Good but not that good

We sold a car on the weekend. It all ran pretty smoothly. But was it really such a good experience that we needed to fill in five questionnaires?

On brand or off?

I was involved in a very interesting discussion today about whether or not particular pieces of work in a creative review session were off brand.

Technically they were. But I argued that the question of whether or not they were off brand needed clarification.

Why?

Because an agency’s definition of on brand is often very different to the client definition.

And if you drill down further the definition will probably vary between suits and creatives at an agency. As well as between clients in marketing and the people working in the client legal department.

For a creative person the brand is communicated through so much more than just a bunch of mandatories attached to the back of the brief.

A creative believes that a brand is expressed through tone of voice, emotion, expression and relevance to the consumer.

Agency suits may also follow this belief but if pushed will also say that use of a designated font or stylistic device makes something on brand.

Clients tend to follow the same definition as agency suits but with a strong focus on fonts logo treatments etc.

When I began my career it wasn’t like this. Well not always.

It used to be that agencies, their creative people and clients were all pursuing a similar goal. To connect and communicate with the consumer.

So what’s changed and why is the definition of on brand so variable?

The legal department.

Their primary aim is to ensure that nobody can possibly take offence and to protect intellectual property.

This stifles creativity. It also stifles communication.

Body copy and headlines riddled with asterisks, registration marks and the ubiquitous TM is not conducive to communication or conversation.

But legal people demand it. Clients comply with it. And agency creatives have to give in to it or find ways to work around it.

Which is why a headline that I believe is on brand is deemed off brand.

Not because it’s actually off brand but because some guy whose expertise is law not marketing or communications says so.

Oops!

Hat tip to Y2.

Early urban spam

I always thought that ambient advertising and urban spam were relativly recent ideas.

By recent I mean the last 20 years.

Turns out advertising has been invading public spaces for a lot longer than I realised.

Back in 1930 a Barcelona wine merchant used a rolling drum and stencil to advertise his wares on the pavement.

Unlike today's interuptive advertisers he didn't use paint.

He used water!

Which meant that after a while his messaging disappeared.

Environmentally sensitive advertising. In the 1930s.

Who'd have thought?

Headline of the week

Obviously this ad predates the war on terror. Then again maybe the client just had a warped sense of humour. Who knows!

Not waving, drowning

Well folks it had to happen eventually. I'm surfing the Google Wave.

At least I would be if I knew what the hell to do with it.

I feel a bit like a pommy backpacker at a surf school in Bondi staring at the Wave but with no idea how to ride it.

If you're already on the Wave get it touch. My username is branddna.johnson

Another design dies

The much delayed myki public transport ticketing system will be launching shortly in Melbourne.

Once it takes hold we'll probably be saying goodbye to travelcards and tickets.

Another little piece of Australia lost forever.

Yeah I know it's dumb to get nostalgic about tram tickets but someone somewhere spent time designing them you know.

And as Paul Smith says, you can find inspiration in everything. Even bus and tram tickets!

If you don't believe me click here and check this wonderful collection of ticketing memories.

Play with Penguin

I think you'd have agree that it's almost impossible not to love the classic styling of Penguin books.

So you can imagine how keen I am to get my hands on The Great Penguin Bookchase.

That's bookchase by the way not bookcase.

And guess what - It's a boardgame!


Pretty clever huh?

Click here to learn more and order one for yourself.

Watch me!

Somehow, don't ask me how, this blog has managed to scrape into the Top 50 marketing blogs to watch in 2010 list.

There are some big names on the list too including the likes of Chris Brogan, Seth Godin and Drew McLellan.

Click here to go take a look.

Where's the good stuff?

I went up to Sydney for an award show last week.

As usual many of the winners had me feeling a little envious.

But the next day, as I sat waiting 5 1/2 hours for my delayed flight home, I got to thinking;

Why are award shows the only place to see great work?

Sure we get the occasional moment of brilliance in our media, but for every great piece there are 100 duds.

Actually make that more than 100 duds.

So what do we as an industry need to do to improve the quality of our work?

Even just a little bit.

Seriously shake proof

Anyone who's ever travelled in Asia is sure to be familiar with these ramshackle three wheeler taxis.

Sure they might look cute in photos but they're a pretty bumpy ride.

Which is why putting an ad for a seriously steady camera on top of them is such a good idea.

If you can get a great shot from the back of one of these babies you can get a great shot just about anywhere.

Top stuff from Saatchi's Jakarta.

Nice tagline too - Seriously shake proof.