do Difficult People Do The Best Work?
Friday Poll No.15 - Who Is Responsible For Ineffectiveness?
Friday Poll No.14 - Your Personal Success Record
Friday Poll No.13 - Which Department Is The Most Insane?
Friday Poll No.12 - What Music Do You Listen To While Working?
Friday Poll No.11 - What Time Do You Get In?
Friday Poll No.10 - Who Drinks The Most?
Friday Poll No.9 - Press v Online
Friday Poll No.8 - Success Or Glory?
Friday Poll No.7 - Is Reading Blogs A Waste Of Time?
Friday Poll No.6 - Job Satisfaction
Friday Poll No.5 - Festive Greetings
Friday Poll No.4 - Ad Of The Year 2006
Friday Poll No.3 - What's Your Favourite Medium To Work In?
Friday Poll No.2 - Agency Of The Year
Friday Poll No.1 - Which Department Is The Most Overpaid?

New VW Golf Ad

Shame there's been a lot of 'people making music with the product' ads recently. In fact I think there was even another car brand that did it... Fiat, if I recall. Not to mention Honda 'Choir', which mined a similar seam.

I still like this though. Originality isn't everything, and the craft here is great.

Tuesday Tip No.47 - What Would Paul & Nigel Do?

Stuck on a print brief?

Ask yourself... What Would Paul & Nigel Do?

This is the first in a sub-series I am planning on what we can learn from some of the masters of our craft. And there is no question that Paul Belford and Nigel Roberts are among the best print teams ever to have walked this earth.

In fact if I were given a print brief and told that the resulting ad HAD to get in the D&AD annual or I would lose my house... I would ring up Paul & Nigel.

They have a very specific approach to print advertising, and I am going to suggest that - if you are stuck on a print brief - it might be useful to give it a try. Maybe you come up with nothing. But at the very worst, you have had a half hour break from your normal working method.

Funnily enough, although Paul & Nigel's ads always have a fantastically modern sensibility, I suspect that their approach is an old-fashioned one (N.B. I have never spoken to either of them about how they work. Everything I am writing here is reverse-engineered from their product).

We all know how a normal print ad is constructed:

The headline and the visual work together in harmony. Take away the line, and the visual doesn't communicate anything. Take away the visual, and the line doesn't make sense either.

This has been the standard approach, ever since Bill Bernbach first decided to have art directors and copywriters sit together.

Now here's a Paul & Nigel ad (you may need to click on some of these to enlarge them).



As you can see, the entire message is carried in the headline. The visual is, strictly speaking, unnecessary. Technically, it's a piece of graphic design, that illustrates the ad, rather than an advertising visual that works hand-in-glove with the line. Basically, they've written a great line about soup, and then just illustrated it with a cool picture of a splash of soup.

Here's a couple more examples.




Here, even more obviously, we see that the visuals are 'mere' graphic design, accompanying the headline. In actual fact they are full of little ideas - the mouse and the sound waves all being relevant to sound, for example. But again, they're working to amplify the line, not complete it.

Of course, this method isn't easy. You almost certainly won't be able to do ads as good as these - Nigel's headlines are among the best in the world, and so is Paul's art direction.

But if you fancy a change, try their approach. (Don't worry that your ads will end up looking like theirs. Paul & Nigel's campaigns don't look like any of their other campaigns).

First of all, each of you must sit down and write headlines. Don't try to think visually at all. Write lots of them. Paul & Nigel were part-schooled at Leagas Delaney, where Tim Delaney is notorious for 'weighing' a pile of print ads in his hand before a review. The man reveres quantity. Perhaps he understands that, as I think Dave Trott said - "the way to write a good ad is to write a lot of them."

So write lots of headlines. Literally, at least a hundred. (It isn't so hard, when you free yourself from trying to write 'ads', and just write headlines). Then leave them for a day. Then pick the best three.

If you can, think of a really interesting way to set these headlines (here's a couple of examples, again from Paul & Nigel):




Then choose which part of your line you are going to illustrate (either photographically or via illustration).

For example if the line is about eggs, get hold of the most interesting photo ever taken of an egg. Try a crazy crop of it.

