Treasure Chest of Aesthetics

After a semester of neglect, I am returning to my blog.

I have been accessing my blog continuously now that I am applying for jobs and am a little depressed when I look at it. My blog is pretty out-of-date and does not do a good job of reflecting who I am or my interests.

Light bulb! My New Year’s resolution will be that I write on my blog at least once a day. I normally do not give myself resolutions but I know this is for the betterment of myself. On that note, maybe I should resolve to exercise more… Anyways, blogging about advertising, will help get me in the habit of learning about trends and what is new in the industry. Blogging about my interests will help those of you who stumble across my blog get a feel for who I am.

I am excited about this resolution and know that it will carry many benefits for me as I hunt for a job. 

This agency flies under the radar because they put the attention on their clients, not them. In fact, on their website there is no “about me” section. 

They only say:

“At McGarrah Jesse we’re proud of our clients & the work we do for them.”

They are such a class act. This agency is very selective of who they work with. They meet with the potential clients and get to know them before they make the decision to work with them. They are selective so they can build meaningful relationships with their clients. Once they take on a client, they take over the full branding of that client. Mc-J tends to keep their clients for a very long time, which is rare in this industry.

Some of my favorite clients from McGarrah Jesse are:

Shiner. A client since 2003.

Who could forget their David vs. Goliath take-over at ACL in 2010. Pure genius. Many people waited in anticipation for the following year to see what they would do. And they did not disappoint. They had the Shiner’s Foreign Beer Exchange Program. Leave your foreign beer behind, in the trashcan or the port-o-potty, and replace it with an ice cold shiner.

Another favorite is Whataburger, also a client since 2003.

Their work for this brand showcases their love for typography. (It is also apparent with their work for Shiner) Also, they bring that at-home Texas feel to the work they do. You can’t compete with that, it’s not easy to emulate. 

Some of McGarrah Jessee Accolades:

(an uncommen award in the ad industry) 2011 Merit Award for Preservation given to the McGarrah Jessee Building.

They won a Silver OBIE for their Shiner/ACL “live” billboard.

They have won the Small Agency Award from AdAge.

: an independent San Francisco advertising agency whose intentions are good.

Their philosophy:

“Our intentions are good.”

They have two intentions: 1. Do right by our clients. and 2. Do right by our people.

I love their culture where honesty and respect thrive. That sounds like an oxymoron for the stereotype of advertising. This agency is a gleam of light in the darkness that looms over the advertising industry.

I visited this agency about a year and a half ago and was really inspired by what I experienced. They boast about their asshole detector, which makes sense because they are so down to earth. Also, there were hardly any solid walls. Everything was transparent. The agency itself is very open. They have a blog on their homepage for all of the new and noteworthy things that go on in the agency. 

A statement that stuck out to me on their website was:

We believe Integrity is actually a competitive business advantage.”

Man, oh man. I have been trying to say this for so long. I one-hundred percent believe this to be true. That is why an agency’s culture is so important to me. It is the foundation that great work can be built upon.

Memorable work by VB&P: (It’s so hard to choose! All of their work is awesome.)

Their work for Audi.

Who could forget their spot “Release the Hounds.” This spot is just smart and their strategy is clear. It cleverly embodies their target and portrays a strong message, “Escape the confines of old luxury.”

Their work for Slim Jim is always “spicy.”

Just by these two campaigns you can see how diverse VB&P is. All of their work is impecable, not one style stands out.

Venables Bell & Partners Accolades:

(I found it interesting that they do not boast their accolades on their website.) Humble? I’d like to think so.

After searching the internet, I found that they have pretty extensive list of awards. Also, from visiting the agency, I saw a shelf from floor to ceiling of awards. So I know they have them.

They have won Clios for their work on Barclays.

They have been awarded the ACT Responsible/ACT Dove many times for their work with Montana Meth Project.

Their praises are often sung on Adweek.

: an award-winning global design firm that takes a human-centered, design-based approach to helping organizations in the public and private sectors innovate and grow.

Their approach: Design Thinking.

“Design thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer’s toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success.” —Tim Brown, president and CEO

I am digging this way of thinking. It works with the more conventional problem-solving practices and the more intuitive, emotional practices to create an integrated third way to think. 

