If Advertizing is all about engaging into conversations through meaningfull "experiences", then it's not really about the ads is it ?  So where are the 'ads' in 'advertising' ? Is it still a meaningfull terminology that covers the art of connecting Brands to consumers ?  Just my thought of the day really.

Just read a nice article on Cnet with Craig Mundie talking to how he and Ray Ozzie prepare the future of Microsoft in a 'post-Bill Gates' era. Or how to move swiftly into the world of cloud-based services. 

Further to my earlier post I am proud to distribute some of the cool trade marketing work they did in Belgium. Let's bring the love back.

 
Video: The Break Up

Two weeks ago I was due to go to Budapest for the judging of our third annual Creative Awards. As things go in life: those you want most are most difficult to get to... So Murphy showed up with a last minute urgency and I had to send a replacement to join the fun group of creative directors having a blast - and hot debates - in Budapest.  Quick stats: impressive 327 entries were received, 30% more than last year. However, only nine awards were given, from a possible 15, across five categories. It's been a tough judging panel and I like that. They felt that the quality of some entries did not stand up to the level of innovation that we have seen in past years. So fewer awards and no best in show award being given. There was a sense at the judging that the lack of innovation across some categories was down to increasing pressures on digital creatives to get work done and online, with less time available for real innovation to be demonstrated and shine through.  The following campaigns stood out and received the recognition they deserved from the judging panel:

• Consumer Goods/FMCG:  Clean and Clear’s ‘Get Your Face Out There’ Windows Live Messenger campaign, entered by Tribal DDB London, scooped the silver award in the Consumer Goods / FMCG category for its focus on interactivity and its relevance and appeal to the target teenage girl audience. Bronze was awarded to Carat and iChameleon for the Guinness Hands campaign. There was no gold award given in this category.
• Telecoms, Media and Entertainment:  Gold was awarded to Lean Mean Fighting Machine for the extremely well executed Virgin Games Casino campaign. The concepts behind the ads were praised for their humorous appeal and effectiveness. The judges did not feel that any of the other campaigns sufficiently pushed the boundaries of creativity to merit second or third prize in this category.
• Travel and Transport: BBDO Oslo and MediaFront in Norway scooped the Gold award in this hotly debated category. Awarded for its Christmas Campaign for Widerøe Flyveselskap, the campaign was praised for its tongue in cheek tone and broad appeal. Silver went to Glue London for its Da Vinci code for Eurostar campaign. The creative use of a series of different executions resulted in an engaging, visible and highly memorable campaign. The Bronze award went to Agency.com in Belgium for its humorous Fake Events campaign for Eurostar.
• Financial Services: Financial services brands are embracing online more than ever before but the awards given this year demonstrate there is still a way to go before this sector totally embraces the creativity of online. The judges awarded bronze to Glue London for its Say Yes campaign for Virgin which sets the precedent for other brands to embrace creativity in this sector.
• As with the Telecoms, Media and Entertainment category there were no gold or silver awards given.
• Charity/NGO: There was a vast improvement in the campaigns entered into this category and those awarded are raising the standards for others to push creativity and innovation in this sector. Silver was awarded to Lean Mean Fighting Machine for its COI Anti Smoking campaign and the innovative and engaging use of interactivity. Two bronze awards were given too – one to Glue London for the Royal Navy recruitment campaign, and the other to Euro RSCG 4D Digital for its Paranoid campaign for the Department of Communities and Local Government.

As always all winning campaigns were awarded with cash prizes and all Gold winning campaigns will be entered into the coveted 2007 Cannes Cyber Lions Awards and their creators invited to the festival, which Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions is sponsoring for the sixth year running.

THANKS to all judging members, Joakim Borgstrom (Chairman) - Wieden + Kennedy, Ben Clapp – Tribal DDB London, Benjamin Przespolewski – Duke, Flo Heiss – Dare, Georg Lauble – McCann Erikson, Johan Kruse – Daddy, Martin Kristensen – Framfab, Sicco Beerda – Euro RSCG, Simon Waterfall – Poke, Daniele Busi – DDB Milan, Vincent Jansen – i-Merge, Vidar Singh - Bates. And thanks to David Pugh-Jones and Emma Newman from our teams for standing in for me :-)

Most of the time this is obviously a great job. But you have these moments when it is even greater than great. When you get totally excited with a new concept, a brilliant presentation or idea - or like this case: a great marketing campaign that will help us sell the story in a unique way. On top originated in my own little country.

A long time ago I saw a proposal from Openhere to help us address the debate around connecting Brands and Consumers in the most effective way. Of course it is all about changed consumer behavior and how Brands need to reinvent the way they engage in true conversations with their consumers. Real conversations, 'talk with' not 'talk at'. The idea was to make an “internet movie” and the story board was very spot on. I see a lot of great ideas every month but between the idea and the realization some practical limitations prevent us from doing all of them. Budget being one of them…

So this is what happened: the local Trade guy Geert relentlessly kept pushing & pushing this until we found the budget, the creative agency got geared and delivered the script and everything that is needed to shoot a great video – and before we knew it Geert spent some time on a shooting in California.**

The outcome is “spot” on – I love it. I’ll use it till my audiences are tired of it.

