Why can’t our political campaigns be half as interesting?

Barack Obama’s multi-million dollar campaign has generated huge interests around the globe. One, because of the money splurged in times like these. And two, for the way they have managed to splurge the money to build Brand Obama – through an amazing 360 approach that's way better than some of the finest brand campaigns in the recent past.

It doesn’t matter if you want Obama or McCain to get to the White House. Just for the sake of sheer curiosity just visit barackobama.com and check out the way his campaign has panned out. It’s simply brilliant.

Just for starters, for those who haven't seen Obama's campaign, here's a video which takes off on the famous ‘Wassup’ spot for Budweiser that appeared 8 years ago. The cast is the same and they’ve got the same director to direct this video. I bet you'll love it.

Now, to my question: Can our political parties create something as rivetting or better? My take is they can. Considering, they give that job to professionals and not botch it up themselves.

What do you think?

Posted by Murali

10.04pm: The best time to ideate?

Researchers studying Eureka moments have concluded that, most creative people get their bestestest ideas at night. And believe it or not, after studying 1426 adults, the surveyors unearthed 10.04pm as the ripe moment for getting a brainwave. The study spewed one more insight – people feel least inspired at office hours. They feel creatively zonked at 4.33pm!

If you ask me, all I can say is, I am amused. I mean, how the hell did the MR guys pin down respondents into citing a specific time? My instinct says that these specifics were thrown in to sex-up the study and to create a viral-value around the research. So we should take it with a chamach of namak.

Anyways, do you agree with their basic premise that creative juices gush after dark? In my case, it's a resounding YES. I can't think for nuts at office. I splurge my work time on finishing off the menial tasks. I don my thinking cap at late night or early morn. To tell you the truth, my bulb glows only between 11pm and 8am.

I have a theory to explain this: Most of us download our ideas from the Thotmosphere which is an invisible server with zillions of terabytes of pre-cooked thoughts, concepts, theories, notions, models and ideas..The Thotmosphere faces a network clog during the day time because so many clueless sods are downing their byte torrents. But during night time, half the world has switched off their brains. Therefore you have a greater chance of zippy downloads :-)

Now, I am not gonna ask you, your take on my silly theory. All I am gonna pose is a simple question: When do YOU get your kickass ideas?

Posted by Anantha

TRIPPIN

The thrill of it…

Is in making a plan to not make plans.

Is in getting on a bike at 11:30 in the night and not knowing what your destination is going to be.

Is in driving a hundred and fifty kilometers with the fuel indicator on empty because your chilled out buddy thinks…Hmm the fuel gauge is probably broken. Probably.

Is in knowing that somebody up there that likes you, because your bike runs out of fuel, bang in front of a petrol pump.

Is in defying the dead silence by screaming like a freak of nature in the middle of the night as you pass through abandoned roads, with only your headlights to break through the darkness and dissipate paranoid thoughts of serial killers jumping out of the bushes.

Is in feeling like a freaking genius because you thought of the perfect thing to say to your grandma who called up at 1:30 in the morning to find out where you are.

Is in stopping 35 times in the middle of nowhere, when all the sane people are fast asleep, 20 of which were to pee by the way.

Is in cracking a joke and bravely laughing like madmen at each stop…for at this moment you believe that you’re the scariest FU*%@R out there.

Is in sipping chai at a hill station at 3:30 in the morning. Because that was what this whole trip was for. One single cup of chai in the freezing cold.

Is in priceless moments and laughter shared with your gang atop a hill, as you sit on a ledge and gaze at the lights shining below of a city that has refused to sleep just like you.

Is absolutely in returning home just in time to watch the sunrise from the only place in the world you would rather be right now. Your bike.

Is in smiling like an idiot as you reminisce about the night you’ve just had. Knowing that even if just for a night, you and your buds know exactly what it feels like to be a ROCKSTAR.

Here’s to…
The open road.
My buddies.
My brothers.

Cheers.

Posted by Shane

Those Amazing Men & Their Blockbuster Commercials

There are ad men who become movie makers.

And there are movie makers who turn ad men.

Of the second species, you may not know many.

Ridley Scott may come to mind.

Off the cuff, I can think of Manoj Night Shyamalan & Gurinder Chaddha.

UK-based website Shiznit has compiled a super list of Top 10 Coolest Commercials by Movie Directors.

Here you can see the work of directors of Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Mullholand Drive, Birth, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Insider, Man on Fire and Se7en.

Most of it is jaw-dropping stuff.

Like the bullet-time shot staged in 1996 much before the Wachowski Brothers had even imagined becoming screenwriters.

Go watch.

For the sheer pleasure of it.

Posted by Anantha.

If you ain’t seen Rhett & Link, you ain’t seen cool comedy as yet

Folks, these guys are something else. Really. Rhett and Link are a hot comedy duo to have come out of the US of A. Being new generation yuppies, they have naturally taken to You Tube with their awesome music videos that have absolutely hilarious lyrics. And they also have been voted as one of the most popular netizens around the world.

They can create viral campaigns for your brand. Like this one for Microbilt. A company that provides small businesses with risk management solutions.

