...Are you a Honda?

There comes a point in every student's lives where they wonder what has brought them to where they are now. I bring this concern to the forefront, not to elaborate on the meaning of life, but rather how important it is to the ad world. On the management track, I have yet to take big gulp of advertising. The trickles I've managed to get have been splendid - but I'm yearning for more. In a past post from "Please Feed the Animals," Josh Copeland reveals that, "an account animal's judgement affects the work an agency produces on a daily basis." Minute decisions could be the determining factor as to what makes the product good or the best. So Copeland asks his readers to determine why you made the decisions you've made, career wise as well as life-wise. I've heard this matter of choices in my intro to advertising class as well, and it still leaves me stumped. Humans possess this natural ability to story tell - to give concrete explanations to ideas, concepts and feels that may or may even had evidence to support. Humans can't very well say "I don't know," in fact we glare sternly at those who do mutter those disappointing words. In Malcolm Gladwell's Blink, Gladwell responds to the cries of "I don't know" as satisfactory - there are times when sometimes "I don't know" just maybe that and we should accept it. There's that gut feelings that lets us know, this is right or this is wrong. And while the advertising world may need that explanation, considering how much is money is on the line, what if there was someone out there who just knew this was it. Granted, that person may have a large opposition, but it'd still be interesting.

So early in my advertising career that I feel like I need to refocus my way of thinking. I must reason why I make the decisions and I make...but of course take with me that bit of spontaneity.

On a different note, has anyone seen the new campaigns for Honda? There's always something cleaver about the new Honda campaigns - they have a tendency to either be cute and cool, or cool and cool. A la the Civic nation campaign, it doesn't try to hard to attract the likes of the hip and the cool, say for example like Kia's Soul with the hip hamsters. So the question remains, "are you a Honda?"

Recent marketing strategies" "the Shack" and the Palm Pre

Has anyone seen the new Radio Shack campaigns? The re-branding of "the Shack" is quite interesting. When I saw the first 15 second spot, I couldn't help but chuckle. To me, it targeted the most obvious - gen x, the millennials if you will. I watched the second one and again had the same response. And like every other ad student there, I started to do some research. Apparently, not everyone was swooned by the re-branding. Most found that the re-branding really wouldn't help RadioShack's problems at all. I'd compare their ads to the recent Palm Pre campaign. Weird, creepy girl talking to you? Yes, that's the one. And BINGO, there you go. Consumers are able to recognize the ad, thus recognize the product. I guess it's too early to tell whether or not the ads are working but I definitely like to see how it all progresses.

In comparison, the new Iphone ads showing the benefits of their applications are probably boosting many of their sells. I wouldn't be surprised, it's either Iphones or Blackberries. I am in fact a Blackberry user. I love my Blackberry. More Apple news, founders of said ipods are going to be obsolete. A complete duh to the world, but let's face it the ipod touch and the iphone are just conquering.


OHHYEAAAH.

Crazy about Mad Men?

So I finally did it. I finally became a fan of Mad Men. At first I was skeptical -too many people liked it, the critics loved it, I figured I'd be the person to dislike it. The first episode didn't captivate me but as I continued to watch the first season, I started to gasp with each little plot twist and turn. I will admit I am not a fan of Peggy, she just irks me. I have no problem with a woman succeeding in the world of copyrighting but she just in general irks me. And for Don Draper? My, oh my. He's a quite a man. It's so ironic how every woman wants him because he exemplifies that strong, dependable husband yet he's the primary example of everything you would not want in a husband. Anyways, I'm really excited for the third season. Visually, it's amazing..and for once, I love seeing women in natural sizes. Hello, Christina Hendricks as Joan! If that isn't sexy to any heterosexual man out there..then I don't know what it is.

Like my professor mentioned before, the show isn't so focused on advertising but when they do plots concerning them, (which is basically all of them, duh) it's truly something to learn from. It's quite inspiring to learn the history of the future occupation you wish to acquire.

A little less sex in the city.

Every girl's dream: the perfect walk in closet. TBWA\Neboko channeled a very Carrie Bradshaw moment except for men.

Being colorblind

So occasionally we stumble on the ads that remind us the innocence of our childhood. Remember when all you needed to do to be best friends with someone was to share stickers? Or when naptime was the best time of the day? And while some of us still consider naptime the best part of the day, some of us grew up too quickly.

Anyways, here's an ad from Leo Burnett Malaysia. To clear up the confusion you might have after watching the ad, the girl's Malaysian and the boy is Chinese.