It’s best thought of as a system of three overlapping spaces: inspiration, ideation, and implementation. Inspiration is the problem or opportunity that motivates the search for solutions. Ideation is the process of generating, developing, and testing ideas. Implementation is the path that leads from a project stage into people’s lives.

From reading their approach and watching the short video about how the founder, David Kelley, wants us to Stop Talking and Start Making, I can tell this agency does a thorough job with their work. I’m sure many agencies do as well, but I like how IDEO has placed such a huge importance on this that it is woven into their culture.

Work that stuck out to me:

IDEO helped build the Ultimate Utility bike for Oregon Manifest.

The team’s mantra, “You loved bicycling when you were a kid - why stop?”

This stuck out to me because I think the variety of work this agency does is pretty neat. I worked here I would love going to work not knowing exactly what I would be doing that day. I could be on the computer designing packaging or I could be building a bike.

IDEO has thirteen categories under their expertise, ranging from branding to organizational design. This is another well-rounded agency. 

For an example of branding, let’s look at their work with Sealy. IDEO was approached by Sealy to help it design and create a communication language for an entirely new brand of Latex foam beds. IDEO went above and beyond what was expected of them when they found out that the real game-changer for the company and consumers would be to create an umbrella brand that incorporated both the Latex foam and its memory foam.

An example of their organizational design we will look at their work for TSA. They worked with the TSA to help revamp their efforts to make travelers safe, without stressing them out. IDEO was engaged to design a solution that calmed the environment of the checkpoint, thus making potential threats stand out. This approach is a win-win for the organization and consumers. IDEO improved airport security through human-centered design.

IDEOs Accolades:

They were included on Fast Company’s list of the Top 25 Most Innovative Companies.

They were ranked #16 on Fortune’s list of 100 Top MBA employers (where students say they’d most like to work).

They are the winner of more IDEA awards than any other design firm.

Also, they were featured in an episode of ABC’s Nightline for their redesign of the shopping cart over the course of four days.

Their philosopy:

“Creatively Led. Strategically Driven. Technology Friendly. Humanity Obsessed.”

These guys know who they are. In fact, they can encompass their agency in four two-worded sentences. Also, their people are happy. The background shows a glimpse into the work environment there and I wouldn’t mind being a part of that at all.

Their ability to take a client and create a 360 campaign is near unbelievable.

I also appreciated Droga 5’s ability to break the mold of their clients brand and do something completely unexpected. Not just unexpected for the brand, but unexpected for the product category they are working with.

Droga 5 shows a notable range in their work, not only between clients, but also between the work they do with one client. For example, their work for Method. One spot is illustrated and very happy, “let’s work together” kind of way and the other spot is produced with creepy, perverted residue bubbles.

The Great Schlep is probably one of my favorite campaigns out of Droga 5 simply because they took a pretty big obstacle, the Jewish community didn’t like Obama, and found a brilliant way to glide over it. To target a demographic that your actual target will listen to. It sounds like such a simple solution once uncovered, but I can only imagine how long it took them to flush out the idea.

The Great Schlep shows how well this agency understood their target audience. It is one thing to understand your audience, but it is a greater feat to find a way to get them to act. To not only change their behavior, but to change their belief. Simply amazing.

: concept creatives for interactive and innovative marketing.

Their thought:

“You watch TV, you read the magazine but you hang out online. In Digital Media the consumer becomes a user. And that, we think, is where advertising ends to be just advertising. Now the solution can be a real advantage to the people. And through this, it is much easier to create a relationship between a brand and the people. Yeah!”

Well, their homepage is definitely unlike anything I have seen before, yet it reminds me of CP+B. Lo and behold, they both worked there from 2008 -2008.

After further navigating their website, I am not impressed*. The layout of their website just seems unprofessional. I get what they are trying to do, they are about pop-culture and social media so they want to seem cool, like CP+B.

*disclaimer: My judgment may be influenced now that I have visited the webpages of more than five other top agencies.

However, with those pushed aside, this website seems like there was no creative nurturing and that makes it hard for me to get excited about their work.

I just looked at their work. And before I even scrolled down I knew what to expect. I don’t like how predictable this duo is! Get out of your comfort zone of twitter and other social media and do something creative, beyond what you are used to.

They are widely known for the idea “Pay With a Tweet.” The idea is innovative, but how well does this really translate to the real world. How does one really make money off of this? I know exposure is great commerce, but it’s only good because it generates more money, actual money.

