Thoughts on creativity, Pharma and whatnot
Because like a one hit wonder (when hits were a thing back in the seventies) a tune or a look or an idea can be thrilling and life affirming by a series of strange coincidences or aligning of the stars. A galactic anomaly that just needs to be admired and observed for its singular celestial beauty.
People often wonder where ideas come from. I like to think that all ideas are just sitting there, waiting to be discovered rather than created out of thin air as one might suppose. Creative people just spend more time looking for them. We're like those people who suddenly got obsessed with Pokemon-Go and were out... Continue Reading →
I love an online furore, me. Have you see the new Gillette advert? Boys will be boys? It's been hard to miss. After all the campaigns empowering our mothers, sisters, and daughters - from This girl can to Like a girl to Blood normal us chaps finally have our own bonafide 'purpose' campaign. Except this one... Continue Reading →
Over the last few months we've heard a lot of exciting news about agencies and clients reinventing the 'advertising agency model'. Not the whole agency, obviously, just the interesting part with all the tattooed beardy men and purple haired women. Because you see, Creative departments simply weren't working before. What? you hadn't noticed? That's why... Continue Reading →
Before Easter I took a trip to the US and Canada to visit our agencies in my new capacity as Le Grand Fromage Creative de la CDM. My 'talk to the troops', or as our CEO Kyle Barich described it, my 'Stump' speech was a way of introducing myself to those who had no idea... Continue Reading →
Everyone has a story they tell when they dine out or meet new people. Mine is about the time I found myself in the lift with all of the members of U2 and was greeted by Elton John. But that's for another time. My brother-in-law Dermot has a story that he used to tell a... Continue Reading →
In research it's always nice to hear that respondents 'liked' your idea. But so what? The problem is people like a lot of things, pictures of puppies, pretty colours, the way the model looks strong, the happy setting of a family on holiday because it reminds them of that time in Corfu. It doesn't really... Continue Reading →
Aren't all branding ideas sort of advertising ideas and vice versa? Well, sometimes, I guess, but not always. In Pharmaland we can lean towards treating every problem as if it needs a good whack on the head. Give it a brand image that people will remember, plaster it all over the congress stand and the... Continue Reading →
Back in the 90s I was fortunate to do a fair amount of international jet setting due to being the jammiest git alive and working on a car account. The ads were popular somewhat but never that great - which was always unsatisfactory, but the trips were the consolation prize. We used to go to... Continue Reading →
I once did a freelance stint in a German office of JWT and the CEO there was quite the cliche 'American' ad-man, not a German. An ex-creative director himself, he had a good sense of the process and was no fool. But we differed on some points, one of which was that he thought the... Continue Reading →
