Design For Life?
If you’re reading this from a feed you’ll likely not know what this blog looks like?
Or care.
It doesn’t matter, most ‘information’ sites/blogs look and behave in the same way. They all have a sort of template, one that’s built on functionality and enables ease of access. Neither of which actually need much polished (graphic) design. Slick ‘over design’ can act as a barrier; you could argue that online there’s a perception that the less designed the delivery of the information, the more real and trust worthy the material.
Ideas..? Sorry, We’re Fresh Out
Is it just me or are we running out of ideas?
I so rarely see something that has not been done already or isn’t just stolen. I don’t even know if it really matters anymore. Not only are there no original ideas, but there aren’t even that many things that a brand can own or do without being exposed as a desperate try-hard fraudster.
One day (probably soon) we will actually run out of ideas. Someone is going to have to sit down with a client and say, “Sorry, but there are none left. You’re gonna have to go with an endorsement or before/after style thing.”
And you know what, it’s the fucking ATL lot again. They spunked all of our ideas in the 80’s while they were high on cocaine. If only they’d have been more frugal, now we’re left with nothing, just a few experiences and the odd engagement.
Selfish bastards.
Can You Collaborate..?
Most ATL and digital agencies are forced to ‘fuse’ as a result of their reluctance to admit they need each other. Clients want 360 and they are paying, so who the hell are agencies to say no? This ‘collaboration’ is mostly always a bun fight, not dissimilar to that of two children that can’t decide whose Uncle is the toughest. Ironically, on their own, neither idea probably isn’t all that, yet each party insists it’s bit is the best and should lead. The ATL being the brand guardian while digital delivers value etc. Sadly, and more often that not, the victim is the work. In the heat of battle agencies can forget about the people with whom they actually need to be speaking; the punter.
Meanwhile, both parties continually claim to be collaborative, and both are, provided it’s within certain internal parameters that don’t make either look weak in front of their clients. Both saying things like: ‘it will weaken the idea, blah blah…’ Time and time again, neither are willing to meet in the middle and so the output is disparate.
So what if you could actually mix the two? What if somehow, in all of this extreme difficulty and heartache, the misunderstood geek could work with the narrative addict? What if they could sit in a room and actually collaborate? Or, in other words, isn’t it time every one grew up and stopped thinking they are better than the others?
I want it to be different.
I want it to be different because it can be. Because you don’t need to be precious about your ‘killer’ idea and you don’t need to care about the stupid bullshit awards. None of it matters anymore. Nike consistently shows us that it doesn’t matter who owns the idea – if it’s good, it can happen. I’ve lived in both worlds and I know that they can co-exist. Yeah people are scared to make it happen, because loads of idiots would be out of a job, but it can be that much better. The work can be that much stronger; it just takes a few good people top be brave.
The reality is that no one is going to win this ‘fight’, because there is no one single prize. The big shops can, and probably will, out-gun the specialists and will consume most of them. No matter what you think, clients are still not ready for the digital agency to become the brand guardian, no matter how many say they are, they are not. Some tech companies maybe, but that’s not everyone is it? Those that are not consumed by the networks will build a different model around technology and selling - but even they will still need to advertise those products and services. And yes, experience is the brand, providing your brand can offer a unique experience - and that won’t always work without a little helping hand.
The funny thing is that while the whole industry is banging on about who will prevail, this is already happening, a whole load of people, like me, just want to get on and do it. And we will.
Binatone Murdered My Ad Man
I have been thinking about how I am always fairly down on traditional ads and the agencies that make them. Ironically, when I left college, I aspired to work in an advertising agency. I actually wanted to be a fancy pants film director, but making TV, posters and press (with actual cameras), was sort of about as close as I could realistically get to that.
Anyway, it was never my aim to ‘go digital’ (digital didn’t even exist back then), that just sort of happened, my interest in electronics led me there. From an early age I’ve been into games and gadgets and thankfully that’s had a positive effect on my career. As a result of my ‘geek streak’, I have slipped into pixel-based advertising – and now I have a job in a flourishing and rewarding industry. A lot of geeks will try and tell you that digital isn’t really advertising, but it is, it’s just on a device rather than on the telly
So, while it’s piss easy to bang on about how shit TV ads and ATL agencies are (particularly if you’re a smug ‘new media’ twat), the reality is that I, like many other smug ‘new media’ twats, wanted to, and did, make TV ads. And if it wasn’t for the fact that my Dad bought me a Binatone, I may well have been still doing just that.
