Nandos vs Santam: are you kidding me

This time last week I posted about South Africa is getting ready for their annual ad awards the Loeries, well it looks like the agencies are trying to push themselves to be in-front of the judging panels. Recently the fast food retail chain spoofed the Santam’s TVC. Firstly let’s be fair this is exactly the kind of behaviour you would expect from Nando’s and Black River FC, Nando’s wicked agency. But then why is a fast food chain taking on a financial services company? Do they have  something against Sir Ben Kingsley or maybe in the past Santam was the bank for Nandos and lost them quite a lot of money of the FTSE, just saying. Well you never know but lets just be safe cause that’s how rumours are started, so please don’t listen to me.

For those who don’t follow South African advertising shame on you because you are missing out on some symbolic radvertising, but I’ll forgive you this time and just because I’m a really really nice guy, I’ve been holding out waiting for Nandos second response before post this because I care about you.

Any how this little gun fight is just far to good to miss out on.

The first symbolic ad by Santam:

 

Then in the traditional Nandos style they got naughty by spoofing the iconic ad.

 

Cheeky very cheeky, but then Santam hit back by dropping the gauntlet with this little number.

 

We love it not only does Santam get cleaver and witty but they also open their hearts to help those in need but seems no one can keep Nandos quite as they were not finished yet.

 

Now that’s what you call giving the bird, how’s that for a great advertising sparring?

Nandos did accept the challenge and they even delivered a day early and then they went a step further, proving they are not chicken. Hold on that can’t be right I thought they were chicken. Ok lets just call them Portuguese chicken, happy?

They delivered the entire order to Johannesburg Children’s Home on Wednesday and not only that but they are going to continue to do so once every month for a year. Touché Nandos, gotta love a man when he admits his loss but is this really a loss?

What would clients pay these days to achieve one of the best  symbolic moving advertising campaign of the year, where the free media and viral WOM out ranks that spent at least 5 fold.

Quentin Cronje, marketing director for Nando’s, told Radio 702′s Bruce Whitfield: it was “nice” to have fun with other brands.

Great stuff by King James and Black River FC, hats off to the teams who worked on this.

Thanks to Pharside and Source from 2 Oceans Vibe

I’ve missed you

Sorry that I have not been paying you attention my loves but I’ve been really busy recently. I promise that I have not been cheating on you and I will make it up to you. Well actually I won’t but what can you do about it. Ha

#MAKEITCOUNT

 

Enough said.

Mix Radio fights against Aids: Case study

We enjoyed this little campaign for Mix Radio even if it annoyed the hell out of us. Just think of how many times you see spam in Facebook, the idea has been blatantly obvious to all of us for some time. So big up’s to the agency for this very cleaver and cheeky little idea, and we do like cheeky.

 

Bet you said, hey why didn’t I think of that.

Great work by Quê Comunicação, yeah didn’t think you spoke Portuguese.

aka What Communication an agency based in Brazil.

Don’t be silly people wrap your willy’s.

Today’s lesson – Can you dance?

An old prospector shuffled into the town of El Indio, Texas leading a tired old mule. The old man headed straight or the only saloon in town, to clear his parched throat.

He walked up to the saloon and tied his old mule to the hitch rail.

As he stood there, brushing some of the dust from his face and clothes, a young gunslinger stepped out of the saloon with a gun in one hand and a bottle of whiskey in the other.

The young gunslinger looked at the old man and laughed, saying, “Hey old man, can you dance?”

The old man looked up at the gunslinger and said, “No son, I don’t dance… never really wanted to.”

A crowd had gathered as the gunslinger grinned and said, “Well, you old fool, you’re gonna dance now!” and started shooting at the old man’s feet.

The old prospector, not wanting to get a toe blown off, started hopping around like a flea on a hot skillet.

Everybody standing around was laughing.

When his last bullet had been fired, the young gunslinger, still laughing, holstered his gun and turned around to go back into the saloon.

The old man turned to his pack mule, pulled out a double-barreled 12 gauge shotgun and cocked both hammers.

The loud clicks carried clearly through the desert air. The crowd stopped laughing immediately.

The young gunslinger heard the sounds too, and he turned around very slowly.

