Youtube - The 100 best videos

Posted by Murali.

The best of Tony Davidson and Kim Papworth

Ladies and Gentlemen, here's something truly inspiring. A dekko into the work of the awesome creative duo - Tony Davidson and Kim Papworth of Wieden & Kennedy London. For the record, they have recently been promoted as partners, Wieden & Kennedy global network.

So, go here and take a bow.

Courtesy: Campaign.

Posted by Murali.

The top 10 TV ads from the UK in 2009

Campaign magazine has put out its list of the top ads produced from the UK in 2009. My take is that nothing's earth-shattering as an idea (except for perhaps, Cadbury Golf and Audi), but most of them have scored really high on craft and artistry.

Go check them out here.

Posted by Murali.

Punjabi Jingle Bells

Posted by Murali.

Big ideas!

For all of us in the ideas business, a must see.

A company that specializes in idea based makeover.

Go here to check out.

Remembering MJ

Nice piece of work for MTV by BBDO Dusseldorf.

Courtesy: BrandDNA blog.

Posted by Murali.

Move over Ms.Marple

To those of us who’ve spent countless afternoons discovering bodies hidden in picture perfect English parsonages, Europe’s latest detective sensation might come as a huge culture shock. The Lisbeth Salander trilogy, about a bisexual, genius hacker and mentally disturbed woman, is not only a top ranking book, but a fairly successful movie franchise as well. Hollywood too is on the trail, with rumours that Quentin Tarantino, George Clooney and Brad Pitt, are all eager to grab the rights! Warning: don’t’ start off until you get all three books, it’s fairly unputdownable. And the denouement is only in the last book.

Posted by Niru.

Google Chrome - A film by BBH

Posted by Murali.

I twitter…

...you twitter, she twitters, he twitters, they twitter, we twitter, thou twitterest...don't be surprised, twitter has become the No.1 word in English in 2009, according to the Global Language Monitor. So get twittering or get left out. See the full article here.

Posted by Niru.

Sexy Pilgrim - Viral Watch

3 million hits in one week, number one on the viral charts. Check it out here.

Posted by Niru.

Blast from the past # 20

Apart from triggering off feelings of nostalgia, old ads have a purpose to prove. Ask O&M. They're running David Ogilvy's ads from the 1950s, both as a tribute and as an eye catching way to promote the product. A lesson for our trend obsessed and now culture freaks?

Go here to see.

Posted by Niru.

Haagen Dazs opens its first outlet in Delhi. And Indians weren't allowed inside

If you are an Indian without an international passport, you would have been denied entry into Haagen Dazs's first outlet in India. Read this ridiculous report here.

Courtesy: Agency Spy.

Posted by Murali.

Is this a joke?

Considering the situation Tiger Woods is in, this ad seems like a funny coincidence to run in the media. I spotted this in one of the blogs.

Posted by Murali.

Album Art # 9

Pat Metheny Group - Imaginary Day. That's what the graphic code says, when you decipher it. This lovely piece of art designed by Sagmeister, took the album art world by storm. Except for the track credits, every piece of information in the album was replaced by this image code. The CD inside was used as the image decoder. All you need to do was to rotate the CD and the code gets revealed.

Courtesy: Sleevage.com

Posted by Murali.

Trevor Beattie partly funds the new British movie 'Moon'

This has the trappings of stars written all over it. Right from the ratings it has got to the director and the people behind it. It's directed by David Bowie's son Duncan Jones. Incidentally, this is his first feature. Partly produced by the enfant terrible of British advertising, Trevor Beattie, Moon also has actors like Kevin Spacey and Sam Rockwell in it.

View the trailer here.

Posted by Murali.

Blast from the past # 19

An old Kissan jam ad done by Maa. Back in the '80s.

Courtesy: Soumyadip's killer vintage ad blog.

Posted by Murali.

What are you going to tell your clients this new year?

Something fresh. Something thought-provoking. Something they need to know. Yeah, before you make your list, here's a nice article I read in Adage. Maybe this can get your grey cells cracking.

Here we go.

