This creative piece of eye candy really spoiled our senses. It was made by Cultural Oil (and directed by 60Layersofcake) for NBC Universal to promote the new Dutch digital TV channel 13th STREET – and its edgy TV series. Here’s another one – they made 5 in total. Interesting about this project is that Cultural Oil scouted the creator of the films, Dutch student Koos Dekker, through YouTube – this long tale channel is infested with (kinetic) typography films. Nathalie Brähler, creative director at Cultural Oil, told us that she likes to work with students, because they know exactly what’s state of the art in the world of multi-media and thus help the agency to constantly innovate. The project not only proves that the internet democratically empowers everyone to be discovered, it also shows that small, flexible, collaborating agencies have lots of creative potential.
Archive for February, 2009
Typographic eye candy
Friday, February 27th, 2009Protest: drop it all!
Monday, February 23rd, 2009
A few weeks ago we wrote about the TV commercial for Dutch snowboard /surf brand Protest by KesselsKramer – we weren’t sure about the tone of voice. Last week though KesselsKramer introduced what seems an entirely new theme; Drop it all. Great photography – done by Christian Weber. And with this theme it seems Protest hit the sweet spot! This summer, when the conditions are epic, Protest organizes spontaneous surf and wakeboard events around Europe with music, booze, free equipment and board lessons! Those who subscribe to the ‘drop it all’-alert, will get an e-mail or text message and are invited. Very insightful; a true surfer will indeed literally drop his work when the surf’s up. Makes our fantasy run wild; next winter, you get a ‘powder-alert’; just reply ‘yes’ and Protest books you a ticket straight into the powder – those who reply quick enough, go for free! Talking about your perfect brand activation: facilitating relevant and genuine consumer services, that fit both the brand and the target – it all seems so easy. Protest has gold in its hands – hopefully they realize it!
Amnesty International: Yes we can!
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
“Hundreds of thousands signatures preceded this one. Guantánamo Bay is being closed. Thanks to those who supported us.” Delicious advertising – simple & smart! The chefs of bakker/linssen id prepared it for Amnesty International. The ingredients? Borrow a hot celeb with charisma (say, Barak Obama), add a historical news event – but be up to date; you want to be modern. Then use existing photography (saves your client heaps of money) and a sympathetic tone of voice. Finish it all off with a smart twist (do not show the same old depressing prison stuff, show what one’s support can actually ‘change’). Very persuasive; who wouldn’t put down his humble signature, if it can close down the epitome of injustice.
Shoptalk; Amsterdam WW; JWT; Rich
Monday, February 16th, 2009
Amsterdam Worldwide was asked last month to introduce the beer brand Hoegaarden (Anheuser-Busch) internationally. The agency is doing well. Recently it also won the Asics EMEA and Russia account – it already works for the Asics brand Onitsuga Tiger. Vodafone Netherlands last week announced it is looking for a new agency. Its current agency, UbachsWisbrun/JWT, is invited to pitch – other agencies still have to be selected. And while most agencies are struggling to keep their business afloat, some are still optimistic: Rich advertises with “No budget, No problem. We’re rich”.
Suit Supply displays ambition
Friday, February 13th, 2009
Suit Supply – the Dutch retailer, selling tailor made suits for a reasonable price – launched its new outdoor campaign, with photos from the renowned photographer Carli Hermès. Five years ago Hermès was asked for the first time to do a shoot and since then his photos are inseparably part of Suit Supply’s fashionable brand image. This year’s campaign is called ‘Ambition’ and shows ‘real’ South Africans. Real, as in, they were scouted in the streets and didn’t wear any make-up or props during the shoot – except of course for the suits. Interesting detail is that the owner of Suit Supply, Fokke de Jong, likes to boast about the fact that he doesn’t need a marketing plan, nor an advertising agency. He simply decides from the gut and shoots from the hip. But not without success; recently the fast expanding brand was awarded the Marketing Excellence Award 2008 (by NIMA, the Dutch Institute for Marketing).
Shoptalk: Taxi chooses Amsterdam
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009
September, last, we reported about the Canadian agency Taxi that considered either Amsterdam or London as their first European hub. Last week Taxi announced that Amsterdam won the pitch – the unconfirmed rumour goes that it was mayor Job Cohen riding a unicycle for PICNIC 2007 that gave Amsterdam that last push. Anyway, we’re glad to have the second Canadian agency on board – Sid Lee was first. And we’re especially happy with Paul Lavoie, founder of Taxi, who announced that the agency will place itself in between the Dutch Amsterdam agencies and the international ones. A welcome positioning, since Amsterdam is roughly divided between agencies that make typical Dutch advertising (unintelligible for foreigners) and the international expat agencies – like Wieden+Kennedy, 180 and Amsterdam WW – where English is the spoken tongue and campaigns are clearly made for the worldwide market. It would be great if Taxi can bring together these two worlds.
Onitsuka Tiger: made from Japan
Thursday, February 5th, 2009To celebrate Onitsuka Tiger’s 60th birthday, Amsterdam Worldwide launched the Cycle of Life campaign, revolving around the Zodiac Race - this trailer heavily triggered our curiosity. The race is a Japanese legend about 13 animals racing each other for a spot on the Zodiac calendar. Apart from the animation, made by NY based Panda Panther, Amsterdam WW also built a diorama (miniature world) in the shape of a sneaker – part of the “Made of Japan” strategy. This is already the third iconic shoe they built for Onitsuka. The previous one, Electric Tigerland, was shortlisted for a Titanium Lion at Cannes 2008. This year’s life-sized sneaker is a typical Japanese landscape, with landmarks like Mount Fuji. The sneaker will be displayed in selected venues around the world. To integrate the campaign even further, the 2009 shoe collection is decorated with the Zodiac animals. All in all, this abundant flow of creativity makes us drool!
Qi builds virtual walk-in fridge
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009
Two weeks ago, we shared the wonderful walk-in fridge commercial for Heineken. And yesterday we found out that Qi created a virtual walk-in fridge to translate the commercial online. On the dedicated site you can open different Heineken bottles/cans with the pointer of your mouse. Skilfully made and also making us very thirsty. The only pity is that the site doesn’t really match with the TV commercial. So our suggestion to Heineken; next time try to bring the agencies together in an earlier stage of conceptualization.
