I'm currently working my way through Creative Strategy in Advertising (Jewler, A. & Drewniany, B. 2005).
The Newspaper Association of America set top advertising creatives the task of creating their own newspaper ad. The content being how they think a newspaper ad should be written.
The responses included in this book are that of Luke Sullivan (author of Hey Whipple, Squeeze This), Jeff Goodby (creative director & co-chairman of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners) and Lee Clow (creative director & chairman of TBWA Worldwide).
It's incredible just how much of their personality can be grasped from each response.
So here they are... very different, very unique and very interesting.
When we talk about collaborative creativity with regard to advertising, there are two separate areas: One being the creative collaboration between Copywriter and Art Director. The other being internal collaboration between creatives, account handlers and media planners.
The partnership between copywriter & art director is a longstanding tradition in the advertising industry and a wealth of research supports the notion that two heads are better than one. In the digital age however, it seems that the potential for collaboration can be extended far beyond a mere two heads.
'Giant Hydra' www.gianthydra.com, conceived in 2008, acts as a platform for mass collaboration between advertising agencies across the globe. The idea is based upon Metcalfe's Law that 'the value of a network is proportional to the square of the number of connected users'. Basically, creatives are able to create a profile with samples of their work, which others can browse through. Agencies are then able to set projects and hand-pick the creatives that they wish to be involved. Ideas are shared, discussed, furthered and when executed, each creative that was involved is financially rewarded. This enables the volume and perspective of ideas concerning the given brief to dramatically increase well beyond what would have ever been capable of one creative team. Not to mention speeding up the process of idea generation; ideal for agencies bogged down with several ongoing briefs or agencies with limited time/resources.
Ideas such as this have massive implications on how we should be working across art schools/colleges/universities and across a range of diciplines. It is important for us as art students to note the wealth of creative minds and disciplines that we have at our fingertips. As aspiring advertisers, we're aware that the industry thrives on originality and innovation, so we should be looking further than the confines of our studio. If effective collaboration is possible between advertising students, then what potential does interdisciplinary collaboration hold? If word is spread well enough then maybe this simple Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=132871126762443) can start interdisciplinary collaborations within the college, helping each of us to build a strong contact book before graduating. If this is how it works in industry, why not start now?
For agencies to function, they depend on a structure. The structure of creatives/accounts/planners/directors has always existed, yet in years gone by it has, at times, become more of a heirarchy. In an article entitled Creativity and the Art of Collaboration (Campaign, 30/04/2010), a 'Fortress Creative Department' philosophy is described where creative people were physically and mentally excluded from the rest of the agency and gave the "double-barrelled upper-class twits in client service a really hard time". As Andrew Cracknell, writer of the article, comments, "If you're kept apart from the people whose role can occasionally come into conflict with yours, then that very isolation can fuel the antagonism" which suggests why it's not surprising to see so many agencies integrating departments with open plan studios. Brand New in Leeds, for example, is a converted warehouse where the only rooms separated from the main studio are the toilets, editing suite and kitchen. In the time I spent there over the summer I constantly had account handlers shouting over my head across the room to the other departments. I really buzzed off as this style of open collaboration as I felt a real part of the team and had an awareness of what was going on around me, so it's odd to think that agencies havn't always operated in this way.
A type of collaboration that appears to be becoming ever more apparent in agencies, is with the client themselves. The Campaign article states that both Mother and HHCL are pioneers of this method, but Cracknell shows his concern in that, "these project groups are only as strong as their most vociferous members - and he who pays the piper calls the tune". Put simply, the client becomes ever more powerful in the quality of the work. In my eyes, this is bad news. I agree that client should be involved in the progression of the work so that they take some ownership of the idea and, in turn, it should be easier to get work through the barrier of acceptance. And although Mother seem to have escaped thus far, I can't help but picture the potentially damaging effect on creativity that client-agency collaboration may have.
Steve Henry (co-founder of HHCL) claims,"Creative Directors used to be the people who made a difference. Now they're just people who can be wheeled out for pitches to make small talk". I'm all for collaboration, but if this is the case, I think I'd prefer to remain as a Creative.
Today marked our first critical studies lecture about 'Surveillance and Society'.
