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Issue #1
Cover | Letter From Abroad | Marketing | Offbeat | Law | Industry Close Up | Contest | Associations | Basic Instincts | Ukraine Observer
Fast Forward
Creative Crash
The ad industry is wondering if it is just the recession that has trimmed the attendance and entries at well-known awards shows.
The usually glitzy Cannes Lions competition saw a drop off of 20 per cent in creative submissions and a whopping 40 per cent decline in attendance.
It seems agencies are cutting back budgets overall when it comes to submissions and attendance at such shows industry wide.
In the words of Paul Silburn, creative partner at Saatchi & Saatchi, London: "We are bearing in mind the recession, and then going even further."
With layoffs in the industry, forced unpaid holidays and reductions in travel budgets, agencies simply can't justify wholesale creative entries, much less sending large contingents to award parties.
OH-MY-GOSH
In a collection of You Tube videos a 16-year-old boy named Zack Johnson has a particular dilemma. He wakes up one day and his boy parts "down there" have been exchanged for girl parts "down there."
The sparsely viewed videos -- by successful You Tube standards --apparently is Procter & Gamble's testing of an approach toward marketing its product Tampax.
Some comments have been that the would-be viral campaign touches a sensitive subject--what girls have to go through that boys don't have to experience. However, other comments suggest the campaign "must have been conceived by a guy."
The campaign was produced by Leo Burnett, Chicago, and is accompanied by a blog at Zack16.com. Up to now, it's a stretch to link the campaign to the product, and it is difficult to determine just where it's headed.
A P&G spokesperson shed little light on the series: "It's a learning lab out on the net. He said the company was just "playing around with some different ideas. It's not heavily branded at all."
No, Mr. Spokesperson, it's not branded at all. But, today's mystery project just might be tomorrow's next big marketing break-through.
Tough Love with the Omniscient Pablo PistachioWe had a news conference the other day, and though my boss had something important to say, he didn't get quoted as much as the other company on the platform.
In keeping with our positioning statement of Risk Takers. Rule Breakers. Opportunity Makers, Willard, the company, embarks on another adventure. It's called Willard Marketing Monthly.
This was not my first visit to Cannes, but each time something about the festival surprises me. This year, I felt a number of contradictions that contrasted with memories of earlier visits.
When signs appeared on the metro sternly advising that posting unofficial ads violates the criminal code, Bogdan demonstrated his contempt by pasting his little ads over the warning.Eyes on the Prize: AmCham, EBA focused on nation
The political infighting that has incapacitated Ukraine's government, precipitated shifts in the leadership of crucial ministries, and the wrangling over impending elections aren't making the work of the European Business Association and American Chamber of Commerce any easier.
What's more, television is dying. It is no longer the media platform of choice of the sophisticated marketer, and this has confused an entire tribe of East European creative directors. They grew up thinking that advertising was about making 30-second movies.Fast Forward
Strategic Approaches
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