Yarisham
I was watching TV (Predator) last night and I caught some adverts. They were all pretty much as you’d imagine, although one stood out for me as being particularly shit. The gist of this ad was roughly as follows: a ‘comical’ revenge sequence followed by a person ‘mistreating’ a crappy little car (obviously the reason for the ‘comical’ revenge sequence), i.e. You’ll love this car so much, you’ll hate people (no matter how close) mistreating it.
Firstly, I’ve seen this contrived ad (idea?) before, not this year, or three years ago, but like 10 years ago. I don’t recall the brand (it was shit then too), but I’ve definitely seen this (idea?) before, probably more than once. I have, of course, also seen this formula before, millions and millions of times. 30 seconds of some labored narrative that’s basically a problem and solution scenario resolved by an endline that smugly explains the point of what I’ve just watched.
Secondly, and more importantly, how can that possibly be worth my attention any longer?
Talking Andriod
Google’s Dan Morrill talks a bit about Android here…
Bricabox
BricaBox claims to have taken the best of blogs and social networks, added some amazing new tools and built a platform for you to create your own version of your favorite social content website.
What that means is that anyone can now make their own niche You Tube, Digg or Flickr etc. It’s what Ning are doing with their ‘homemade’ social networks site, but for content sharing. As well as being interesting sites, BricaBox and Ning are part of a movement that offers a clear insight into the next phase of social networking and content aggregation.
Obviously what these new platforms provide, over and above the Facebook and Flickr gang, is a less proprietary, more specialised experience. Social networking/content will undoubtedly remain popular, but, as we’ve seen before, platforms can and will fall from favour. As exposure to social technology increases and people become more familiar and build more robust online identities, so the expectation of the platforms undoubtedly increases. You don’t need to look any further than iGoogle and the new BBC homepage for evidence of this shift. And it’s long been clear that Facebook apps are so popular because they enable this level of personalisation/customisation.
All of this will inevitably lead to the masses becoming more and more interested in building their own online worlds, this time centred around their own needs and gangs.
Blogs Kill Brands…
WellCheapLongDistanceCalls
For those not yet familiar with Internet calling.
More Excellent Lynch Action
Daily weather reports (amongst other stuff) here.
Plus, some more commentary, this time on product placement. I just love the way he’s so calm and listens so intently before letting rip and then smiling. Wonderful.
And for those that missed, or just want to re-watch the previous installment.
CruiseMadness
A lot of people didn’t get a chance to watch this Tom Cruise video before the Scientologists removed it from YouTube. Here it is.
Fucking mentalist.
The Internet Isn’t Digital
I have been having this discussion a lot recently. Surprisingly (or perhaps not), it seems a fairly hard one to explain to a non – digital person. They mostly just look at you blankly and smile, as you say:
The internet is only a little bit of what digital is, the same way as it’s only a little bit of what a computer or mobile can do.
Advertising lumps the two together and of course views digital as merely an extension to the ATL, based on an experience on the pipe. Of course, there will inevitably be an interface, but that doesn’t always have to just be a website, right? Even when clients talk about ‘leading with digital’, agencies still can’t get past the idea of a singular website/banner based experience. Banners, and a lot of sites, although digital in their execution, are clearly not digital in their thinking. Many are still a traditional agencies answer to digital, which is miles from the way people should think about and look at this stuff.
I guess my point is this; digital is a platform and web is an execution of that platform. Digital and web are different, and today, I wish I worked in a world where everyone got that.
Stupid Ads For Stupid People
It occurred to me that I have several industry-based thought strands running through my head and I have blog - so perhaps I should marry the two (smart eh?). This is my first attempt to do just that.
There is little formula, just an idea and a subsequent ramble. I suppose I should create a new category too, perhaps I’ll call it ideas or thoughts or something even cleverer.
Regular readers please note there are no pictures, so you might want to skip to the post below.