Michel Foucault's theory of 'Panopticism' - a permanent state of surveillance - is something that we as a society are readily aware of, but aren't as familiar with the effect it has upon our behaviour.
We've all heard the statistics, "the average city dweller is caught on camera at least 300 times a day" but this is only one form of surveillance. Social networking, gyms with display glass windows, open-plan bars/pubs are all designed with panoptic undertones which change our motivations and therefore control our behaviour.
The internet is an uncontrollable device of panoptic control. With every website we visit being archived and institutional databases monitoring our desktop files, the lecture instantly reminded me of the AOL 'What do you think?' (2006) commercials, which provoked debate about whether the internet was a good thing or a bad thing.
Only last week, my Dad was telling me about using Google Street view in order to locate a house he was contracted to do a drainage survey. He said he'd zoomed in the the front door in order to see the house number, but felt very uncomfortable in doing so, as you could see through the front window into house. He said he felt incredibly intrusive and perverse as it felt like he was secretly spying on the lives of the residents. We began to discuss how amazing Google Earth actually is, but how it's equally a criminal paradise.
This good/bad debate is captured perfectly in the following ads. Showing the inspirational power of mass communication, as well as the disasterously corrupt consequences it can have.
I'm working my way through a dead helpful book at the moment called Creative Strategy in Advertising by Jewler, A & Drewniany, B.
Throughout the course, we've been told a few bits and pieces about art direction. But more often than not, we've been told that you learn by looking at award winning work, disecting why it works visually and then ingraining the techniques into your mind. I've found however, that Chapter 7:Designing to Communicate has given me the basic principles of design that wasn't consiously aware of beforehand. Some techniques (i.e. proportion - 'Golden Mean') link to those that I've previously learned in Photography (i.e Rule-of-Three).
The following are a few examples of techniques that I could apply when analysing the aethetics and art direction in future case studies.
Negative Space - the space that isn't filled.
A border of negative space should be left unless purposeful.
Lots of negative space creates a feeling of 'exclusivity'.
Gestalt - the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts.
Our eyes are drawn to these patterns, so we respond in predictable ways.
When an item is dissimilar to the objects around it, it commands attention.
Balance - Symmetrical balance can be static - something advertisers seek to avoid.
Things that are bottom-heavy ...reader tempted to turn the page.
Things that are top-heavy ...reader discouraged from continuing.
Text is considered the lightest element of a layout. Heavier = darker, bigger, thicker
Rhythm - Created through repetition and consistency across a campaign.
E.g. headline, visual, logo, endline all in the same format/size.
Movement - our eyes naturally move in a Z shape across a page.
Shape and direction of images should guide the eyes through an ad.
The notion of 'expression' best defines the difference between art and advertising.
Advertising is about selling an idea. Expression on the part of someone else.
Art is about creating individual experiences and responses. Expression of the self.
Tony Kaye is a rare bean that is responsible for a substantial amount of creative work in each discipline. Most notably to us advertisers as the director of Dunlop's 'Unexpected' (1994) and Volvo's 'Twister' (1996) commercials. His aesthetics in either discipline could be deemed surrealistic, yet Kaye's work, knowingly or not, rings truer to the ideals of the Romantic movement that occurred during the 18th century.
The era of Romanticism threw all rules upheld by the art world i.e. proportional figures, straight out of the window. It caused perceptions of art to change and the social value of art suddenly rose as people treated it as the most important knowledge generating device. The ideal of individual self-fulfillment is inscribed in Romantic philosophy making a clear distinction between art and advertising, where creativity is compromised in expressive freedom by the client or the marketplace. Even so, Nick Studzinski, Creative Director at Publicis claims that there are two types of creativity with the advertising industry: One follows the tradition of patronage-led art which works more narrowly within the limitation set by client and marketplace. The other gives the creative director a much freer hand at developing the concept and visuals, and it's this bracket that Kaye falls under.
Joan Gibbons captures a clear example of Kaye's artistic freedom in Art & Advertising. She comments on Kaye's 1999 ad for the Vauxhall Astra, where, mimicking a union gathering, babies make demands for better conditions:
"See his In the interests of authenticity, Kaye insisted on the actual presence of 800 babies, having trenches built for parents/nannies to hold the babies in place. Consequently he is able to produce a rare type of advertising that clearly draws its creativity from individual vision and from the ability to activate the imagination of the viewer in a way that had on notable occasions invoked the grander narratives of our culture rather than the everyday concerns of consumerism."
