Last week was the week that brought recognition to creative ideas from all around the world. I’m talking about the Cannes Lions 2008. I personally love these awards. They are not only dreamy, but also inspirational and energizing. After seeing different works from all around the world one can not help but feel encouraged to continue creating and developing new ideas, to be a part of the evolving humanity.
Unfortunately I couldn’t watch the whole show. I saw some very interesting moments on youtube and I also browsed the main website for the Cannes Lions (for those of you who are interested, www.canneslions.com ).
I would have to say, however, that one of the most inspirational and influential moments from the festival for me came not from the advertising works themselves, but from a speech made by Nick Moore, the Chief Creative Officer for Wunderman, NY. He said something very true and current. He explained how advertising is not anymore just “shooting” the message towards a target and leaving it do its job. With the advanced technological world that we live in today and the Internet, people become harder and harder to be amazed and fascinated by just anything. Nick Moore added that advertising should be more about communication than ever. People should get involved in the message in order to be really interested. I completely agree with Moore’s words.
Being on the topic, I would like to turn a particular attention to HBO’s Voyeur ad campaign, which won a Promo Grand Prix for Best Integrated Promotional Campaign and also a Grand Prix on Outdoor: Stunts and Live Advertising. Created by BBDO, NY (they completely deserve winning the “Direct Agency of the Year” award by the way), this campaign completely follows the message about the importance of interaction with people. Basically people can see a building as if the walls were missing and they could follow the stories behind the walls. On every floor, every apartment there’s a different story and they are all connected. This fortifies HBO’s status as the premium storyteller and at the same time people really participate in the communication. Whoever is interested, the Voyeur could also be seen on their website: www.hbovoyeur.com. I have to warn you that it could hook you and make you spend a lot of time following the interesting stories. It is absolutely amazing and genius though.
Coca-cola’s design grand prix was also well-deserved in my opinion. I’m afraid I do not have enough space to describe my feelings and thoughts about all the ad works, but I would like to note that in my opinion this event is getting better and better every year. It is fantastic to see the development of the human creativity. I hope that one day I would be able to go to Cannes and see the greatness of the human mind live myself. By then, I hope that all the people would keep communicating the right messages between each other and be able to work together as one for the positive development of the world. Just like Fallon London’s unity that is translated in their ad for Cadbury which won a Film Grand Prix this year.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
The Beginning
I would like to begin by admitting that I have never done anything like this before. The idea of creating a blog of my thoughts came with my love for writing and art. I have always been interested in everything connected with art. That’s how I fell in love with the fascinating world of advertising! Then I realized that everything around us is art. And that the art of living your life the way that makes YOU happy is the most wonderful ability that anyone can ever achieve to learn.
Part of the key to that ability lies in the art of proper communication. If you think about it, communication has enabled people to develop to the level that we see ourselves today. Ever since people lived in caves, they have been using all sorts of communication tools to explore, create, maintain and develop relationships and improve their living to reach the high-tech level on which we stand today. Unfortunately, good communication among people is not achieved easily. It is the fruit of manners, knowledge, understanding…And when good communication is not established, the results could be fatal: destroyed marriages, suicides and murders, wars…
So what’s the secret to good communication? Why do people talk in different languages? Why don’t they understand each other sometimes? The answer could be as far or as near as we want it to be. But the real question should not concern how to achieve good communication, but how to avoid bad communication. Advertising different messages could lead to different consequences which could sometimes bring undesirable outcomes. And that’s exactly what I would like to explore throughout my studies.
However, every journey has a beginning. I would like to begin mine by sharing one of my favorite commercials of all time. I am talking about Discovery Channel’s message “I love the world.” What makes this commercial special for me is the successful synchronization between all the different people singing one song about the world.
The message is very clear and simple. We can see that when there’s good communication, we can all live happy despite our differences. Because we have something that unites us all: our world! We have been communicating with our world ever since our existence. We have seen it reply to our care by growing green and providing more oxygen for us; we have also seen it reply to our damages caused by pollution (for instance the ozone layer).
The lesson is simple: communicate only the messages that you would like to be communicated back to you. Yes, I know that this sounds similar to the popular rule “do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” Discovery Channel has kept this rule in their message. Loving the world with all its positive and negative characteristics attracts the same feelings on the other side. At the same time Discovery clearly declare their love for all the world and the people. Which automatically generates the same positive reaction on the part of the people watching the commercial. It made me personally love Discovery even more, seeing that they really care. Now that’s good communication! “It kinda makes me wanna break into song…”
Part of the key to that ability lies in the art of proper communication. If you think about it, communication has enabled people to develop to the level that we see ourselves today. Ever since people lived in caves, they have been using all sorts of communication tools to explore, create, maintain and develop relationships and improve their living to reach the high-tech level on which we stand today. Unfortunately, good communication among people is not achieved easily. It is the fruit of manners, knowledge, understanding…And when good communication is not established, the results could be fatal: destroyed marriages, suicides and murders, wars…
So what’s the secret to good communication? Why do people talk in different languages? Why don’t they understand each other sometimes? The answer could be as far or as near as we want it to be. But the real question should not concern how to achieve good communication, but how to avoid bad communication. Advertising different messages could lead to different consequences which could sometimes bring undesirable outcomes. And that’s exactly what I would like to explore throughout my studies.
However, every journey has a beginning. I would like to begin mine by sharing one of my favorite commercials of all time. I am talking about Discovery Channel’s message “I love the world.” What makes this commercial special for me is the successful synchronization between all the different people singing one song about the world.
The message is very clear and simple. We can see that when there’s good communication, we can all live happy despite our differences. Because we have something that unites us all: our world! We have been communicating with our world ever since our existence. We have seen it reply to our care by growing green and providing more oxygen for us; we have also seen it reply to our damages caused by pollution (for instance the ozone layer).
The lesson is simple: communicate only the messages that you would like to be communicated back to you. Yes, I know that this sounds similar to the popular rule “do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” Discovery Channel has kept this rule in their message. Loving the world with all its positive and negative characteristics attracts the same feelings on the other side. At the same time Discovery clearly declare their love for all the world and the people. Which automatically generates the same positive reaction on the part of the people watching the commercial. It made me personally love Discovery even more, seeing that they really care. Now that’s good communication! “It kinda makes me wanna break into song…”
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