‘The Break-Up' – soon available on www.bringtheloveback.com -  is about the relationship between an advertiser and a consumer. They've agreed to meet in a restaurant. The man's feeling perfectly happy, until the woman makes a painful announcement: she wants a divorce. In the course of their conversation she makes it clear to him why she is leaving him. And he makes it very clear that he doesn't have an empathic bone in his body. At the end of the movie the woman walks away disappointed but determined. The advertiser stays behind alone. Go and have a look….

The credits: the movie was shot with production house Caviar in a restaurant on Sunset Boulevard in LA. The director is Ben Zlotucha, a young director whose short film 'A Little Light' won many awards at big American film festivals. The casting director was Alyssa Weisberg, who rose to fame in Hollywood with her casting work for top series 'Lost'. And the leading actors are not exactly what you call unknown either: both Brad Raider (the male lead) and Claire Coffee (the female lead) have been in a couple of episodes of CSI- Crime Scene Investigation. First and not last:  Creative Directors: Stef Selfslagh, Stijn Gansemans & Copywriter: Stef Selfslagh

**And having said all of this: after I saw the first pictures some weeks ago now I understood completely why Geert spent all that time on this shoot. I agree they are blue eyes that kill. A lot of people would volunteer for the sequel , Geert. See, isn’t this the old age trap for marketers: "just sign up for our 30” spot concept and join us on the shoot on a beach in Venezuela…"   All yoking apart: Congrats to all involved. Real good stuff !

A late thought on what I heard on Mothers day. Bear with me. "Manager" as in "the one who controls the horse" - "to handle" - from Latin for hand "manus". As also per French 'manège'  "horsemanship" - the one handling the horses and 'ménage' - the household, "management of a household, domestic establishment"

... Or how close management of a business or management of the household neatly are tied together. Mothers as the ultimate managers.

Did an interview with last PUB Magazine last week and was rereading the article. It said I was traveling from "Norway to Namibia". Seger Bruninx - by the way an old class mate (let me call a spade a spade: a drinking brother!) at University of Leuven when we were still eagerly debating Yeats' "words for music perhaps" and the meaning of allegorical symbols in medieval poetry - likes a little alliteration once in while so I forgive him the fact that it doesn't do completely justice to the reality... unfortunately I have never been to Namibia. But it sounded very nice and it served the point.

An hour ago I was waiting in Copenhagen airport for my plane to Seattle during a two hours delay ("we are currently replacing the brakes" - well, please take your time...!). The usual stuff - meeting couple of clients & colleagues in the lounge all on their way to SAS, our annual Strategic Account Summit bringing 1000 customers to Seattle for a 2 days seminar about online business. I like SAS lounges, cool meat pie and excellent cookies, I like Danish people in general by the way - it's the ideal mix of Nordic elegance while still feeling that 'continental' connectedness. Anyway (!), I get this call from somebody saying I haven't updated my space for a long time, and "why is that?". So that obviously set me thinking. I don't like to be taken off guard. It's bloody true. What can I say ? I have spent some days at home working in my garden ? I have been working in London for couple of days and they kept me busy day and night ? I have been tied up in business planning work for the last 3 weeks ? In fact all of it is true. So I promised to post stuff once I get to Seattle.

I could have had some very inspirational ideas on flight SK937 to Seattle but the brutal reality of business travel to Seattle is the following (aha ! an insight in the world of a regional sales director flying over the Atlantic):

• for a start I am lucky with my neighbor. must be chronically tired because slept all the way - and not snoring. good. for once not a Microsoft guy who keeps me busy on CRM for two hours (I love Dynamics though!) - my other side neighbor is a pretty female engineer working for Boeing and studying for a test to get her next promotion (well, I am making that up but she looks very intense and her papers say in big fat bold letters "Boeing proprietary" and it has a lot of funny schedules that look like part of the engines - as far as I can see). ok - I like watching people.
• I clean mail. I do ! 937 to go. and my enthusiasm grows with the number of deleted items going up and my outbox growing. what a kick when I get to the hotel and see that swarm of email with brilliant thoughts and snappy replies going out.
• I watch the movies I would never watch. Music and Lyrics IS hilarious and a waste of your precious time. I wonder how many times you can recycle Hugh Grant. And I love to tell my Kids "Shrek 2, sure seen that". In a similar way I discovered Ice Age 1 and 2 over the Atlantic. Can we have one benefit of traveling, please ?   
• I read briefings. I now know my over engineered schedule for the next 4 days by heart and I have read everything you want to know about the customers & agencies I am going to have breakfast with, lunches, dinners... you name it. The questions they will probably ask, the stuff I need to bring up, the customers they handle and the revenue they make with us. We have fantastic people preparing all this and I do hope they see the immense value of their work.
• Listened to the new Norah Jones - and SAS has this lovely Channel 15 called 'pure vinyl' ("Dad, what is Vinyl ?"), Nena 99 Red Balloons  (sic), B-52s Love Shack (reminds me of those hilarious scenes in the Commitments), Vanilla Ice, Level 42, ....love it, pure nostalgia :-)

I'll land in 30 minutes. drive to the hotel. shower. go to the welcome reception and afterwards go attend a dinner with some UK customers. we would not do it if we would not love it. and afterwards I'll post this, phone my family while they're having breakfast. and go to bed. another 24 hours has passed. the world is flat.