There seem to be four central motifs upheld within Romanticism:
Expanding the bounds of experience
Man vs. Nature
Unpredictability of life
Loss of innocence
All three paradigms are noticably challenged in Kaye's work. His 1996 'Twister' commercial is based upon the reliability of the Volvo to overcome the ravages of a tornado. A calm, documentary-style commentary accompanies the visuals which portrays a view of mankind superiority to nature - a concept very much explored in the Romantic era. Unpredictability of life is also addressed by way of a natural disaster, yet the influence of this motif is nowhere more apparent than in 'Unexpected'. The commercial is characterised by it's trippy visuals (created by laying artificial colour over black and white footage) and the equally hypnotic soundtrack (Velvet Underground - Venus in Furs) expanding the bounds of experince through a sensory overload. Images of dead vegetation further display Kaye's Romantic influences through a loss of innocence. This particular Romantic theme is central to the storyline of Kaye's feature film, American History X, in which a jailed neo-Naxi convicted of racially-incited murder can only watch as his brother begins to follow in his same treacherous footsteps.
The examples given above show how the central values of Romantic art weave throughout Tony Kaye's work, both as an advertiser and an artist. Yet whether this is a direct and knowing link is not entirely apparent. What is clear however is that almost every art movement involves themes that are universal and can be applied in almost any discipline. The surrealist fixation on the human subconscious for example, has cross-disciplinary ties with Freud's psychological theories. So indeed, Tony Kaye is a Romantic, just as much so as Sigmund Freud is a Surrealist.
'Rib it up' - Pot Noodle Sticky Rib flavour - Mother, London 2009
The variation in purchase decisions of fast-food/'cheap nibble' products is typically considered to not involve much thought, but instead be decided on the individual's opinion and feeling about the brand (low thinking/high feeling). This is different to the decision to purchase a car for example, where feeling plays a part, but is ultimately decided by logical reasoning (high thinking/low feeling) i.e. is the car in my price range? Is it eco-friendly? Will it protect my children if I crash? Is the boot space sufficient? Will it struggle to get across the muddy farmland where I live etc.
Pot Noodle falls under the cheap nibble category. Priced at less than £1, there's no financial burden placed on the consumer so the purchase decision is made in a split-second of seeing the product. In that split-second, the consumer gains an overall positive or negative emotion about the product which is defined as a 'soma' (The Advertised Mind,Eric Du Plessis). This soma is massively aided by the way in which the product is advertised.
DDB global (Doyle Dane Bernbach) define their strategy by breaking down the benefits of the product into four groups: practical, social, sensory and ego satisfaction (Creative Strategy in Advertising, Jewler & Drewniany). In doing so, the agency explores both the rational and emotional rewards the consumer can receive from the product.
Mother's 'Rib it up' spot for Pot Noodle is a tounge-in-cheek take on the U.K's chav-tastic youth and the associated music and visual culture. The commercial appears as a deliberately tacky low-budget garage music video, sporting all the stereotypical adornments i.e. Burberry cap, various bling, shiny tracksuits, blonde groupies with their hoods up, electronically filtered vocals, a shirtless bloke pumping iron etc.
The ridiculously fast tempo of the song, quick MC'ing and vibrant colours give the sensation that a lot happens in a Pot Noodle in a very short amount of time. This suggests that even though you simply add water, there's still a multitude of flavours. The practical benefit of Pot Noodle therefore seems to be that it is quick.
The social benefit is that you spend less time faffing around with dinner on a Friday night and get out with your mates sooner.
The sensory benefit (taste) is implied when the music breaks down and we hear the beautifully crafted vocals, "oooooooooh, with the flavour all over my lips". It's the cute blonde who sings these lyrics so the sexual connotations are obvious. But there could be a deeper meaning for the chaotic song having a moment of clarity - in that amoung all the crap that goes into a Pot Noodle, there are moments where you realise that there is in fact a distinctive flavour. And quite a tasty one at that.
