Black Ops: A New Era of Advertising

November 9th brought with it the release of a tremendously anticipated game: Call of Duty: Black Ops.

A few weeks ago, I made a post outlining the game and comparing it with its chief rival franchise: Halo and the new Halo Reach. Let me say with utmost certainty, it has lived up to its name. The customization is back, the intensity is back, and by god the Xbox Live shit talk is back.

I'm 21, but I show no mercy.

More importantly, the release of Black Ops brought with it a new era of video game advertising. The commercial titled "There's a Soldier In All Of Us" doesn't depict a bunch of overweight nerds getting overly excited about killing each other. Rather it shows everyone not only playing, but enjoying Black Ops. Ultimately, I want to end up in the video game industry, designing ads exactly like this. Hell, I was more excited about my career than I was about the game when I first saw that ad. 

You have a chubby middle aged woman clearing a room with a shot gun.

You have Jimmy Kimmel trying to fire an RPG with "NOOB" hastily scribbled down the side. 

You even have Kobe himself taking a break from winning NBA championships to fire a grenade launcher.

"Kobe!"

Unbelievable. 

The last time I was this impressed with a video game commercial was when Gears of War first came out with the "Mad World" Spot. That was the commercial that made me want to create advertisements for games. When that came out, I was a sophomore in High School. I went to GameStop an hour later and traded in my Playstation 2, a dozen games, and dropped a hundred bucks in order to buy a 360 and Gears of War.

All I can say is, I can't wait to design a campaign for Call of Duty 19: Alien Invasion. That's mine, I call dibs now.

Heineken Redesign

So Heineken is redesigning their traditional stubby bottles. Everywhere that is, except the United States.

Apparently import drinkers prefer the stubby bottle.

I think that this speaks to two things: 1) The importance of research. 2) The pretentiousness of the American Consumer.

Same hair, same tan, same wax... Import Bottle.

It's interesting that they determined sales would decrease should the bottle change in America. I guess elsewhere in the world the bottle is not particularly unique. Many foreign beers actually use the same design, or have a similarly unique shape. Changing it elsewhere is probably smart. But making it look like everything else in the US beer world is stupid. I get that.

But come on guys. If you like import beer, like it for the taste, not the bottle. I'm actually not that fond of Heineken. I'm a Shiner Bock kind of guy.

"In other words, massive ad campaigns drive awareness in Women"

No shit?

I just finished up reading this article on Ad Age concerning the Brand Awareness of several different brands in the minds of women.

The conclusion?

Massive ad campaigns drive awareness in women.

I can't help but say... duh?

Hershey, Kindle, and Lincoln all apparently dropped big bucks this past quarter in advertising to the feminine target audience. As a result, a recent poll shows an increase in Brand awareness amongst women.

The Hershey ads told me to!

What's that? Advertising works?

....

Guess so.

Anheuser-Busch Drops Publicis

And switches to Mother.

I can't imagine what Publicis must be thinking - they just lost a 40 million dollar account to a much smaller agency. I guess this is the age of technology after all. An age where the smaller, more modern agency can not only compete with the big dogs, but reign supreme.

I've studied a little bit of Mother in Introduction to Creativity. I like their style. And I actually find it appealing that the advertising business can be driven by creativity rather than funding. I'm sure Publicis has the bigger budget, but I guess Mother just had the ideas.

And hell, Mother is already in charge of one of Anheuser -Busch's subsidaries, Stella Artois.

Maybe they can keep the account for longer than a year - that seems to be the running record!

An old school AB ad. I wonder if Mother can do better?

Look at me, now look away, now look at me again.

Look at me, now look away, now look at me again.

I love those advertisements. I can't help but grin when that guy mumbles "Swan dive!" and dives into the hot tub. I always laugh when he says "And take you on more of these... while wearing one of these, or one of these... but most likely one of these... all over this."

Old Spice Boat Commercial

For those of you who do not know what I'm talking about, it's time to turn on the TV.

His name is Isaiah Mustafa. He is the new face of Old Spice deodorant.

The Man I Could Apparently Smell Like...

