We didn’t know MTV has a sister channel called MTV Rocks – in fact, we didn’t even know that MTV has 5 more specialist channels; Classic, Dance, Base, Hits and Shows. MTV is rebranding these channels and commissioned a total of 32 TV idents, to be created by motion/audio studios from around the globe. Amsterdam based Post Panic (motion) and Massive Music (sound) created these surreal idents for MTV Rocks – currently MTV Brand New in the Netherlands. It is obvious that the alternative character of the channel inspired script writer and director Mischa Rozema to make these five 12 second idents. He used surreal characters and moods to make people wonder what they are looking at – as if they were flicking the remote and coming across something really weird. Even though we’ve never watched MTV Rocks, this ident definitely gives us the impression that it does.
Archive for the ‘Video’ Category
MTV Rocks… with new idents
Thursday, March 11th, 2010McDonald’s’ Dutch Deluxe; made for Holland
Monday, March 8th, 2010
Normally we don’t show typical Dutch commercials, because the humour is often culturally challenged and thus not very funny for an international (and critical) crowd. But this guy telling his girl she still owes him money for the burger he bought her during a ‘romantic’ dinner at McDonald’s made us laugh. Especially because it highlights one of the most famous preconceptions about the Dutch; they are all stingy bastards! And since McDonald’s – with its think global act local strategy – sells a ‘Dutch Deluxe’ this week (on a brown bun, yuck!), the execution is spot on briefing; “deliciously Dutch”. Created by TBWA\Neboko and produced by CZAR.
Nike persuades the Dutch to bleed orange
Friday, March 5th, 2010
Although not everyone that writes for this blog will support the Dutch this summer at the World Cup Football in South Africa, the second ‘Bleed Orange’ commercial for Nike, made by Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam, does get us properly excited. It introduces an un-Dutch ‘Just do it’ swagger to the Dutch team. An attitude the orange lions will need, since ‘a beautiful loss, is still a loss’ – as the copy reads insightfully. As in the first bleed orange commercial (the Dam square take-over) the tape art is used as a distintive style element to glue all the campaign assets together. The film – featuring Van Nistelrooy, Van Bronckhorst and Van der Vaart – is shot on 8mm and 16mm by Johan Kramer to create a voyeuristic look behind the scenes. And the persuasive music by Junkie XL finishes it off nicely. If anything will persuade the Dutch to bleed orange this summer, it will be this kind of advertising.
Creative Lounge: the big idea in digital
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
We were invited by the VEA (association of Dutch advertisers) to attend the second edition of Creative Lounge on Monday in Pakhuis de Zwijger. The night was hosted by Jelani Isaacs (Brenninkmeijer and Isaacs) and Claire Finn (U-Turn). Guests of the evening were Matthew Atkatz (Riot, digital arm 180), Romke Oortwijn (N=5), Raphael Mazoyer (Asics) and – Skyping in from London – Florian Schmitt (Hi-Res). And this night’s topic was the controversy between digital agencies and non-digital agencies; is digital part of the idea or is digital the idea itself? A promising question, though it did take a while before the discussion stopped to bounce all over the place. We do understand why it did though; there’s no unambiguous answer to the question what the exact role of digital is in advertising. Some big ideas can only exist thanks to the technology behind it, while some ideas merely use existing digital tools to execute it. (more…)
Asics: Technology that frees your mind
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010“Wow….[silence]”. That is what this commercial for Asics, made by Amsterdam Worldwide, did with us. It is directed by Mischa Rozema (Post Panic), a Dutch director specialized in high quality productions that create a magical world. With this ad Asics clearly positions itself as the technical running shoe – away from the other sports brands that mainly talk about the person inside the shoe. And on top of that it reconfirms the meaning of the brand; a sound mind, in a sound body. Other than that is doesn’t need much explanation. And to us that is always a good sign…
Dutch carnival hit is viral for Bavaria
Monday, February 22nd, 2010
This is a screenshot from a carnival hit conceived by Kumpany for Bavaria. Maybe not many people know this, but carnival is quite big in the Netherlands. That is, if you live ‘below the rivers’ (read: in the south). Every year in January/February some odd carnival hits seep through to the North. This year there was this hit called ‘Zachte G, Harde L’. Translated ‘Soft G’ – referring to the accent in the south – and ‘Hard L’ – referring to the male reproduction organ. The hit already has 1.5 million hits on YouTube, which – for Dutch standards – is quite impressive. What’s more, the song was played intensively on 538. And Jos van Oss, the singer, performed the song throughout the Netherlands in local bars and clubs. Only after the song became a hit, Jos van Oss revealed (on SBS Show News) it was a viral for Bavaria. In the YouTube video Jos only subtly holds a can of Bavaria in his hand. In hindsight it’s clear that the video is advertising for Bavaria – Jos for instance pees against the Heineken brewery. For some it will only generate big question marks, but if you understand Dutch culture, it is a hit – both literally and figuratively.