On a random side note: Tan Hong Ming's smirk brings back some good ol' playground memories. First crushes die hard. Yes, I'm talking to you Robert, you were worth losing my Judy Blume book so I had an excuse to talk to you during recess.

B's

I got a B+ in Adv91. I'm actually excited about it. A good chunk of her students were worried about their grade because it was based on a midterm, the campaign and the final. Yeah, we were scared pretty shitless. Considering that I bombed the midterm and final, a B+ was generous. Go Noxzema campaign for boosting that grade up! I mostly received B's as grades which is great considering the lack of effort I've been putting into my classes. I realized I should have taken more credits. Oh well, new lessons to learn.

New York/New Jersey is tomorrow..my nerves are jumpy. I'm excited but I'm completely afraid.

reluctant buyer

I think by this point my professor has embedded in our brains that we should know more about advertising than the average person. As a result of this, it has made me become a reluctant consumer. Who knew the Pro-V vitamins in Pantene weren't real? I sure as hell didn't. It never really occured to me that such science could be fake because after all, that's what the ad said. Hah, thanks to a semester's worth of advertising, I spot pseudoscience in every aisle at my local drugstore. Naturally, it delays any impulse I have to buy a product because formula 5343535 is proven to make me smarter. It's amazing how much words, when formed a certain way, can really persuade the consumer to make an impulse buy. Walking down the beauty aisle, it's so hard not to miss the many improvements one can have with a simple use of mascara or lip balm. It's like every beauty product is made to improve your "natural" beauty...might as well throw in some plastic surgeons while you're at. But in retrospect you must appluad those who have created this call to action to improve your beauty. Because in the end, Olay's a billion dollar brand and it wouldn't be if the millions who are using it didn't get whisked away with the advertising.

Speaking of beauty products, I couldn't help but think in retrospect about our group's Noxzema ad. I think I'm still pushing for the original idea that we had for it. I think there are lot of beauty products out there that promise something for their consumer. Because of this, you're gonna be popular and happy. But for teenage girls and young women, is that really what they're looking for? I think the Dove Campaign, "Real Beauty," speaks wonders. Instead of promoting the benefit of the product, they promoted who's using the product. Generally, not every gal wakes up refreshed and rejuvenated, but they do wake up with their own body and face. With that in mind, not everyone is obviously molded into the same size and shape. By using real women with real problems, they were able to resonate with an audience. This allowed them to push away the idea of supermodels and beauty products to beauty products with a purpose. This is what sets Dove apart from other brands: its beauty campaigns touched a cultural nerve by challenging the current super-thin, silky-hair, perfect skin standard. If you watch Trust Me, there's an episode about Sarah creating the tv spot for Dove's shampoo. It was about damaged hair but they transformed the idea of damage to a relatable issue while injecting the truth about this product. "We can't fix your love life, but we can fix your hair." COME ON! Tell me that isn't great. But enough about Dove..I wanted our campaign to focus on the idea of a mirror and what it brings to a woman. In front of a mirror, every woman either gains or loses her confidence. In that defining moment she decides how she's gonna look and feel. In such an intricate part of a woman's day that it's hardly noticed. I wanted to our campaign to bring that small, important part of our day to the forefront of our consumer's mind. And somehow, include Noxzema into that equation. Blah, I guess I'm not a creative so I wouldn't know how to execute that. But still..I wished our creative was strong enough to demonstrate either idea better. I don't blame our professor for choosing the other group. They had a clear creative and execution. They were pitching a great story while we were pitch a brand personality without really demonstrating that personality. It's weird...but I guess that's what intro's for, to learn and grow.


This is a lot for a Sunday afternoon. Countdown to New York begins now. :)

FIN.

Finally, it's finals; POWER of blogs

I'm seriously getting sick of my laptop. I think for the past week or so, I've been on this thing nonstop looking at lectures, notes, anything related to finals. Goodness, I didn't realize how time-consuming and draining study could be. Today was our advertising final. The grading goes pretty much like this: you didn't write the book, you failed. So the latter being quite obvious, I quickly said good bye to intro to advertising.

On a different note, I quickly underestimated the power of blogs. In a recent blog about Noxzema, I quickly mentioned the results as well as the work that my team had put into it. Low and behold, a creative director from Wieden + Kennedy emailed me. They're actually working on the Noxzema account as we speak! I can't even fathom an email of that caliber could even reach my beloved inbox. I was hyperventilating as I read the email. Yeah, it was that intense. Isn't that crazy?

