Hmm.

What If + Why Not

It started as a ‘what if’ question. The idea, I mean. Me and two other mates from uni have been successfully working together on several advertising campaigns and projects as part of our Advertising degree, and at some point we realised that starting our own freelance ad agency is too tempting for us not to give it a try. Or think about it seriously, at least. Besides, we feel that we’re upsetting the universe if we don’t start using our ideas and ridiculous passion for great advertising to the benefit of so many local and regional businesses showing potential to grow. So we have the idea. The next step – coming up with a strategy.

I know that optimism can be disappointing at times, but somewhere along the way I learned that I’m just not cut out to be a pessimist, so now I’m openly hoping that this project will soon become tangible. I mean, why not?

John Hegarty at Coventry University

I was not a student at Coventry University when John Hegarty – the H in the global advertising agency BBH – gave a speech here in 2007 as part of the great Coventry Conversations speaker programme. In fact, I heard the speech on iTunes U and I remember that day as the day when I realised that “Keep Walking” was bloody brilliant.

John’s speech is not about advertising. It is about outstanding advertising. It is about big ideas and the brands they create. BBH’s philosophy relies on creativity rather than on statistics, which, to some extent, reminds me of MacManus and Leo Burnett. John points out that good work can be created entirely for yourself, because “you are the only person whose judgement you can trust”. He gives the example of J. K. Rowling who, when asked who she had created Harry Potter for, answered that she had created the story for herself.

“Don’t be in advertising. Be in something bigger.” John admits that even though he works in advertising, he doesn’t want to be in advertising. He tries to go beyond the boring advertising and create some meaningful work based on creative and interesting ideas. This can be seen in different advertising campaigns for Levi’s, Johnnie Walker or British Airways.

John also talks about the importance of reducing an idea down to its essential meaning. By doing so, an idea attains power; it is enhanced and therefore has a greater impact on the audience.  An idea, in John’s view, is “the most democratic thing in the world – anybody can have it”. Therefore, those in the creative industries should strive to create work that people want to see.

Advertising can be great. It’s just that, if we are to consider John’s words, it is not called advertising. Besides, the name really doesn’t matter as long as we – those passionate about good creative ideas – try to get there. Sure, we don’t have to. But then I’d have to lose the “those passionate about good creative ideas” part.

No Way Out

Since I don’t believe anyone out there could care less about what I did today or on any other day – and if they do care and they didn’t give me birth, God give them something acceptable to do with their lives! – I am not going to talk about it. Instead, I’d like to share my middle-class views on the cyber-nonsense loving creatures that we have become.

We claim to be “socialising” via the Internet and before we know it, we’ve got kids that can barely articulate a word properly because they are retarded and have absolutely no sense of what is going on in the real world – if such thing may still exist. So we laugh online and we chinwag our hearts out online and we live online and we die online, but before taking our sore fingers off the keyboard of life for the last time, we lie to ourselves once more by claiming we have no regrets because we have [cretin] kids, a legitimate wife/husband, a house, a tree in front of it and the latest iMac on our bedside table, all Wi-Fi enabled. So we die in peace.

The Internet is a wonderful thing. Shock and horror. Everyone knows its benefits as well as they know its human-decaying side and we have all agreed (?) it is the way forward (??). Google is a verb, (un)facebookable may be underlined in red in Word, yet it is still used (by the by, Microsoft is outdated, buy yourself a freakin’ Mac!), people twitter™ more than birds twitter and we seem to be turning into robots as we twitter. Science and progress.

So why do I blog you may ask. Why do I use Facebook and Twitter and instant messaging programmes?

What do you care? Mind your own Wi-Fi-ed life!

Lunch with Dave Pegg, Cadbury

Today was a good day. Dave Pegg, a member of the design studio at Cadbury plc, came to Coventry University to give a talk on the legendary brand and on how the design department operate within the company. David covered Cadbury’s advertising from the first adverts in the 20th century to the renowned gorilla commercial and yes, the weird eyebrows commercial.

Fastforward to lunchtime.

Lunchtime. I had the opportunity to talk to Dave over lunch, thus being able to find out more about Cadbury’s vision as a global brand and about the ways in which Cadbury, as an umbrella brand, is rather different from Kraft, the worldwide giant. There were questions and there were answers, but what I was truly impressed with was Dave’s devotion to and passion for his career. We shared the same views regarding the fact that a creative job – be that in advertising or design – cannot be considered a job per se: There’s no starting at 8am and going home at 4pm. Working as a creative means constantly playing around with ideas, trying to create something that is beyond the constraints of some office walls and working hours. It is what you do, no matter where you are.

It is how and why you exist as a creative professional.

Saatchi & Saatchi at the Barber’s

When you look at yourself into the mirror for 35 minutes because there’s literally nothing else to look at while your fur is technically and gradually being cut into a decent haircut, you might think this is the worst way of wasting 35 minutes of your life and 8.5 pounds of your dough. But if the old guy cutting your hair talks to you about Saatchi & Saatchi, you tend to think life is actually happening to you.

Jack’s is the classic barber’s. It’s got ‘Est. 1978’ added to its name on the front window and the customers seem to be making plans for that year’s Christmas while waiting for one of the last haircuts they’ll ever have. Strangely enough, I felt my Mondays were better than theirs. Well, at least more numerous from a biological perspective.

So anyway, while I was in the ancient throne and before I even had the chance to get bored, the barber asked me what I was studying – the natural question that springs to one’s mind when having to put up with a species of students. The answer was going to change every minute of those I spent back in 1978, for the barber sounded like a retired Saatchi & Saatchi adman while sharing his views on the agency’s work. Go figure.

Jack’s is the classic barber’s.

Hahaha. Redefined.

I first discovered Vitro’s distinctive style in their work for Taylor guitars. This ad for Kyocera is better than a sunny day in Britain!

Get set go.

Hello everyone! This blog is not really part of my initiative to change this almost round world into a better almost round world, but it sure helps me express my thoughts and ideas regarding advertising. And to avoid a human-(cyber)walls sort of communication, please feel free to post your agreement and disagreement and lol’s and, well, you get the idea.