Or just create something wacky. Like this one for internet overload.

Or, create music from a rant. Like this one from an American Idol farewell speech.

Enjoy.

Posted by Murali

Join The Conversation

Join the Conversation
By Joseph Jaffe
(Wiley Books)

I’ve heard Joseph Jaffe talk. And he writes like he talks. A lot.

This is a book about the wave of new media that is sweeping the world and how marketers can learn to cope with it. Consumers are having conversations and brands need to find ways to join in. That’s the gist.

I did find the “conversational” style of writing a bit irritating simply because it makes the volume needlessly thick.

But I loved the book. Here’s why:

1. Most seminar speakers at new media conferences are just trend watchers. They just commentate. Jaffe is different. He is a trend creator. He keeps trying new things and tells us what he’s learnt. May his tribe increase.
2. This is a field where the knowledge changes every month. And very few have the courage to write a book on a subject where the content is perishable. Jaffe is brave. He puts out ideas that run the risk of being outdated rather soon.
3. It is loaded with lengthy stories about recent Internet phenomena like Fedex furniture, Coke-Mentos shows and more.
4. Jaffe is provocative. I learnt some things by disagreeing with him.

As a creative guy, I read his earlier book “Life after the 30 second Commercial” with a sneer on my face. A year later I found my agency new film reel had shrunk. That’s why I fully understood the import of “Join the Conversation”.

I tell you this - read both the books quickly if you want to be on the bus. And understand his next one.

I’m sure he’s wrapping up new tome.

As I said in the beginning, Jaffe has a lot to say.

Posted by Thomas

Just a pretty face – or can it launch a thousand ships?

A slight shift in the eye moment of the model can make all the difference between whether someone reads the ad or not... Apparently staring into my soul will not make me buy the product. Here is an interesting article on how a beautiful woman will definately stop you in your tracks, but will she be able to pass on your message; that’s the trick you can learn here.

http://www.grokdotcom.com/2007/10/04/how-a-pretty-face-can-push-visitors-away

Posted by Monica

Research kills good work

I’ve always believed that research has an uncanny ability to crush good ideas to death. Sadly, most clients and many of my advertising mates don’t believe so.

And this is what they do to prove their point: They put precious monies to research a piece of advertising, patiently listen to multiple views without having an objective and joyfully suck out the last few droplets of creative juice from the piece. Finally, they end up creating a piece of advertising for the brand that’s stupendously boring.

Bravo, people. You've managed to do yeoman service to the marketing and advertising industry.

To all you guys out there, here’s a small request. Please watch this piece of film. Trust me, it's worth it.

And if you can, avoid researching it for once.

Courtesy: Via Scampblog

Posted by Murali

Pyala Zindagi Ka

Zindagi ek chai ka pyala hai, jab peena shuru kiya toh do–teen chuski ke baad thoda taste aane laga. Phir kuch aur aage bada toh mein sab kuch bhool kar ussi mein doob gaya. Laga maano pehli baar shayad kuch aisa mila hai jise peete rahne ka mann hai.

Ek waqt aisa bhi aaya jab pyala khali hota dikh raha tha, toh dil mein ek ajeeb si bechaini thi ki, koi aaye aur apna pyala issme mila de par aisa nahi hua. Ek waqt par aakar mera pyala khali ho gaya.

Ab mein baitha hua un saari chuskiyon ko yaad karta hoon jo maine dil se li hain aur dil hi dil ye dua karta hoon ki koi aaye aur apni zindigi ka pyala, mere pyale mein mila de taaki mein phir se un chuskiyon ka maza le sakoon.

Posted by Vikrant

6 steps to become an indispensable asset to clients

1. Typically most agencies tend to over-price themselves. It's critical to keep one's feet on the ground and take a good hard look at the mirror and figure out what we are really worth, and how good we really look.
   
   
2. I believe if we make our clients indispensable to us in terms of understanding the job, brief, creative, turnaround time, passion and energies, everything else falls in place. Believe me, a client knows when they have a good thing going. It's a lot like a good relationship or a marriage.
   
   
3. Try and accommodate clients as far as possible and empathise with their job predicaments, deadlines etc., so they see us as an ally and not as an outsider.
   
   
4. Don't try to psyche them out. The moment we start asking for written briefs, question strategy and written communication, and we bounce it under some pretext or the other, it screws up the relationship. The more we treat them as equals, the friendlier the outcome of the relationship. The idea is to ask the right questions without trying to get into one upmanship game. I am smarter than you ......kind of thinking.
   
   
5. Treat client's money as our own. If we feel a supplier or a filmmaker or photographer is overcharging, let's negotiate further irrespective of whether client feels it's OK or not. In a lot of circumstances, we have brought costs down on agency's will and not because of clien't pressure. When you start doing this and the client acknowledges it, then start looking at the agency differently. They stop thinking that we are out to make a quick buck out of them.
   
   
6. Lastly, if we make our clients our friends, they stick with us longer. Bond with them outside work - over drinks and food. That helps too since most clients would love to hang out with their agency.
   
   Posted by Kaushik