dechezette

06 May 11

Old Spice Spawns Trend of Men You’ll Never Be

I saw all of these spots within 10 minutes of each other tonight.

06 March 11

Windows Phone 7 Ad Promotes the OS

I was impressed on day one with the demo I saw of Windows Phone 7. One of the biggest accomplishments was the execution of a brief that, I could only imagine, said “I can’t look like the iPhone”. In so many ways the UI is the antithesis of the iPhone, yet just as beautiful and fluid in its own way.

And while I haven’t been impressed with the on-air spots to promote the phone - they did do a great job of distilling down a way to position the product in a consumer marketplace that doesn’t know what to make of any smartphone that isn’t the iPhone: a fast phone let’s you get back to what’s important in life. They’ve had banner ads that challenge you to literally compare your phone’s speed to Win Phone 7. And then there’s the commercial below that talks about the efficiency of the UI.

Then along comes their most recent spot (above). You can feel the pull of Apple with the focus on the product. But unlike Apple’s straight-on shots of the phone, or more specifically the apps, this phone is floating through space, and is equal part apps and OS.

Their throwing a lot of stuff at the wall right now to see what sticks. It will be interesting to see what does.

28 June 10

The Chief Detail Officer

Rory Sutherland uses some comical examples to point out that small, inexpensive solutions can often be more memorable and effective at solving big problems than more forceful and expensive solutions.

He suggests the creation of a new role, the Chief Detail Officer — someone who can focus their attention (and budget) at creating multitudes of “cheap” tactical solutions

16 February 10

Wired Magazine on a Tablet

Last week the folks at Wired unveiled their vision for the tablet version of Wired.

As other publishers have demoed their tablet vision over the past few months, there’s nothing really new that we’re seeing here. But that’s likely because Wired is one of the first to get past the prototype and into a live product. No small feat.

The content is created in Adobe InDesign(!) and powered by an AIR app. I think I just heard a collective sigh of relief from print designers.

Editor Chris Anderson sees this (as do the other publishers) as an opportunity to “reset the economics” of publishing, and give people an experience that they’re willing to pay for.

As I look at the stack of un-read copies Wired in my office, who knows, maybe I’ll bite when I get my iPad.

22 January 10

Diversity In Advertising

Love it or hate it, advertising is a medium that attempts to influence every aspect of our lives. Why is it then that in a nation as diverse as the US, the make up of the creatives that craft those messages lacks that same diversity?

Enter Adversi+y. Adversi+y partners with organizations to try to reach kids while they’re in high school to education them on opportunities in the field of advertising—helps them connect the dots between that cartooning skill and what it means to be an art director. Getting to kids before college helps them know what their options are before they’ve sunk the time and money into another higher education route.

Great organization. Great cause.

A big win for Adversi+y in 2008 was their backing from The One Show. Shortly after celebrating the one year anniversary of this partnership The One Show pulled the plug, citing financial difficulties.

Last month Advertising Age caught up with 27 year old founder Julius Dunn II to talk about their mission and the failed partnership. Check out the video.