Ingwalson

Denver 50 call for entries

2007-08-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

The call for entries is out. If you missed it, here it is again. And here are the details.

The DBJ on The D50

2007-08-02T12:35:00.000-07:00

The brains behind a new advertising-award program for Denver say the city's ad creators need to crow louder if they want the national recognition they deserve.

That's one goal of "Denver 50," unveiled this month. The project, leading to an award show and book displaying the city's best ad ideas, is being organized under the wing of the New Denver Ad Club, founded in April as a regional advertising professional group after the demise of the Denver Advertising Federation in 2004.

The rest of the article is mostly an interview with Norm Shearer and me. (Blush.) But it's great for the DBJ to give us this coverage. Since the article's print publication last Friday, I've received a couple calls asking me for more information.

The Simpsons, Halloween and other sacred things

2007-08-02T08:02:00.000-07:00

I love Cactus because they blogged the Simpsonization of their entire agency. My own illustrates this post, which is only sort of about The Simpsons.

This post is about messing with the sacred, Which the Simpsons movie certainly does. I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to seeing it or if I'm worried that my favorite show has jumped the shark. (A phrase which has itself jumped the shark.)

For me, Rob Zombie's upcoming reimagining of Halloween is an even bigger concern. The 1978 original is a monument in indie film, horror and urban legend. It's one of the few films to successfully mythologize around the awfulness of fate. And it's scary as hell, without ever getting gory. Zombie is unlikely to take the same approach.

Messing with the sacred pays huge dividends if you do it right. In the world of film, Batman Begins introduced the masses to the real Dark Knight. In the world of advertising, Adidas reclaimed its legitimacy with great work from EVB and 180 Amsterdam.

What the reinventions of Batman and Adidas have in common is that they weren't reinventions at all, but rather a restoration of core values. Batman became the strong shadow of The Long Halloween. Adidas returned to its global athletic roots, which are a couple decades deeper than Nike's, with spots starring worldwide stars like Ian Thorpe and David Beckham.

The lesson is that when you have the opportunity to work on something sacred, you shouldn't superimpose your own values upon it.

I really, really hope Rob Zombie understands that.

The Denver 50: How to enter your idea

2007-07-30T16:55:00.000-07:00

These instructions also live on newdenveradclub.com. But let's get it out there.

About the Denver 50

The Denver 50 isn't about backslapping and gladhanding and plastic pieces of hardware that you can display on your agency shelf. Because advertising in the year 2007 isn't about those things.

Advertising is about ideas. And ideas are bigger than individual executions. Bigger than individuals.

The Denver 50 is America's first idea-centric award show. You submit your idea, and as many executions as you need to illustrate it. Our judges will pick the best 50 ideas. Then we'll put out a book that shows the world just how good this market can be.

Our judges include the very best creative directors from the world's very best agencies.

1. Mike Byrne, CD and partner at Anomaly/NY
2. Kevin Roddy, ECD at BBH/NY
3. Robert Rasmussen, ECD at R/GA
4. Jason Zada, ECD and founder at EVB
5. Mike Lescarbeau, CCO at CarmichaelLynch

How do I enter The Denver 50?

1. Write a 50 to 150-word description of your idea in a Word document.

2. Decide which execution or executions best represent your idea. You could choose a single piece. Or up to 10 executions in an integrated campaign.

3. Optimize the executions you want to submit with your idea according to the specs below.

4. Put all the executions in a single folder with your Word document.

5. Title the folder with the name of your agency and a number. (For instance, the second entry from Thomas Taber + Drazen would be tiltled "TTD2.")

6. Repeat this process for as many ideas as you want to submit to the Denver 50.

7. Burn all your folders to CD-ROM or DVD.

8. Each submission is $100. Make checks payable to the New Denver Ad Club for the appropriate amount.

9. Deliver your disc (or discs) and check to Matt Ingwalson at Karsh/Hagan, 2399 Blake, Denver, CO 80205 or to Ted Morse at Thomas Taber & Drazen, 1610 15th Street, Denver, CO 80202. Submissions must arrive by August 28.

The Rules

Let's keep this simple, shall we?

1. Entries must be submitted by 6:00 pm on August 28, 2007.

2. $100 per entry. Each entry can include one to 10 pieces that represent the idea.

3. The idea must have been created in Colorado.

4. The idea must have debuted publicly between 1/1/06 and 8/28/07. That's 20 whole months worth of work you can submit.

5. Both NDAC members and non-members are eligible.

6. You cannot submit any piece more than once. For instance, do not submit a print ad campaign and then also submit each ad in that campaign separately.

How do I size my files?