It turns out he's this ex-NFL farm team player and even played in the European football leagues. Now he's the new face of Old Spice thanks to Weiden and Kennedey and their "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" campaign. 

I've been buying Old Spice recently. I used to swear by axe, but I've never been tackled by a dozen smitten women just because I did a double-pits-to-chestie. 

However much I like these advertisements though, I think the newer ones are kind of stupid. I'm talking about the one with Ray Lewis flying the planet destroying raven with a jet engine where its tail feathers should be.

Ray Lewis

I feel like they are just trying too hard at that point. The Isaiah Mustafa advertisements worked so well because they were different without being absolutely outrageous. It was a nice change of scenery from the typical deodorant commercials of hordes of girls jumping the bones of over-sprayed teens. I'm talking about axe and that tag crap. The Isaiah ads broke that pattern. It was a great step in the right direction. But Ray Lewis flying a raven? And then blowing up a planet?

Gimme a fucking break.

I'll take my Ray Lewis playing for the Ravens. 

ba da BA DA BAH ba DA DAH!

(That's the old spice theme.)

Agency Profile: Wieden + Kennedy

Founded on April 1, 1982 by Dan Widen and David Kennedy, W+K has been at the forefront of some of the most creative and successful advertising throughout its thirty year career. Although based in Portland, Oregon, Wieden+Kennedy have expanded since their start and now have offices all over the world. Despite being a true global force, with offices from London to Delhi,  Wieden+Kennedy is still an independently owned agency.

Portland is gorgeous.

Up until recently, they were perhaps most famous for their work with Nike. After reading the story of a death row inmate saying “Let’s Do It” before being executed, W+K found inspiration for what would become Nike’s staple catch phrase: Just Do It. However, their latest successes have come from the rejuvenation of the Old Spice deodorant brand.  The hilarious, albeit outrageous, Isaiah Mustafa advertisements have catapulted Old Spice back into the competition with other brands like Axe and Tag.

Beyond the standard advertising fare however, W+K has expanded into Music and Film with their studios in Tokyo and the establishment in 2001 of W+K Entertainment. These independent projects have not only brought recognition to the agency, but attention to numerous musicians and filmmakers both at home and abroad.

Let--- Just do it.

And they deserve every amount of praise they get. The Gunn Report recognizes W+K as the agency that has received the most awards of all time. Much of the work that they do has even been given the tags of “Best in the Decade” by AdWeek. But beyond all of the award winning work, famous clients, and privately owned independence, W+K even helps out with the LIVESTRONG charity from Lance Armstrong with the Yellow Bracelet Campaign.

Wieden and Kennedy has an impressive resume. It is one of the largest independently owned agencies, and that independence has not hurt them in the slightest. Not only are they all over the world, but so is their work. Whether they are creating ground breaking ad campaigns, experimenting with creativity in music and film, putting-one-of-these… all-over-this*, or helping out Lance Armstrong and his charity, W+K takes it to the next level. It may be owned by two eccentric Oregonians, but W+K is the ultimate “little guy. “

Even the building is creative

Media 3.0

I just got done reading this article on AdAge.com concerning the democratization of media and the rise of technology.

Interesting to say the least.

Nick Brien, CEO of Interpublic Group of Cos.' McCann Worldgroup, spoke at Ad Age's Media Evolved conference about the new found importance of technology in the advertising world. 


I know what you're thinking: Obviously its important. It's changed dramatically in the last two, five, and ten years. 


However, Brien offers some interesting commentary. He says that advertising used to be about strategy meeting creativity. Today, it is about strategy, meeting creativity, meeting technology. He argues that this new found fusion creates a whole new world of ingenuity and potential. He dubs this new world: "Media 3.0."

Checking Facebook, eMail, logistics for work, graphs, playing video games, skyping with parents. At Once.

A very interesting point Nick Brien makes, one that is often overlooked, is that there is no shortage of ways to measure performance. Now we're able to see data and see it clearly. With every day that passes, uncertainty continues to dwindle. 

What does this mean for the future?