A campaign I really enjoyed was The Digital Dinner Bell. However, in the video it only mentioned their downloads in the Android Marketplace. Was the app not in the AppStore for Apple products? Why would you do that?! Anyway, I really liked the idea to use the very thing that was breaking up family dinners to get family to the dinner table. The set up of the app was really cool. You can select the style of food you were making and the invite/bell will correlate. 

Even though I am not a fan of their predictability,  they are extremely successful in what they do and receive tons of recognition for it. I guess it’s their niche.

Some of their accolades:

Cyber Lions 2011 Grand Prix for “Pay with a Tweet.”

OneShow Interactive 2010 Silver for Best Buy “Twelpforce.”

Clio Interactive 2010 Gold for Best Buy “Twelpforce.”

Clio Content & Contact 2011 Silver for “Pay with a Tweet.”

: a communications management consultancy.

Their position:

 “At Naked, our recommendations are entirely objective because we’re not tied to an output. If we recommend something, it is because it is the right thing to do – not because we will profit from making it.”

This sounds like the well-rounded agency I have been dreaming of. They hold objectivity as their highest value, which gets rids of any boundaries or limits to what they can do.

From looking at their work, it is obvious that they hold true to this statement. They have many different executions, and I dare say that the more unique ones never overlapped (so not including social media, etc.).

I really like how Naked Comm. included their campaign strategy with their work for each campaign. The only downfall is they need to find a better way to portray their work. 

Some of their work:

They worked with the Department of Health and came up with “The Sex Lottery.” The strategy was to dramatise and raise awareness of the increased risk from ‘unsafe’ sexual behavior. And they wanted to make sure that any communication was from a young man, their target, not the government.

They also worked with Coca Cola and created “Coke Romance.” They were tasked with defining and standardizing what exactly a “genuine Coke experience” should be, across all global markets. That’s not asking much. <— Sarcasm. People have their unique way of drinking a Coke, whether it be room temperature, ice or no ice, from McDonalds or out of a can. Naked rose to the challenge and wrote a book on what makes a “genuine” Coke experience. The book describes the ingredients of a genuine experience. The book was published and distributed to all marketing managers worldwide. Their strategy then led to the creation of new internal initiatives and external marketing communications.

Some of Naked Communication’s Accolades:

“The Agency of the Future” from Washington Post.

“Marketing’s Most Creative Business” from Financial Times.

“Top Five Agency to Watch Worldwide” from WSJ.

: The changing media and technology landscape requires a new kind of agency with innovation at its core.

Their founding values:

Innovation | Service | Quality | Thought

They are all about the future. [I picture these guys when I think of the future.]

Also, Digital, Digital, Digital. AKQA is all about the future and digital services. Those are great things to have your sights set on, however I would say this approach limits the work of the agency. Not all clients would benefit from digital services, some work best in out-of-home or traditional print. Yes, digital is innovative but I’m starting to feel as though digital is the expected way to be innovative. What would really be impressive is an agency that can find new ways to be innovative with more traditional media.

But, there is nothing wrong with an agency that has a niche. In fact, this agency seems to be thriving off of it. As a personal preference, I like agencies that are more well-rounded in their works.

They struck gold with the Nike Training Club. For this campaign they were answering the question: “What’s the best way to celebrate and share the ‘Just Do It’ call to action in the digital age? AKQA answered with your own personal trainer anytime, anywhere. This app alone generated more than 40 million minutes of training.

I really enjoyed the USPS Virtual Box Simulator. The problem they were trying to solve was, which size flat-rate shipping box do you choose? Too big and you’re overpaying. Too small and it won’t ship. Their solution, use augmented reality to put the boxes in customers’ hands instantly. A virtual USPS shipping box is overlaid onto the webcam’s fee, so you can compare it to your shipment and see if it fits. What great problem solvers! This gem of an idea earned a Gold Clio.

I wondered whether or not you would be able to use this with packages that are too heavy to pick up or too big. Looks like you can:

Some of AKQA’s Accolades for just this past year:

Digital Agency of the Year.

Won three Gold Cyber Lions, one Silver Cyber Lion and one Bronze Cyber Lion.

Won a Bronze at Cannes for their Nike Training Club App.