‘Tansu’ sneaker for Onitsuka Tiger
Thursday, February 11th, 2010Here’s a teaser for the new Onitsuka Tiger campaign made by Amsterdam Worldwide (AW). What a cool brand to work for. First of all Onitsuka always seems to give its agency carte blanche with respect to coming up with truly creative stuff. Secondly the brand proposition ‘made of Japan’ allows AW to draw inspiration from the rich Japanese culture. Every year the agency creates a giant sneaker with a special Japanese theme. Last year it was the Zodiac calender. This year the agency created an integrated campaign around the traditionally crafted ‘Tansu’ (a chest with box shaped drawers). It took a team of Tansu masters four months to handicraft the shoe shaped ‘Kaidan’ (step) Tansu, using techniques that date back from the time of the Samurai. Back in the days these chests were used both as a cabinet as well as a hidden ladder that made upstairs lofts look inaccessible – and thus not taxable – to the tax collector. But there’s more; the Onitsuka shoe works like a puzzle; the boxes must be unlocked in a specific sequence to unveil its hidden treasures. For those who cannot admire the real chest – on display in Onitsuka’s flagship stores – AW made an online version that invites the consumer to solve the puzzle. The project is topped off with special instore Tansu-themed materials. Talking about craftmanship…
Long live Average Joe!
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010We are all pretty similar when it comes down to buying an insurance, that’s why this new insurance brand Izio – founded by Delta Lloyd – keeps it simple. On its website it just asks whether you are single, have a partner, a family, etc. And you can choose a bundle accordingly. The different t-shirts show the phrase ‘Long live Average Joe’. Today this is quite an original campaign line in insurance country. Most insurers teach us that we are all individuals. This sounds tempting, but makes choosing a lot harder. Izio wants to keep it simple; ‘click and ready’ is what the tagline tells us. Sounds good. The only thing that struck us, is that we initially thought this commercial was about health care insurances. Through the website we had to find out it’s about liability/travel insurances, etc. Anyway, a sympathetic and distinctive ad, made by Dawn.
‘Dreaming In Mono’ brought to you by…
Monday, January 25th, 2010
Stockholm/New York/Amsterdam based agency Perfect Fools created a whole new, unexpected and daring campaign for McDonald’s in the Nordic countries. The most striking thing about it, is that the campaign doesn’t revolve around bad burgers and salty fries, but around 60 minutes of “satire”. The story, written and directed by Jens Jonsson, was created together with TV production company Happy Fiction and is told over seven episodes on the website Dreaming In Mono. It is also broadcasted on four Nordic TV networks. The story is about a rivalry between two ski legends of which one wants to break a ski record on a monoski – this topic proofs how McDonald’s always thinks global but acts local. The first episode definitely made us curious to see more. Since the only link to McDonald’s is that the fictional characters buy their food there, we can easily imagine that this campaign will change the McDonald’s brand into a more exclusive brand – or at least less mainstream. And if McDonald’s would simultaneously upgrade its food, we can even imagine ourselves eating there! All in all, a beautiful example of branded content.