Posted by Murali.

Fabulous piece by 1pointsize

Art Director / Illustrator: Gopi Prasanna
Writer: E Prakash

Kudos to the team.

Posted by Murali.

Personal Branding - How serious are you?

Stuart Parkin on Adage, gives you a compelling reason to brand yourself in the market. Practice what you preach is what he says. You tell marketers to care and nurture their brands, while you shy away from doing so about a brand that's as unique - you.

Read the story here. And on the same note, a friend of mine, an ex-advertising bloke is into personal branding in a big way. Do check out his site here.

Posted by Murali.

User generated content or Loser generated content?

Ask Charlie Brooker of The Guardian. He invects venom on content created by consumers and wonders why creatives get paid. If users are anyway coming up with the shit (sorry, that's the way he uses language).

Savour this: "TV advertising used to work like this: you sat on your sofa while creatives were paid to throw a bucket of shit in your face. Today you're expected to sit on the bucket, fill it with your own shit, and tip it over your head while filming yourself on your mobile. Then you upload the video to the creatives. You do the work; they still get paid. Hail the rise of "loser-generated content"; commercials assembled from footage shot by members of the public coaxed into participating with the promise of TV glory. The advantages to the advertiser are obvious: it saves cash and makes your advert feel like part of some warm, communal celebration rather than the 30-second helping of underlit YouTube dog piss it is."

Go here to read the whole story.

Posted by Murali.

Social Network - A movie on Facebook founders

Renowned director David Fincher is making a movie based on the genesis of Facebook. Eisenberg will play the character of Mark Zuckerberg and Justin Timberlake plays the character of Sean Parker, the Napster co-founder and Facebook's president. Watchout for its release next year. More about the movie here.

Posted by Murali.

Lemonade - The layoff movie

Lemonade is a 40-minute documentary about people who were laid off in the US. And how they changed their lives after being pink slipped. Produced by Erik Proulx, this film has a variety of stories. There's a woman who lost her job and started a yoga business, a man who lost his job and changed his gender, a man who went for an interview and found himself starring in a TV commercial etc.

Watch the trailer here.

Posted by Murali.

The Last of A Link A Day: Stella Artois Recylage De Luxe

Mother has created a fictional sixties show to plug the eco-friendly aspects of Stella Artois. It's a totally fresh approach. I have my doubts about the basic proposition. But execution is super...



PS: And that happens to be my last post. Adios Amigos.

Posted by Anantha.

Swedes and their disregard for advertising

If there is one country which doesn't care for advertising, it's Sweden. They believe they have a much more potent marketing medium in their armoury - digital. Swedes are known to be the digital gurus of the world. Some of the best digital shops are based there and you can see their might and prowess over new media in the number of metals they snag at international fests.

Read why they are nonchalant towards advertising and the effects of digital that has Sweden and the rest of the marketing world in raptures.

Posted by Murali.

The impact of Crowdsourcing

While there have been a lot of blog posts about crowdsourcing here, the latest one is testimony to how it works. Unilever has awarded 2 seasoned creatives with a cash prize of $15,000 for their idea, which was picked in a contest for their meat snack brand Peperami. In due course, Unilever has also ended a 15-year old relationship with their agency, Lowe Worldwide.

Read the full story here.

Posted by Murali.

A Link A Day # 317: Anti-Obama Billboard

Phil Wolf, a dyed-in-the-wool conservative and car dealer, just can't digest the fact that White America has elected Obama. So he's erected this billboard that tries to raise a stink over Obama's birth certificate. For more, read this piece of news.

Pix via Fox31.

Posted by Anantha.

Good News - Mass Media Advertising Still Works!

I know there are a lot of people who go around sounding the death knell for mass media advertising. Digital is in, they say. Few among them are likely to have done a digital campaign on their own. Their opinion is often skimmed off reports compiled by others who just quote some others. It works for them because they get invited for seminars where they can continue the masquerade. If you see another digital media expert munching a microphone, I have a simple tip for you. Visit the website of his firm. Most often there isn’t one. Or if there is a URL, it is likely to be under construction. And in the rare event there is a website, it’s likely to be a web version of a brochure. What’s my point? There is a Digital revolution happening out there. A few pioneers are creating the trends. But the larger crowd of trend-watchers is killing it by prematurely exaggerating its prowess. The fact is, in a country like India, it’s just too early to expect too much from digital.

