This is a link to an article to the blog of Jess Tang, in Section 102.
Three weeks ago, one of my Austrian friends asked me: “hey man, let’s grow our moustach for Movember?”. It was duriing a party, in Fairview and I thought: “God, alcohol is killing me right now, I don’t understand a word of what Tomas is saying”. I replied: “Oh yeah, hahaha, let’s do that, it’s gonna be so much fun! Movember…haha…”. I finally decided to keep partying and forgot this weird talking.
But today, I regret it. If someone had told me what Movember is, I would have grown the biggest moustache ever. Because, yes, my hair system is very, very…very developed! So when, you guys, try to grow your moustache one year before the month of November to get the chance to actually have a moustache, I just have not to shave for…one week and here I am:
Like Jess, I’am amazed that such a weird trend has been followed by so many people, especially here in Canda. Actually, some of my friends who are in Exchange in Montreal told me about how crazy it was! This is quite funny because, during some events, I used, with friends, to grow my moustache. It occured several time during the annual gathering between the Schools like mine (Sciences Po). During this event, every school compete through sports championships and hard parties! To appear like the strongest man on the field, a lot of guys grow their moustache weeks before.
Moustache seems definitely to be an attribute of manlyness, since hairs are supposed to be! This Movember campain against a form of cancer that actually challenges this manlyness is brilliant. It helps people realize that a man is always a man (wow, sounds good!haha).
I hope Movember will develop more and more in the next years.
Here is a link to an article from a French blog I thought is interested to think about.
The article announces the rise in January 2011 of a new generation of game: the social gaming. I am Playr is a game in which you virtualli lives the life of a soccer player. Imagine a mix between Fifa, PES, Fotball manager and a tabloid newspaper in UK! Indeed, as a soccer player, you will not only have to manage your own sportive career by training and scoring a lot but you will also be asked to make ‘real life” choices such as: “which one of these two hot girl should I attract to my bed, the blond one, the other blond one or…both?” or, “How much am i gonna spend tonight in the club?”.
You have understood that my tone is a bit sarcastic. It is because I don’t understand the point of wanting so badly to be somebody else. You could argue that any video game is based on playing a role. True. But, with this kind of game, I think we are getting closer to a blurring limit between fiction and reality. Soccer is one of the most popular sport in the world, millions of kids dream everyday about being a soccer player; and there is nothing wrong about it. But, through this game, people who love soccer are also gonna love being a jackass. It would be wrong to say that every soccer player is a dush but a lot are, when they not play for the sake of sport anymore. It’s the case in a lot of other sports, yes, but soccer represent, I think, the most decadent one.
During the World Cup in South Africa, a lot of people admired the fact that, thanks to this world-wide event, this country, and maybe, the whole African continent, will develop itself and grow, flollowing the path that such a gathering among nations can offer. Thanks to this game, the kids who would try to do their best to be THE player in their team, their region, their country, will also want to go out every night, spend tons of money to drink, to buy useless things and to f…with all the girls “available”.
I love rugby (sorry football fans!), I love the All-Blacks and Richie McCaw and I like Adidas! This viral ad is the perfect one then!
“Impossible is nothing” is the well-known motto of Adidas. This video gives another dimension of it (“GIVE YOUR ALL”). There is not much to say I guess. While watching the video, I felt like these kids (eventhough I knew what will happen). Pure emotion to meet a guy you admire so motion is priceless! I’ve experienced it recently, that’s why I was so moved by this video.
Adidas embodies some of the most important value of sport and it also offers dream, just like your favorite players or athletes do.
La Fondation Abbé Pierre is a pretty well-known charity in France. It’s goal is to provide shelter to poor people and homeless people. The beginning of of winter is traditionnaly also the beginning of communication campaigns from these kind of institution. In this add, the main character, a real estate man, is the world-famous former French soccer player Éric Cantona. He is becoming to have great success in cinema, theater and he is also quite involved in different charities activities.
