The Quebec Milk Bureau's "Natural Source of Comfort" campaign took Best of Show in the Media Innovation Awards
1. Did you hear that screeching on Wednesday morning? That was the sound of thousands of ad folk tearing off their faces as they plunged into the acid bath of Fast Company's terrifying and invigorating article, The Future of Advertising, which had just been posted online. Anybody who's been watching the industry pop its rivets from the twin stresses of the Internet and the recession wouldn't be surprised by the article's predictions about the end of mass marketing - and, maybe, the end of agencies. But all is not lost. Sort of. Quoth the CEO of digital agency Profero: "There's never been a better time to be in advertising … and there's never been a worse time."
2. We wonder if Alan Gee, Andrew Simon, and Matthew Stern got an advance copy of the article. Because it was just last week that they announced the shutdown of their agency GJP, and then only seven days later, on Thursday evening, in the middle of fare-thee-well celebrations that included the sale of some company possessions, they announced they were reopening under a new name. "The world has changed in important and significant ways, and agencies just haven't kept pace. We fully embrace this opportunity to do what clients are looking for today," said Mr. Gee, by way of insisting the rebranded agency will be different. Starting with the name: Blammo Worldwide. Which, we agree, is certainly different.
3. Not everything is changing; some forms of traditional advertising still manage to get attention. Take what's know as out-of-home (a.k.a. billboards), which we seem to be reading a lot about lately. A little while ago there was a kerfuffle over a London billboard with a 3-D image of a Wonderbra model, which may or may not have been causing traffic accidents. Now comes word of another billboard in London, this one for Nissan, which used the tagline: " Deutschland, Deutschland, über rated," echoing the old Nazi-era German national anthem. After receiving dozens of complaints about anti-German racism, the Advertising Standards Authority reviewed the ad and said they saw nothing wrong. And then, we figure, they adjourned to watch Hogan's Heroes.
4. Out-of-home is so hot, in fact, that one such campaign took home the Best of Show honour at Thursday night's Media Innovation Awards. The Quebec Milk Bureau's "Natural Source of Comfort" effort, adapted by Touché!PHD from an idea by BBDO Montreal, saw transit shelters outfitted with massive knitted wool tuques, space heaters and sound systems that piped in comforting stories. The campaign helped Quebeckers get through a tough winter. So, given the Fast Company article, we got to wondering if maybe ad people everywhere might not want to throw a wool cap on their offices, pipe in some soothing music, and hunker down for comfort and creativity sessions. Industry, heal thyself.