As for the massage to the consumers's ego, I doubt anyone in their right mind would want to identify themselves as part of the culture in the commercial, but the consumer might identify themselves in the type of humor. It could also have implications as to the dynamic pace and energy of youth culture, suggesting that by spending too much time having a proper dinner on a Fri/Sat night, you're missing out on experiences with your mates. The ego-satisfaction therefore, is that Pot Noodle eaters are conscious of the experiences available around them and don't want to miss any of them by eating a nicer meal.
A couple of weeks back we visited the M&S archives at Leeds University. It would of been a wise idea to of completed this task shortly after the visit, however, I can't help but make an easy situation infinitely more difficult, so drawing from a few notes and a rusty memory, here goes...
1. Marks & Spencer hold five core business principles. These are: quality, service, innovation, trust and value.
2. In any advertising for M&S, one, if not many of the core principles are to be translated across to the audience. It is the strategic approach of the advertising that controls how the message reaches the consumer. For example, in the 1960's commercial St Michael on Holiday, the location is very stylish and the house featured has very modern furnishings - a far cry from a run-of-the-mill family home - which portrays M&S as an innovative brand. The luxurious location further implies the quality of the clothing whilst the happy, smiling family who're wearing the garments allow to audience to trust what they see. How could this innocent looking family possibly being lying to us? Regardless of the wealthy appearance of the commercial, the general public were aware at the time of M&S' reasonable prices which gives a feeling of value for money.
Contemporary TV ads
1. Rupert Everett, Rachel (S Club 7), Des Lynam, Martine McCutcheon, Gordon Ramsay and Helen Mirren all star in M&S' 2004 Christmas commercial. M&S regards itself as a down-to-earth brand that has started from the bottom-up. Each one of these famous faces has not only started at the bottom and worked very hard to achieve success that is appreciated by many, but all are very honest characters who you could happily have round for a dinner-party. Except Ramsey maybe. Everett is male pillar of art/culture and passion, Ramsey is a strong-willed sign of masculinity who appeals to the perfectionist in us of all. McCutcheon is a symbol of a self-respecting female being comfortable with who she is. Mirren is an example of an independant woman driven by ambition. And good ol' Des will always be there to tell you the footy results.
2. The location for M&S' '07 Autumn range is on board the very swanky Orient Express. This instantly brings to mind striking visions of the Flying Scotsman tearing through the country, renowned for its beautiful heritage and admired by all. This references the proud history of M&S and links to the benefits of wearing their Autumn range - people will be in awe of you. The rustic Oak interior of the carriages, which pepper the commercial bring about a sense of tradition and reflection. As winter draws closer, people begin to reflect over the past year, so this gives the audience a chance to reflect upon the heritage of M&S. The colours also follow the Autumn theme, matching the clothing range, as well as suggesting other traits of Autumn, such as rich and hearty food: Steak & Ale pie, winter vegetables etc. all of which M&S also offer.
3. The 'Your M&S' ads started featuring celebrity models of all ages and types in 2005.
4. It was indeed the luscious, oozy, gooey, softly-trickling warm Chocolate Pudding which featured in the first 'Your M&S' ad. New factories had to be built to cope with the demand for this particular choccy pud-pud as sales increased by 3000%.
5. To celebrate 125 years of the M&S brand, RKCR's TV spot shows Twiggy - M&S' eldest (and some would argue, still the most gorgeous) face - taking us through a time-line of the brand. From the Penny Bazaar stalls, to the creation of microwavable meals, the pioneering of sell-by dates and fitted bras, all the way through to their current emphasis on tackling climate change. Twiggy has been their right from the first advertisment, so she represents an eternal symbol of the brand's longevity. She remains attractive to this day, just as M&S core principles remain the same to this day. She makes a sweeping statement that bolsters M&S' value of innovation: "They've changed the way we eat, they've changed the way we dress, they're changing the way we treat out planet".
Sweeping though the statement may seem, the earlier mentions of microwaveable meals and fitted bras support the first two claims. This leads us to believe that M&S are doing everything they can to reduce their carbon footprint, therefore consolidating another of their core values: trust. "No-one goes further to bring you the best possible food", links to the value of service. This leaves only the principles of quality and value remaining, both of which are cleaned up in the campaign's endline: 'Quality worth every penny'.
