We are delighted to welcome Lor Gold to our Zone and to our blog.
Lor is a marketing and advertising pioneer, a true industry heavyweight with deep experience in all categories.
He joins TimeZoneOne as Chief Global Creative Officer and in so doing he takes a big step from an Old World agency life to a New World agency life of time-shifting, off-shoring, fresh not frozen creative, Skyping, going deep, 24 hour teams and ‘up close’ creative and campaigns.
You can call Lor on 312 436 1448 or email him at lor.gold@timezoneone.com and he can tell you more.
His new TimeZoneOne friends welcome him; we love having him around and know that our clients will too. All the Zoners
PS. Hope you enjoy the video, he ís quite photogenic (oddly).
Its that time of year again when local artists and designers get to show us the best way to wear and model everything from t-bags, insulation pipe, and feathers to fiber optics and plastic bags. The annual wearable art extravaganza originally began in Nelson, New Zealand and has grown from strength to strength. It is hard to describe the award ceremony, a montage of theater, dance, color, movement and art, a theatrical spectacular.
It is not only little old Timezoneone that has a New Zealand/Chicago connection.
Recently Vincent Ward’s new feature Rain Of The Children was selected for the Chicago Film Festival.
It is not the first time that Ward has won in Chicago. In 1980 he won a Silver Hugo at Chicago for his documentary In Spring One Plants Alone. Rain of the Children uncovers the story of an elderly Maori woman who was the subject of Ward’s In Spring One Plants Alone, which he made when he was 21. It showed the life of 80-year-old Puhi who lived in remote bush country looking after her 40-year-old son Niki. Ward lived with Puhi for 18 months but never unravelled the mystery of her life. In the new film, we learn her extraordinary story.
Ward is one of New Zealand’s best known directors and has won international acclaim with a reputation for making films with a unique, deeply human vision. Since his debut feature Vigil(1984), he has directed several well known films – The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988) and Map of the Human Heart, What Dreams May Come (1993), starring Robin Williams, as well as writing the story for Alien 3.
TimeZoneOne is awesome! TimeZoneOne is awesome! TimeZoneOne is awesome! TimeZoneOne is awesome! Not very subtle but true.
While some brands like to advertise themselves the above way others prefer a different tact… subliminal messaging. Whether you believe or not there is small minority out there who think we are being brain washed to buy certain products based on advertisers tapping into the subconscious, of course these are the same people who say the moon landings were faked, that Bigfoot is real, and that JFK is living the high life in Colombia, having said that below is an example brought to you by the believers (TZ1 neither endorses or discredits this argument)…
“Subliminal messaging in advertising usually takes the form of optical illusions. A book called The Secret Sales Pitch - An Overview of Subliminal Advertising argues that optical illusions have been embedded in mass media in order to secretly manipulate consumers since the 1950s. These subliminal messages are extremely provocative, and involve nightmarish monsters as well as many forms of erotica. In addition, pictures with subliminal meanings understood only by your unconscious have secretly aroused your innermost fears and fantasies.
Most subliminal advertising concentrates on one thing… SEX, look at the following set of images as an example…”
Is that the guy’s leg behind Mr Snooker player or his… use your imagination.
What is he holding in his hand, look… then look again.
Do those ice cubes really spell out sex?
While these ones are a touchrude, there is also the down right funny (click to embiggen the image)
Looking at these its easy to say there may be nothing there, yet maybe there is - Benson and Hedges (example 2) were accused in the 70’s of advertising porn rather than product, or maybe subliminal messaging just attracts people with filthy minds, or maybe there are just a bunch of bored ad execs and designers out there looking to have some fun. At the end of the day there is no strong argument for or against subliminal messaging, it is really down to what you choose to believe.
To end off, a less subtle form of subliminal advertising is the product placement that happens in movies - from gratuitous close ups of Iron Man’s Omega Watch to the less obvious placement of Ford Expedition Cars in the Dark Knight (apparently the Joker’s Henchmen drive them). Here is a humourous look at how shameless advertising in movies can be…
No matter how good your creative is if there is no emotional connection between product and consumer/client then chances are they aren’t going to buy it.
For an agency finding that connection can be a never ending quest. “Just Do It” is a phrase that has haunted agencies around the world since the 70’s as every client wants what Nike has and doesn’t understand why it isn’t an easy task to replicate that success. On the flipside sometimes it just clicks and generally it is the first idea you have which is the best, then comes the really hard part… trying to sell it in.
Advertising is all about the pitch, whether it been in the boardroom between agency and client or between the consumer and whatever form of advertising they are interacting with. The pitch can make or break a sale and most people in the business agree to make people really stand up and listen you need to tell a great story.
People love real-life stories, so telling your client a story about someone who identifies directly with their product including how their product can/will help them is bound to win points. A client/consumer needs to see the product in action, and the more exciting and emotive (yes, pour on the sugar) you can make it the better.
Obviously this isn’t the only thing which will “Just do it” for the client or the consumer, however it won’t hurt to invest time in making the product you are trying to sell real.
To round this off here is a bit of “pitch” magic from the TV series Mad Men demonstrating how a great story can really bring a product alive, in this case the Kodak slide projector...
I think it is the most powerful tool for inspiration and possibly destruction, so to round the week off (or get it started) heres a few things that excite and inspire me:
