Is the most EPIC of splits the ad of 2013? hmmmmmm

Astronauts get the ladies but... Aliens! only aliens can show you true tenderness in love.

Sex dose not sell everything.. well expect for burgers and anything else she can get her lips around.

I think too much.

Make your world the office. NOW GET OUT OF MY OFFICE!!!

Always prepared whatever the situation!

Now this blog was made to document my build up towards the Tony Cullingham course and to also serve as a possible guide to all you lovely creatives out there looking to get into advertising, but that dose not mean I have not considered other options. Just in case all dose not go to plan, you need to be prepared in this harsh world, and I am!

With some in depth research I have dug up these beauties as possible candidates, organised from 1st to 5th choice behind Tony -

1. Falmouth University - Creative Advertising MA

2. Buckinghamshire New University - MA Advertising

3. Bath Spa University - Advertising Practice MA

4. Southampton Solent University - MA Creative Advertising

5. Edinburgh Napier University - MSc Creative Advertising

Falmouth University my 2nd leading choice is far from London (my city destination), but its status in the advertising community is strong, being mentioned amongst the Tony Cullingham Advertising course in the timeless ad bible that I have just finished 'Hey Whipple Squeeze This', for being one of the best ad courses in the UK if not Europe. Bucks follows as a option that sits next door to London and with strong industry links to match, and then comes Bath with its expensive but classy nature embracing advertising, plus its a nice place to live!

The other two fall behind and are in my eyes plan C! Hopefully I will not go that low in failure, no offence to those programs but I do not see them in the same light as the top 3 in the list due to status/review. Anyhow Tony will sit as my number one choice but a very tough one none the less, I am confident with all these options I have discovered that I will not fall on my quest to become a advertising creative, but saying that I am confident I can get into Tony's team ;)

Also I have planned a target after my studies, being the Bartle Bogle Hegarty - Home Grown, a 3 week or 3 mouth all ranging on how well you do in the agency, and if you tick the boxes a possible full time job will be coming your way! But even if you don't, it would look mighty fine on CV that your first advertising agency you worked at so happened to be one of the best in the world!

So with that I hope what I have drawn out as a plan for me will also support you in any ideas on where to go after studying a full 3 years in undergraduate looking for a career in advertising, anyhow peace out! :)

I need to sort myself out, time and time again...

The Sell! Sell! Blog: Guess The Brand

The Sell! Sell! Blog: Guess The Brand: This is funny, I especially like the two ladies at the end trying to guess who the ad is for.

Just to support my opinion on a past post concerning the new John Lewis advert! Yes what the hell is it advertising, who is the company?? Like I said before its all about the juicily 7 million pound execution. 

The Sell! Sell! Blog: Dave Trott Lecture

The Sell! Sell! Blog: Dave Trott Lecture: Dave Trott breaking it down nice and simple. I think everyone - 'professional' or otherwise - could do with watching this.

IMPACT IMPACT IMPACT, I love the word <3

Screw the bear and the hare, this is John Lewis best christmas ad thus far!

adam&eveDDB latest Christmas commercial for John Lewis lacks depth, and I'll tell you why! 1. its cliche, I mean how many times have people paired a rabbit up with a bear, forest critters celebrating Christmas, yes very original... and 2. there is no twist, nothing really jumped out at me in the commercial, perhaps if the bear ate the rabbit for Christmas dinner then I would be like YEP well done adam&eve, but no nothing grabbed me.

