Archive for the ‘Column’ Category

Column: The iPhone. For Everybody.

Friday, February 19th, 2010

Wouter BoonHow Apple closed the technology gap between older en younger generations by making user friendly software

Recently I came across this ancient ad for Remington typewriters. How old fashioned, I thought; “For young. For Old. For everybody”. When it comes down to today’s digital ‘typewriters’ the gap between grey bearded men and their grand children has never been bigger. My dad for example can only use – let’s say – 5% of all the functions that I use on my computer. This problem did not exist in the time of the mechanical typewriter. Read more here.

Column: Wouter Boon

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

Portret AABSense and Simplicity?

How Philips confirmed my preconception about LED and shed a whole new light on its tagline

In 2004 Philips launched the tagline ‘Sense and Simplicity’. I clearly remember that I liked this small phrase straight away – though it wasn’t hard to improve the previous one: ‘Let’s make things better’. Sense and simplicity communicated exactly what I wanted to see in consumer electronics; made by intelligent engineers and translated into a simple product that I can intuitively use. Just like the iPhone; loved for its sense and simplicity. But last weekend I saw a Philips ad that gave sense and simplicity a whole new meaning. Click here to read more.

Heather Le Fevre: Dutch friends for beginners

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

HeatherLeFevre kleinHere are two easy words to learn in Dutch: vriend and collega. I’m betting all you non-Dutchies get those right away, but if not, those are the words for friend and colleague. What was interesting and frustrating to me upon arriving here in Amsterdam was the difference in implication of those words in English vs Dutch.

Let me explain. When I started working in Miami, Winsy Dunwoody, a new fellow planner immediately invited me over to dinner at her house with her fiancé. I could have been a psycho killer or a total bore but she was willing to find out, open her home to someone new in town and make them feel welcome. I’ve been in Amsterdam for 13 months now and have never been invited to a Dutch colleagues’ home.

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Introducing a new columnist: Heather LeFevre

Friday, October 30th, 2009

HeatherLeFevre kleinWe’ve added a new section to Amsterdam Ad Blog, called ‘Columns’. And we’re proud to present Heather LeFevre as our first columnist. Heather is from the States and worked there for renowned advertising agencies, like CP+B and The Martin Agency. Today Heather lives in Amsterdam and works for DDB. We are intrigued to learn what she thinks about living and working as an expat in Amsterdam. And we hope you do too. Her first column is called ‘How I ended up in Amsterdam’. Click here to read it.