Option 1 - Compose a two-minute (or less) slideshow or video about your idea. You can include photos, videos, a voiceover, or whatever you want along with the elements of your idea. This is how they do the Titanium Lions at Cannes. For examples, see canneslionslive.com/titanium.

Option 2 - Follow the instructions below.

1. Print ad, editorial layout, outdoor, logo, poster or other printed piece: Convert your file into a .jpg or .gif. Make it fit within 900x600 pixel space. The total file size must not exceed 1Mb.

2. Video, animation or commercial: Create a 320x240 .flv file. Compress the video at 400Kbps and the audio at 96Kbps. If you'd like to submit a .mov, make sure it is 320x240 and no larger than 4Mb.

3. Website or microsite: Your site must be hosted somewhere for it to be judged. Submit a link to the site. If you choose, you can also submit a screencapture of your idea to demonstrate a key detail, following the requirements for a print ad or poster.

4. Web banners or rich media: Send us your .swf, .gif, .flv or whatever your deliverable was, no larger than 4Mb. If you feel it must be seen in context, you can submit a screencapture.

5. Event, signage, packaging, 3-D piece, environmental or guerrilla activity: Take a photo and then follow the requirements for a print/poster idea. Or take a movie and follow the requirements for a video/spot.

6. Radio spot or audio track: Submit an .mp3. File size must not exceed 2Mb.

7. Something else: Write an explanation in a Word doc and add it to your folder. Be as clear as possible. Include a photo if you like. If this isn't working for you, post a question on this thread.

Shh, there was a Creative Pod meeting last night

2007-07-27T07:50:00.000-07:00

The Creative Pod meeting last night was a little quiet. Maybe the Rockies game across the street jammed up parking. Or maybe people were just saving their energy for tonight's kickball tournament. The upshot was that about eight of us gathered at Thought Equity to watch the latest reel from Lurzer's Archive and discuss the Denver 50.

Tim of Thought Equity volunteered to help us find a venue for our November show. Two folks from Crispin dropped by to let us know they plan to enter. Fueld had some ideas for a viral video. I seem to remember drinking a Blue Moon.

Denver 50 and Creative Pod news

2007-07-26T08:10:00.000-07:00

• The creative pod meets tonight. Here's the details.
• Mike Lescarbeau has signed on to judge the Denver 50.
• Another judge, Rob Rasmussen, is now ECD at R/GA.

Pearl Izumi in Copyranter

2007-07-25T12:52:00.000-07:00

Today Copyranter takes on "We Are Not Joggers."

[D]oes it inspire trial, or just simply make you feel better about being a "runner?" I believe the latter. But, if I didn't yet know the Pearl Izumi name, I know it now. I guess that's something.

The ads were created for Pearl Izumi by Crispin and wearenotjoggers.com was developed by Boulder's texturemedia.

More buzz for iRovr

2007-07-24T17:21:00.000-07:00

iRovr, a social experience created for the iPhone by a TTD developer, is all over the Internet today.

Mashable loves the thinking, but wonders if iRovr can attract a big enough community:

Whether iRovr gains critical mass is doubtful, but this certainly points the way as to how social networks should work on the iPhone.

KillerStartups discusses the features:

Among iRovr's features are photo/video sharing, of course, bookmarking, and blogging. And we cannot forget the user profiles. Every iRovr member gets some ego-space to share his/her deets. Everything is specially attuned to the tiny dimensions of the iPhone screen. New media comes in update streams and you don't even have to access the browser.

Skills Like This wins at SXSW

2007-07-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

Denver director Monty Miranda is winning praise for his first feature, Skills Like This. According to The Denver Egotist:

This may be the first and last time we're ever able to talk about a Denver director and producer making a feature film worth seeing. And not just worth seeing, but one that was the SXSW Audience Award Winner for Best Narrative Feature and premiered at the 61st Annual Edinburgh International Film Festival in Scotland a few weeks ago. Serious, serious props to Director Monty Miranda and Producer Donna Dewey...

Monty directed most of my spots for WOW!. I fully expect to be mentioned in his Oscar speech.

Creative pod meeting on Thursday

2007-07-23T10:56:00.000-07:00

The details:

The Date: Thursday, July 26
The Time: 6:00 pm
The Place: Thought Equity, 1899 Wynkoop

The Gunn Report

Ask a creative about good ads, and without a doubt, we'll whip out an award annual. Our intuition tells us that the stuff we think is cool will work. I mean, for real, if you can get a calloused adman to say, "I wish I thought of that," you should be moving product. Right? But how do you get a number cruncher to trust the intuition of a jean-clad creative? Say it with a Gunn.