The only thing going for this Christmas commercial is execution and reputation, the idea is weak and I think adam&eveDDB are living off their own hype too much, STAY FOCUSED! and listen to what Eddie Murphy had to say about your commercial, credit goes to one of my favourite blogs 'If This Is a Blog Then What's Christmas?' for sourcing this -

Now lets go back 2011 to what I believe is their BEST work for John Lewis, it all builds up to a sweet twist, watch and enjoy, AGHHHH CHRISTMAS IS COMING XD

I WAS EXPECTING THAT! *yawn*

SATT Syndrome, oh the dreaded SATT Syndrome, the same advert three times, it becomes a curse for a creative without them even knowing it, basically you know your idea is not big enough when it relies on the same execution over and over again but with a slight differ in the visual approach, here is a example I found through one of my favourite blogs 'I Believe in Advertising' -

What is the problem of the SATT Syndrome you might ask? WELL you want to excite your audience, think about it, like watching a movie the best ones have a unexpected twist that makes it soo much more, giving the viewer a treat rather then boring them to death with a obvious ending, OH YES I CAN SEE WHAT IS COMING! but what you want to do is BOOM OHHH YOU DID NOT EXPECT THAT! Not saying that your executions to make a campaign have to all be completely different, but consider this, imagine there triplets all born of the same cloth but different in their ways, each one has its own personality, but there is no hiding that you can clearly notice his brother or sister! Thats the balance you want to gain BUT hey I did say there are no rules, let me repeat that NO RULES to what we do, all I am giving you is advice to avoid boring your audience!

Now I bring this thought up not just to offer you support to your ideas but also to remind me consistently of this terrible disease, for my last campaign part of my challenge of a idea everyday was a mirrored example and I am grateful I noticed it! Its shows I am well aware and not blind to cue myself and produce exciting campaigns, in the ethos of the economist campaign done by the incredible copywriter that is David Abbott! RIP inspiring creative your campaign is still alive and kicking in the hearts of your audience, now thats a example to follow!

Anyway PEACE OUT folks and I hope you take on board what I am saying :)

I just s*** my pants!

Now I am not a big fan of word rhymes, I find them a dead art in advertising, something that was used in the past of poetic nature to describe a product, no NO that time of fairy tale bullshit is gone, we live in a age where truth is the creative pull, however you approach it the truth/benefit of the product is your weapon, not some sing along that has no link what so ever, and this is why I find this Tv spot brilliant, done by agency DRAFTFCD for clients Kmart it gained 3.05 million shares in 2013 making it a very effective viral ad, just watch and listen!

I love it when you cleverly play with the explicit to bring the benefit along, its my favourite approach, for example I am planning to use Hitler to describe Diversity in my poster project in Germany! yes I know I am a mad fuck! but I have a clever way around it like how this Kmart ad played ;) Oh there is another example expect its a parody!

HUMOUR is a powerful weapon in advertising and the main reason my new hobby is writing comedy, because through it I can create copy like the first ad, that can make people laugh pulling them in while giving them information at the same time! Its BEAUTIFUL! Like I expressed in my last post I LOVE STIRRING EMOTION its my bread and butter! With that I finish with a weird but bloody funny Tv spot done by agency Fallon London for clients PETA enjoy ;)

THERE ARE NO RULES IN MY PROFESSION!

Thank You R /AG

The more I research into interactive content, the more I believe it is the future of advertising and even design! I want to be part of that future and I have been in deep research into the digital advertising agency R /AG, spear headed by my new favourite creative Nick Law! who is a pioneer in the art of digital advertising!

So with this study I have uncovered this lovely gem, which I have retouched on illustrator for it to be clear and usable as a guiding diagram to constructing digital/interactive advertising -

Story > Entertainment > Demonstration > PLAY < Enablement < Information < System
AUDIENCE                                      PARTICIPANT                                        USER


My fascination into this new age has made me become more aware of new technology, software , social networks, website errr whatever in this area being released around me! so I regularly update my awareness whenever I can! BUT the question I ask myself over and over again, how can I simplify this all into clear interactive ads in the same essence as the subservient chicken to present to Tony in quick fashion? Well this diagram I spotted in a lecture by Nick Law could be a clear solution in guiding me to those results I beg for! but I must try it out first to find out!

