Top 100 Brands list (Nielsen) has just been published by Checkout. A freshly printed copy arrived on my desk this morning. A massive well done to Coca-Cola who have held the number one position for the last five years. A superb achievement and a business we have been extremely proud to partner. And Tayto, rising from number 10 in 2008, to number 5 in 2010. A tremendous achievement too. Well done to DDFHB for boosting Brennan’s position from number 4 to number 3, to Irish International BBDO for their work in moving Avonmore’s position and to QMP Publicis for shooting Cadbury up the league from number 9 to number 6. I know it isn’t marketing alone that helps to boost these positions, but clearly it is a contributing factor.
Above: Coca-Cola ‘Open Happiness’ eBoy campaign by McCann Erickson Dublin. See original post here.
Above: Tayto autobiography of Mr. Tayto ‘The Man Inside the Jacket’ – The book concept was developed by McCann Erickson Dublin. The book has sold over 60,000 copies and was a Christmas number 1. See original post here.
Saturday night’s opening X-Factor saw massive viewership figures, the highest ever - with 730,000 people tuning into the show. This made TV3 the most watched channel for 15-44 year olds in Ireland for that time period. In Universal McCann, we always pride ourselves on the strength of our client’s programme access. The ‘Coca-Cola with Food’ campaign had prime position in the first centre break with ‘first-in-break’ access.
Certainly one of the highlights of the Saturday’s show was Shirlena Johnson with ‘Mercy’. This year’s X-Factor is set to be bigger and better than ever… tune in this Saturday at 19.30 and 20.45 for the Xtra-Factor!
Well what can I say other than our green friends have done it yet again. Myself, Ross and Dave were lucky to be at the latest Heineken Green Spheres gig. It was held in the beautiful town of Kilkenny and was quite simply amazing. From the get-go the town was a buzz with excitement and energy. The venue looked fantastic, it seeped cool out of every pore. It was decked out in such a way with lights and installations that it looked like a VIP party wherever you were standing.
Everyone in the place themselves felt like VIPs with free Heineken being handed out by cool looking army girls. The music was banging. There wasn’t one person standing still in the whole place, everyone was moving to the beats, even when the music stopped due to a blown speaker, the crowd kept going with a chorus of Olé, Olé, Olé.
All in all, it was a night of music, booze, dancing and good times that left us all feeling green (in a very good way!).
I visited the BioRhythm exhibition in the Science Gallery on Saturday. A hugely entertaining and interactive show on how the body and the brain react to music. You can see the graph below of how my body subconsciously reacted to different types of music. Journey was obviously doing it for me!
Have a look at www.sciencegallery.com/biorhythm
If anyone is a golf fanatic, you will have enjoyed watching your favourites at the 3 Irish Open in Killarney over the long weekend. Orlaith and I were lucky enough to join our client in Killarney and we were not going to refuse with the promise of stunning views of Killarney lakes, fantastic weather and seeing the pros in action. We were treated to a fantastic day along with the other 18,000+ visitors and enjoyed a private Q & A session with Paul McGinley, Darren Clarke and Justin Rose - led by none other than Mr. Bill O’Herlihy. I must admit, I was more star struck by Bill than the Pros as my cheesy grin shows! Congratulations to this year’s champion Ross Fisher and thank you to 3 for a superb tournament and day out.
Above: Orlaith and I with Bill O’Herlihy at the 3 Irish Open.
FUSE Interiors are developing a range of lights that make use of recycled Baked Beans and Soup cans. Mouth-wateringly simple. Check them out at fuseinteriors.ie
Here’s the latest spot in our ‘3 your mind’ campaign. In this commercial ‘3 Broadband’ gives a couple the magic ability to open things as they wish. As 3 now offers broadband at an incredibly low price, the world of the internet is now more open than ever before.
The commercial was shot by Arni Thor Jonsson through H2 Films over two long cold nights in Dublin city centre.
Above: Ignoring the cold - Aislinn O’Connor (3 Campaign Manager), Sarah Maher (Account Director), Onagh Carolan (Agency Producer) and Jack Armstrong (H2 Productions).
It was ‘interesting’ to say the least. Every crackpot in the city seems to come out between the hours of midnight and 3am. A great time to have a chat with a total mentalist, if you’re interested in that type of thing…
Above: A ’strang-er’ decides to pay the set a visit at 1am.
There is an argument that the advent of the iPad will make magazines in their traditional format an outdated medium. A visit to Minizine, the new magazine shop which has recently opened at Indigo & Cloth on Dublin’s South William Street, puts paid to that notion. This store within a store celebrates the magazine in all of its weighty and tactile beauty. Stocking a range of titles unavailable anywhere else in Ireland, Garrett Pitcher has put together an unrivalled collection of material for anyone with a passion for photography, art or fashion.