There will be no more bullshitting the client, for one thing. When promises are made, promises must be delivered. An idea, however creative, absolutely must be able to produce results. It can be as interesting as it is unique, but fly so far over the consumer's head that it actually turns off people from the product. That can be measured now.  

Personally, I'm still interested to see how Facebook ties into the future. It is an advertisers dream. But at the same time, privacy laws and public safety mean so much more to the future of our world than whether or not you can force feed people crap on their personal pages.

Potential EU Ban of Tobacco Branding

I just read this article on Ad Age talking about how the European Union is considering banning the branding of cigarettes.

What does banning the "branding" really mean?

They are considering forcing tobacco companies to only label their products with the warning label and a plainly printed name. Camels will no longer feature the customary camel mascot, pall mall (though I don't know if they have those in Europe) couldn't have the "In Hoc Signo Vinces" trademarked down the side. Even the fonts of every single tobacco company will become standardized.

I find this fascinating. Cigarettes in Europe are still pretty standard. There isn't as big of a movement over there to end smoking as there is in the United States. And why wouldn't the tobacco companies challenge this? They definitely have the money to spend on legal fees, and I'm sure their sales, relatively speaking on a per company basis, would drop. If the law takes about five years to come into effect if they start trying to challenge it, the bonus cash flow during those five years would more than cover the fees spend fighting the legislation - especially for bigger companies like Marlboro.

If it does pass, I wonder how long it will take until that legislation jumps the pond?

Yes, sir!

The Burger King Advertisements

The King freaks me out.

If I woke up and some plastic looking king was in my bed offering me food, I'd make the assumption that said food contained roofies and chloroform.

I just don't see who the Ads are trying to appeal.

I get the need for a mascot, but where was the meeting that decided on going with a creepy king rather than something a little more... kid friendly.

McDonald's has Ronald. He's a clown. He's kind of creepy too, but just in a wtf-is-that-a-clown kind of way.

Jack-in-the-Box has Jack - the wise cracking "owner" of the brand. His advertisements are funny (or at least try to be) and still get across the new food, or deal, or special, or whatever.

What-a-burger has that voice-over guy who tells you about the new sandwiches with his soothing southern drawl.

Burger King has a Plastic King getting into weird shenanigans while forcing people to eat his food.

"Okay, Okay... so... He'll be partially nude. I'm feeling the medallion... Let's throw the phallic flame can in there... Uh.... Burgers? Pffff why would we show our food in a commercial. C'mon man, take an Creativity Class."

Uh....
Maybe there is a reason why BK sales are plummeting.

And don't tell me the off-key off-tempo singing breakfast commercials are any better. The only thing I like about those is that one where the dude jumps out of a second story window and it says "Don't try this" or something at the bottom. And even then it's mostly morbid fascination with the chance of him breaking his legs.

C'mon Burger King.

How did you get from this version of The King:

"The Old King"

To the seventies porn-star looking guy with a plastic King mask.

Oh well. What can you do...

I like Taco Bell the best anyway.

Plums and Pumpkins

I recently read an article on AdvertisingAge.com and was enlightened to the term "Plums and Pumpkins." Not only did I find this to be pretty humorous terminology, but the analogy is pretty solid: The plum is the small piece of work, appetizing at first, that is readily doable. Plum after plum comes into your hands, and with each piece of fruit comes the promise of the bigger more lucrative pumpkin down the road. Too many plums though, and the idea of another "chase" becomes less appealing. As one commenter to the article said, "Plums are so sweet though!"

But how sweet is too sweet?

Churning out plum after plum and small project after small project does nothing but cheapen the relationship between client and agency. If the client promises the pumpkin - the dream gig, the big job, the ultimate in creative expression and fiscal profit - it better deliver.

I feel like advertising should play to emotions... True emotion and the connection that comes with it takes years to grow. If the client is willing to invest in the consumer, why not the agency?

Let plums grow into pumpkins.

Let plums earn their way to pumpkins.

Don't dangle the pumpkin and just keep asking for plums.

http://adage.com/smallagency/post?article_id=146002