This trailer promotes the March issue of Boards Magazine dedicated to Innovation. The Canadian magazine on international commercial production asked Theo Watson and Emily Gobeille of Nexus Productions to develop an interactive cover to articulate this month’s theme. The result is Rise and Fall; an augmented reality (AR) webcam experience. By holding the magazine cover up and down in front of your webcam, a story unfolds that rises with the birds or falls down into the ocean with the fishes respectively, accompanied by little cryptic text cues. Amsterdam based MOST was responsible for the sound effects – that clearly contribute to the arty interactive experience. The technique of using the webcam for AR advertising is becoming more and more popular. Recently we saw an impressive AR Adidas Originals sneaker ad, made by Sid Lee Montreal/Amsterdam – here’s the teaser. For those of you that don’t have this month’s Boards issue, here’s a demonstration by Theo Watson himself. And if you want to see a live demonstration, and a peak behind the scenes, you should visit the upcoming Boards Summit Europe in the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam on March 24.
We were invited by the VEA (Association of Ad Agencies) 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…
Holland won 18 Epica awards – four times gold – last week in Belgrade. It ended fifth after Germany, France, Sweden and the UK. Our favourite gold went to Kit Kat Jesus. Kit Kat pretended as if Jesus had been spotted in a Kit Kat bar and this news spread as quick as only internet can spread news. We didn’t just like it because we are atheists (or at least agnostic), but more so because we love simple (but great) ideas that generate tons of free publicity. We found it a little odd that this was in the category ‘technique’, but apparently their was no better category available – the category ‘big idea’ would have been more to the point. It was done by UbachsWisbrun/JWT. Heineken’s Walk-in fridge also won gold in ‘film’ – it was submitted by TBWA’s production company CZAR. 180 won gold for Adidas with ‘Every team needs the spark’. And Grey won gold in print for Pink Ribbon.
This ad was made by 180 Amsterdam – and photographed by Carlos Serrao – to advertise Adidas Climacool. There’s not very much to say about it – pretty much on brief, we guess. Except maybe that the press release said the shoot was done with “a slightly retro advertising all-in-camera approach”. We don’t really know what that means, but apparently it made them cut off the guy’s trainer.
This web commercial, with Veronica Campell-Brown, was made by RIOT – the digital arm of 180 Amsterdam. The campaign is called Super 7 – after the invincible cartoon heroes – and made for Adidas Running. It features 7 different track and field athletes and their individual ‘super human’ qualities and personalities. The athletes are Tyson Gay, Jeremy Wariner, Blaka Vlasic, Haile Gebrelassie, Christien Ohuruogu, Allyson Felix, Veronica Campell-Brown. Here’s a film with the complete group. The films are typical for Adidas; showing athletes that look very serious and not so serious at the same time. Adidas wants to tell us that although these 7 athletes have the super hero status, they are human after all. It thus smartly combines aspiration with accessibility. Interesting about this campaign is that it looks very much like a TV commercial (because of the production value), while it’s made for internet only. A few years ago, it would have been considered a waste of (production) money not showing it on TV and thus not gaining maximum exposure. But today advertisers realize that you actually save (literally!) tons of money by excluding TV as a medium. And for some people that must be a worrying thought.
Talking about production value! After shooting a documentary, Adidas and 180 Amsterdam thought it was time for a movie – or at least a trailer! ‘Every team needs the spark’. If you’re interested in football (or ‘soccer’ if you like) you might know that Messi indeed is that spark. A magical player. But if you thought his flashy looking, state of the art football shoes, the F50i (sounds like a new Ferrari or Nikon body), helped him being such a great player, you’re wrong. Legend has it that one night – when Messi was still playing football in the streets of Buenos Aires – something magical happened. And when it happened, there was this bald guy watching him. And, you know what, he was playing with his Zippo (Zippo’s can make sparks). To make it more complicated, the story teller, also bald and with a lovely French accent, Zinédine Zidane, walks in…and then… Well, here we were lost. Anyway, what we did remember after watching this complicated story, is that the new Adidas F50i’s look pretty cool!
Yesterday we were invited to attend the world premiere of the documentary Inside The Black Jersey in the Amsterdam Film Museum. The film - initiated by 180 Amsterdam and produced by U-Turn (the 180 production arm) - is a close and intimate portrait of the national rugby team of New Zealand; the All Blacks. Since the team is sponsored by Adidas and virtually all the equipment (trainers, suits, sweaters, underwear, etc.) worn by the proud Kiwis, shows the Adidas logo, it has turned out as an amazingly smart film. While you’re intently following a fascinating group of ultimate sportsmen, fully in love with their sport and their black jersey, the Adidas brand constantly pops up – quasi subtly. It’s like subliminal advertising; you watch an hour long commercial, without noticing it’s a commercial! The documentary is going to be cut up in 10 minute episodes to be seeded online and used as content for Adidas’ new media platform, adidas.tv. Well done, 180 and Adidas. The future of branded content is here!
Montreal based agency, Sid Lee, last week opened its new Amsterdam office in the creative neighborhood ‘de Pijp’. You could call it a hotshop, but the Canadian agency of the year prefers to call it a ‘gallery-boutique-atelier’. No wonder; besides selling advertising that goes beyond the 30 second spot, the Amsterdam office is also home to a gallery, a café and a shop selling designer products from different parts of Canada. Harm Sas (ex Usual Suspects) is creative director and Niels van de Walle (previously working as digital director at Nike) managing partner. Sid Lee – in Canada known for its fully integrated work – this summer won the global Adidas Originals account. Its first campaign for Originals (‘83 original ways to successfully waste your time’) specifically promoted the clothing line designed together with Diesel.
The international agency Perfect Fools hired Tim O’Kennedy as non-executive director. The Swedish online agency that opened its Amsterdam office only this year, wants O’Kennedy to expand the international business. Last year O’Kennedy unexpectedly left W+K Amsterdam. Another online agency opening an Amsterdam office is London-based de-construct. It will be managed by Neil Bedwell. Bedwell in Adformatie: “Amsterdam is at the moment Europe’s most important creative hub”. The real reason though for de-construct to expand to Amsterdam is the Adidas account, on which it will work together with 180 Amsterdam. Interesting is that both W+K and 180 once started offices in Amsterdam, because of winning respectively the Nike and Adidas account.
