Scarlett Johansson for Louis Vuitton

Scarlett Johansson doing for Vuitton what only she can. hot stuff!

Starbucks gaining ground in tea-drinking China

"TIANJIN, China (Reuters) - Once a week, Wu Shafei, 22, and Li Jing, 24, meet at Starbucks (SBUX.O: Quote, Profile, Research) in a busy shopping district here for Frappuccinos and fruit salad -- it's a fashionable place to while away a Saturday afternoon.

"And the price is reasonable," Wu Shafei, a student, said.

At the next table, trade company employees Yu Xiaoli, 24, and Liu Peng, 22, said they, too, come here because they like the environment even though they think the frothy lattes are rather expensive.


These are typical Starbucks customers in China, a tea-drinking nation where a cup of coffee the first thing in the morning is a foreign concept.

The Seattle-based chain, which is ubiquitous in the United States, aims to grow to 40,000 stores around the world, half of which will be abroad."

(Source: Reuters)

TBWA creative department stands at 4 billion

In similar stride with OpenAd.net (whose tagline is the world's biggest creative department), TBWA is now making use of the immense talent outside the walls of its agency by briefing the entire world on certain projects. It's a great development in the advertising business - one that certainly disrupts the way we work in true TBWA fashion.

“TBWA now claims to have a creative department of about 4 billion people.

Major marketers such as Chipotle Mexican Grill and Converse have already turned to consumers to develop ad creative, and Frito-Lay's Doritos even offered a Super Bowl spot to the best consumer-turned-adman. But the London office of TBWA is trying an experiment by going a step further, crowd-sourcing almost all of its clients' needs.

Within the next two weeks, the agency plans to ask its clients, which include Apple Computer, Nissan and Pedigree, for permission to post briefs on the shop's site, encouraging visitors to submit ideas for anything from campaigns to events. Anyone who wants to demonstrate their ideas in person-and get a coffee-will also be able to walk into the lobby of TBWA's London offices and use a computer, art board or other equipment to define their thoughts.

'We're at a point of change for creativity,'' said Steve Henry, executive creative director, TBWA London, who is spearheading the experiment he calls ``the next stage'' of YouTube. ``The old-fashioned model of an agency pumping out an idea'' has been replaced by a new model which involves consumers in `co-creation' or ``multidimensional Ping-Pong or chess,'' he said. ``You've got access to a global creative department of 4 billion people,'' he said.

Lee Clow, chairman-chief creative officer, TBWA/Worldwide, said: ``It's all part of this massaging of this new media world that we live in and sometimes the funky, crude consumer-created content has a charm that's interesting.''

Some agency executives were cautious about prospects. Ed Cotton, director of strategy-consulting firm Influx, part of Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners, Sausalito, Calif., said he was taking a wait-and-see attitude on exactly which briefs would be placed, and how the agency would ``incentivize'' contributors. Mr. Cotton was involved in one of the earliest examples of consumer-generated content with a campaign for Converse that invited consumers to make short-films for the sneaker brand.

The TBWA project's prototype website provided a few words of caution for contributors. ``Any idea you submit becomes the property of TBWA,'' it stated. ``But we promise-any idea we use, you will get paid for.''

(Credit: Alice Z. Cuneo for Advertising Age)

Pass the lamb and mint chips

How's that work? Someone walking through the supermarket (in this case Choitram's) suddenly gets a craving for lamb and mint chips?

Feed your face

It's a tough chore making ice-cream appear unattractive and revolting. This backlit display at the Mercato mall parking lot does the job brilliantly. Kudos to the copywriter and art director. The Oakleys are a nice touch - brings the 'killer cone' to life don't you think?

the dirtier the better

Siemens Appliances UK have launched a website where you can have fun getting a T-Shirt filthy with all sorts of stains - lipstick, grass, oil, wine, baby food etc. (the stuff we always manage to ruin a good shirt with). Each month between Nov and Jan the winning entry gets a state-of-the-art Siemens autostain removal washing machine.

(credit: Adverblog)

Call these guys for you-know-what

They are literally taking things to a new height...

