We're one of Ireland’s leading full service communications agencies. Our philosophy is simply, the Truth Well Told. We believe in finding the truth about a category, a brand or a consumer and amplifying it bravely and creatively.

We love Mexico

Posted on June 18, 2010 by Administrator

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.

Viva la Mexico, and give me a burrito.

Getting optimistic

Posted on May 20, 2010 by Administrator

Something we are sadly lacking in this market is positivity in messaging, especially in categories that have received huge amounts of (justified) public anger, such as financial services.
While the country is digesting the errors that were made, we will have to put our toe back in the water eventually and at that point, hope and optimism – coupled with hard work – is what will be needed. An institution that can champion this hope and optimism and its importance in stimulating the economy would find itself differentiated from its competitors.

We found a great example of this in the US market. South Umpqua State Bank was formed in 1953 in Canyonville, Oregon with six employees. Now the bank employs a store type model and a relatively flat administrative hierarchy, with one central manager. The reason for this is to remove the ”that’s not my department” thinking of employees and allowing all of them the ability to work in all areas of a traditionally specialized banking industry.

What stands out about the company is its open and simple optimism and the fact that it deals with negative economic environment head-on and with hope. We know this kind of optimism would be welcome in the capital of doom and gloom. We love the tone of their communications.

Check out their TV spot on their home page at: www.umpquabank.com

Randy Slecta, LMI inspires ad industry at IAPI event

Posted on May 18, 2010 by Orlaith.Blaney

Randy Slecta spoke this morning at the RDS to IAPI Members. Randy is the President of Leadership Management® International, and is a pioneer in the fields of leadership, management, and professional development. Roisin Joyce is a trainer for Leadership Management International in Ireland. The talk was set up by Tim Griffiths at OMD in conjunction with IAPI, and it was an excellent talk. It was a shame more people didn’t hop out of bed early to be there for the 8.30am kick off. Chemistry, QMP Publicis, Cybercom, Cawley Nea TBWA, Agency.com and Visualise were amongst the companies who showed up. I am sure like me, they are glad they did.

Managing a business in turbulent times is tough and I believe we need all the help and inspiration we can get from experts. Having an inspiring business plan based on a well thought through and articulated strategy, with an engaged team are just some of the building blocks. The best question of the morning was from Clare Herbert at Agency.com – can everyone be a leader? The resounding answer from Randy was yes, we all have leadership potential. We all lead. We lead ourselves, our families, clubs we are members of, teams at work. We all have a part to play in a world where the defining feature of successful businesses is engaged and motivated teams of people, at every level.

Dross’s Smash Hits

Posted on May 18, 2010 by Ross.Hardiman

Ever notice how important music is to ads? A good song can make an ad and in the same way an ad can make a song or a band. Record labels are now concentrating on getting music into ads because of the publicity it brings. We are always looking for the next undiscovered hit that will draw more people’s attention to an ad. Some ads use covers of hits and some use obscure originals either way pick the right song and your ad will be remembered.

Here’s a track I discovered recently and I instantly fell in love with it and her! Alela Diane is a singer songwriter from Nevada City. Surprisingly she is only 27. This track is taken from the album of the same name ‘The Pirates Gospel’. Enjoy.

Small details with big impact

Posted on May 13, 2010 by Administrator

There were some extremely interesting points raised by Rory Sutherland in the area of behavioural economics during this morning’s IAPI seminar. For agencies it was a welcome articulation of the fact that pure logic based solutions to consumer problems do not properly account for the often seemingly illogical nature of people. The context in which people make decisions can create a situation where oblique thinking can have the most effective outcome for businesses.

One of the many points made which I found extremely interesting was in an area that Rory termed disproportionality. By this he meant the fact that relatively small details and initiatives can have a disproportionate effect on a person’s perception of a branded product or experience. A small, relatively low cost detail that is refreshing, different or innovative can be remembered and valued by consumers for much longer than costly, heavy weight activity coming from an obvious angle.

Such details can even out-weight negative associations. I recently ran a half-marathon in Limerick, which although very successful as an event, had some small practical errors based on the fact that it is a brand new event.

The roads were not closed, runners were given cups instead of bottles to drink from (almost impossible while running) and the distance of the 10k event had been miscalculated. However, despite these teething problems in the inaugural event, what many runners were focusing on was the fact that the first names of runners were printed above their displayed race numbers, instantly making the race more personal. This small detail, easily arranged through registration information, was hugely impactful and was focused on more than any practical details. It allowed supporters to urge people on by name and seemed the main topic of discussion after the event. Small details based on the right insight can have a huge impact. The breakfast seminar from IAPI was a really useful and held great insights for agencies.

Recreate your favourite football moments

Posted on May 12, 2010 by karen.conway

Recreate your favourite football moments with our online M&M’s campaign at www.mmsfootballfun.ie – a homepage takeover on YouTube.com launches the campaign today, check it out to join in the fun and win!

Doll Parts

Posted on May 10, 2010 by Nikki.Gregory

Like all super-heroes, I lead two very different lives. During the day I’m a suit, looking after advertising campaigns and meeting client demands. But at night I fight off the evil spread of pop music and skinny-jeaned bands with GHD’d hair, by spreading the music of one of Ireland’s leading up and coming rock bands – LadyDoll. Yes Goddamn it, I’m their manager.

LadyDoll are an all out rock band who Hotpress described as ‘eerily brilliant’. They just won the much sought after Jack Daniel’s JD Set, beating off stiff competition from some of the best bands around. The title gets them recording time in the world famous Grouse Lodge, a CD insert in the next issue of Hotpress, a PR campaign as well as advice from Tim Burgess of The Charlatans. As Ladydoll’s caped crusader, I do everything in my power to get people listening to them, and hopefully one day we’ll rid this city of the evil Mr. Pop music.