In your spare time please watch this Nick Law lecture, it was a eye opener for me, opened new doors in my thinking! Anyway I want to leave you with this very funny/entertaining app that R/AG produced for clients PESPI?? yes this is the only problem about it, it never flew off the ground with advertising the drink but fuck me did it hit the news! and to me makes a great idea if you can grab the new's eye! and no I am not saying war is a good idea, well harmless war, errr war that dose not involve killing people.. YOU GET THE POINT! PEACE OUT!

1st Vlog Entry: Hello

Mr. Nice Guy

Life is too short to be negative, and as Sir John Hegarty explains being cynic kills creativity, what I learnt through self-discovery is I am tooooo nice, at first I thought it was a curse, losing girls left, right and centre, being friend zoned, letting others tease me, lack of respect, being ripped off, basically letting people walk all over me! but I soon realised being nice leads to a positive state of mind that this world is beautiful no matter how many people moan about it! And I am grateful my parents have gave me this feeling of happiness that never dies, bringing me up the right way! BOOYA! Just talking to friends, even getting a smile or laugh in return, makes me happy, I know getting a hippy vibe BUT I can not lie! We live in a exciting generation where we can talk to people on the other side of the world, where diversity is getting bigger and bigger, and I am over the moon to be a Erasmus student and meet another students around the world, writing this post is giving me a buzz and ideas for a poster project themed you know it 'Diversity'.

Now here comes the question from you wonderful people who read my posts, how dose this link to your self-development as a creative towards advertising? Well like I said at the beginning of this post in reference to Sir John Hegarty, a creative I truly admire who is the co-founder and head of if not the top ad agency in Britain in the past decade 'Bartle Bogle Hegarty', being a cynic kills your creativity, basically looking at the world through a negative point of view! Now this piece of advice hit me, made me feel good about myself because I am always positive about life, being optimistic! not letting this reality kick me down, I just get up dust myself off and carry on!

So to all you moaning on Facebook, whatever social network you are ranting on, just STOP! enjoy this world your in, take a walk, I know I do, with no ear phones in, thats a new thing I have done, I always used to listen to music while I was out or in, but I realised I am cutting myself off from the outside world, in my own little bubble.... I POPPED IT... I am a god dam creative I have to take the world in, how the hell am I suppose to produce new ideas, culture is our fuel, sooo always, observation observation observation!!! UPDATE YOURSELF WITH THE NOW!

I feel its been a while since I posted something, so it was the right time to express myself! And thats the point of this blog when I feel I am improving in my adventure to be part of Tony's Gang, I will preach it on here! So I leave you with this advert done by agency "Fallon London' that fits my happiness for this post, produced for client 'Cadbury' a chocolate factory I live by being a brummy lad! THIS IS MY FULL GLASS OF JOY TO YOU! PEACE OUT AND ENJOY THIS WORLD! IF YOUR DEPRESSED, KILL IT QUICKLY, DO SOMETHING YOU ENJOY!

got milk?

This has to be my favourite slogan, for whenever I think about it... like right now.... it just makes me want to work harder to become a creative in the advertising agency, and create work in a similar ethos such as this piece of magic!

Penned down by what Adweek describes as the best ad agency of the past decade, 'Goodby, Sliverstein & Partners' could not imagine what brilliance could come out of such a boring product as milk for client 'California Milk Processor Board' (Such a boring/serious name) well they did imagine it but you get my point! Its not new or improved, its just milk, BUT it only comes to mind when we run out of it, in a time of need, for milk is a vital for any owner's fridge, thus the slogan was born! I could rumble on more why but their brilliant TV commercials will best answer it!

Since its arrival into the public domain, it has been praised as one of the greatest marketing taglines ever! just soo simple and right that it relates to everyone, well expect people who swell up to daily produce! but still it covers most! And research has shown that this tagline is the most remembered in beverage history, eventually being seen as a piece of culture not advertising, that adds the cherry to the cake for me, and now you see why the thought of this campaign makes me tingle! THANK YOU 'Jeff Goodby' and 'Rich Silverstein', you inspire me!