Use that in the layout as reference, until you can shoot your own.

Anyway, that's today's tip, sorry it was on a Wednesday again. Do let me know what you think.

Previous Tips:

The Hidden Flaw; How To Write Copy; Be Funny All The Way Through; How To Do Virals; How To Get A Pay Rise; Be Wary Of Punding; Challenge The Brief; Tell The Truth; Playing To Lose; How To Write Headlines; How To Do Direct; How To Do Radio; How To Do Press; How To Do TV; How To Do Digital; How To Do Posters; Look At Weird Shit; Presenting To The Client; Presenting To The Team; Presenting To The Creative Director; How To Deal With Rejection; Look Creative; Don't Be Afraid To Ask; Your Idea Has To Be 120%; Read Iain's Tips; Don't Behave; How To Discuss Ideas; Read Hugh's Tips; How To Get A Job In Advertising Part IV - How To Turn A Placement Into A Job; How To Get A Job In Advertising Part III - How To Approach Agencies (re-print of Tip No. 7); How To Get A Job In Advertising Part II - How To Put A Book Together; How To Get A Job In Advertising Part I - FAQ; Make Friends With Traffic; Get Reference; Don't Stop Too Soon; Be Very; Breaking Up; Working Well With Your Partner; Finding The Right Partner; How To Approach Agencies; Never-Seen-Before Footage; Dicketts' Finger; Two Blokes In The Pub; Play Family Fortunes; Should You Take A Bad Job?; Don't Overpolish

Oh My God, We're All Dead

Fallon's new ad for Budweiser.

What can I say.

This isn't trying to be cool, it just is cool.

Check shirts and a hypnotic, fucked-up VO.

Doesn't feel like an ad.

A piece of communication that's not about product features, or benefits, but the naked soul of the brand.

Some commenters on this blog seem to think I'm in love with Fallon's work. Am I? Not every ad they do is brilliant. Not every ad they've released today is brilliant.

All I can do is call it as I see it. We are sucking on their exhaust, gentlemen, sucking on their exhaust.

Thanks to Wal for pointing this one out.

Why?

Chris Palmer's Last Shoot

Arguably Britain's best commercials director of the last few years, Chris Palmer, has made his last ad.

Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi
Creatives: Howard Green and Pablo Videla

Paul Arden

Paul Arden's ads were brilliant, and by all accounts he was a brilliant creative director too.

But what strikes me the most - reading all the stories about him in Campaign, and on various blogs - is... just how many stories there were about him. Stories of how he punched people, fired people, urinated in a window box. Or offered to reduce his own salary to fund the hiring of a down-on-his luck Tim Mellors.

Thinking further about this theme... I'm sure we could all tell stories about every one of the CD's of Britain's Top 20 agencies, couldn't we?

This leads me to wonder - to have a great career, as well as being great at advertising of course, do you need to be the sort of person that others tell stories about?

Do you need to be extreme?

What if you're not. Can you fake it?

Or, deep down, are we all profoundly weird and individual... but most of us - for whatever reason - don't let enough of our real selves out like Paul Arden did.

Tuesday Tip No.46 - The Hidden Flaw

Someone once said that "the problem with a hidden flaw is it never remains hidden."

Wise words.

Very often, when you're writing an ad, you come up with something great, that you love... but you know in your heart of hearts there's one tiny thing wrong with it.

Your partner likes it. Your CD likes it. So you start thinking that maybe the planner, the account team, the client and the director will like it too, that none of them will spot the hidden flaw.

But they will. Maybe they won't say anything because, hey, they all need an ad too. But by the time it gets to consumers, and to awards juries, that hidden flaw will be as visible as a spot on a nose.

Maybe it's just a little bit too close to something one of the brand's competitors has done. Maybe it's an endline or set of words that works perfectly on two levels, but there's just this extra little meaning it can also have, that you don't want, which keeps creeping in to the communication.

Whatever it is, you know what it is. And you're best off bringing it out into the open.

And yes, I know today's Wednesday.


