If you speak to any blooded planner, they can provide an example of when they have briefed work in to the creative department and the output is void of any of their intial strategic thinking . Likewise, I am positive that I can speak to any fully fledged creative and they can recall a project where their creativity has been stamped out completely by rigourous strategic guard rails. 

Whatever side of the fence you fall on, creative or planning, I hope you don't experience too many of these instances because when we work in harmony, and the relationship is truly sembiotic, some really cool ish can be made!

Diesel's latest ad is a case in point.The ad turns a simple, yet connective and universal insight, into something exciting, playful and, dare I say it, aspirational.

The insight: People often buy clothes that they will wear once or twice then return. This is usually because they just want to wear it for something specfic, but don't want it long term. Now, you are probably wondering why any clothing brand would want to highlight this fact, let alone glorify it. Indeed, it is a pervasive behaviour that costs clothing brands a lot of money but as the saying goes, "if you can't beat them, join them!". 

No one brand has the power to stop people wearing and returing clothes, and in all honesty, any who tried would probably come off worse for their effort. With that in mind, Diesel are saying "if you are going to borrow any clothes, why not our clothes". This move makes the brand connect with their target audience by showing them that they understand them, while putting the brand in their consideration set . Not everyone is going to return your clothes and the first step it's getting them to buy them in the first place, right?! The call to action "Enjoy Before Returning" will also help people think twice about returning their clothes.  By making this behaviour permissible, they might focus on loving these items instead of returing them, or naturally wear them into a condition that can't be returned. Either way, the brand wins.

Well, enough of my rationalisation, see the beautiful love child of planning and creativity for yourself.

https://www.adsoftheworld.com/media/film/diesel_enjoy_before_returning

I have been seeing this ad from Adidas Originals around the way and am falling in love with it more and more.

Showcasing the sports brand’s new trainers ‘supercourts’, this ad breaks from tradition by heroing used trainers as opposed to boxfresh versions of these newbies.

Clearly leaning into how people use these types of trainers in real life, adidas have accepted that clean doesn’t always mean cool for every young person. Using the line ‘Made with care. Worn without’ the ad explores the different ways people end up wearing out their trainers.

The creative demonstrates how scrapes, scuffs, and creases on trainers are welcome for those individuals who see the ‘worn’ look as appealing and will actively seek to “ruin” their new trainers.

It’s similar to our current obsession with jeans with rips and holes, imperfection is perfection.

They are playing with this ad on the gram with story polls asking if you are boxfresh or a ‘worn out’ person which is a nice way to engage the other half of consumers who are all about “fresh crepes” (fresh trainers).

In short, brilliant insight with such broad appeal!

Made With Care. Worn Without

Cancer Research UK are using a clever shortcut in their new campaign. Leveraging our ingrained associations between smoking cigarettes and increased chances of cancer, Cancer Research are able to easily and immediately communicate a similar message around the correlation between obesity and cancer.

Clever. Simple. Effective.

What other brand comes to mind when you see this Heinz ad below?



I’m guessing you said Corona, right?

In Canada, for this year's Victoria Day, Heinz Ketchup and agency Rethink whipped up this clever ad—a clear reference to Corona and its famous lime-wedge-in-the-bottle. The line at the bottom reads, "Eat responsibly."

In Canada, the coming long weekend is associated with people drinking copious amounts of alcohol. Heinz wanted to get involved in the festivities, but when food isn’t the focus they needed as smart way to make themselves relevant to the occasion.

So why not piggy back on a brand that is always welcome when it comes to chilling out in the sun? The best thing about this is is that there are no losers, only winners. Both brands are getting important share of mind during this important consumption occasion.

Even Corona showed their love when they got involved on social. This is post was so reactive and fuelled the conversation.












For me, this is a brilliant example of the power of KBAs and how they can used to deliver your comms message in a simple, yet impactful way.


I love it!

A lot of heritage brands have sonic trademarks and identities that have become invaluable brand codes (KBA’s). They can employ these audible properties in their comms and across their various touchpoints to drive brand salience and instantaneously cut through in our system one world.