So moral of the story? Continue to write fellow bloggers because you just don't know who might come across your blog...it might be someone you'd least expect. But I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and pretend like you didn't know already.

Final Noxzema update along with other stuff

Through all the unnecessary mutilation of stick figures, the countless all-nighters, the vast scent of eucalyptus polluating the air, we finally finished. Wednesday seemed like a cobalt blue nightmare, but we were able to grab the attention of our fellow classmates with the intoxicating theme of Darth Vader, thanks to my amazing humming skills. All in all, I thought our presentation went well. We found out who won the campaign, and sadly, it wasn't us. I wasn't too sad because at some point, I kind've had to expect it.

But I digress..so after class, Lilly basically gives an overview of what we're in for if we decide to stay as ad majors. Whenever I hear this speech, I swear I get overwhelmed. Although it's my first year, I always feel like I'm late. There's this constant rush I need to fulfill. I started to feel like I was a million steps behind the finish line. It took me the entire day to realize, "hey! you're just 18, you still have time!"

My plans for New York are still in the air. Lilly gave me the names of two former students who now work at Deutsch Inc. Some of their clients include Dr.Pepper, IKEA and Kodak. They're located in Los Angles and New York.

Check 'em out: http://www.deutschinc.com/


..and uh secret jewel? Check out Leo Burnett's interactive integreat media plan for Secret's uhh new secret?

http://www.leoburnett.com/

My official favorite

You know how there are some ads that make you go, "well, fuck..I could've done that!" There's a particular ad that I could not even dream of coming up with. It's perfect in every sense of the word. It brings an entirely new meaning to even the simplest of gestures. The way it's executed is beyond brilliant.



This officially solidified my career in advertising.


BTW, fuck yeah, Noxzema is done with.

the side effects

of Noxzema presentation all-nighters.


kids don't try this at home.

PWNED?

I wonder who's cleaver idea was it for Audi to even mention a competitor's name on one of their billboards. Truly an advertising fail.

Brands and art?

So I've always believed that art and advertising went hand in hand, after all you do need art directors. I'm definitely not schooled about the world of art, but apparently there's an ongoing war between what's commercial art and art-art. I could be wrong, but Nike has supported this new "ad" persay and collaborated with this well known animation artist. It culminates an obvious nod to Nike by running and some really cool animation. With a light, happy beat, it kind've does make want to run.

Onwards by James Jarvis

Tweet?

I'm assuming half of the free world is on Twitter because apparently everyone including Larry King is talking about it. I have yet to conquer the world of Twitter because frankly, I'm too technology challenged to even fathom how it all works. I think even starting this blog was quite troublesome for me..but I digress. But in the world of advertising, it's best to keep up with the technology trend because the big names are doing it as well. At least I am familiar with it and it's interesting to know what agencies are up to. But then I start to feel somewhat of a stalker knowing your every move, like Facebook. It becomes a little weird when I start to know what you said to who or what you did in the past five minutes. I don't know when the world wanted to know everyone's business. It's mad I tell you!

Lately, I haven't been going to my advertisement class because I've been working on our advertisement project. But I was lucky enough to have a week off to actually work on the proposal. Alas, I'm even at lost to work on this proposal. Thankfully, the creatives on my team are creating. But I digress..two more weeks until we present. I'm really on pins and needles.

OHH! An ad from Leo Burnett called "Hello" is probably the most heart-wrenching, "aww" commercial I have ever seen. My media planner and I have been watching it non-stop feeding off its tone and basically trying to probe into its motherboard to copy it. But of course, we're unprofessional and lame to even try that.

Noxzema anyone?

Getting a little something more than tires

After countless remarks about my balding tires, my mom finally decides to go and change them. I accompanied her on this trip, fully acknowledging I would be sitting in a waiting room for an hour or so. But I digress...so after a quick mani/pedi, I started flipping through Inc. magazine. Assuming it was like any other magazines about business, I didn't take any immediate interest. Then, low and behold I find this article about an nontraditional advertising agency, Wexley School for Girls. The name itself is pretty eyeball worthy. Based in Seattle,they are a full-service advertising agency experienced in research, planning, traditional advertising, mixed in with a plenty of unconventional marketing tactics as well. Even their website is pretty..fucking neat. Definitely check them out at http://www.wexley.com/


as mentioned earlier, I've been working on my project as account director and to say the very least, it really is a tough job. I think the biggest payoff so far, is having my professor smirk and say my team is really acting like a real agency and she can tell I'm enjoying all this chaos. Chaos doesn't even seem to begin to describe the amount of stress this has embedded into my body and more importantly, my mind. I'm always thinking about this brand, about this product, about this image. Luckily, it's my off day and at least I don't have to think about it, but have is the operative word. Thus far, I have learned two things: I have not a creative and will never aspire to be and simplicity is key. The latter should be understood even before the project began but..I digress. My media planner and I have a long ways to go..haha and many evil stick figures to mutate.