Previous Tips:

How To Write Copy; Be Funny All The Way Through; How To Do Virals; How To Get A Pay Rise; Be Wary Of Punding; Challenge The Brief; Tell The Truth; Playing To Lose; How To Write Headlines; How To Do Direct; How To Do Radio; How To Do Press; How To Do TV; How To Do Digital; How To Do Posters; Look At Weird Shit; Presenting To The Client; Presenting To The Team; Presenting To The Creative Director; How To Deal With Rejection; Look Creative; Don't Be Afraid To Ask; Your Idea Has To Be 120%; Read Iain's Tips; Don't Behave; How To Discuss Ideas; Read Hugh's Tips; How To Get A Job In Advertising Part IV - How To Turn A Placement Into A Job; How To Get A Job In Advertising Part III - How To Approach Agencies (re-print of Tip No. 7); How To Get A Job In Advertising Part II - How To Put A Book Together; How To Get A Job In Advertising Part I - FAQ; Make Friends With Traffic; Get Reference; Don't Stop Too Soon; Be Very; Breaking Up; Working Well With Your Partner; Finding The Right Partner; How To Approach Agencies; Never-Seen-Before Footage; Dicketts' Finger; Two Blokes In The Pub; Play Family Fortunes; Should You Take A Bad Job?; Don't Overpolish

Blog Orgy

Campaign have asked five bloggers - me, Ben from Lunar BBDO, Richard Huntington of Adliterate, Neil from Welcome to Optimism and Russell Davies to do a group chat about blogging.

Except Russell probably won't be able to contribute because he is on holiday in Tenby and his caravan doesn't have broadband.

Campaign will publish what we write on Thursday week, I think.

If you want to read the tedious shit we are wanging on about, you can do so here.

Can you propose something interesting we should discuss - I am struggling - or do you have a question I should put to the other bloggers?

Juan Cabral DOES earn a million pounds a year. And he's worth every penny.

Most of you don't believe that Juan Cabral earns a million pounds a year.

Well, I've heard it from two separate sources so I'm pretty confident he does (the figure includes a value for share options).

And of course he deserves it. He easily brings in more than that for Fallon.

But you know what? I'm very happy that Juan is so well paid.

Because it's the hope - however unlikely - of one day obtaining a salary like Juan's, that makes the daily grind of brand books and research groups a little more bearable for the rest of us.


Freakonomics has a chapter that reveals most drug dealers live with their mothers. They have to - they actually earn very little money. The main reason they take such a low-paid and dangerous job is for the chance they could make it to the top of the hierarchy, where there is much money. And fringe benefits.

The same equation works for what the book calls the "glamour professions", which it says are are writing, acting, music and art. Musicians and artists are prepared to earn next-to nothing for years, in the hope that they could one day become Mick Jagger or Damien Hirst.

And us? Freakonomics refers to advertising as a "second-tier glamour profession", along with publishing, if I recall. That means the same rules apply to us, but a bit less so. The riches aren't so great at the top, and people won't work quite so long for so little at the bottom.

But we're slipping.

The days of copywriters driving Ferraris are long gone.

We need Juan to be earning a million pounds a year, if we want to retain our status. You wouldn't want to work in a third-tier glamour profession, would you?

Please note there will be no more Juan Cabral posts for 40 days and 40 nights following this one.

Previous poll results:
Friday Poll No.20 - How Much Do You Earn?
Friday Poll No.19 - What Do You Think Of Our Trade Rag?
Friday Poll No.18 - Should A Creative Look Creative?
Friday Poll No.17 - Ad Of The Year 2007
Friday Poll No.16 - Do Difficult People Do The Best Work?
Friday Poll No.15 - Who Is Responsible For Ineffectiveness?
Friday Poll No.14 - Your Personal Success Record
Friday Poll No.13 - Which Department Is The Most Insane?
Friday Poll No.12 - What Music Do You Listen To While Working?
Friday Poll No.11 - What Time Do You Get In?
Friday Poll No.10 - Who Drinks The Most?
Friday Poll No.9 - Press v Online
Friday Poll No.8 - Success Or Glory?
Friday Poll No.7 - Is Reading Blogs A Waste Of Time?
Friday Poll No.6 - Job Satisfaction
Friday Poll No.5 - Festive Greetings
Friday Poll No.4 - Ad Of The Year 2006
Friday Poll No.3 - What's Your Favourite Medium To Work In?
Friday Poll No.2 - Agency Of The Year
Friday Poll No.1 - Which Department Is The Most Overpaid?