(other puns welcomed)

Kermit's going to need some booze

I'd suggest Diageo get on this and have Kermit buy himself a nice bottle of Smirnoff or something in a follow-up to this strip. Poor fellow. Very funny though.

Gaming and the Middle East conflict

"A game based in the midst of the conflict in the Palestinian territories is set to be the latest release in the trend of politically-conscious gaming. Global Conflict: Palestine centres on the activities of a young journalist.

The player must navigate between different Palestinian and Israeli sources to get to the truth of a story. 'You can take a pro-Palestinian angle, a balanced angle, or a pro-Israeli angle," said Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen, of Serious Games Interactive'"

(credit: BBC)

Was a new baby the reason for Mona Lisa's smile?

"The famous smile on Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa could be because she is pregnant or had just had a baby, research suggests.

Canadian scientists used laser and infrared scans to produce a 3D image of the painting.

This allowed details beneath layers of paint to be seen - including a gauzy dress then associated with pregnant or new mothers."

(credit: BBC)

Chavez endorsement of Chomsky book does wonders

"The United Nations address by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has had an unexpected impact — on the bestseller lists of Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com.

At the start of his talk Wednesday, during which Chavez referred to President Bush as "the devil," Chavez held up a book by Noam Chomsky, "Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance," and recommended it to everyone in the General Assembly, as well as to the American people."

(credit: LA Times)

New Monopoly Edition comes with branded tokens

NY Times: "An updated edition of [Monopoly]will include tokens that are styled after name-brand products. Five of the eight tokens in the new Monopoly Here and Now edition will be branded, offering game players the chance to be represented by miniature versions of a Toyota Prius hybrid car, an order of McDonald’s French fries, a New Balance running shoe, a cup of Starbucks coffee or a Motorola Razr cellphone."

(credit: MIT Advertising Lab)

Nokia Silence Booth

Nokia placed these glass silence booths on site at several music festivals in Europe giving fans a chance to speak and be heard - and also to try some new Nokia phones while they're at it. This goes to show you can sponsor music festivals and actually do something other than your typical branding exercise - Nokia could've just as easily dumped their logo all over the place, instead they created an idea that actually fulfills a genuine need. Great thinking.

(MIT Advertising Lab)

Johnnie Walker in Lebanon after the war

An instant classic!

(For those who don't get it...the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon targetted pretty much every bridge in the country.)

A tribute to Lebanon as it is...and should remain

Visit this Beirut blog

Following the recent ceasefire just a few days ago, Lebanon has begun the painful process of healing - but it does so with its head held high. This blog has some great content. I highly recommend a visit.

Where's the flavour?

Advertising styles:

British = witty; tongue-in-cheek
Indian = colourful; Bollywood inspired
French = seductive; sensual
American = funny; used car salesman
Thai = wacky

Arab world = ???

We're so busy playing catch-up with the rest of the world when it comes to advertising that we've somehow left out a basic ingredient - spice. Advertising from this region imitates other global styles, but has yet to figure out its own unique flavour. As a start, I'd like to suggest cumin - distinctly warm and earthy.

Bed sharing 'drains men's brains'

Finally, a study dedicated to my own personal battle with my wife for a good night's sleep.

Intriguing black raisins in Carrefour

Saudi tourism

"Saudi Arabia seems an unlikely destination for fun in the sun. Yet here was a Saudi prince at a tourism conference in neighboring Dubai, busily trying to sell his country as a vacation spot -- provided visitors don't expect alcohol, women come robed and everyone refrains from eating in public from dawn to dusk during the holy month of Ramadan."

via CNN.com

Because hands are sensitive...

(credit: TBWA Paris via Adsoftheworld.com)

Something so basic as protective gloves and yet here's a series of ads that just grab your attention, put a smile on your face and actually leave you wanting more. How many ads do you know that do all that AND are for a commodity product like protective gloves? Respect.

Intriguing solution to the paradox of choice

After a certain point, too many choices just leads to confusion...and a reduction in sales. The ingenious (?) solution at Burger King is to 'let the King decide' what you should order with a spin of the wheel. While it is kind of funny and interactive in a silly deprecating sort of way it does get me thinking just how convoluted a 'solution' this is to a potentially serious problem. When is too much just too much?