Basically, the ad dscribes a real estate saler who lead a visit of an apartement. He makes little comments on the different rooms, like during a regular visit of a regular apartment. As you can, see, this is not what you dream of when you want to move in. But it describes, according the figures of the Fondation Abbé Pierre, the reality of 3,5 million people in France.
I particularly like, the very last scene: Cantona faces the camera and ask: “So, are taking this one?” with this angry tone and angry face, to highlight how tough it is to live decently in such a slum.
France is a well-developped country but this add reminds us how much work lefts !
In the battle for a 1% or 2% market share, the great battle between Coca Cola and Pepsi Co is certainly one of the most baited fight over the soda market. Indeed, these two major companies compete in a definitely mature market. It means that the war between them is more than ever bloody and baited!!!
I found that this ad is a perfect representation of what is going on currently. Here, the competition is embodied by an “sculpture” competition between two representants of Coke and Pepsi, for two “sugar-free” products, in an aisle of a supermarket. At the beginning, the Coca Cola guy seems to be quite self-confident about his power and his capacity to beat the Pepsi guy. But at the end, Pepsi settle its supremacy over Coke with Snoop Dog poping up at the top of the Pepsi “pyramid stage”.
Pepsi uses here the influence of a kind of a leader for the a lot of kids, young adults and adults. Snoop dog gives to Pepsi a “cool” image that Coca Cola doesn’t have.
But I think what impressed me most in this ad is that Pepsi doesn’t hesistate to show its main competitor products (Coca zero). It is quite uncommon to see that. Maybe it’s because this competition is actually occuring in a mature industry environment and that Pepsi assumes that everybody is aware of this competition between Coke and Pepsi.
To siummarize, I really like this ad because the real business competition is represented by another form of competition.
This is an ad for Calvin Klein jeans. It has been recently forbidden in Australia. Indeed, the agency of normes in advertising of Australia judged it as describing a scence referring to “violence and rape”.
I have to admit that I don’t feel confortable with it. The very first time I saw it, I didn’t really find it particularly chocking. And now, I realized that it was actually what make me feel weird. When you watch it carefully, you realize exactly what it means. But the fact that I didn’t feel anything special the very first time means that I’m used to see and this kind of violence almost everyday. We all know that our generation (generation Y) is more and more passive in front of certain forms of violence (video games, tv,cinema,…) because of the high exposure rate to it. But it doesn’t mean that we can not be aware of what goes beyond certain limits. But which limits? Mine? Yours?The society’s in general? It is very difficult to answer this fundamental question since the system of values vary from one culture to another. But still, I do believe that some common patterns remain. Rape for example. If we refer to anthropology, rape is an act that has been systematically drastically prohibited by every societies since the beginning of mankind or, at least, what we know about mankind. It’s true that rape has been used in movies to depict cruelty, horror,…But what’s the point of using it to sell jeans?
Do Calvin Klein wants to make people associate jeans with sexual offense? I don’t think so. But then, why using it? To make people remember of the brand, as a mere tool of provocation? Fair enough (since we are speaking about advertising and positionning). But is it the only best way?
I think that the creators of this ad lack of creativity because it is easy to make people remember something thanks to shocking or hurting provocation. My point is not to say that provocation shouldn’t be used in advertising. I’m open-minded enough to appreciate some provocative visual effects but in certain situations. For me, Calvin Klein misses the point here.
If I were the marketer of Calvin Klein, I would feel a postpurchase dissonnance toward this ad right now…
These video are not brand new but it reveals something really interesting.
As a big fan of ski and telemark, I’m used to watch a lot of ski movies before the season starts; you know, like a…warm-up. All the ski or snowboard companies know how to be appealing thnaks to this media.
But with these two videos, something has changed (in my opinion). Several years ago, the most popular movies were those which shew riders doing incredible tricks in the snowparks all around the world, with a loud ragga or electro-punk-rock music. Even if it was not the case for every movies and videos, it has been the way in general, in the several years.
