the cool & mccann

Greek advertising agencies are not very famous i have to admit you see in Greece it is quite hard sometimes to focus since the sun is always there and the sea only minutes away from office. However Greek advertising is doing many steps ahead in the last couple of years the young talents that are entering the industry start to take over the old rusty minds and in a very discreet way Greek advertising agencies are starting to show their teeth. One of the best representatives in terms of Agencies is McCann Erickson Athens. During my Summer vacation in Greece i had the chance to visit McCann's in Athens and had a chat in their brand new offices reg. their business and other stuff as well. The people there were quite friendly with me since when i left McCann i had a bag full of goodies with me... from t-shirts to idea cookies... But that's not of course the reason i'm writing this post right now. The reason i'm writing this post is the fact that McCann Athens is celebrating 35 years in Greece and this anniversary in my opinion finds McCann quite good in terms of Creativity. They start to win awards and 2 years ago i think they've won an epica on their Durex client. But what is the most important in my opinion is the fact that they are developing a culture which is that basic asset for an ad agency to progress. So to make the long story short, McCann is on a 35COOL state and they've now created a really insightful website especially for those who are into the ad business but i think its time for me to stop writing & let the 35Cool do the job. Congrats & Kudos McCann Ath. 35cool.gr

Sound is...

The importance of music in advertising is beyond any question. The power that music or even better voice has on advertising is something that can make an advertising famous is something that can turn an Ad film into a discussion. I can recall many ads on the top of my head that became famous because of their music. However there are many cases were music was something that just came on the top of a big idea.
So at this point i think it would be quite good to distinguish the ads into categories.
The first category might include all those adverts that became famous because of their music and only that, in this case i think the brand might be in danger since people can recall the music but many times they miss the product. The second category will be the category in which we can find ad films that are based on a big idea and on top of that idea they have great sound (music & or Voice over) these ads tend o be the more successful ones, since they create quite a big buzz around the product. If you just visit youtube and search for an ad you will see many people leaving comments on the music and requesting to learn the music of a nice song.
So i think it is important for the creatives to keep developing ads in the basis of a big idea and don't rely on the sound of a very nice song which should only be an element which can shift the final outcome and eventually create a buzz in advertising. That's why in the future we might have Music Directors in Ad Agencies. I'm thinking of putting a list with some nice ad songs maybe the top 20 so if anyone has any ideas on that please comment.
Thanks

LOL or Not LOL

a nice ad from Fallon London. So simple so nice so funny. KUDOS!

Balls_Paint_Play-Doh

Sony bravia commercials are back to fancy locations. After the depressing & ugly Glaskow New York is the next city to host the color like no other sequel.
Fallon & Sony will launch the "Play-Doh" Commercial which sounds quite impressive. The recipe they used in order to create the wow effect for third time sounds once more expensive:

Play-Doh recipe.
2.5 tones of plasticine on set
40 animators
3 weeks
189 2 ft bunnies 2ft~0.60m
150 1 ft cubes 1ft~0.30m
10ft x20 ft purple wave 10ft x20ft ~ 3m x 6m
30ft giant rabbit. 30ft~ 9.2m
6 cameras.
40 animators working through 4 hours generated 4 seconds of footage.
40 animators working on the same scene had never been attempted before.
The 60 second spot will be constructed of approximately 100,000 stills.

Click here to find out more on Sony Bravia "Play-Doh"

I AM..

So i think i've just completed my first week here in Amsterdam and i think it was a successful week, especially if i put down my impressions so far i think that good things are about to come.
My work so far is Lovely and this ticks a big box in my expectations from this step i'm taking. The city on the other hand is amazing although i have to admit that i haven't seen it yet as i'm in the middle of constructing my way of living here but i think it's a city that is very close to New York in terms of diversity & buzz. It's far more beautiful than London and the fact that for the first time in my life i will live in a city with population of 800.000 aprox. is really interesting.
Advertising wise the city is a real hot spot as it has 3 global agencies [180 is the best :D ] and they all seem to add something in this city in terms of both culture & business. The weather is quite good so far, however i've been hearing a lot about how bad it can be, i love the fact that bicycle is the main vehicle people use to move around & i also love the fact that it seems that the worst thing that can happen to you is to have your bike stolen.
That's it for now, as i think it's time to get back to Adsurd reality and start writing interesting stuff about everything.

To the infinity & beyond

OLE OLE OLA

In few hours from now the eurobasket 2007 starts in Madrid. Greece is the defending champions of 2005 in both football & Soccer (2004). I'll use this post to wish to my national team the best of luck and to bring back the trophy in Athens.

Good Luck.
& just to freshen up the memory...