Every year, Donald Gunn publishes The Gunn Report. It's a compilation of the award winningest ads from around the world. It's kind of like the holy grail of award shows. While Donald does have the coolest name in the ad game, he's also dedicated his life to uncovering the connection between award-winning work and work that sells.

Brian Wilkens will give a brief talk about Donald's findings.

The Denver 50

The wheels are turning. The judges are stoked. The Denver 50 is well on its way to materializing as an actual award show. Find out the state of The Denver 50's corporealness from El Capitan, Matt Ingwalson.

A Reel

After talking about awesome work, we'll see what it really looks like. Gregg Bergan will stop on by with the latest volume of Lurzer's TV Archive in tow. Cross your fingers for some sexy Brazilian ads.

I've talked with Thought Equity and they intend to have the fridge filled with Blue Moon. That always draws a crowd.

Plug for the iRovr

2007-07-21T12:59:00.000-07:00

I adore agencies like Anomaly for incubating ideas that are outside the realm of traditional advertising. At TTD, we're moving in the same direction. One of our first efforts is iRovr, a social networking application created by one of our developers specifically for the iPhone.

Pigs, pitching and the Denver 50

2007-07-21T12:41:00.000-07:00

I'm not the first person to blog this quote. Or the second, third, fourth, fifth or sixth:

The whole creative process is stupid. It's like washing a pig. It's messy, it has no rules, no clear beginning, middle, or end; it's kind of a pain in the ass, and when you're done, you're not sure if the pig is clean or even why you were washing a pig in the first place.

That goes double for pitching, which Marc Brownstein recently laid into at Small Agency Diary:

I'm not advocating abstinence from dating. It's just that the courting process has gone too far. It's often a waste of an agencies' time to pitch among 12 other shops. Narrow it down, clients! Apply some discipline to the process.

Pure's Gregg Bergan had a good column in The Denver Business Journal not too long ago. He opined that a trip through an agency's portfolio and a long lunch was a better predictor of relationship success than a creative shootout:

Schedule a time to visit each agency. Ask to meet with your entire prospective team and no others. Don't agree to a meeting until all of them can make it. Ask to see a portfolio that represents the work of the actual people who would be on your account. If the agency portfolio includes work of others, you don't want to see it.

OK. But the pitch process survives not only because clients like seeing a bunch of work for free. Creative departments, despite the strain, often love a shootout. It's competitive. Energetic. And win or lose, it gives writers and art directors a whole lot of chances to produce stuff for their books.

When we created the idea for The Denver 50, we all agreed that past award shows thrived on snappy headlines and big egos. And we wanted the New Denver Ad Club's first show to let go of those things and embrace the thinking of agencies like Bartle Bogle Hegarty, Anomaly and StrawberryFrog.

Letting go of the pitch process would take the same sort of willpower.

More buzz for the Denver 50

2007-07-20T10:39:00.000-07:00

This time from the anonymous but dead-on Denver Egotist:

Ideas are cool and this seems like a big one.

Where the truth lies?

2007-07-18T20:34:00.000-07:00

"Where the truth lies," hm? Ashley at Cactus seems in. But that tagline just makes my skin crawl. Another show about grasping creatives, I don't need. Oh, for another Suits.

Adrants on the Denver 50

2007-07-17T09:25:00.000-07:00

Adrants:

Well what do you know. Alex Bogusky Moves to Boulder and Denver launches a new ad club. And that's not all. Properly following America's march toward self esteem-fueled mediocraty where there are no winners and loser only proud participants, the New Denver Ad Club has kicked off an awards competition in which there are no golds, no silvers, no bronzes, no categories and no Cannes-like category shifting to please judges' whimsy.

WOW Phone with Unlimited Long Distance

2007-07-14T14:40:00.000-07:00

Produced and directed by Incite. Geoff Eakin of TTD was the art director.

The Puppet Agency

2007-07-13T13:23:00.000-07:00

So funny I might die. Here's episode three:

New Denver Ad Club show gets blog buzz

2007-07-06T10:12:00.000-07:00

Fort Collins is an R&D Cluster. And Boulder is a Global Village. But that's OK. Denver has the nation's 14th best abs.

Sigh.

As nice as it is to be more washboardy than Jacksonville, we need something that showcases our creative climate on a national scale. Something like, say, this.

What's your Colorado Way of Life?

2007-06-30T13:33:00.000-07:00

Colorado Farm Bureau Insurance's new site gives users a unique way to share their favorite fishing holes, skiing runs and family activities. Coloradowayoflife.com was created by Thomas Taber + Drazen, which is to say I had a hand in it. It's supported by print, poster, out-of-home, brand ambassadors, and a very honest brand statement. Colorado Farm Bureau Insurance has been protecting this state for 55 years.