The two videos here show something different, especially with the first one (“Signature” movie trailer). It’s not only about how high the guys go, how difficult and impressive their tricks are and how “cool” they must be. It makes a large part to nature, the host of this mountain lover. There is a very important work on the pictures giving the impression that skiers and naturre are a whole.
The music is quite unusual as well. It could be part of “Into the wild” soundtrack don’t you think? This track backs the video up and brings it to another dimension, above the regular ski videos and movies.
Patagonia has understood there is maybe a return to the “roots”. The current sustainable development movement must have influenced the making-off of “Signature”. Backcountry skiing is getting more and more attractive for people and companies.
I bet this movie style is going to develop a ot in the near future. Even Candide Thovex, one of the best freeriders and freestylers in the world is turning to a more ethereal shooting process.
This video has been one of the most popular in France through Facebook. The French Website, Stratégie, specialized in marketing information, has mentionned it as one of the best in 2010. The Parisian advertising agency TWBA created this add for Aides, the French association against HIV/AIDS.
I know, this video is crude. You don’t have to find a hidden meaning, to read between the line. At the end of the clip, you have exactly undersood the message: ” Put a condom to have sex”. But the aim of this video is obviously to give an other meaning to the product: condom is sexy. If you don’t use it, nobody is going to have sexual relationship with you (The true menaing is that it is dangerous, true but still !).
What is interesting in this ad is that it refers to a human behaviour that is a public issue in a lot of countries. But here, the genital parts, male and female are the characters. It allows everyone to think about its own experience without having to identify, or not, with the actual characters.
The place where the seen takes place (public bathrooms) is the best way to target a huge number of people through this ad. Indeed, few people has never experienced public bathrooms,with the walls full of graffitis and drawings more or less suggestive (well, maybe it’s different in Canada, but trust me, it’s pretty commun in Europe to find this kind of “decoration”).
Finally, the music is one of the corner stone of the video since it gives perfectly well the pace to the story.
For me, this ad is briliant because it introduce poetry in a place where poetry is not commun and it only helps people thiking about the condom, without imposing random faces on a particular behaviour.
This ad is fantastically…simple. As you can notice, this campaign has been launched by a spanish company (Damm) for a beer brand: Estrella (wich means “star” in Spanish).
Have you ever seen a such an ad to promote a beer? It’s true that, a lot of beer brands use humour and creativity to promote their products. Personnally, I think that ads for beer are among the most interesting and creative. But this one is very different.
It’s like a short movie, without any dialogues. The scenes take place somewhere on an famous Spanish island, Fromentera. The video starts with the end of the story. And what makes you coming back to the story line?…the Estrella beer!! The marketers want to make you understand that this beverage is a perfect reminder for all the best moments you have during holidays, with your friends,…But how is it possible? By drinking Estrella regularly. It’s gonna become the little thing that, at the end make you holidays awsome. That what it is written at the end of the video: “Goods things never end if something reminds you of it”. To summarize, “drink Estrella wherever and whenever you are to live endlessly your happy life”.
This ad was a huge success in Spain in 2009 (they aired a new one this year, in 2010 that you can easily find on youtube). Everybody was singing the song and dreaming of the perfect summer. Because, of course, the strategy was to broadcast it just before summer begins. In this period, people are dying for lying on the sand and have dinner with friends under the stars, partying every single night! So again, what can you do? Drink Estrella beer, which is part of you happiness.
This ad plays on nostalgia and basic feelings like falling in love quickly, in the summer, in a perfect world, with perfect people. It’s a kind of an ideal for a lot of young people. So the target here is obviously people from 18 to 30. They want to be free, to party a lot and to live perfect moments of friendship and love.
When I watch this ad, I just couldn’t help wanted coming back to last summer. And of course, as a regular beer consumer, I wanted to share a beer with friends cause that is what I usually do. I finally almost identify myself to the male character. And this is, I think, the proof that’s a very powerful ad.
But summer has gone now…So let’s drink a beer, maybe we’ll come back to these perfect moment of life.