Is there a bug on me or a microphone?

It's extremely late and for some reason I had this interesting inclination to blog about the issue of privacy. After watching The Conversation in class, our professor reminded us that the movie was released near the Watergate scandal. The movie was about the issue of surveillance. Which leads me to think, "is it really for the sake of our safety?"

Obviously, the issue of homeland security is in continuous debate and the ethnics behind it..but at some point, there is a definite pro and con. How important is our privacy? Even those whom choose to remain reclusive often still find themselves at the feet of unprotected privacy. Is there a limit to how much privacy we can have? Today, our media consists of daily reports of mundane routines of celebrities. Do we really need to know they bought that? Of course not, but we choose to know. What about the government? Is there limitation to what they can release to the country? And if homeland security exists or is by some chance is released, does the government fall under those circumstances as well? Remember the scene in the Dark Knight when they show the sonar system. Insane. Our media is sent to us with certain guidelines and our perception is warped. Sure, not all of us believe it, but the reality is, most of our country does.

There's an episode of Family Guy when Lois works for Fox. Fox is notoriously known for having affiliations with the Republican party and being an overall conservative network. Family Guy goes to show that perception is definitely biased no matter what media is used.

What would happen if the country knew everything the government will do or is doing? ...I think we'd be in some deep shit.

it's late, forgive me if this grammatically and tremendously incorrect. grammar is my enemy.

FIN.

TAG? You're not a creative!

So...you know you're not a creative when...you don't care how it's made.

case in point:


Audience resonance. Definitely, who hasn't played a good game of tag? Eliciting the right emotion? Damn right, it almost made me want to run and that's a hard thing to do.


On a side note: Petunia still doesn't understand that you can't mix white clothing with the colors. Petunia doesn't understand that if you do, the colors will bleed onto the whites and it'd just be a big mess. She says she doesn't care, and that she doesn't mind if they do look tacky. But Petunia doesn't know that tacky doesn't get you anywhere except making you look like you got dressed in the dark. Sadly, Petunia is stubborn and will look like a hot mess.

FIN.

GORDELLO!

So as I was flipping through ads in my head, I forgot..I do have a favorite one. I was lucky enough to meet some of the creators at this year's ADDYS. It's such a great video, it made me laugh and join in song. I think if it's catchy and easy to remember, you're definitely doing something right. YAHOO!'s "start wearing purple" campaign..just makes so much sense. It's hidden aspect makes it even more enticing to laugh along as the girl is completely frazzled. DARN, I wish I had more experience to describe it with the right terminology and some type of profoundness.

..Start wearing purple, start wearing purple for me now...

creative not-so-brief

For my class project, we're instructed to write our own creative brief and needless to say, I'm stuck. And what has got me stuck? The definitive question: why should anyone believe us?

Ugh, it's like asking me if the mullet is really business in the front and party in the back. How do you answer that? The "why should anyone believe us" not the mullet question.

man, still working on it. I'll revise this one later.

Baa!

I've decided to start a blog minus the intended wit and crass I wanted to write with. I feel like as I'm warping through Adv91, a blog will benefit me along my advertising career. Also, it seems like everyone's blogging, so I'm gonna sheep this one.

So, thanks to my intro class, I feel like I'm dissecting media. I can't simply look at a commercial without trying to decode it. It's pretty insane with what people can come up with it. With that, I can't seem to just pick one ad I like or one ad agency. I just feel like a fatty in a candy store and then some. They're all just sitting there, calling me while I sit there and indulge in unnecessary calories.

I'd like to say I'm a different ad student blogging about ads, but let's face it: I'm not. I'm probably gonna show you ads from class that were quite eyeball spectacular or just the "what were they thinking?!" Just for kicks, I'm also gonna throw in the ubiquitous "I'll try to update this thing everyday, but let's face I do have some type of a meaningful life that I rather not spend it front of my laptop screen."


FIN.