It is a beautifully curated collection of magazines, zines and art books encompassing titles such as Self-Service (a Paris-based fashion and culture biannual), Dossier (a bi-annual arts and culture journal incorporating fashion, photography, creative writing, art, music and culinary pursuits) and Inventory (a curation of ideas in product, craft and culture). I defy anyone who goes in not to lose track of time while browsing through the collection.
Garrett intends to use the space he has created for Minizine for brand collaborations and other collections in the future. It is nice to see someone stepping out of the mainstream and embracing new retail and cultural trends. Dublin needs more choice and inspiration so I hope Minizine will prove to be a success.
Since I was a young child I have always felt a sense of unease in the presence of clowns. This is hardly unique. With their oversized feet and undersized cars they flippantly toy with the rules of proportion, and as an Art Director I find this particularly disturbing. They also waste perfectly good pie. Unforgivable.
Their self appointed leader, a certain R. McDonald Esq., has always freaked me out. Admit it – there’s always been something really Stephen-King-novel-waiting-to-happen about that one. So imagine my delight when the thin mask of sanity finally slipped from his large featured face to reveal the psychotic tendencies beneath.
Check out this Oscar winning proof from directing team H5.
The Chip Shop Awards was set-up to reward spec and unsanctioned ideas. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, and makes fun of D&AD, but it does have proper international judges and there are some serious catagories among the daft ones like ‘Best politically incorrect’. They like to refer to the spec or scam ads as ‘Creativity with no limits’.
I’m sure it will continue to grow at a tremendous rate and become more and more recognised as the other major awards clamp down on unsanctioned work. We were nominated in the ambient category for our idea for Eurosport HD. The idea is to turn a soccer pitch into a giant TV, complete with Eurosport HD logo to dramatize the quality of HD sports footage.
As the ad hasn’t yet been made we’d happily progress it for any TV manufacturer or sports channel that was interested.
This morning everyone in the country has a special place in their heart for Mexico, after their 2-0 defeat over France last night. It seems Karma has caught up with the French in the form of green jerseys, hampering their chances of staying in the world cup. It is an example of how, overnight, consumers can focus on a person, place or theme formally of little importance to them. This is something that clever brands can use to their advantage. Pablo Picante Californian Burrito Bar held a screening of the match in the Sugar Club last night with free entry in for anyone wearing green. The event was a great success, with a superb atmosphere for the match and a full capacity crowd enjoying the event.
The show of support for the Mexican football team re-enforces the brands authentic credentials in all things Mexican as well as benefiting from the good will the whole country feels towards the other boys in green.
A song that jumped out at me from an ad this year is ‘Remember When’ by the lovely Dublin twins ‘Heathers’. The two voices combined complement each other so well. My pick this week is also by identical twins. They are Alejandra and Claudia Deheza of School of Seven Bells. Their voices are strangely compelling. This is a song that took a few listens to get my head around, but when I did I was hooked. If asked to describe the genre I wouldn’t have a clue. The Internet told me shoegaze (whatever that is!). The video is a bit mental but interesting. Hope you enjoy!
If you have ever looked at an ad and wondered ‘how did they do that?’ - then wonder no more. Even the simplest of ads take a lot of hard work, detailed planning and major co-ordination. Everyone behind the scenes are essential and play a vital role in order to get the job done to the highest standards.
Just take our new campaign for Low Low butter, which is currently running on TV and in cinema. Speers Films took on the demanding task of producing the ad, along with the aid of brilliant director David Hartley.
The ad was shot in various locations around Dublin, over two days.
I went along with my own camera to film the ‘making of’ - to show how everything comes together. This partly involved ducking under huge lights, tripping over long cables, trying not to get in the way of the actors and ignoring quizzical looks from the crew. Capturing all those mad and stressful moments right before the director shouts ‘ACTION!’. Technically, it’s the Assistant Director who shouts that - see for yourself!
Top 100 Brands list (Nielsen) has just been published by Checkout. A freshly printed copy arrived on my desk this morning. A massive well done to Coca-Cola who have held the number one position for the last five years. A superb achievement and a business we have been extremely proud to partner. And Tayto, rising from number 10 in 2008, to number 5 in 2010. A tremendous achievement too. Well done to DDFHB for boosting Brennan’s position from number 4 to number 3, to Irish International BBDO for their work in moving Avonmore’s position and to QMP Publicis for shooting Cadbury up the league from number 9 to number 6. I know it isn’t marketing alone that helps to boost these positions, but clearly it is a contributing factor.
