Last week we wrote about the new FBTO logo, today we share the insurer’s new advertising, created by Only and Qi. Ilse’s voice over tells us how she enjoyed her vacation in Spain with her 4 best friends; they met cool people, went out every night, did some dangerous stuff, and checked out the scenery. A bummer though: mom and dad were there too [end of paraphrase]. The new logo, the kaleidoscopic animation – created by PostPanic – and the catchy score – created by Audentity – give the brand a very refreshing look and tone. And using the distinctive circle from the logo as a brand element in the commercial is also smartly done. The only thing that gave us a small ‘syntax error’ is the radical plot change at the end. The male voice-over: “If you’re world, just like Ilse’s dad, doesn’t revolve around insurances, you should go to FBTO”. As if the record player jumped a few grooves. And we wonder: are there any dads with teenage daughters that have made a hobby out of insurances?

You have to brace yourself a little for this one. Not just for the length of it, but also because of the dark, post apocalyptic picture it draws – it literally shows how it gets under your skin. We guess it makes sense to ask hybrid production house Post Panic to create the leader for OFFF, the post production festival held in Barcelona this year on June 9, 10, and 11 and themed ‘Year Zero’. The visual orchestra features the names of artists that appeared at the festival. And of course, if there’s one shop that knows how to majestically merge digital, real life, and a general, unsettling, even menacing feeling, it’s Post Panic. Still a huge honour when you’re asked to show off your skills to the most critical audience in this creative domain. The film was written by Post Panic founder Mischa Rozema and British graphic designer Si Scott. It was also directed by Rozema and shot in Prague (the line production was done by Savage). The sound, influencing the suggestive character of the film so strongly, was done by Hecq. We love it, because it’s so beautifully…um…offf!

We already knew that the MINI is quite a sexy car. But this Rocketman, MINI’s ultra modern concept car to be launched at the Geneva Motor Show on March 1st, sounds like sexy 2.0. And when you ask BSUR and production agency PostPanic to create a product film for it, you get sexy 3.0. So that’s what MINI did. The two minute film tells the history of MINI in both 2D and 3D animation – which is PostPanic’s specialty. The car has a super light carbon fibre cross system, which makes a natural link to Sir Alec Issigonis words that the first MINI was designed in 1959 as a fuel efficient car. A salient detail is the Union Jack on the roof made from in-laid LEDs that can light up when switched on. It makes a respectful tribute to MINI’s heritage, as the brand is German nowadays. According to the press release the concept car will go in production “based on the response from the MINI fans”. We don’t really know what that means, but it adds the obligatory social media in the loop. This stunning piece of advertising is the proof that “History may repeat itself, but MINI doesn’t“.

Google AdWords can easily be called the best advertising invention ever – anyone can use it, it’s well targeted, efficient, and cheap. The product is so successful that it gave Google a whooping $24 billion dollar revenue in 2009. This year marks the 10th anniversary of AdWords and that’s why the juggernaut wanted to thank its advertisers (for once) with a personalised message. It asked AKQA San Francisco to help them do it.  AKQA wrote a script and then asked PostPanic’s Mischa Rozema to help them visualise it – earlier they worked together on the McDonald’s ARG ‘The Lost Ring’ in 2008. As you can expect from Rozema and PostPanic, the result is a surreal experience that smoothly combines live action with digital effects. Rozema did a lot of the footage handheld and edited it purposely clunky to give the impression that it was indeed done by the Google research department. The possibility to integrate the brand names of the Google customers in each fail – in this version “postpanic.com” – was technically realised by London based Rehab Studio. What we like about the 4 minute during ad, is the contrast between the corporate, if not robotic, Susan Wojcicki – Senior Vice-President – on the one hand and the somewhat geeky humour on the other. It gives Google a human face. In fact, Wojcicki reading from her autocue “what we need here is a heartfelt thank you”, followed by the employees all over the world saying “THANK YOU”, even reminds us that Google was once an internet start-up.

Last March we wrote about the beautiful idents director Mischa Rozema created with his production agency PostPanic and sound production agency Massive Music for alternative rock channel MTV Rocks. MTV liked them so much that Rozema was asked to make some more. Again the idents (Fly-by, Bugs, and Loop-the-loop) clearly carry Rozema’s signature; imaginary landscapes, surreal characters, and a visually stunning mix of live action and CG. It took PostPanic five months to create them. Which shows once more that the more creative freedom you give your agency, the more energy it will put in your project. Or maybe it’s just a case of: the less you pay, the longer it takes. It doesn’t matter, it’s great work anyway.

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.

“Wow….[silence]”. That is what this commercial for Asics, made by Amsterdam Worldwide, did with us. It is directed by Mischa Rozema (PostPanic), 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…

Since we don’t gamble online (or offline, for that matter), we had never heart of bwin before. Apparently it is the number one player in online ‘gaming’ (as they euphemistically prefer to call it), offering 30,000 bets daily in more than 90 sports, available in 22 different languages. Amsterdam based ‘hybrid studio’ PostPanic, created this digital rollercoaster ride – directed by Mischa Rozema. The film, a beautiful metaphorical tour through bwin’s website, was enriched by the cinematic sounds of MassiveMusic. Though the concept in itself is not super original, the execution is a piece of art. In fact, a very expensive one. It makes you realize how much money is being earned (and lost!) in online gambling.