UPDATE: Print support evolved from last year's campaign.

Marketing 2007, meet Denver 2001

2007-06-24T18:20:00.000-07:00

Ad Age tells us how a viral spot ruled Cannes:

The film winner at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival was Dove's "Evolution" from Ogilvy, Toronto, a 60-plus-second spot that barely qualified for the category. Famous for going viral on the web and garnering more impressions than a Super Bowl ad, it made the cut because someone at one point had the foresight to run it once on TV.

Meanwhile Fast Company reports on Martin's modernization:

The story of how the Martin Agency got its mojo back is not one of some transformational epiphany or monumental business decision. It is a tale of adaptive success, the power of chipping away at a problem until a razor-sharp idea emerges. It's about letting go of industry habit and doing what works now.

And the New Denver Ad Club's 2007 show has been completely restructured to allow judges to rate ideas virtually, without regard to media. (That's right, Ad Age, we're actually doing it.)

Is this some sort of epic change? I don't know. It's how agencies in Denver have been thinking for years. We've always done guerrilla because our clients have never had the budgets to shoot six-figure spots. We've always been media neutral because in Denver a team doesn't get to concept spots and microsites unless it's willing to work on tradeshow booths and direct mail, too.

Denver has the chance to put itself on the map. Partially because of Crispin. And partially because we're good at what the world wants now.

This is where the backlash begins

2007-06-04T12:52:00.000-07:00

The 2007 MTV Movie Awards made me feel ill.

Mike Myer's ironic plug for Pontiac? Gross. The is-it-an-award-or-an-ad segment for Orbit gum? Rude. And the Best Unreleased Movie award, which was nothing more than an excuse to roll trailers? Ick.

Two hours of product placement for brands that never seemed cool or relevant.

I want my MTV back.

The National: What genius sounds like

2007-05-25T12:31:00.000-07:00

There are many creative ads. But even the best present you with Z's that you can easily trace back to A's. Most music is the same way. Great song after great song has been built with familiar chords and proven progressions.

And then there's this.

Boxer is the latest the new album from The National. I haven't any clue how they discovered their Z's. I can't imagine at which A they started. But I know the album elevates our aging - our "uninnocent, elegant fall into the unmagificent lives of adults" - into something tragic and epic.

2004 Denver International Film Festival

2007-05-12T12:55:00.000-07:00

Two of my favorite spots from one of my favorite campaigns. It's been three years since this ran. Time just flies. Ray Page, now Associate Creative Director of Interactive at DDB Seattle, was the art director.

The New Denver Ad Club gets a New Denver Ad Show

2007-05-02T12:15:00.000-07:00

I had breakfast this morning with the team that's putting together the New Denver Ad Club's 2007 award show. I can't give away the details. But we've completely rethought the way advertising gets recognized. And when the Denver book is published, people'll be blown away.

Sod off, ad world

2007-05-01T08:09:00.000-07:00

I wrote "Sod off, ad world" in 2002. Recently I found it floating around my hard drive and decided to publish it here. It's a bit out of date, but still relevant, particularly to marketing directors and ad students. Enjoy.

"If people hate advertising so much, how come I see all these 14-year-olds walking around with swooshes on their shirts?"

Hmm. Curious, isn't it? Anybody else got a question?

"How come some of the best brands in America run ads that don't seem to be selling anything?"

That's a great question, and the answer relates to underwear, but before I go into that, I want to take one more. Anybody?

"How do I use advertising to get people to buy my product?"

Well, that's not just a question. That's the question. Let's take a stab at it.

Why we pee while the commercials are on.

Advertising has been around for millennia. But back in, say, the 1940's, America's mental environment was still relatively uncluttered. There was a certain innocence to advertising back then. "The Kid in Upper 4" was so well-loved that competing railroads hung it in their own stations. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was such a popular Montgomery Ward point-of-purchase piece that it went on become a carol more annoying than any of today's ad jingles. Consumers were enthralled by simple-minded taglines like "It's straight whiskey." Ads seemed kind of neat.

But by the 1960's, advertising had run amok. Businesses were getting away with supply-side marketing. The novelty of advertising wore off and was replaced by consumer boredom. And boredom lead to resentment.

Suddenly a few agencies had an epiphany. Instead of regurgitating their corporate masters' mission statements, the agencies decided they ought to serve as consumers' representative to corporate America. So they put themselves in the shoes of consumers and thought, "If I was looking at this ad, what would I want it to say?"

That process gave birth to some astounding ideas. So the brave agencies took their ideas to some equally brave clients and brilliant, enduring brands like Volkswagen and Avis were born. All because a few folks believed that consumers deserve interesting advertising.

