There is no doubt about it, the world of advertising and communication is more pressurized than ever before. For both our clients and for their agencies. At our 50+ research in January, those reaching their later years spoke of their relief at getting ‘out of the rat race’ and were glad to be exiting the formal working environment. We did an analysis of our time recently, to see how our agency time is utilized by clients and how we work internally. The words ‘Thinking Smarter. Acting Smarter’ became very potent.
McCann Erickson have a global philosophy in ‘truth well told’ – finding the truth about a brand and telling that truth in an engaging, relevant and creative way. Makes sense. We also say ‘no is not in our vocabulary, unless it needs to be’. I fundamentally both agree and support both philosophies.
But I believe even more in Thinking Smarter and Acting Smarter. Peter Davies, when he ran McCann Erickson Dublin, said “fast, cheap, good, pick two’’. What is the basis for getting to brilliant creative ideas that build business, in a world where everything seems to be needed yesterday.
We must work together with clients to get a brilliant brief. It all starts here. A great brief, that both client and agency agree is an excellent start point for the work.
It must have a clear and measurable objectives.
A brief that is built collaboratively with creative, strategic, media, client and account handling involvement. We must be brave and confident and take ownership to ensure the brief is the very best it can be.
A linear briefing and idea generation process does not work. It must be collaborative from the outset.
Evaluating the work against what the brief is designed to achieve and having powerful rationale and clarity about why it is right.
Monitor very closely how and why it is working. Results are critical.
Always acknowledge and celebrate success.
Think about it. Think Smarter. Act Smarter. And you will definitely win, in one of the most challenging business environments we have ever faced.
Above: Orlaith Blaney with Brian Cowen and speakers at the conference.
We shared initial findings of its PULSE research on insights into the 50+ market last week at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham. There were over 300 attendees at the conference opened by An Taoiseach, Brian Cowen.
A number of international speakers, including David Bloom from Harvard and Dick Stroud from 20plus30, debated and discussed the major business opportunities in targeting this growing demographic. Brian Moore of B&Q presented on the companies age neutral hiring policy and how this has impacted on the success and growth of the B&Q business in Ireland. The amount of declared income amongst 65+ in Ireland is 6.6 billion and was a fact repeated during the day by the attendees. Psychologist, Dr Maureen Gaffney called on the Conference attendees to abandon the term retirement as it evoked a passive existence.
We presented initial findings from our PULSE Research project, ‘Over 50’s – Over the hill, or overjoyed?’ which was carried out by Leo Moore, Strategic Planning Director and Shane Doyle, Strategic Planner. We will be formally presenting these findings on 24th March at the Radisson Hotel, further details here.
Attendees at the conference included Carolyn Odgers, Strategy Director at Chemistry, with Mark Doyle of Eircom, John Boyle of Ulster Bank, Padraig Burns of QMP Publicis, Gerard O’Neill from Amarach and Stephen Vard of Design Agency, Vard Associates and a range of people from the public sector.
The recent 4-part investigation by the BBC called ‘The Virtual Revolution’ which was aired recently, has raised some questions on how the world wide web is changing our society, how we value our friendships and even how our brains process information. Two species of user have emerged based on the length of time they take to process information on web pages, the ‘Foxes’ and the ‘Hedgehogs’.
The ‘Hedgehogs’ are displaying a new way of thinking by association, leaping wildly from one subject to another in the space of a click – So which are you? An online experiment is looking to find out how we are changing, and if it’s for the better. Why not be a part and find out which type of user you are by visiting bbc.co.uk/virtualrevolution
The clip below explains the test and how the younger generation are embracing the web in a way many find devolutionary.
In 2010 it’s good to be over 50. That’s the overwhelming view of this hugely important but largely overlooked consumer market. The Pulse team at McCann Erickson have carried out an in-depth study of the over 50’s exploring their attitudes to a range of subjects including their outlook, social life, experience of technology, financial services, health and family.
Leo Moore will present these insights and their implications for brands at an informal breakfast briefing in the Sky Suite at the Radisson Hotel on Wednesday 24th March from 7.30am - 9.00am. As places are limited, please confirm your acceptance by calling Bairbre Kelly on 01-676 6366 or by email at bairbre.kelly@europe.mccann.com
We attended the Lollipop Day launch in St. Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre today, there was a great atmosphere as Lollipop songs were sang by a local school choir and the Lollipop Wall was signed. RTÉ’s Brian Ormond was there to help get everyone in the mood. You can check it out here:
It looks like the recession is having a significant impact on the press readers of Ireland. The latest readership data (JNRS) for 2009 has been released, and it indicates that there has been a significant increase in readership for the broadsheets, and a reduction for the tabloids. In the daily market The Irish Times and Irish Independent have seen double digit increases in readership, with The Star, The Sun and Evening Herald all suffering losses.
