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How we will refer to the causality dilemma moving forward is clearly up for debate.

I don’t think there needs to be much else said, other than to watch the intro video, then spend a little bit of time checking out some of the amazing ideas for big brands contained within. If you do any work for any of these clients, make sure they see this and then encourage them to participate. For what is essentially pocket change to any of the world’s top 100 brands they could get immense publicity from supporting a cause like this. Go Robin! (and Little John too).

“The greatest assistance I had in building my company was the total failure of nerve on the part of Western businessmen to move without research.”

And also Steve Jobs:

“It’s not the public’s job to know what they’re going to want. It’s my job to know what they’re going to want.”

We do a lot of research, but I can’t help sympathizing with both thoughts above. That doesn’t mean I disagree with research (which would be pretty silly for me), but I’ve seen my fair share of the wrong kind of research. In previous jobs, I’ve seen research used to dumb down breakthrough ideas and make them more mainstream. I’ve seen research be used to justify a client firing an agency; I’ve seen researchers saying that they were able to measure the effectiveness of an ad by having a few people look at a storyboard.

However, I’ve also seen research provide insights to doctors to improve the way they work with cancer patients. I’ve seen people crying in research as they discuss the difficulties of raising “problem kids”. I’ve seen lightning bolt insights about brands that come from observing people in bars or on cruise ships (yeah, those are the best projects).

What I’m saying in a round about way is that research gets a bad rap as the enemy of creative purity…as if asking people to share an opinion sullies the integrity of an idea. That’s BS.

To research or not isn’t the question. There’s always a  time, a place and a way to make research great - the good researchers know that and the best clients too.

These races against similar products inevitably produce a battle of differentiation (messaging, colorways, sponsors). Ultimately, the winner will harness an element of distinction its competition can’t match. I’ll propose Nike’s getting there with the below video. Always attentive to its ownership of the convergence between athletics and pop culture, Nike produced a video with the help of a couple Japanese DJ’s (not going to pretend I have the street cred to elaborate) that while absurd, highlighted the core attribute of its Nike Free shoe (next-to-natural flexibility) in a way that resonates with runners and peaks the interest of those profitable fashion-forward sneakerfreaks.

This is a challenge to rethink the way we communicate our most important attributes. Re-imagine how our targets experience the benefits we shout from the rooftops. Turn a simple function into art and in one down-beat, beat down the competition.

While I stand behind this thought when brainstorming, we rarely ask consumers to be uncomfortable do we? The best innovations are nearly always those that might seem revolutionary, but really require very little change in behavior.

So maybe we should be looking at discomfort in a couple of ways. First - as ideators, if we experience discomfort, why is that? Can we figure out a way to make consumers feel more reassured? I think of this kind of discomfort as a challenge to work around…it’s a good thing. Second, any good new product idea needs to provoke a reaction, otherwise how is it going to break the status quo and sustain itself? So maybe we should harness some of that discomfort and use it to our advantage. All this said, a good bit of healthy fear keeps us on our toes, as this brilliant clip shows, but it’s respecting and using that fear that matters. Thanks to Toph for the clip.

For many of the world’s men, the airtight equation for camaraderie consists of one or both of these addends: beer and sport. The summation quite often includes both in the case of a big game. THE big game. Such as the UEFA Champions League game between AC Milan and Real Madrid football teams.

In a brilliant activation strategy,  Heineken Italy proposes that the “most sacred time men have left” is at risk, then devised a stunt to call out the increasing influence external factors have in pulling a fan away from his set (and his buddies, and, well, a profitable beer occasion). More narration will only act as a spoiler, so spend a few minutes with this excellent case study to see how, ultimately, Heineken went viral, celebrated the sanctity of male bonding and created authentic engagement with its brand.
Cheers to the weekend.

When I used to work in the agency world, clients would often refer to some of their advertising as “branding spots” vs. work that had a more concrete, rational claim or “sales” approach. This distinction always bothered me, because it implies that communication that centers on creating a feeling or stirring an emotion is less persuasive in making a sale than messaging that presents more rational evidence of uniqueness. Ideally, the most effective work does both (like Volvo, Cadbury Gorilla), but sometimes a beautifully filmed idea can simply work by creating a positive feeling of goodwill around a brand.

In the case of this wonderfully shot ad for Pedigree dog treats, I not only starting thinking about the brand in a different way, but also about dogs in a new way (elegant, emotional, so expressive). Such a great ad and no need to mention the “nutritional goodness” or other nonsense to make the spot “more believable.” The sheer vitality of the dogs says everything. This great work is from TBWA in Toronto.

Personally, I think the best brands know who they’re talking to and who they are not talking to, recognizing that getting the message really right for their true audience might mean offending the others….and boy, does this new campaign do both.