When these creative geniuses took it upon themselves to better the mental environment of America, they inadvertently exposed the heavy-handed totalitarianism of the rest of the marketing community. But not every client got the message. And not every agency had the fortitude to spread the gospel. Today, there are still a few agencies building brilliant brands and a slew of dinosaurs spending obscene amounts of money to push boorish fluff upon the public.

So why do people hate advertising? Because the few good ads they see remind them that the mental environment is violated every day by marketing directors with big budgets and closed minds.

Can we please get to the underwear?

OK, OK, I promised underwear. "Showing your underwear" is industry slang for running an ad with a strategy so transparent a four-year-old could figure it out. To prevent you from complaining that I misled you, I'm now going to write about Victoria's Secret.

Most people in America consider themselves independent. Which essentially means they don't like being told what to think, unless they enjoy what they're being told to think about. Victoria's Secret has the luxury of reminding people to think about sex. My unofficial survey reports that 100% of Americans enjoy thinking about sex.

Victoria's Secret's ads get to show their underwear. Literally. And figuratively.

But most businesses' ads don't. Because most businesses' ads don't carry messages like, "Sex is fun."

Think of it like this. The Socket Wrench Company's marketing director says, "The most important thing about my company is that we’re friendly." So he green lights an ad that reads, "The Socket Wrench Company is very friendly." Maybe there's a smiling receptionist in the ad.

A few days later the ad runs. America yawns.

This ad showed its underwear, and it grossed people out.

What should The Socket Wrench Company have done? Well, let's look at an example. I was leafing through an award show book the other day. I saw an ad that read, "We've had some complaints that Monday was a really long day but we've checked and it wasn't." At the bottom was a picture of a Timex watch.

Funny, yes. But Timex doesn't run ads for fun. So what possible reason could it have for greenlighting this ad? I had to think about it for a few minutes, but then I got it. The ad was laid out in bright white type on a neon blue page. Timex was advertising how easy it is to read its Indiglo watch. Without ever mentioning it. Without giving consumers anything to yawn at. The ad simultaneously engaged consumers and told them about a real, tangible product benefit without ever seeming abrasive or preachy.

Genius.

Another example? Nike ran a TV commercial for women's running shoes that showed a beautiful woman escaping from a chainsaw wielding maniac. It was brilliantly conceived. The overt message - Nikes are fast - was inescapable. So was the subconscious message, though I doubt many people could articulate it. What Nike said under its breath was, "Our shoes help women transform themselves from helpless sex objects into strong, independent heroes."

A great message from a great brand.

The things you want to say the most in your advertising sometimes must be said to the consumer's subconscious. That's why America's best brands occasionally run ads that make you go, "Huh?" They're communicating a product benefit through non-rational channels in order to bypass your predisposition to ignore ads. If a non-marketing person can see your ad and tell you what the strategy behind it is, your ad probably sucks.

Don't show your underwear in your ads. Unless it's really nice underwear with a model inside it.

So I need to start selling lingerie?

Well, sex sells sex. Which makes writing ads for sex pretty darn easy. But if everybody goes into underwear, how am I going to buy that socket wrench I need?

The solution is to find a way to communicate real information about your product to people who are programmed to distrust everything you say.

How do you do that?

I saw a comedian once who lobbed what he called "joke grenades." He'd say something like, "I'm going to get a license place that reads I FORGOT. That way, when I cause an accident..." Then the comedian would shut up. About 10 seconds later, the room would crack up, as everybody realized the implications of the license plate.

Great ads are like that. They tell a story but invite the consumer to finish it. They don't leave too much to the imagination, but they leave enough out there so that consumers can feel like they're part of the club that gets it.

Bingo. Now you have a relationship.

Consumers develop relationships with brands that engage them. It's not easy. If your invitation is turned down, you're screwed. But it's a lot less risky than taking the approach that most companies take, sinking millions of dollars into campaigns that annoy their way into people's heads. Jingle-writers love to talk about how well people recall their ads. Well, I recall the time my dog peed on my pillow. Who cares? What matters is whether people like you.

Any other questions?

"Didn't you just give away all the secrets of being an ad guy? Now all your clients will fire you and write their own ads."

Not likely.

You know that saying, "You can never step in the same river twice"? Well, that's how it is with culture. People's basic desires have stayed pretty static for the last few millennia. But the avenues which people pursue to satisfy those desires change by the hour. The ad guy's job is to tell his clients which avenues people are hanging out in on any given day. And then talk to those people in a language that delights them. Not easy. But fun. Especially, I assume, if your client happens to be Victoria's Secret.