From a Sunday perspective the Sunday Independent has experienced a 10% increase, while the Sunday World has seen a 12% loss. Other big winners from a Sunday perspective are the Sunday Times (+23%) and the Sunday Business Post (+26%).
This readership data contrasts somewhat to the latest circulation (sales) figures for the titles. What this suggests is that due to the prevailing economic conditions the Irish consumer is actually buying less newspapers overall, but each newspaper is attracting more readers as the paper is passed around the home or amongst work colleagues. In addition it appears that we’re becoming more selective with our reading habits, with a greater focus on the affairs of the economy, rather than affairs per se.
This is a great idea for a music video. It’s cheap and will get you countless more fans and industry attention. Take a simple shoot of your band striking various poses and actions, then ask your fans, and whoever else, to replace each frame with a shot of themselves in the same pose, essentially creating a seamless stop frame animation of fans from around the world.
Unfortunately Dutch outfit C-Mon & Kypskia already thought of it, so switch on your web cam, copy the given pose and shoot. 12,161 participants and counting. See if you can spot me on the video: oneframeoffame.com
“The devil’s in the details” has a number of different meanings. But all of them boil down to just one thing - that it’s often the smallest details which make it stand out from the rest. A fact I was really delighted to see with all the entries into our recent McCann Erickson ‘Bake Off’ 2010.
Boy oh boy did they rise to the task, it was like walking into sweet smelling, calorie-laden, good old fashioned ‘Cake Shoppe’. Our Judges Ciara and Stephen from Easy Food magazine had 14 entries to choose from and had a mighty task in hand – but they too rose to the challenge. I certainly would not have fancied being in their shoes, well, maybe the tasting part!
So without further delay, I hereby give you our winner - Shane Doyle and his superb healthy ‘part of your 5-a-day’ Carrot Cake.
Shane was closely followed by Ciara Gallogly, and her first ever baking attempt, ‘Mini Victoria Sponge with homemade strawberry preserve and fresh cream filling’.
Shane’s blow-by-blow account of the baking process for his winning cake.
The runner-up entries.
Special mentions were awarded to Matt, a veteran of the Bake Off’’s, with his Almond & Walnut Valentine Cake, and also to Ray who caused great debate with the judges with his amazing selection of Breads, also beautifully presented I might add. One final prize was awarded to another ‘newbie’ for sheer creativity, Dave’s brilliant ‘Burger & Chips Cake’.
We then took donations from anyone who wanted to sample all the goodies, with €100 raised in aid of The Rape Crisis Centre.
Everyone who took part made a fantastic effort, with many home trial runs before the day, and all were beautifully presented to our judges. Thanks to all who took part and of course to Easy Food Magazine for their fantastic support.
We’re delighted to learn that not only has our eboy Coca-Cola ‘Open Happiness’ campaign been featured in Computer Arts Magazine Issue 132 - ’A Decade of Design’, but the campaign has also been selected for inclusion in their ‘Book of Inspiration’ - a collection of the world’s foremost digital art, design and illustration.
‘The Book of Inspiration’ by Computer Arts.
There is still a high level of interest in the ‘Open Happiness’ campaign and an ongoing fascination with eboy’s illustration around the globe. You can read the Computer Arts interview with eboy here. View our original blog post on the Coca-Cola ‘Open Happiness’ campaign with eboy here, and watch our ‘Making of’ video here.
Office renovations often mean uncomfortable conditions. Walls coming down, dust covering your computer, temporary work spaces and everyone looking for their stapler, that special pen with the pink feather or that fancy radio station mug.
Here in McCann Erickson we’re having an ‘office makeover’. We decided that 3 is our lucky number – so we’re all going to be based on the 3rd floor of Hambleden House from now on. A brand-spanking new reception area will be the first thing you’ll notice if you’re popping in to see us, and we can assure you that our new surroundings will continue to be a place were we meet, think, brainstorm, strategise and most importantly, create.
