Fallon wins Orange cinema advert brief without a pitch!

The humorous orange mobile phone adverts shown before a film at the cinema will soon be no more. They were produced by the advertising agency Mother and have included celebs such as snoop dog, Patrick Swayze and Rob Lowe. They show the celeb pitching a movie idea to an orange panel. However despite there popularity Orange had two advertising agencies working for them and felt that having two different houses working on different projects was creating a difference in image and that "nothing was united". Fallon have been creating the "I am" adverts recently for Orange and Orange have reported that they are very happy with what Fallon are doing for them. 

So is there no stopping Fallons role of success? They are the advertising agency behind the Cadburys 'Glass and a half full' campaign the Sony HD range (the bouncy balls and play-dough bunnies) and also the Skoda adverts. It seems that everyone wants a bit of the successful quirkiness that they are bringing to TV creating memorable adverts that people want to discuss and advise their friends to look out for! - 'Bring on the trumpets!' (sweets advert) - Random but it's funny!

Luxor Obelisk

In the centre of the Place de la Concorde Paris France, stands an Obelisk engraved with hieroglyphics. It was given to the french as a present from the Egyptians in the nineteenth century. The statue took 2 years to transport from Egypt to France and was placed on the spot where a guiletine used to stand (much nicer). When i discovered that the Obelisk was engraved with hieroglyphics i was far more interested than when i thought it was just an ordinary pole! I loved that the Egyptian culture is centered inside a place engulfed with so much French history. I have always been interested in ancient hieroglyphics as they are visually stimulating and decorative whilst holding a story of information... so much more interesting than the alphabet! 

Louvre

I recently visited paris for a holiday where i visited all of the touristy attractions. The Louvre was one which made an impact. Their is such a dramatic contrast between modern and traditional architecture. The glass pyramids centered inside the court yard of an ancient castle was picturesque! The gardens were also lovely and a perfect spot to have a stroll, sunbathe or a snack!

At one point in the past the original buildings surrounding the Louvre entrance were planned to be demolished as they had become derelict instead an ambitious regeneration program was undertaken through the centuries by Lois xiv and henri ii to create what is stood today.

The Louvre has had many purpose through the centuries including a fortress a palace and a museum.

Facebook The Movie

Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin writer of US TV drama The West Wing is to make a film about the founder of facebook - Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook has become a phenomenon, highly addictive, it's the saviour to boredom and gives us a bit of a nose into friends lives that you haven't seen for years. With soaring numbers signed up to facebook it will already have a huge target audience which should surely bring in lots of profit at the box office. Apparently Sorkin doesn't really know a lot about our beloved fb so has set up a profile for himself as research welcoming fans questions and relishing in the experience!

I Like What You Like...

The NHS stop smoking advert is quite hard hitting. There are mixed views on the advert, some arguing that the child like song attracts children to watch the advert and copy the child smoking with the crayon. Some thinking that children with parents who smoke won't copy the habit as they can see first hand the implications and the others who totally agree that parents lead by example and their child will be more likely to pick up the habit. I can see the thinking behind all points. My parents don't smoke and neither do i but then again i know friends who smoke whose parents don't - It goes around in circles! In the advert the parents are all smoking apparently out of sight to the children with the camera angle seeming to look from around a corner or through a window so these parents are considerate of their children's current health as are smoking away from the children but i think that the point of the advert is that not all smoking signs will be concealed. There will be the smell, cigarette buts and the visual of them actually doing it may impose the idea that if their parents like it so much then i want to try too. There are lots of other reasons that young people may take up the habit like peer pressure, but targeting this advert at the family early on may perhaps stop the need/want early on!

The Sixth London Design Festival

Now in it's sixth year 'The London Design Festival' is well established and recognised as a major event all over the world. It welcomes students, professionals, consumers and anyone with a love for design and an appreciation of nice things! It starts Saturday 13th September and will run until the 23rd September. The event will be jam packed with exhibitions of innovative design so if your wanting to get the most out of the festival visit the home page www.londondesignfestival.com and there you will find a detailed listing of event titles and the time and day they will be exhibited. This way you can make a "to do list' instead of wandering around aimlessly. By making an action plan you can take out of the event what you want, can and need. Your guaranteed to be inspired, influenced and most of all happy that you went!

Cravendale website!

milk miiilk!!

The Cravendale stop motion adverts are simple, wacky, loud, full of energy and give viewers a quick laugh! even though there only advertising milk. They've given milk a personality and why not, it's memorable. 

After seeing the most recent Cravendale advert where the little figure tries to make a London beefeater move i decided to go and look at the Cravendale website, and just like the ads its quirky and crazy but here you can interact with the figures and also amongst other things make your own stop motion scene! With hints and tips. It's really fun and will pass a quick half an hour and you might learn something to help in the future too!

Keeping up with the jones'

The Beijing Olympics have ended and the Olympic flag passed over to Britain. There is no question that China did a memorable job as the host nation leaving some big boots for Britain to fill.

