Thoughts on creativity, Pharma and whatnot
There's a story about an agency boss who was strolling the creative corridors one day and noticed all the creatives were not actually working but staring out the window, flicking through magazines or playing scrunched-up-paper-bin-basketball. He immediately returned to his desk and had his secretary type a memo. It read : "Dear creatives, please don't... Continue Reading →
For thirty years the legend of The North Pond Hermit in central Maine continued to grow. He remained unseen but his presence was felt everywhere. During the night things would go missing from local houses, never money, but food, clothing, books and oddly - BBQ gas canisters. The only evidence left behind was occasional wood... Continue Reading →
Imagine this scenario: After ten years of marketing an orange soda drink, say one that has become one of the most famous brands in the world, the patent runs out and another, almost exactly the same, orange soda drink is launched by a rival manufacturer at 25p cheaper a can. The company that manufactures it... Continue Reading →
A couple of weeks ago Adweek ran an article that began thus: The mighty Empire has fallen … thanks to some yogurt. Deutsch/LA's 2011 Super Bowl spot "The Force" for Volkswagen, which enjoyed an astonishing 41-month reign as the most shared ad of all time, has finally been dethroned—by Activia and the World Food Programme's... Continue Reading →
In this week of remembrance and solemn thanks for the heroes of the Great War, who died on the fields of Flanders exactly a hundred years ago, I thought I might touch on a vastly inappropriate parallel: the unimportant war that we fight as creatives every day. (If this blog dies in research, sod it...it's... Continue Reading →
If you thought Pharma adland was a bit of a niche area, some of you will have experienced the niche within the niche that is Veterinary pharma. Now that is niche. That is a Rolls Royce Cor-niche That's what Sean Connery calls the airport when you visit Cannes. And to a certain extent the leaps... Continue Reading →
At the gleaming offices of PHARMACOMGLOM on the outskirts of Slough, it was set to be an exciting start to the week. The final candidate for the vacancy in the sales representative department was waiting in reception. He wasn't reading up on the company in the strategically positioned brochures like all the others had, he... Continue Reading →
Transferring to the pharma division of Adland, leaving behind a moderately successful career in the wacky world of consumer creative (not fired too many times, a couple of awards, made it to CD, and some nice shoots and some excellent lunches) was definitely something I felt ready for, when the job offer came. But I... Continue Reading →
The term 'primadonna' is usually intended to be the ultimate crushing insult for a creative. Worse than being a talentless creative is being a petulant, precious one. It implies a fluffyness, a puffy sleeved temperament and an irrational obsession for all the icing on the cake not the sponge and it's intended to cut right... Continue Reading →
From outside the Pharma tent, you could be forgiven for thinking it all just looks like stock-shots and poor typography created by people not talented enough to make it in the big wide consumer world. OK, controversial start. But you and I both know that contrary to perception there is talent in them there hills.... Continue Reading →
ollycaporn's blag 