The silence was deafening. The crowd watched as the young gunman stared at the old timer and the large gaping holes of those twin 12 gauge barrels.

The barrels of the shotgun never wavered in the old man’s hands, as he quietly said;

“Son, have you ever kissed a mule’s ass?”

The gunslinger swallowed hard and said, “No sir… but…but I’ve always wanted to.”

There are a few lessons for all of us here:

• Don’t be arrogant.
• Don’t waste ammunition.
• Whiskey makes you think you’re smarter than you are.
• Always make sure you know who is in control.

• And finally, don’t screw around with old folks; they didn’t get old by being stupid.

 

What a crazy week.

I know I have not been paying you as much attention as I should have been lately my beauties and I sincerely apologise. However I do have a valid excuse, you see this week was pitch week and you all know how insane pitch week can get. Where the agencies aura is pulsating with a mixture of excitement; passion and stress, there is hardly anything better for me than pitch week. Ruffling through the research; the late sleepless nights; the constant bashing of brains; the 20 cups a day of coffee; pizza for breakfast lunch and dinner; over a million phone calls and reverting your 9^th draft of the presentation only to go back to your 1^st idea, is all worth it even if you happen lose. Call me a freak or call me an adrenalin junky it’s simply that natural rush you get for a whole week that drives me to another level of high. What’s not to love, this is why I’m in this industry because at the end of the day it’s sure not for the pay cheque. Ok maybe it is a little.

This time it gets even better than that, as we were competing up against my old agency from 4 years ago and can you believe it for my very own old account, what are the chances it’s like a dream or nightmare come true for any ad man. So you could imagine how personal this pitch felt for me and how that much more it was important for me. Now I’m one of thee most competitive blokes around and never one to back down, even a game of monopoly with the other half is known to turn into a deadly warzone. So this pitch for me was rather a case of do or die where only the strongest will survive, throwing my everything at it giving 120% rather than the normal 110.

The strategy was sound after all I always knew what pieces the business missed and eagerly needed, something for which I was constantly silenced for in the past. Our biggest threat was a partly new client team as we barely knew anything about them and how they thought or what they believed in. Our game plan was to turn that threat into our biggest opportunity and to followed through with what we believed in. The creative came out the furnace cooked perfectly, hitting the spot just right and ever so sweetly.

The pitch finally happened and I managed to catch a glimpse of the fear in the eyes of my old senior ad man. That alone was rewarding enough but to add the cherry on top this morning we were announced victorious.

I feel a bit like Charlie Sheen but who doesn’t love the feeling of winning.

As they say, who laughs last laughs longest or hardest, it doesn’t matter which one they say because trust me they are both so freaking true.

Winning, onwards and upwards.

Homebase versus Lowe’s

The battle between of the retailers is known as the fiercest competition there is.

Where the margin for error is so small, I mean one penny to much or too little and they don’t quite make it. One half second to slow or too fast and they don’t quite catch them. The penny’s they need are everywhere around them, in every opportunity in the industry, every price cut, every margin. Retailers need to fight for the advantage, retailers need to shred themselves and everyone around them into pieces for that single penny. Because when they add up all those pennies, they know that it can make all the difference, between winning and losing. Between being successful or failing. Because that’s what retailing is.

Now the only difference here is that there is a giant pond of water between these two, because this competition is between the Queens’ United Kingdom and the Bald Eagles of United States. They might not even compete against each other for market share but just for today, let’s say they do.

Because this my friends, is the battle of advertising. Where creative ideas rule making us drool in inspiration. In this game each team has big names playing for them, the Queens’ have a top scoring centre forward as Leo Burnett and the Eagles an All Star Quarter back  in BBDO New York.

Where the audience is the ref, the judge and they always always has the final say.

So let the games begin!

Homebase to kickoff

 

and Lowe’s to receive

 

What are you thought’s because to be honest I feel this is a tight competition and there is very little difference between these two teams.

Both spots were flighted around the same time and the field of play is the giant pond and let’s be honest the overall difference between them is much of a muchness.  Both focusing on improving the home, which is a given being they home “improvement” retailers. Both ads are creatively and visually appealing and these from what I can tell are the only slight differences.

