Thoughts on creativity, Pharma and whatnot
I was once approached to work on a tobacco account. I was freelancing at the time and thinking about getting a 'proper job' but my opinion about Tobacco and the adman's position of guilt free advocacy had changed by then from the one I entered in to the business with. Some people believe, rather like... Continue Reading →
While the world squabbles over the relative merits or otherwise of the John lewis Monty the penguin ad (16 million views) and a certain WW1 footballing (10 million views) spot I thought I'd divert your gaze to Pharmaland's big Christmas campaigns for a quick overview. And I must say this year's crop are laying on... Continue Reading →
This has stood out from my first day in pharmaland as a big difference between health and consumer. The worry that the marketing of a new drug might imply the HCP has been doing it wrong up to now and the (ad) concept might offend their sense of professional pride. And why do we worry... Continue Reading →
Here's a scary thought. Coke isn't actually the real thing. It's not even happiness. And how about this: People are loving lots of things, only one of them is MacDonalds. You can travel yourself interesting with Thomson holidays or even Thomas Cook. And you could probably find a supermarket where you're thinking every little helps... Continue Reading →
In 1991 in the town of New Berlin in upstate New York, Bill Thomas, then a young doctor of just 31, who had previously really only spent time in A&E, took over as medical director of Chase memorial nursing home. When he arrived he was dismayed with the reality of life there, despair oozed from... Continue Reading →
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 →
ollycaporn's blag 