To finish off this post of inspiration here are some nice print ads and a more up to date version of got milk? with the Rock NOT saving the day to get milk! PEACE OUT

Yes its a dramatic situation when you do not have milk, or how I pronounce it MALK, like these guys! Oki I am out for good now on this post, just watch this last video please! impact folks IMPACT!

DANSCOTT

Many of my friends will tell you I love my name, saying it in pride whenever I introduce myself, 'DANSCOTT' that is how it comes out, for I like to say my first and second name together as one without breaks! My reason is it just sounds right! only two syllables rolling off the end of the tongue, short and simple to remember and that leads me to the point of this post of branding yourself!

One of my ambitions is to turn my name into a global brand! (remember 'It's not how good you are, It's how good you want to be!') and to achieve this I will of course take into account the methodology of advertising & marketing, and one example I believe will really help in this gradual development is Saatchi & Saatchi's global CEO Kevin Roberts marketing concept on Lovemarks, the ideal of a brand being more! and a book I have in my procession which I really need to read! (sorry folks if I repeat myself from past posts) ok here is a short video I have found that clearly explains it from the man himself -

YES! I want my brand, my name to be LOVED! beyond reason! but I bet you ask why? Is it not our job to focus on making client's brands attractive too, through attractive campaigns? Well this is more of a personal goal, then a career one, but I feel if I can make my identity, my name in the ethos of a loveable brand, I could set up a agency like 'Dan Scott & Co', and thus my name will be soo recognisable due to the building up of status, that it would sell without me jumping out of nowhere with a magic pitch! BUT also I want to be famous, yes its true, I dream of stardom, and this idea of turning my name into a brand originates from this feeling, but its only half the job done, for you need yourself to support the brand's personality, again that results back to breaking down mental barriers and being yourself, unembarrassed of who you are thus act like!

Going further I came across this point of view from a book again I highly recommend 'It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want To Be.'. On page 18-19 author Paul Arden talks about wanting to be as famous as a brand, and uses Victoria Beckham's ambition of wanting to be in the same stance as a world brand like Persil Automatic. It's this highly original imagination that got her where she is today, so from that evidence I take this as a feather in my cap to achieve!

In the end my aim to be a global brand adds to my personal development of having the confidence to do work for the BIG clients and gives me a highly original identity/imagination to work from and attract potential clients, employers and employees when I plan to build my own business, if anything it adds flavour to have a real character in the agency and I want to be that man! So I end this post with a little piece of street art I did in a workshop during my trip to Berlin, very interesting and culturally deep city, defiantly worth a visit, a least a week to fit everything in! but yeah I was taught that the essence of Graffiti is simply writing your name, a tag as most describe it, to basically spread your name and be famous, a ego point of view, so thats what I did! PEACE OUT!

Lets Lose Weight!

We live in a over communicated age, where we are force fed information left, right and centre, and as noted in the book 'Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind' the human mind can only take up to 7 units of information a day!

This is why modern advertising screams out simplicity, for with this ideal it would not have the power to sell and thus blend into the average dull bullshit you see everyday, and so its a consistent battle in the mind of the consumer to stand out with a clear single benefit, that would make them remember thus care about the purpose of the product/service and eventually buy it!

So the simple ideal of a single benefit is the 1st stage, then comes the element of idea generation followed with simplistic construction, and the key aspect of this methodologically that stands out to me and is the core aspect of interest in this post is the art of 'Reductionism'.

What is 'Reductionism' you say? Well as described clearly on page 77 of a good book on the basics of the advertising titled 'The Advertising Concept Book' Pete the author explains that its the practice of reducing the elements of a ad as far as possible, but to the point where the communication still works. The maximum number of elements being six (headline, subhead, visual, body copy, tagline and logo), and the chances are you will not need them all, depending on the strategy/idea you have set yourself, speaking generally to the heart of 'Less is More'.