The Beijing Olympic stadium known as the birds nest was an outcome of a worldwide design competition, innovative unique, memorable and distinctive. Britain's response, a bowl stadium on an island site surrounded on 3 sides by water that will seat 80,000 in 2012 as an athletics stadium and then later convert to a more easily maintained 25,000 seat venue for the future by removing the temporary seating. Which is good as the surrounding community will then be able to get its fair bit of use out of it afterwards, (unlike the millennium dome!).  The building commenced 2 months early to make sure that it will be finished on time (unlike Wembly stadium). To prevent any national embarrassment i suppose! A couple of travel idea's that have been declined in the past will also now get the go ahead to make getting around the capital easier for tourists and locals alike. Firstly free usable bicycles will be readily available for use on the streets and a new tube line first propositioned 30 years ago is set to be constructed. 

It does seem that Britain are making the effort nice and early with enthusiasm even if the British press are feeling anxious about how  we'll live up to China. Time will tell.

superlambanana for sale!

For the past 10 weeks an extra 100 Superlambananas have made home in 'Liverpool' each with its own unique pattern.

If you've not had the pleasure of meeting one yet there vibrant, like to be different from each other and love attention. They're the ride home to drunken clubbers, the perfect picture partner for tourists (and again drunken clubbers) and a representation of Liverpool's dock heritage of importing wool and bananas! 

Everybody has their personal opinion on the species,and they have become popular subject matter to many discussions leaving a lasting impression all over the world with tourists taking their memories of the animal found in the Capital of Culture back home. 

Unfortunately they are no longer going to be running wild around the streets of Liverpool and are going to be auctioned off on the 9th of september at St. Georges Hall Liverpool at 6.30pm to generate a significant amount of money for four local charitys. So who knows a superlambanana may be setting up home in a town near you! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUWnuQyzog0&feature=related 

What we've all been waiting for...

Apparently Dragons Den has been around in the U.K for three years, I'm probably one of a few that were oblivious to this and as a new over enthusiastic viewer i thought id sing some delayed praises.

I came across it at my boyfriends brothers house where unfairly i don't have control of the t.v remote. I sat down prepared to waste an hour of my life (like when the football or crickets is on!) and come out on the other side in a not so energetic state! 

But to my surprise i found myself becoming instantly involved in the show, laughing at some ridiculous idea's like a stitched line down a bed sheet to help solve bed hoggers, I mean if it's that much of a problem, use a pen!! Although it was a silly idea that i laughed at it did highlight a solution to somebody's problem! Each and every pitch to the dragons is somebody's response to a situation where they feel money can be made and it would give a helping hand! The popular question of what product could you not live without highlights existing successful inventions like hair straighteners, cars and microwavable rice! But it is much harder to think of what product your life is missing as hasn't everything useful already been thought of? 

 

So bearing this in mind i really admire all of the innovative thinkers who walk into the den with refreshing new idea's. They may not appeal to the masses and there idea's are declined by the show within three minutes but to somebody it's what they've been waiting for all their lives!

Changing Perceptions. Skoda Advert - Full of lovely stuff!

Practice Makes Perfect!

Skoda, known throughout the u.k as a cheap brand, unfashionable and one that has produced a poor standard of product!

When volkswagon took over Skoda in 1990 they had the challenge of changing this established perception of the brand. How? With a re-design of cars and a rigorous advertising campaign. 

The first adverts included tag lines such as "It's a Skoda. Honest!" A move that showed consumers that Skoda was aware of their image but more importantly they have done something about it... we've changed!

Although this type of advertising where the brand put it's self down built a stable foundation to improve on, it could only run or so long. The company needed to give people a positive reason to buy a Skoda. To do this they built a Fabia cake.

So why did the agent Fallon choose to represent Skoda as a delicious cake? Cake recipes are passed down through generations of families. Perfected through trial and improvement, made with love and enthusiasm their quality craftsmanship hard to ignore. I believe that the cake represents 'Practice makes perfect' and that quality grows through time, experience and guidence. The same qualities that VW have nurtured the Skoda brand to revival with.

The cake advert is accompanied with a tag line... Full of lovely stuff. Skoda. Manufacturer of Happy drivers.

It's sweet, it's positive, it conjures up a warm feeling of the skoda being pleasant and moorish. Cleverly transferring the excitable feelings of indulgence associated with cakes to the car and the driving of it.

The advert creates curiosity and secures the viewers attention by not revealing the brand until the end of the advert. By doing this viewers need to watch the advert in full to find out the purpose of this bizarre cake! and when Skoda is revealed the audience may be somewhat shocked; This entertaining, innovative and distinctive advert is for skoda? Qualities which have previously not been associated with the brand.

And to perfect the advert is  the accompanying music, Julie Andrews - Favourite things. The advert may now be one of my top 5 things but a skoda car??? hmmm