Homebases’ key POD is mentioning a wider product offer and then it also spreads its wings to the garden and the biggest challenge of UK homes with space.

While Lowes’ intercepts with a seasonal refresh message, inching forward with the technological era driving eyes to an even wider offer of inspiration available on the app, dropping a big name such as Apple.

I wonder how many people actually received all those messages from those two ads.

Personally I like them both, therefore I’m calling it a draw.

Great game Leo’s and BBDO, great game and well played.

But what do you say?

 

Reminder: Tomorrow is Earth Hour

Just a little reminder to switch off all your lights for an hour tomorrow evening at 20h30.

 

Even if it’s to save 0.1% of global energy usage.

Every little bit makes a difference.

Fiona’s touching story.

Ok peeps I do know that it’s Wednesday and that I normally bring you something a little wacky on Wednesday’s but don’t worry, I have not forgotten and I do something a little special that I will put up soon, just for you baby. But this had to come first it’s just way too awesome to keep it from you and I have to warn you it’s going to touch you.

This puppy almost opened all the taps, as I can’t stand animal cruelty or neglect but thankfully there are also some people out there with good hearts prepared to make a difference.

 

Ah gotta love a happy ending!

How happy does she look..

 

A must watch for ad peeps: Lee Clow speaks the truth and nothing but the truth

Ad legend Lee Clow aka the bearded man recently exposed his thought on agencies compensation. Mr Clow is known as the art director guru of the industry, while he currently holds the position of Chairman and the Global Director for TBWA Worldwide. He is most known for his work on branding the technology giant Apple, yes that’s right he’s the main man and all creatives’ should be bowing down to him, after all he did help create the brand they love. He is basically the silent father of the Apple brand that we know of today. As it was his ad campaign, 1984 which launched Apple Mac’s success, click here to see the masterpiece. He is also done work such as the Energizer Bunny and Taco Bell’s Chihuahua. You could basically say that he is responsible for assisting with pushing the ad industry’s’ benchmark for creativity as we know of it is today, so yeah he’s kinda’ a big deal. Then it gets even better, because he sports a killer beard making him officially the Big Daddy, Fact.

Recently the bearded man spoke out to the public sharing words of wisdom which is directed to the industry and the client. On a topic which most shy away from and let’ be honest he has some big ones for finally someone speaks the truth.

 

I couldn’t agree more with the Big Daddy’O, for too long have agencies cut their fee’s to please and keep clients work. We sell creative ideas, it’s a little piece of ourselves just like that of musicians and actors yet they reap the rewards far greater than the creative ad man, if you forget about all the grey matter it’s true. Yet clients have a tendency to wave a little wand or stick in front of our noses to ensure that we know our place. Understandably there will always be a smaller dog that is willing to pick up the scraps and let them be, as everyone needs to make a living. The issue is when the bigger agencies under price themselves to win new work hoping to one day slowly push the price up according to the relationship they have built. Have you ever heard of giving someone a hand and they take the whole arm, think about it big corporations didn’t get where they are today by being generous (fair there is actually a few out there) but most of them have become successful for being like Jews and counting the pennies.

In today’s environment it’s sad to say that the creative mind is rapidly becoming extinct, not because of lack of talent but rather because of the ever growing pressures given from client. As Mr Clow mentions “we get paid like we are doing our client’s laundry” and that the harsh truth, the advertising, branding, the slogans etc. that the agency creates does determine the success or failure for the client and they know it but those in the industry do little about it. As Clow says “the ideas’, could be listed on the balance sheet of our clients as an asset worth millions and millions of value, but of course we get no return on that contribution. Instead we get a fee.” A minute price for the clients value earned, imagine if agencies could charge a percentage of brand worth from the start of the campaign until a set number of years. The Media, Models and photographers do so why doesn’t the agency?

There are many factors involved for this and there is no point going right into detail, that’s a story for another day and because if you look at it holistically you could say that everyone is to be blamed, even myself.  These topics are thankfully currently being discussed by the 4A’s by the industry leaders and for the time being the only viable solution is if all agencies stick together without playing cat and mouse, getting back to basics and doing the job that we love.

You my friend will be the first to know once I find out more.

To be continued.