Erik Wünsch, the founding father and Managing Director of S-W-H (Schaeffer-Wünsch-Has), is leaving his agency. Eleven years after having founded S-W-H Wünsch (47) wants to explore “new creative roads”. These roads might go cross-border, since in todays Adformatie Wünsch explains that he wouldn’t want to work for any other agency in the Netherlands; S-W-H is simply the best. Theoretically he’s right since S-W-H is Agency of the year 2007. So the question is, how will they perform without him. Well, we’re not too worried, if they continue to produce creative stuff like this.
Archive for August, 2008
Frank needs more testing
Friday, August 22nd, 2008In this beautifully executed commercial, the Amsterdam agency Vanabbetotvessem spoofs the world famous Frankenstein story. Interesting is that this ad makes the STD (in Dutch: SOA) test the strategical hero, instead of the condom. The reason is that in the Netherlands condom-use in risky situations already has a very high penetration (no pun intended). However, in a more-than-one-night stand situation the percentage drops worryingly. Hence the pay-off: ‘Always use a condom until you’ve done an STD test’. And to target the commercial also more specifically towards men, Vanabbetotvessem also created a second commercial in which Frank is the more sensible ‘person’. To top it all off, there’s also a dedicated website – which unfortunately doesn’t align with the commercial and is too messy.
Nike pops up everywhere
Thursday, August 14th, 2008
To give its sponsor dominance during the Beijing Olympics some more leverage, Nike opened pop-up stores in eight European cities where the Olympics were held in the past. Among them Amsterdam, London and Paris. The Amsterdam pop-up store is called 1928 – after the year of the Amsterdam Olympics – and is strategically positioned in the creative Westergasfabriek area. The store opened on the first day of the Olympics (08-08-08) and will be there for 60 days. Its spacious interior contains a small museum, displaying the newest high tech gear developed for the Olympic sportsmen (see also Nike Lab). Together with that it displays (and sells) Nike sportswear, the latest ‘lifestyle’ clothing line. Except for its heritage, this new collection has little to do with sports anymore; the shirts and sneakers primarily give street credibility to teenagers, rappers and art directors. Nevertheless, cautiously balancing its brand between high performance sportswear and überhip streetwear, Nike seems stronger and more popular than ever.
Free iPod sooo last summer
Friday, August 8th, 2008
Last year a free iPod was the most popular promotional advertising candy. But a free iPod is not enough anymore. Especially when you’re selling houses. The Amsterdam housing corporation ‘De Alliantie’ is advertising its newly built houses in Amsterdam Zuid-Oost with a free iPhone! In fact, each house (starting at € 92,500) is worth a voucher of € 4.000 (!) to be converted into Apple gear. Their goal: stimulating diversity in this neighborhood by attracting a younger crowd. We wonder if it works; many will still regard Zuid-Oost as the ghetto. In any case, one thing is sure; Apple is becoming more and more main stream.
Gay pride
Friday, August 1st, 2008
As everyone knows, Amsterdam has a few world famous USP’s; among them of course are marihuana, prostitutes and a dynamic gay scene. This weekend the latter is proving its uniqueness in the annual gay parade; a procession of boats through the Amsterdam canals, decorated with dressed up gays. The logo and poster (click to enlarge) of this year’s gay parade were designed by the Amsterdam design agency VBAT. VBAT – that won a Golden Lion in Cannes this year for its design of a new Amstel beer bottle – understandably chose to combine some cliché gay elements in the poster. However, combining pink and the typical canal houses in a circle, unintentionally reveals a true consumer insight…