When it comes to these audio signatures, Coke have so many. From their infamous jiggle “I’m loving it”, to the sound the bottle makes when you open it.

While the latter isn’t technically ownable, it is still so distinctive. The brand over the years has managed to inextricably connect these natural, category sounds to their brand, so now when you hear them there is only one curvy bottle that appears in the mind’s eye.

Not one to miss a trick when it comes to playing with their audio assets, Coke hero them in their latest campaign which plays on Synesthesia - a sensation produced in one modality when a stimulus is applied to another modality, as when the hearing of a certain sound induces the visualisation of a certain colour.

A new campaign for the European market from David Miami banks on the idea that the sight of a bubbly glass of Coke will have an synesthetic effect on consumers--so that by merely looking at the ads, they’ll be able to “hear” them.

The effort features a series of close-up shots of the soda in a glass, an opener prying the cap off a Coke bottle, a finger lifting the tab off a can. The copy then “baits” viewers: “Try not to hear this.”

The campaign is running across multiple markets in Central and Eastern Europe, on billboards, magazines and newspapers.

“With this campaign we are aiming to activate that sensorial memory from our consumers, challenging them to hear an image for the first time, finishing our ad in their heads,” says Camilla Zanaria, Coca-Cola Content Lead of Central and Eastern Europe.

Check it out here; https://adage.com/creativity/work/coca-cola-try-not-hear/2166866

As part of the army's broader campaign to show how negative stereotypes about young people can be assets in the army, I saw this on the gram this morning.

Now, I haven’t been privy to the insight behind this, or any of the thinking, but based solely on the ad I can assume it was something like this...

“People who constantly share selfies are confident about who they are and are very sure of themselves. These are qualities that the army hold in high regard so they should consider a career in the armed forces.”

If this is indeed the logic, I am afraid I don’t buy it.

There are a number of reasons why “selfie addicts” take a lot of selfies and at the root isn’t always confidence. Taking selfies is the norm on social channels, so it doesn’t always require a huge amount of confidence to take them. It could just relate to the behavioural principle of “social norming” - everyone is taking selfies, so should I.

Also, people who take a lot of selfies might just be vain. Vanity isn’t interchangeable with confidence, certainly not the confidence you need in the army where vanity is likely to hold you back. Rolling around in the mud and not showering for days isn’t something I can imagine Kim K enjoying, can you?

Finally, some people who share selfies all the time are not confident at all and in fact have very low self esteem. They take selfies to gain likes as a way to boost their self confidence.

So while I like how the army is trying to make their creative ‘relevant’ for social media and it speaks to broader, younger demographic, for me it doesn’t fully understand selfie culture so makes their call to action a little tenuous.

In today’s fractured and ever-growing media landscape, attention is in short supply. It's a commodity that comes at a high price and has an extremely short shelf life. Brands are not only competing with others brands in this mobile-first world, they are competing an influencer's latest selfie.

So, how do brands draw the consumers’ gaze away from their digital looking glass, especially when what you have to offer can’t always deliver that same immediate dopamine hit as crushing some candy?

Well, you work with their normal behaviour and “appear” to support their digital addiction.

Shops across the pond have started to install phone chargers in-store. People can walk in to charge their life-support devices free of charge. This is a clever tactic. Not only do you appear to understand the consumer and their need to be constantly connected, so adding real value to their lives, you are simultaneously removing a massive barrier to the consideration of your offering in the process.

While two-thirds of shoppers feel panicked when their phone battery is running out, people are increasingly grateful for moments when they can actually switch off. ChargeItSpot’s kiosks offer to solve both problems for shoppers, while also benefiting the retailers as it gives them a more engaged, relaxed customer. Meanwhile, providing the service can also help brands make a bigger impression on customers: "You stay in their minds because they’re going to remember you helped them out," says Cisco Seader from InCharged, which manufactures chargers and locker solutions.