Meanwhile mass media advertising is still the most effective way ramp up the recall and reputation of a brand.

Else, why would one of the world’s largest brands, a digital one, spend tens of crores in mass media, on re-launching itself in India? Yes, I am referring to Yahoo! While the jury is still out on whether the campaign is working for Yahoo! I would have liked it if there was a more tangible product difference stitched into the effort.

Which is what Tata Docomo has done.

A few months ago nobody knew them. Today they are literally on the nation’s lips. With a real innovation called One Second Billing, and a creative idea that builds on this, they have achieved national fame in no time. This is mass media advertising at its best.

Of course, a great creative idea can also make an old product difference look new.

Quick replacement of lost credit cards is not necessarily a breakthrough claim for a bank. But ING Vysya’s new commercial makes it look like they just invented it. A man runs after a pickpocket who has just stolen his wallet. Not able to keep up the chase, he gives up, only to see a postman beside him with a replacement card. That’s ING Vysya’s speed of response! There are two other executions — one... for quick delivery of cheque books and another for quick transfer of funds. All of them make ING Vysya look like they are the most happening bank today even though every other bank probably offers the same service. Bravo! The screenplay, the casting, the editing, and the sound design are top notch. Ram, a young director at Nirvana Films in Bangalore, has directed the films. Now, Nirvana is one production house (run by Prakash Verma and Sneha Iype) that never ceases to amaze me.

From this wellspring of passion we have seen campaigns that have consistently caught the nation’s fancy. The Hutch “Pug” film is legendary. The Zoozoos are more popular than most celebrities in ads. Their newest film for Saint Juice took my breath away. Never have I seen this level of attention to detail in an Indian commercial. Scripted by Creativeland Asia, the film marks a refreshing change from the usual mom-kid routine. World-class time lapse cinematography and animation by The Mill in London makes this film a joy to watch each time. Music by Rupert (who did the Hutch song) is a masterpiece in minimalism. Then again, do you know what the best part of the commercial is? It makes you thirst for the stuff.

This is how great advertising works. It makes you want the product. And, done well, mass media advertising is still the best way to achieve that.

Extracted from an article by Thomas in Financial Express.

Halls Holiday Print Campaign

Pretty neat stuff from JWT, New York.

Posted by Murali.

A Link A Day # 316: Inpes Chance

Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 315: Boag's Pure Ad

Posted by Anantha

A Link A Day # 314: Where books come to life

Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 313: Axe Destiny

Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 312: Planestupid.com

Posted by Anantha.

An evening that tested the tenets of Jazz

Bangalore was lucky on the 20th of November, last Friday, to be precise. Lucky because some quiet giants of Jazz descended upon the city. This privilege was hitherto reserved only for Mumbai and Delhi, where Jazz Yatra and later Jazz Utsav have been a date to earmark every year in the music aficionado’s calendar for the last 25 years.

Wayne Krantz, Anthony Jackson, Cliff Almond and David Binney headlined the Jazz Utsav ’09 at the Ambedkar Auditorium. And what a show it was. The opening act was a thoroughly experimentative jazz rendition of the work of the Beatles. By drummer Brian Melvin’s band. He along with David Kikoski form the BeatleJazz band. As Kikoski wasn’t able to join the band for the Jazz Utsav '09, Jon Davis supported him on the piano and Peter Barshay on the bass. For the record, Melvin has an impressive pedigree. He has played with Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, Greg Allman of The Allman Brothers Band and the bass legend Jaco Pastorius.

They started out on a soulful rendition of John Lennon’s Beautiful Boy and went on to play other tracks like A Hard Day’s Night (where local guitarist Amit Heri joined in), Strawberry Fields Forever, Let It Be and few other Beatles favourites. Before finishing up with a rousing rendition of Eleanor Rigby.