LadyDoll will be releasing their second single ‘Good Times’ on the 14th of May, taken from their debut album ‘The Knife Thrower and His Wife’, both of which are available on iTunes.

For tour dates and more go to
www.myspace.com/ladydollband
www.facebook.com/ladydollband

John Lewis denies Italian connection

Posted on May 10, 2010 by Emma.Sharkey

Advertising bloggers have been debating whether the John Lewis ad is actually a rip off of an Italian ad, see link below. To be honest, the John Lewis ad is a far superior commercial and if they hadn’t used the same track, a connection would probably never have been made. Interesting though, what do you think?

Read original article by The Guardian here.

Krakow Artists Book Show

Posted on April 26, 2010 by David.Bowen

I was recently invited to Krakow to take part in an artists book exhibition called “Some books are to be tasted”. There were books from around the world on display. From books that could take pictures to architecture books reconstructed into mini cityscapes. It was a fascinating show with some incredible work – see link below.

My contribution was a book based on ‘the troubles’ in Northern Ireland. ‘Open Book’ is 3,550 blank pages each representing a person who lost their lives in the 35 year conflict. The years are represented by red ribbons and it’s bound in white linen. It was quite poignant to have it shown in a city which has known terrible conflict.

Photo by Galeria Camelot & FIM.

See more on the exhibition here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/camelot_galeria/page3/

3 your mind.

Posted on April 22, 2010 by Shay.Madden

This week sees the launch of our new campaign for 3. We’re very excited about it. As a company, 3 have always had something different about them. From giving away free ‘Skype’ on their mobiles to coming up with innovative products such as ‘Best of Both’. In other words they have always sought out ways to allow their customers do things that were not possible with other networks. Our campaign theme is based on this very thought. In these three introductory commercials we see customers, who have just joined 3, first discover new and unexplained magical powers. To see how each new product will give you a different power… watch this space and… 3 your mind.

McCann share insights on Over 50’s with Marketing Mag readers

Posted on April 20, 2010 by Niamh.Moore

At McCann, we’re still really interested in the ‘Over 50’s’ market and our recent PULSE Research got a strong reaction from our clients and general interest levels are high. I think the €6.6 billion declared income amongst the over 65’s figure has got everyone thinking, particularly if this audience isn’t currently on your radar.

We issued a summary insert in this month’s Marketing Magazine, but if you would like to know more, or missed the insert, contact Shane.Doyle@mccann.com or myself Niamh.Moore@mccann.com and get yourself get a copy.

The bells… the bells…

Posted on April 16, 2010 by Administrator

McCanns had a great night last night at the ICAD awards. We picked up three Bells in total. Congratulations to Jonny Cullan & Rory Hamilton who picked up a Silver in the ambient section for a lovely idea they did last year for Smiles Dental Clinic.

The same duo also picked up a bronze for their brilliant Heineken Cup ‘Field of Dreams’ commercial from 2009.

And congrats too to Ray Swan and Emma Sharkey who picked up a bronze in the special effects section for their powerful CervicalCheck ‘Changes’ commercial.

Paul Dervan signs up 44 marketers in 6 days

Posted on April 14, 2010 by Administrator

This is a nifty little initiative from Paul Dervan – if you are professional and experienced marketer. with a few hours on your hands, you might like to support his efforts.

To find out more, check out this link.

Irish Business in need of Retail Therapy

Posted on April 1, 2010 by Orlaith.Blaney

Well done to RTÉ and Animo on their new Retail Therapy TV programme with Fergal Quinn of both Superquinn and Senator fame. Fergal tells us ‘’Don’t open a shop, unless you like to smile’’ in this latest reality TV programme on Tuesday nights. Fergal also knows very well the critical importance of branding and marketing in business. What we like most is his simple, back to basics marketing approach.

He has taken a no-hope shop in Finglas and given it a new lease of life, a florist in the Liberties, where the shop didn’t even have the name above the door and a newsagent and deli business in Cobh called BMC that had really lost its way. The entry of the German grocery discounters into Cobh made the owner of this shop, Denis Murphy panic so much, he piled his windows with cheap nappies. What he didn’t realise was that the discounters weren’t his competition in the first place.

If you have missed this, three episodes are available to view on another nifty initiative, RTÉ Player. It is the most popular programme on RTÉ this week after Prime Time. I am not a bit surprised.

Here is the link: http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1069281

Ignore over 50’s at your peril

Posted on March 25, 2010 by Orlaith.Blaney

Orlaith and Leo at the podium.

We packed almost 60 people into the Sky Suite at the Radisson Hotel in Golden Lane yesterday morning. We kicked the session off, with free Durex condoms (thank you SSL) for everyone. Not your usual morning conversation, but the over 50’s are a growing consumer market. More singles, separated and divorced around, who are active on the dating scene.

The Irish Times have 49% of their readers in 50+ category. Don’t think that the over 60+ run around looking for ads about how to hang onto their dentures. This lot are optimistic, travelling lots, taking up new hobbies, with busier social diaries than Glenda Gilson and with 6.6 billion in declared income. They have more time and in certain categories, like Health Insurance and Banking, they long for our attention. They are a target audience we just can’t ignore.

Leo Moore, our Strategic Planning Director took us through a 50 minute ride of fascinating insights that really demonstrate the size and scale of the opportunity. 80% of the wealth in the UK is held by 50+ consumers.

Above: Clare Duignan, RTÉ Radio Centre, Geraldine O’Leary, RTÉ.

Anne Connolly, Director, Ageing Well Network, opened the proceedings and said that “Making Ireland the best place in the world to grow old in” is on the government agenda. For more information on the presentation, contact Leo.Moore@mccann.com