We hear it a lot, that adage of 'less is more'. Stick to what you're good at and don't confuse your patrons. When it comes to burgers, I've got to say that In-N-Out Burger (California, Arizona and Nevada) are probably the best at it. You've got 3 choices of burgers (double-double, cheeseburger and hamburger) that's it. The other thing they promise - everything's fresh. Here's a sample of their menu (almost unchanged since 1948):
You don't need to spin a wheel to guess where I'm headed if I'm ever back in California.

(MIT Advertising Lab, Wikipedia)

VW Accelerates at Cannes

It's been 2 weeks since my last posting, but I have an excuse - I've been on vacation. Today was my first day back at the office and it's been a long one. Browsing through the Cannes winners was the only thing that kept me going.

You can check out all the winners on http://www.canneslions.com/winners_site

I would just like to highlight some of the VW print work that won Gold because...well, because it's V-dub and the work is as brilliant as always.

"Overtakes faster. The Golf R32 with 250 horsepower"

(credit: DDB Dusseldorf)

10 of the best goals of World Cup 2002

World Cup Begins Today! Sorry ladies?

(Credit: Duvalguillaume Antwerp, Belgium)

Contrary to most ads that play to the stereotype of the 'lonely' wife who summarily gets ignored and neglected during World Cup season, I found this ad actually accomplished the opposite. What's more, I think both men and women can have a good laugh at this. No?

Ottawa messes up in Arabic anti-pot ad

"Whatever they’ve been smoking up in Ottawa, Canada, it’s caused them to royally screw up the Arabic version of a billboard encouraging people not to drive under the influence of marijuana. 'The first time, I thought it wasn’t Arabic,' one Arabic speaker tells CBC News. The problem? Both the sentence and the individual words in it are written backwards—left to right, instead of right to left. (You can see the fixed version of the ad here.) 'This is an embarrassment for the city,' a councilman points out. The city says it used a professional translation firm to create the ad, and tested it on a focus group. The error, says a spokesman, occurred during production. Where have we heard that before?"

(corrected version)

Trying to find the messed-up version of the ad - will post it if/when I do.

(credit: adfreak.com)

Horny Goat Weed

They look happy, don't they? A friend of mine (thanks Omar!) spotted this wacky poster at a pharmacy at the Crowne Plaza, Dubai. I had to share it with you. Now you know where to go when you run out.

If anyone's in need of a brand naming consultant, Horny Goat Weed would be it. Jokes aside though, I did do some more research on this thing and apparently there's quite an interesting history to Horny Goat Weed.

"Horny Goat Weed is used in traditional Chinese medicine and is native to China. Hundreds of years ago, a goat herder noticed incessant sexual behaviour in his goats. He observed the goats and noticed whenever they ate certain weeds, the goats promiscuous behaviour became even more noticeable - hence Horny Goat Weed...[it] has been used as an aphrodisiac for hundreds of years and research has also proven its effects in improving sexual desire and performance."

A good ad for a change

(Credit: Partners, Portugal)

This just goes to show that not all Mitsubishi ads are as bad as the one in the previous post.

Who comes up with this stuff?!

I almost got retinal detachment when I saw this ad. Sorry to have to share this with you. Please note the details in the visual (sand on her designer shoes) and read the inspired copy (this line cracked me up "Pajero was not created for adventure. Adventure was created for it"). Who comes up with this stuff?!

Not quite right

(photo taken at Emaar Business Park)

Kinder boy now a man

Here's a story I missed from last year. Still, found it interesting enough to post.

“Guenter Euringer, whose dazzling smile has helped sell millions of boxes of chocolate bars, is now 42 and ready to talk about his secret life as an icon. His autobiography, The Chocolate Child, was launched in Munich on Tuesday. The question he is always asked is how much he earned for the advertisement - and the answer, he says, is just 300 Deutschmarks (150 euros or £100). Curiously, Mr Euringer's face has begun to be replaced on Kinder chocolates in Switzerland in recent weeks”

(credit MIT Laboratory for Branding Cultures , BBC)

Anything else is just pants...

I was flipping through an old magazine at my brother's place the other day and this ad just leapt out. It did one thing right - it's so horrifyingly bad that you can't help but notice it.

