:: adgrunite :: Election day

Before I get on with news bits, I just want to remind those who are from the US who stop by here to remember to go vote today.
Ok, enough of that, on with the ad blather!

+ An poster advert in Peterborough, England for a pizza joint is causing complaint. There are claims that the ad is too distracting to drivers-causing them to look at the ad and not at the road. But the funny thing is that the woman in the ad isn't scantily clad or anything. Click on the link to go to the article and see the image.

+ From the Times Online, an article on women stereotypes in business and the workplace. Discusses how to be more empowered. Some good ideas-like FU money savings.

+ Spiced-ham maker Hormel has announced a massive UK advertising campaign attempting to revive the cache of it's name from associations with unsolicited email.

"For the first time ever Hormel will begin advertising on UK television screens next week with a campaign that cost £2m, according to a report on the BBC. The adverts will feature an array of 'typical' British characters - including builders, campers and pantomime performers - all enjoying spam. According to Hormel the UK consumes around £13.3m worth of spam each year.

But in recent years Hormel has become increasingly tetchy about the use of the word 'spam' to describe one of modern society's worst tech-menaces."

Honestly, does anyone confuse Spam-in-a-can with spam emails? I highly doubt that this is really anything for Hormel to worry about.

+ Raising the standard of South African creativity.

Velocity is also throwing in a free trip to Cannes 2006 for the scriptwriter, if the end product actually does bag us a Lion.
But, says Velocity’s executive producer Peter Carr, it’s not really about the Lion.
“Sure, if we actually won a Lion with this competition, that would be the cherry on top, but we’re not after an award. What we really want to achieve with Cannes Do is to raise the standard of creative thought in South Africa generally, and through that, raise the country’s creative profile. When we’re up there, when our profile is high, then the advertising industry thinks about coming here to shoot commercials. It creates employment, it’s good for the economy, and that benefits everyone.”

The competition is open to all South African copywriters, art directors and creative directors. All simple, single-minded script concepts qualify, but entrants should bear in mind that the production budget is set at R350 000. They also need to bear in mind, stresses Carr, that client involvement is paramount – “We don’t want a scam ad, we’re not interested in creativity for the sake of creativity. It must be an ad that flights, that the client is proud of, and that works.”

Deadline for entering scripts is Nov. 15. Definitely an interesting idea. And it's nice to see that they do not want to produce scam ads.

+ Catchy ad tunes. There's a large group of people who surf the net looking to find out about the music in ads. Sites like Adtunes and even Adland (in the forums section) are full of information about the bands/singers and song titles.

In 2002, the group's mellow dance track, "Days Go By," became a hit and won a Grammy for Best Dance Recording after it was featured in a spot for the 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse. In the ad, a young woman with a rubbery spine pops some dance moves with her upper body. But did it help sell cars? Not so much, according to Ian Beavis, Mitsubishi Motors North America's senior vice president for marketing, product planning and public relations.

Beavis, who joined Mitsubishi after the Eclipse ad was produced, said the spot - and others like it - did a great job of creating a feeling within the viewer, but did little to convey anything about the car or any of the deals Mitsubishi was offering.

"I get concerned when the music is the only message," Beavis said. "That's fine if you are MTV. It doesn't work if you are trying to sell a $25,000 car."

What is remarkable is that the spot was able to drive Dirty Vegas' success, even though there was no credit for the band, the song or the album. The concept is referred to as "viral advertising."

"It catches like a cold - it's as easy as that," said Marcia Christ, who worked as a creative director with industry giant Ogilvy & Mather and now teaches advertising theory at Marist College. "One person hears it. The next person sneezes it. And before you know it, that is the next thing everybody is listening to."

So it seems like music in ads may not be as good for the product as it is for the artist(s). Thing is, music is a very powerful piece of the ad equation- especially on TV. It's all about finding the right music that reflects the idea and helps push it further along.

+ Controversial campaign for The Number won the gold award at the effectiveness awards run by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising. The campaign was created by WCRS. "Top prize of the night went to a new advertising agency, Vallance Carruthers Coleman Priest, which beat dozens of more established rivals to the grand prix. VCCP won the award for turning the old BT CellNet mobile phone network into O2, which outperformed its rivals." You can check out the full list of winners here.