Creative Wednesdays

Yesterday night we met up with a couple of other creatives working in Brussels. In fact this is becoming quite a regular Wednesday night feature. Unfortunately we forgot to take some photos so I will have to post some next week.

So if any one is around Wednesday nights we meet at ‘The Monk’ (42 sint-katelijnestraat / rue Sainte-Cathrine) at 8pm, this is not only an invite to creatives we would love to see accounts, planners etc…

In fact a few planners in the UK have been having coffee mornings for a while, check out Russell Davis blog, be inspired.

Product Combinations

We have just got back from spending a few days in London catching up with friends, as our office was closed on Monday.

Whilst in a Tesco store we noticed that they had hung columns of Nurofen and Anadin along the wine aisle. Do people really buy alcohol expecting a hangover? Can you suggest any other product combos?

Cheap media

By now I am sure most of you will have seen or heard about the innovation success story from Unilever who used the capabilities of the web 2.0 to launch a global advertising campaign for their beauty product 'Dove Evolution'.

The advert was developed by Ogilvy & Mather, Toronto and posted on you tube. The video spread rapidly via emails, blogs, TV talk shows etc. We recently learned that the advertisement has hit 1.7 million views in less than a month on YouTube alone.

It is incredible that a brand can create such a buzz without having to spend a SINGLE cent on media.

Tokyo underground

Earlier this year we included new media idea in our book, which we thought was quite unique. We suggested lining the underground metro tunnels with animation frames, hence creating a stop frame video in the train window.

We recently found out that this media exists. An alternative media company Metro Vista has successfully produced the technology in Japan.

Check out point 10 in article 'Top 10 ad-tricks in Tokyo’s train stations’ from the awesome online magazine PingMag, they even have a link to a demo video of the process.

Inspiration – where do you get it?

Here is a video where Nike designer Tinker Hatfield talks about how he took inspiration from the Pompidou centre in Paris when creating the ‘Air Max’ series.

New agency

We have now completed our first week at a new agency.

We thoroughly enjoyed our last two months with Leo Burnett and it was a valuable learning experience for us. We could not have asked for a better welcome into the industry.

We had just got used to an open plan office at our previous agencies, we now have a little office on the top floor of the agency. This has taken a little getting used to. It is weird not seeing what everyone else in the office is up to.

Amsterdam

Apologies for being so slow with our blog this past week. We promised excitement but failed to provide. We have been really busy this past week. Here comes more blogging.

It was a holiday here today; therefore we went on a day trip to visit some agencies in Amsterdam.

We managed to see a couple of agencies both of which were incredibly receptive and gave us their undivided attention, which we are greatly thankful for. It was refreshing to visit places with such a vibrant creative atmosphere.

We didn’t get to see a lot of Amsterdam, spent a lot of the day walking, going in and out of agencies and sheltering from inconsistent rain.

Amsterdam seems like a great place so we will be back to give it a proper run through.

Here is an awesome city guide we came across online.

Super future

Urban retail

We came across an interesting article in the FT this weekend by Tyler Brule about the problems facing retail in central London. The author reports on how he would improve the retail experience of the UK capital.

On a book review we once were told (in relation to a car campaign) that it doesn’t matter how appealing your ads are if when you get to the show room you are still confronted with a sterile space, along with some slick dealer.

The crit got us thinking about the importance of a strong point of sale. Should brands not work more along side developers, landowners and retailers in improving the urban retail landscape. Should advertisers not be working along side architects / designers to reinvent the shop floor.

We cant see any reason why today urban shopping should be so tedious, with the amount of talent available why so much grime in major retail areas?

Clip art animation

This is an interesting use of clipart in animation. Something nice to look at if you have a couple of minutes free. It was created by Oliver Laric.

A month in Brussels

It has just been over a month since we have been here in Brussels. It is an awesome city, in many aspects it is kind of like a mini London, so many places to discover.

Things we are loving:

Café Belga: An awesome bar/cafe below our agency. Great if you want to appear boho. Actually what I love about this bar is the mix from mums on the school run, university students, old couples reading the paper etc… A great place for people watching

http://www.cafebelga.be/

Trams: much better than travelling under ground.

Food: cheap, good and unpretentious but actually very pretentious with out them realising, If you know what I mean.


Things we are not so fond off.

Irish bars: Yes all 100 of them, identical in every way shape and form. Mostly inhabited by stag parties and hen parties, muppets dressed in school uniforms and the occasional 16 year old on a school trip. Quote from one customer to another; ' hey lets go I have 10 euros left for beers and strippers’. Imagine what that must look like.

Slipping on dog poo: twisted my ankle slipping on poo. A frequent Lunch break phenomenon and the tally is rising, I swear this only happens to us.

Losing ideas in translation: completely our own fault but slowly we are improving our French and Flemish should be a breeze by December.

Portfolio

We have now posted our updated ad portfolio on Flickr and animation on You Tube. Click on the links to check it out, Thanks Joao & James.

Could we have our ball back?

Here is an interesting article I came across in the LA weekly about a game of over the fence border volleyball.