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They’re a necessary evil, and when done right, are crucial in telling a creative story. But still, case study films have become the stuff of eye-rolling parody and the risk is that the focus is on the stat-packed overview, not the actual creative idea and experience. Here, top agency leaders—and award show jurors—weigh in on how to make the best case.
Co.Create editor Teressa Iezzi is filing updates from The International Festival of Advertising Creativity, aka Cannes, this week. Follow her at fccanneslions.
Here, our picks for the most likely of top prize winners—the industry’s best work from last year and early this year.
CANNES PREDICTIONS: THE 13 ADS BOUND FOR GLORY AT ADLAND’S BIGGEST SHOW
Guess who thought up this portable wooden house that is self-powered and completely off the grid? An advertising agency.
The home is powered mainly by an organic photovoltaic film on the structure and by the Nissan Leaf electric car (acting as a generator), which generates 24 kW per hour. The designers believe that these two power sources combined can provide all the energy the house might need.
“I Either Get Headhunted Or Fired”
A chat with Kash Sree, the most restless creative director in advertising.
Brilliant Solar Ads Say Screw The Environment, It’s About Paying Less
SunRun’s new ad campaign focuses on the financial realities of solar power: In many places it’s really cheap and the company will install your panels for free.
“Our aggregate, quantifiable numbers, as well as knowledge of our brands’s ad spend, show the speed at which brand advertisers are investing into Facebook. Companies that spent $1 million last year are spending $5 million this year. Companies that spent $10 million last year are upping spend to $25 million or more.”
Zynga, a publicly traded company, is trying to prove it spent hundreds of millions of dollars on more than just a blank piece of paper and a few digital crayons. Yesterday, the company’s advertising platform for Draw Something was unveiled for the first time—and, if not handled with some finesse, it’s a great potential example of forced brand interaction.
Advertisers now have the option to purchase drawing terms related to their brands. When a user opens Draw Something, the game gives three options to choose from—say, tennis, pancake, or snowball—which players then doodle for a friend, who in turn has to guess what that user has drawn. Soon, however, users will start to see brands among the fun options typically available—imagine trying to draw Hewlett-Packard or Toyota—which could quickly turn the game into a mobile version of Brand Tags. The NHL is one of the earliest advertisers on the platform, hoping to promote the Stanley Cup playoffs. But not all brands are as player-friendly as the hockey league.
After arriving at an agreed-upon treatment with Nike for its latest commercial, director Casey Neistat literally took the money and ran—filming a trip around the world on Nike’s dime, and presenting the footage as the ad. Here’s why.
“My vision for it was forget about what Nike is, forget about sneakers, forget everything; what does ‘make it count’ mean to me?” Neistat says. “And what it means to me is take a huge chance. Consequences aside, if I could do anything in the world, what would it be? Do I really want to produce another regular advertisement? No. I would take this production budget and go around the world and see all these places I want to see.”
As the mobile ad space evolves, more creative energy is being spent on interactive outdoor advertising. Here, a roundup of the best digital and otherwise interactive outdoor creativity—from facial recognition, augmented reality, and location-aware ads to poop bags. For more photos follow the link…
The 14 Most Arresting Interactive Outdoor Ads: From Vibrating Benches To Geofencing
Skype’s first international advertising campaign drives home the dehumanizing effects of its non-televisual competition, Facebook and Twitter. See more->
To celebrate the return of Mad Men tonight, we look back at the original titans of advertising’s golden age and reflect on the forces that fostered so much creativity.
14 Great Ads By The Real Mad Men. See them all->
New York City’s dirtiest water now conveniently drinkable!
Early this morning, employees of ad agency DDB put cup dispensers next to pipes that are releasing some of the dirtiest water in the city. “We were looking for places where water outlets were pumped out into the streetscape,” explains Matt Eastwood, Chief Creative Officer of DDB NY. Want some delicious water leaking from a subway ceiling? Now you can get a whole cupful.