Here is a clear example of it at work on page 83 of 'Hey Whipple, Squeeze This!' -

'Luke Sullivan' takes account on this explaining that if you add to a layout it reduces the importance of all the other elements, and so the opposite if you subtract, it raises the visibility and importance of what's left, thus the effectiveness relying on what is set in the strategy/idea! BUT straight to the point of this post, the reason I highlight this awesome method of development on the back drop of our over communicated society, is that it helps clear the fog and makes things easier to remember for the consumer thus a vital weapon in the battle of the mind. So by reducing what is not needed you are adding strength or as I like to put it selling power into the single benefit you have set, making it jump out more thus being far more memorable! but remember you have to find a perfect balance for your idea/strategy to shine without losing the message!

Therefore before I go to Berlin for couple of days I would like to leave you with this cool example that fits perfectly with what I have been saying throughout this post, I found it on one of my sources of inspiration 'Adweek' which as the article puts it 'a pretty expensive way to say (almost) nothing' covering two consecutive pages in The New York Times -

But hey just imagine how much information you get in a newspaper, and then suddenly BOOM! this appears, defiantly would catch your attention wouldn't it! So anyway its late I need to sleep ready for tomorrow's very early/long ass coach journey, so if you want further information on this example here is the link to the article on Adweek (CLICK FOR MORE INFOOO) ok PEACE OUT!

Finally I admit Failure.

When I found myself with my head stuffed in the toilet coughing my guts out after a crazy night of drinks and partying, hearing the echoes of my flat mates laughing (I would not be surprised if they still have that photo of me being sick), I had a reality check! I could not go on like this, I felt shitty and weak, and that it would eventually destroy my career aims... so that night on I would not admit defeat, even any words closely related to it would be banned from my tongue, I was a new man! For now on I would fight and never give up!

Now you ask when and how do you link this to the core subject that is advertising, well this afternoon I read a interesting paragraph on page 116-117 of the 'Hey Whipple, Squeeze This!' a vital MUST read if you plan to build yourself up for Tony! The section was sub-titled 'Go into it knowing-knowing-there's a chance you could fail.' Luke the author talks about 'Dan Wieden' the co-founder of my dream agency to work for 'Widen + Kennedy' who strongly peaches the ideal that failure is nothing to be ashamed of! If anything you should embrace it, it shows your willing to take big risks into the unknown! and that folks is the key to enhancing your creativity! Fail GLORIOUSLY if you will!

And to show this devolution in this belief and a big reminder, 'Widen + Kennedy' created this huge work of art at their head office, made entirely out of 100,000 pushpins, spelling out in this script typography 'FAIL HARDER' -

 

As Wieden put it he believes that creative people don't develop unless they're willing to fail and fail anddd fail.. wait lets say this one more time but with more conviction FAIL again! If your ideas don't fall down once and a while, your not trying hard enough! Face it embrace it, so going back to the first paragraph of this post, from reading this view my sudden change of attitude dose not mean I should avoid failure but love it and raise my head high seeing it as a progressive stage of my career into advertising, that I am willing to take BIG risks whatever the cost, because I am dangerous I am creative, I MUST Chuck Norris kick this mental boundary down of being a pussy, if I have any hope in competing with the big boys in this profession!

In conclusion I must master how to in the process of failing fast and failing cheap while moving towards success, what is also known as 'getting good at failure' I AM NOT SCARED! and to drive this home here is a video clip I found on youtube of 'David Kennedy' the other co-founder forming the partnership, explaining this ideal with a piece of their advertising at the end to seal the deal! (fuck it I hate word rhymes -__-)  ENJOY! PEACE OUT!

As Simple as a Command

Through reviewing the post on 'How to get a Watford place' in one of my sources of inspiration 'The Bits In Between' blog, Tom a student who turned down the opportunity to study there describes the course leader Tony as someone who dose not admire digital, in my opinion sounding quiet traditional in his views. He goes on to highlight the complex nature of it, but dose say that if you plan to advance digitally in the art of advertising, be SIMPLE, which in this career is gossip!