Then the stage was set for the masters to light up the stage. Wayne Krantz has performed with Steely Dan and Michael Brecker. Anthony Jackson invented the six string contrabass guitar. Cliff Almond has played with many a jazz great in the US and the unassuming David Binney is considered a great compositional talent and a virtuoso on the saxophone. Now, what do you get when you put them together? Highly experimentative, free flowing jazz that doesn’t fit into any norm.

To get a dekko into the mind of Wayne Krantz, here’s a snippet from an interview. “There are a lot of disagreements about the word, ‘jazz’. For some people, it’s a specified set of sounds. We push our boundaries a little bit. We improvise. And our sounds will not resemble with what people generally associate with jazz,” he noted. He added, “The word jazz is broad in a way it doesn’t mean anything now.

They enthralled the audience for an hour and a half. And probably disappointed some, who had come in thinking they’re going to spend an evening listening to smooth jazz. For a country like ours which is starved of such pure Jazz music, it was an evening that was unforgettable. While I doff my hat to the legends for their music, I’d also like to thank Amit Saigal of Rock Street Journal for making this show happen.

“Raise your horns to the heavens and blow them in tribute to the great God of music, who presides in splendour over the Jazz Yatra.”

Sonny Rollins, 25 years ago at the first Jazz Yatra in Delhi.

Posted by Murali.

A Link a Day # 311: Where to sell your good logos for 300 dollars

Brandstack is the newest kid on the block in the logo market space. I like the site. It's simple in concept and it strikes the right balance between the designer's and the client's interests. If you're into logos, all you have to do is upload your logo, price it ($300 is the norm) and put it up for sale. If the client asks for a modification, you gracefully accept it. That's all. The affected party will be Logopond. But the place will cope as it's primarily an inspiration site. If you ask me, Logopond is for the artist in you and Brandstack for the moneymaker in you.

Posted by Anantha

Now, Google for your bum!

Not sure whether the search giant is aware of this bummer of a brand. I found it amusing. Wonder what Microsoft or Apple would think of this.

Courtesy: mediabistro blog.

Posted by Murali.

A Link A Day # 310: Shiny Suds

Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 309: Nat Geo Live Curious

Posted by Anantha.

Spot of the Week: Toshiba Space Chair

Created by Grey London. Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 308: The Helium Orchestra

Nice viral for Alfa Romeo by Fabbrica Virali...



Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 307: Volswagen Polo Rumour

Posted by Anantha.

Environmental Art

Helsinki artist Jonna Pohjalainen produces some great environmental art. What you see above is one of her pieces. Wikipedia says, environmental art began as a movement sometime in the late '60s. Though starting off as an experimental approach with sculpture as the main form, today it has moved across different genres.

Picture courtesy: James Feess's blog.

Posted by Murali.

A Link A Day # 306: Fevicol Moochwali

Good break from the past. To promote this as 'world's shortest feature film' was ingenious. At least got me to watch the film. The commercial as such is wacky. Casting flags towards the end. Music doesn't enhance rewatchability, significantly. Overall, I think it's one of the better Fevicol commercials in recent times. But as some one pointed out in Campaign India, it seems a similar concept to the Reynolds mole campaign. Check out tvc1 and tvc 2. And draw your own conclusions. As far as I can see, on the face of it, they seem like cousins. Although the Fevicol execution is far superior. Knowing the integrity of the team involved, I would just call it pure coincidence. Anyway, I asked Avasthi of Ogilvy about it and this is what he had to say: There's a difference between a mole becoming a family birthmark and a mooch sticking to a soul..The mooch would've appeared on any living thing that soul would've travelled to.....a baby's or a butterfly or a donkey's...


Posted by Anantha.

Bill Bernbach on Advertising - 1 (Must Watch!)

Posted by Murali.

Bill Bernbach on Advertising - 2 (A must watch!)

Posted by Murali.

Spot of the Week: Toyota Better Together

The '2-in-1' idea has been floating around for like gazillion years. But here's the best possible rendition. Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, Australia. Production by Stink, London. Given a choice, I'd have cut out the lengthy brand window in the end. The music somehow seemed very DoCoMo to me...



