Written by Liam Wielopolski/Graham Lang Sunday, 31 July 2011 12:39
Back from the world's biggest ad festival, Liam Wielopolski and Graham Lang reveal just how technology is changing the way we define advertising.
Written by Herman Manson Sunday, 31 July 2011 12:33
The 2011 Pendoring campaign features a series of three posters aimed at luring entries from the industry, with the overall Pendoring winner showing how he revels like a born rock star in three overseas locations – asking his chum to take a quick snap shot on a roof in New York, a couch in Paris and among the tulips in Amsterdam.
Written by Sarah Britten Tuesday, 09 November 2010 13:55
The pages of the Sandton Chronicle are aflame. An unprecedented double page spread has been devoted to letters from readers infuriated by the cutting down of 17 mature indigenous trees on Main Road in Bryanston; apparently they were obscuring a billboard.
Written by Brandon Edmonds Wednesday, 29 September 2010 10:35
Think of big brand ad campaigns as fables compressing and packaging wider social currents into expensively expressive forms. They can tell us a lot about the evolving intricacies of race relations. A great ad campaign distills a mood or electrifies a feeling shared across wide segments of social life.
Written by Sarah Britten Wednesday, 28 July 2010 14:24
So everyone’s talking about the Old Spice campaign, launched during the Super Bowl in February this year. It’s hard to argue with three Cannes Gold Lions and a Grand Prix. As if that wasn’t enough, now Wieden + Kennedy Portland have managed to pull off what industry commentators are calling the best social media campaign ever.
Written by Sarah Britten Wednesday, 07 July 2010 10:21
I knew the vuvuzela was big when Cyanide and Happiness featured it. Ok, that’s not true. I knew the vuvuzela was big long before then, about the same time when YouTube put a soccer ball button on all its videos.
Written by Sarah Britten Saturday, 05 June 2010 14:08
Nobody ever had a good idea sitting behind a desk. Or, for that matter, hunched around a boardroom table at midnight, frantically trying to make a crazy deadline. So why do so many of us in the creative industries spend so much of our lives sitting in front of computer screens and filling in timesheets to prove we’re being productive – when we’re being anything but?
Written by Sarah Britten Wednesday, 28 April 2010 09:21
So the ash cloud from the Iceland volcano known in South Africa as Ekkisfokkengatfol is old news. A week is a very long time on Sky, after all. The memories of those – including me – who were massively inconvenienced may start to fade, given time. There’s a silver lining to this particular ash cloud, though, at least for a cold, windblown piece of rock in the middle of nowhere. In fact, I’m wondering if this might not be the most brilliant ad campaign ever.
Written by Herman Manson Thursday, 18 March 2010 14:24
Mike Abel never blinks. Literally. Or at least he didn’t through this interview, the two of us and Chief Creative Partner Peter Badenhorst stuffed into a corner table at the Loading Bay Café, a coffee shop below the new M&C Saatchi Abel offices in De Waterkant, the former gay quarter of Cape Town, now trendily mainstream.
Written by Brendan Wade Wednesday, 10 March 2010 12:35
The massive rise of technology has gone a long way to making the world less personal. Everything is being run by computers, products are being spat out by the million in China and we are all becoming faceless numbers.
Written by Sarah Britten Monday, 18 January 2010 15:46
There’s a FIFA campaign running right now; you’ve probably seen it, because they’ve put a bit of cash behind it. Featuring a range of South Africans, mostly non-soccer supporters (which is usually code for “white women”) saying, in wonder, “I was there”, the key takeout focuses on the historical significance of 2010.
Written by Sarah Britten Thursday, 29 October 2009 13:33
This morning a colleague sent me a link to a site called Advertising Confessions (www.advertisingconfessions.com). "Welcome to the one place in advertising where honesty is truly appreciated," explain the writers. "Just remember: confess at your own risk. There’s a good chance your creative director and your brand manager are reading this. Together. In bed."
Written by Herman Manson Saturday, 10 October 2009 11:13
A recession acts as a full-stop in the consumer’s psyche. Simon Silvester, author of AAAGH!: A Deep Recession Changes Everything, talks to Herman Manson about how brands should approach consumers during a recession.
Written by Justin Cloete Friday, 31 October 2008 02:00
In the first half of last century, advertising was no more glamorous or creative an industry than any other. They were there to help businesses frame and publicise their offerings in a way that attracted more customers. So what's happened.
Written by Justin Cloete Sunday, 31 August 2008 02:00
I guess, for the frustrated bookkeeper or medical intern who becomes a copywriter, it’s a kind of redemption. She gets to re-identify herself as “a Creative”, and therefore be “creative” which, to many minds, is the only real virtue.
Written by Justin Cloete Monday, 30 June 2008 02:00
Work in advertising? In the words of Bill Hicks, kill yourself. At some point we’ve all wrestled with the whole ‘ethical thing’ – you know, that little pang of conscience that gets you asking about the meaning of your work in the greater scheme of things.
Written by Rita Larisma Monday, 29 October 2007 02:00
Creatives love risk. It turns them on. And sadly, while not every creative is obsessed with delivering business returns, most creatives genuinely, sincerely believe risk is necessary for great returns, and that in a cluttered world, to not take a risk may the biggest risk of all.
Written by Rita Larisma Sunday, 30 September 2007 02:00
When it comes to your taste in advertising, which do you prefer? Dark advertising, or shiny and happy? A few years ago my mom moved to a smaller apartment and had to get rid of some stuff. So she handed me a ‘box of memories’ she’d diligently accumulated as I grew up – old school reports, dodgy photos, embarrassing teen diaries, a Lady Di scrapbook, my collection of Hello Kitty writing papers, etc. What a feast.
Written by Rita Larisma Sunday, 31 December 2006 02:00
It’s time to engage all parties in the dispute about black diamonds, so creative people with empathy and vision can thrive, regardless of race. The newspaper headline reads ‘Blacks slate ‘white’ ads’. My blood runs cold. The underlying rationale goes like this – advertisers are not connecting with black diamonds because white creatives suppress black voices. The solution is revolution – change the status quo and get rid of whites.
Written by Rita Larisma Tuesday, 31 October 2006 02:00
It is time advertising agencies and their clients placed more trust in their collective creative instincts, and relied less on the judgements of consumers to determine which advertising concepts are likely to succeed and which not. It is a common belief amongst clients that consumer testing is a superior means of predicting the effectiveness of advertising concepts, but I believe the concept testing technique suffers from a number of inherent limitations which are often overlooked.