This lead on to him referring to the 'Subservient Chicken' campaign as a perfect example of simplicity in digital -

This piece of landmark advertising pushed the way forward for what I believe will be vital part of this art form in the future, being viral marketing! Something as simple but fun as the 'Subservient Chicken' that can be shared right through existing social networks, spreads much faster to me then the traditional print campaign on the high street, but anyway going back to the focus point of this post, is the simplicity of this digital campaign for clients 'Burger King' to promote their tender crisp chicken burger, produced by ad agency 'Crispin Porter + Bogusky'.

Just the simple command and the chicken will perform what you typed in BANG its that easy! Its this sort of simplicity I believe will make your digital campaign pleasing for Tony in the interview, and so get you by with a piece of technological thinking in your student book, BUT be warned this idea has already done some mileage, here is another similar example with a different twist for clients 'Tipp-Ex' done by ad agency 'BUZZMAN', have fun! -

Again as you can clearly notice you can command the situation through simple typed in request like the 'Subservient Chicken', being the messed/crazy soul I was, I put in have sex with the bear, and guess what... it happened! Soooo I am not alone with this maddness, most advertising creatives think this way, so do not be constricted or embarrassed in your head to do outrageous things, again back to breaking down mental barriers!

In conclusion this idea of simple type in commands has in my eyes been over done, and thus it would be unwise to do again in a different twist, as you will only be compared under the shadow of these two examples, but thats not to say this use of simplicity is not effective, it makes the consumer feel part of the experience and in control! and that folks is in my opinion the future of advertising! which makes me think now I MUST read 'Lovemarks' a book I have been meaning to get around to! But yeah these campaigns are a must to research into if you plan to do some digital towards getting onto the 'Tony Cullingham' course, for their simple touch just shines, I know I plan to!

Anyway PEACE OUT XD and yes I know I over did it with the typing but fuck it I am just too excited with this blog!

The Beginning of the Beginning.

Hello and welcome to my new blog and hopefully the first post of many to come on my journey to get onto the Tony Cullingham course of creative advertising, to me the holy grail and gateway into the big creative agencies that occupy our world with their creative talent that is seen by millions everyday, and this exposure attracts me, but that is only one reason of many that pulls me into the art of advertising!

Through self-discovery in my studies I am a idea man, with my most prized possession being my little handy red book, I write down every creative thought that comes into my head! which I review later as a possible missing piece of a big jigsaw puzzle I am working on being my career and aim to be a globally recognised creative director, rubbing shoulders with the biggest of clients around the world. You might say this is crazily ambitious, but in the words of Paul Arden -

IT'S NOT HOW GOOD YOU ARE,  IT'S HOW GOOD YOU WANT TO BE.

In your spare time please read his book titled in these words that I follow as gossip, brilliant piece on creative thinking! And that is the strength I am working on 'Creative Thinking' or in the words of Bill Hicks 'Machination', for to succeed in this profession I believe you have to knock down mental barriers, and when you do, everything will seem so easy, like your Megamind coming up with clever solutions! well not always resulting in failure BUT remember it only takes one massive idea to make the world stand up and play to your tune.. screw money...  ideas make the world go round!

And that folks is the main reason I am in the game of advertising, many say its evil, making you want rather then need, but can you imagine a world without it, where the lack of demand will result in the increase of cost to produce thus more money coming out your wallet for a daily shop at the supermarket, and all those favourite brands of yours being out of reach! Advertising balances this making a increase of demand thus bigger orders to produce equaling less pay, like going to a printer and getting it cheaper in batch then one sheet! But enough with me trying to defend it, being a subjective art form its down to your opinion!

So I hope you follow my blog of personal progress towards my aim of being part of Tony's crew, specially if your creative like me, might get some interesting thoughts, so I finish with this video which always cracks me up, not just because I love Bill Hick's dark humour but the way he describes advertising & marketing in general!

P.S. By looking through my very complicated first post, I have concluded to challenge myself in reducing the amount of words I say, specially against this novel, for Less is More! Ok Dan shut up! bye bye!