Some precious trivia about the commercial: Shot in a single take the spot uses no special effects or post. This required a choreographer working for 10 days straight with the two dancers. They rehearsed until the movements were correct and timed perfectly to 55 seconds.

Posted by Anantha

Youtube Gems: Bogie on Jack Benny Show

Bogart does a commercial for Lucky Strike on the Jack Benny show.



Then watch part 2 and part 3. Incidentally Bogie died of throat cancer.

Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 305: Topline Kiss

Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 304: Droid Stealth

Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 303: Notoginseng

"Keep your blood vessels young" for Notoginseng. Created by Draft FCB Hong Kong.

Posted by Anantha.

Blast from the past # 18

An old classic. Sunny Gavaskar endorsed Cherry Blossom in the '80s. Quite an interesting take on shoe whiteners, I should say. And nice to see fairly good amount of copy. Read and enjoy.

Posted by Murali.

A Link A Day # 302: Music Music Music - Where Maggi lifted its jingle from.

Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 301: R&D = Rip off & Duplicate?

Read this neat piece by Bill Taylor titled The New Logic of R&D: Rip Off & Duplicate. Here's an extract to get you interested...

"In 1912, a curious Henry Ford watched men cut meat during a tour of a Chicago slaughterhouse," Bogan and English write. "The carcasses were hanging on hooks mounted on a monorail. After each man performed his job, he would push the carcass to the next station. When the tour was over, the guide said, 'Well, sir, what do you think?' Mr. Ford turned to the man and said, 'Thanks, son, I think you may have given me a real good idea.' Less than six months later, the world's first assembly line started producing magnetos in the Ford Highland Park Plant"

Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 300: Viagra is 10

Posted by Anantha.

Short Film Watch: Oscar winning Schwarzfahrer

Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 299: Not Wet Dreams

Carlton Dry has launched a new series on Dry Dreams. The rocket one is sorta funny. The rest were probably shot to make up the magical number 3...



Also in this series: Show Jumping & Skeet Shooting.

Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 298: Cadbury's Dogs

Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 297: Guinness Bring it to Life

Guinness sees this as a spectacular ad. It doesn't seem to me like one. See it for yourself. "Good things come to those who wait" was any day better.



Posted by Anantha.

Spot of the Week: Acciona RE_

Garlic TV's stunning new film for Acciona, will make you go wow! It's my nominee for Cannes Grand Prix. Any bets?



Watch the making of Acciona RE_ here.

Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 296: Weetabix Steeplechase

Posted by Anantha.

Album Art # 8

Designer Robbert Fisher created this cover for Nirvana. It's a true testimony to what good photography can do to a layout. Apparently, Kurt Cobain wanted his photograph on the cover, but luckily better sense prevailed.

Posted by Murali.

A Link A Day # 295: Trash Can

A smart product innovation has provided the grist for a smart twist for this commercial for California State Lottery. Created by Casanova Pendrill. Made by MJZ.



Posted by Anantha.

How to be happy in business

Bud Caddell has come up with this lovely venn diagram to explain the title of this post. For a more detailed take on the whole thing go here, for a quick read.

Posted by Murali.

And one by one they are leaving...

Manish Bhatt has entered politics.
Raghu Bhat is trying his hand at launching designer laptop bags.
Prasoon Joshi is now more of a lyricist than an ad person.
Balki is busy with his Amitabh movies.
Rensil D'Silva has turned scriptwriter.
Aggie & Paddy have started Taproot.
Manoj Jacob has floated 21.
Prahlad Nanjappa has fathered a new outfit named Fryed.
What is happening?
Why is everyone leaving?
Are our peers getting disillusioned with big agencies?
Isn't that a cause for worry?
Does anyone care?

Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 294: Einstein Does God Exist?

Watch this commercial for the Government of Republic of Macedonia. It is based on an email forward that has been proved wrong ages ago. Wonder how, they used Einstein's name without doing any research.



Posted by Anantha.