Fun With Fred & Farid

There's a gloriously mental interview with Fred & Farid in this month's Archive.

For example, here is what they say about the music for their Orangina ad:

We tried thousands of tunes. We couldn't find the right one. We all went on a sex tourism trip to Tijuana to relax and we found this track in a social club.

I don't care what people say. Our industry needs more like Fred & Farid - they are showmen.

The magazine also publishes this new picture of the dynamic duo....


You may laugh. But they are rich, and don't even know who you are.

Previous Fred & Farid antics here and here.


Also in Archive, a new campaign for Howies, by Dye Holloway Murray.

I think it's absolutely mint.

(You may need to click to embiggen images)

The Ad Blog Charts for March 2008

Here are the world's most popular ad blogs, as measured by traffic rankings from Alexa.

/tr>

Top 25 Ad Blogs		(world
		ranking)
1     (1)	AdRants	33,059
2     (3)	Duncan's TV Ad Land	58,865
3     (2)	Advertising/Design Goodness	58,889
4     (4)	Adland	64,492
5     (5)	Bannerblog	73,742
6     (6)	AdFreak	97,216
7     (8)	Coloribus	98,581
8     (7)	Adverblog	99,037
9     (9)	Adverbox	106,277
10   (10)	Copyranter	115,903
11   (11)	Logic + Emotion	134,578
12   (13)	AdPulp	214,384
13   (12)	10ad	219,567	↓
14   (new)	ViralBlog	229,849
15   (14)	Jaffe Juice	263,094
16   (15)	The Kaiser Edition	265,263	↑
17   (19)	Agency Spy	289,093	↑
18   (17)	AdScam	305,454
19   (18)	Experience Curve	402,430	↓
20   (23)	Adliterate	404,608	↑
21   (20)	BrandFlakes for Breakfast	430,861
22   (21)	Scamp	435,235
23   (re-)	Behind The Buzz	528,959
24   (22)	How Advertising Spoiled Me	542,090	↓
25   (24)	Crackunit	542,273

New at 14 this month, ViralBlog. Sample quote: "As ViralBlogger I get offered so many “wanna be” virals. Most of these virals are cheap rubbish and not hilarious, horrifying or horny at all." It's a nice blog, perhaps I'll write a post about it soon.

Top 10 UK Ad Blogs		(world
		ranking)
1   (2)	Adliterate	404,608	↑
2   (1)	Scamp	435,235
3   (4)	Behind The Buzz	528,959
4   (3)	Crackunit	542,273
5   (5)	Welcome To Optimism	593,305
6   (9)	Only Dead Fish	909,187	↑
7   (7)	TV's Worst Adverts	913,734
8   (new)	David Reviews	931,990
9   (new)	Spinning Around	1.1m
10  (8)	Fish N Chimps	1.4m	↓

An ↑ means a blog's traffic has gone up by 15% or more in the past month, and a ↓ means it's gone down 15%.

I’ve decided to take Knitware out of the chart as, even though it’s run by some people here at BBH, and is really good, it is shaping up to be more about the interface between brands and technology than about advertising.

Meanwhile Spinning Around, which is supposed to be about PR, seems to me to be mostly about advertising. So I’m putting them in.

UK means UK-based. Ad blog means ad blogs not marketing blogs, so that excludes Gapingvoid. Paul Colman is now a planner at W&K and has sadly ceased blogging. Russell Davies no longer blogs about advertising, although his Campaign column is just great, isn’t it? I'm only counting English language blogs.

If I've missed anyone out, please tell me and I'll put them in next time. The next chart will be end of June as I'm switching it to quarterly from now on.

Sweet New BBC Ad Out Today

Director: Rilap Loof