Here's the copy:

"HOM is not just anybody. The target is the active man whatever his age.
He’s a winner!
He succeeds and is seductive in both his professional and private life.
HOM overturns and changes habits in underwear, homewear and beachwear
HOM forces respect as a leader and sets the trends for tomorrow’s fashion
At the age of great ambitions, HOM’s dynamism and expertise means that best is yet to come!"

I don't know what's sadder - the ad or this mental image I have of the copywriter adding it to his portfolio blissfully unaware of just how bad it is. I won't even comment on the model's "come hither" look.

What exactly are you trying to tell me?

(Spinneys, Dubai)

This is obviously a store sponsored promotion not approved by the Kraft brand team. Bad news: not sure this is really going to get sales to peak. Good news: the alternative prize the sales force had considered was a session of liposuction - the overwhelming majority, however, felt the treadmill was more "aspirational".

Next month check out the snacks aisle where you've got a chance to win a free cholesterol check with every Butterlicious pack of microwaveable popcorn you buy.

Brand torture

I'd like to propose a new measurement tool to evaluate brand power from a consumer perspective. It has to do with determining the following: How much suffering are you willing to endure in order to get your hands on heavily discounted items of brand X? Take today for instance: Diesel has a massive 80% sale at its warehouse in Al Quoz, Dubai.

Temperature outside: a sizzling 40 degrees.
Temperature inside: a cool 39.5 degrees (this is Celsius btw for our friends in the States).
# of people in queue to get into store at any given time: 100.
Frequency of people getting into store: 5 people every 20 minutes.
# of people in queue at dressing room: 15
Frequency of people getting into dressing room: 1 person every 30 minutes
# of people in queue at cash register: 80 people (starting from ground floor and snaking their way up a spiral staircase onto 2nd floor)
Frequency of people paying and leaving: 1 person every 20 minutes
Temperature halfway down spiral staircase: 45 degrees
Last had a drink of water: 3 hours ago
Last straw: when word got out that the cash register was no longer accepting Visa and only taking cash

Considering all the above, I start to think to myself "would I ever put myself through this for just any brand?" which is when I realize that the Shit U Put Up With is directly correlated to the power of the brand. The SUPUW factor for Diesel in this case is a very high-pitched "bring it on!"

Do your eyes need 'moist'? Her eyes apparently do.

(spotted at Mall of the Emirates, Dubai)

VW Beetle

This is exactly why I don't drive a Beetle - I just take things too seriously. This campaign's just brilliant. I've yet to see a VW print or TV ad that I haven't found to be atypical of automotive industry advertising in general. Their ads always seem to break new ground. If anyone finds a chink in the armour of VW advertising, please send it across. Until then, VW I worship you...take me to your planet!

VW Beetle

VW Beetle

credit: Fallon, Singapore

A Fajita and Tabbouli to go please

(photos taken on Diyafah Road, Dubai)

What have we got here? A Lebanese grill restaurant with a twist as evident in the poster at their entrance. I personally don't know the financial situation of the owners of this place, but I can confidently say if you're after customers this certainly isn't the way to go. Want to make a difference? Then how about getting back to basics, relooking at your brand proposition and actually living up to it. Not a single Lebo restaurant I know here has been able to really capture the vibe of Beirut nor get right the amount of garlic and pickles in a chicken shawarma. With a restaurant named 'Beirut' I'd think that's as good a place to start as any. So spare us the Fajitas for pity's sake. I'll pass by in a month's time and I hope by then that poster's down.

Who says falcons don't like fruit?

I got caught in some serious traffic near the office yesterday. Thankfully, this Capri-Sonne van provided some much needed entertainment as there was nothing good on the radio. Note the two falcons - one perched on the grapes (of course) and the other on the apple stem. Funny juxtaposition isn't it? Brief to creatives: "Show how Capri-Sonne appreciates local culture." Bravo.

Lego adds some colour

Won Eurobest Silver 2005
Credit: Advance, Copenhagen

85% off

We don't just slash off the prices during the Dubai Shopping Festival. The spelling is also 85% off!

(pictures from Rigga Street in Deira)