Viral Watch: TheFunTheory.com

Can fun be 42? Are solutions for the most trickiest of problems the most funniest? Yes, says Fun Theory, an initiative of Volskwagen.

This site, is dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it’s change for the better.

Sounds interesting? Got a great fun idea? Then participate in The Fun Theory Awards.

Posted by Deepan.

Rock 'n Roll Photography Exhibition

An exhibition is presently on at the Brooklyn Museum, of Rock 'n Roll photographers who captured the history of this genre of music. Featured above is a photograph taken by Barry Feinstein in 1966. One of my favourites, it's titled Bob Dylan with kids, Liverpool, England, 1966. For more such gems visit here.

Posted by Murali.

Blast from the past # 17

A Cherry Blossom ad from the early '80s.

Courtesy: Kamat's Potpourri.

Posted by Murali.

Youtube Gems: Quentin's Interview with Elvis

Where Quentin Tarrantino talks about the B-Grade movies and everything else that influenced him as a film geek...



I recommend you also watch Part 2 and Part 3 of the interview.

Posted by Anantha.

Black Pencil's Pallavi Snags 2nd Prize at the Ability International Film Festival

Young Pallavi Sharma of Black Pencil has done us all proud by bagging the second prize at the 60 Seconds to Fame short film festival hosted by the Ability Foundation. Considering that the Jury comprised such eminent craftsmen like the Oscar winner Resul Pookutty, ace director Balu Mahendra and actress Shobana, it's indeed some achievement. To check out the film, go here.

Posted by Anantha

Short Film Watch: The Horribly Slow Murderer with the Extremely Inefficient Weapon

If you've got 10 minutes of free time, there's no better way to spend it...



Posted by Anantha

A Link A Day # 293: Canal Plus Wardrobe

Dunno how I missed this beautiful spot. It's been making waves for 4 weeks now. Fabulously told. Sure Gold at the Cannes. Watch it. If you've already seen it, rewatch it, will ya?



Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 292: HTC You

How do you keep a commercial with a 60-second near-banal v/o interesting? HTC manages that with a simple turn of phrase in the end. Literal visual commercial salvaged in the end by a nice thought...



Posted by Anantha

A Link A Day # 291: Tiger Beer Halloween

Same setting as the previous Zip commercial. This one's less contrived and more fun. Conceived by JamesYap, Ian Lee, Ramanjit Singh, Alex Wong of Saatchi & Saatchi Malaysia. Made by Velocity Films.



Posted by Anantha.

The ASCI Code on Surrogate Advertising

The Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI) has laid down specific rules and guidelines prohibiting surrogate advertising.

Section 6 of the ASCI Code states: ‘Advertisements for products whose advertising is prohibited or restricted by law or by this Code must not circumvent such restrictions by purporting to be advertisements for other products the advertising of which is not prohibited or restricted by law or by this Code. In judging whether or not any particular advertisement is an indirect advertisement for product whose advertising is restricted or prohibited, due attention shall be paid to the following:

(a) Visual content of the advertisement must depict only the product being advertised and not the prohibited or restricted product in any form or manner
(b) The advertisement must not make any direct or indirect reference to the prohibited or restricted products
(c) The advertisement must not create any nuances or phrases promoting prohibited products.

Extracted from Exchange4media.com.

Posted by Anantha.

Youtube Gems: When to take my name off the door by Leo Burnett

Posted by Anantha

A Link A Day # 290: Evolution of Logos

All the sleek logos you see today didn't pop out overnight. It took years of effort for companies to gather the courage for a brand face lift. Apple, Canon, Sony and Nokia must thank their lucky stars for considering a makeover. The Best-ad blog has done a sterling job of putting together a comprehensive list of before-afters. Do check it out.

Posted by Anantha.

Experts – Really?

We are in the communication business. But how much do we communicate both internally in the agency and externally.

And I am not talking about ‘job status’ meetings, and ‘target & finance updates’; talking about real solid conversations that will help keep us the title of ‘advertising is the art of communication’. How much are we tuned into the new way of doing stuff? How well do we know social bookmarking; the difference between Delicious, Digg, and StumbleUpon?