But we’d just like to ask if will ‘pardon our appearance’ in the meantime, while ensure every part of our image counts, inside and out.
Being the competitive lot we are, last year (after a particularly nice chocolate biscuit cake was brought in by one of the girls), we put out an internal challenge to a ‘McCann Bake- Off’. You mean we challenged people to show off their peacock feathers by baking a cake? You bet we did, and boy did they rise to the bait.
Above: Fanny Cradock and her Jonnie show us how it’s done.
This year we decided to do it again and our friends in Easy Food Magazine heard about it and have kindly offered to sponsor 1st prize and be our impartial judges. So we’ve set a deadline for submissions, Friday 5th February - to be judged over lunchtime. All in the name of a bit of ‘Friday Fun’, and the competitive streaks are already beginning to surface - and that’s just the boys. We’ll try to raffle off entries for charity at the end (more on this later).
But even though its just in time for any Lent promises that people might be making with regard to giving up the goodies, it looks like we might have a lot of calories to get rid of that day. After all boys, you gotta think of your summer bikini’s and as they say ‘A minute on the lips- forever on the hips’.
The rules are simple: Entries must fit into one of these categories: 1. Cake 2. Cookie 3. Pie 4. Bread.
It’s gotta be made by their own fair hand, and entrants must submit their recipes. So, Mr. Kipling – keep an eye on our ‘exceedingly good blog’ for the ’McCann Erickson 2010 Bake Off Winner’.
“General” Larry Plat has become the latest hero of reality television with his insightful analysis of American Urban fashion delivered through the medium of song, to the unexpecting judges of American Idol.
His audition on the show, in which he performed his own original work “Pants on the Ground” has already become a hit on the web with over 5 million views on youtube in the 6 days it has been up. Watch it here:
The bizarre (yet inarguably catchy) rap delivered by the 62 year old is likely to have a greater following than the eventual winner of the competition, with a myriad of tribute versions already uploaded and doing the rounds of youtube. It is just another example of how talent shows are gleefully embracing their own subversion. We love talent shows not for talent but for the lack of it. Millions of us watched as a set of twins with buckets of positivity but literally nothing else in the way of talent represented Ireland on X-Factor. Horror turned into fascination an then into fanatical support as the pair flew in the face of everything a talent competition is meant to stand for, and people loved it.
Larry Plat got his time in front of the judges despite being 34 year over the outside age limit for contestants for the same reason. And it has paid off. Larry’s American Idol experience has been sent all over the web not because he belongs in the competition, but because he belongs nowhere near it. It is important for the brands associated with these shows to remember that they are less about us witnessing the lifelong dreams of pretty girls and boys coming true and more about laughing at pants on the ground.
“General” Larry Plat – Urban poet and fashion critic.
One of the most devastating earthquakes to hit Haiti has wrecked the lives of hundreds of thousands of children and families and aid is now needed urgently to help with aid efforts. If you’ve thought about making a donation, but just haven’t so far, please think hard about what you could really afford to give. This is urgent and important.
Donate now to Unicef on 01 878 3000 or go to www.unicef.ie to make an urgent donation. It will all count.
Click the appeal poster above to view at a larger size.
Check out this nifty little initiative by the team at MediaExpress.ie. Jack Murray and his colleagues are targeting Friday 22nd January as ‘Good News Friday’ and he invites people to write some good news.
According to their press release, “the third week in January is statistically the most depressing of the year. Good News Friday is our way to help people fight the recession head on with some optimism’’.
Attached is this month’s ‘Since You Ask’ page sponsored by McCann Erickson for Marketing Magazine. Each month, Michael Cullen invites a marketer to give their views on the latest ideas within the market. This month, Denis Goodbody of Adept tells Marketing readers what he thinks. Click on the image below to view at a larger size.
There is no doubt about it, the world of advertising and communication is more pressurized than ever before. For both our clients and for their agencies. At our 50+ research in January, those reaching their later years spoke of their relief at getting ‘out of the rat race’ and were glad to be exiting the formal working environment. We did an analysis of our time recently, to see how our agency time is utilized by clients and how we work internally. The words ‘Thinking Smarter. Acting Smarter’ became very potent.
McCann Erickson have a global philosophy in ‘truth well told’ – finding the truth about a brand and telling that truth in an engaging, relevant and creative way. Makes sense. We also say ‘no is not in our vocabulary, unless it needs to be’. I fundamentally both agree and support both philosophies.