Has anyone read or twittered ‘baked in’? What are the most efficient, cost effective OOH options coming up? Wake up guys, we the so called experts and know far less that a 19 year old. Any ideas on how to keep everyone abreast or one step ahead of the curve?

Posted by Monica.

David Shepherd is no more

I'm sure many of us have watched this man and his umpiring partner Dickie Bird many a time on TV. Leagues ahead in terms of judgement, they brought a certain sense of respect to the profession. If it was a David Shepherd or a Dickie Bird decision, seldom would a player appeal again. David says: In a difficult moment, I would look at the other umpire. All that was needed was a reassuring glance and nod from one to the other.

He passed away yesterday. Do go here to read a fabulous obituary on someone who was a thorough gentleman of the game.

Posted by Murali.

A Link A Day # 289: The Blob

Good usage of dissolves and ambient sounds. In India, we'd have added a background track and would have messed this up...



Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 288: Dentyne Squid

Another predictably Thai commercial for Dentyne Ice. We've seen print versions of this kinda idea. But not a TV spot. BestadsonTV rates it highly. We don't find it that funny though. Nevertheless, worth a watch.



Posted by Anantha

A Link A Day # 287: The Plagiarize Song

Tom Lehrer, the mathematician songwriter and pianist, writes the strangest of songs on the strangest of topics. From 'Poisoning Pigeons in the Park' to 'The Elements'. My favourite is the Lobachevsky song. It's about something that concerns us all...Plagiarism!



Posted by Anantha.

Kudos to the boys from the West

Finally, agencies in the US are getting together to tell clients they have balls too. Much has been written about Procurement Departments from the client side negotiating real hard on monies with the winning agency after pitch is over. Now, these agencies have come together to put up stiff resistance to such practices. Ever heard of agencies proposing to send RFPs to clients?

For more dope on these developments, go to adage and read the article.

Posted by Murali.

Yawn, yawn, yawn

If you’ve put your money on the latest willow wielder, think hard. According to Open magazine’s cover article, all that cricket is now eliciting is big yawns. The Champions Trophy apparently drew a miserable all time low TRP of just 1.1%. The reason (OBVIOUSLY) is that there has been too much of cricket and cricketers. All over the place. So unless Dhoni and his boys are going to streak across the ground, they aren’t going to raise anything – no eyebrows, no brand sales. And by the way, football could well be the new cricket. Time to stick Bhaichung Bhutia on those concept layouts?

Posted by Niru.

Harris – man of the moment

With AR Rehman doing fewer and fewer Kollywood projects, the scramble for numero uno down south has never been hotter. And the winner, post diwali, is clearly Harris Jeyraj. Combining ARR's new age sound with an Ilayaraja like sense of melody, he's clearly the one to make Tamilians rock. From Minnalae onwards, the man with the Kalaam like hairstyle (now that Rehman is back to the cropped look) hasn't looked back. And a steady partnership with Surya and Gautam Menon has only helped. With both Ayan and Aadhavan going on to top the charts. For those of you who like good music, solid orchestration and tunes you can actually sing, check out Harris' hits on www.raaga.com.

Posted by Niru.

A Wednesday and Unnaipol Oruvan

Having watched the original and the remake, I should safely say, I enjoyed both. While my vote for a better film goes to A Wednesday, Unnaipol Oruvan is not a bad remake.

While Nasseruddin Shah comes across more powerfully as the common man, Kamal Hassan with his unnatural English accent doesn’t work as well for me. But where the latter scores, is in a scene where the camera captures his motive. For a brief while we see Kamal grip us with breathtaking performance when he describes the brutal torture of a pregnant woman who was stripped in public view. I would say, this was where he peaked in this film. Nasser on the other hand, was understated and brilliant in his portrayal throughout.

This was perhaps one of the rare occasions, that an actor of Mohan Lal’s calibre was a found a little lacklustre in his performance. While I wouldn’t want to compare his role with the original Anupam Kher played, I was expecting him to scorch the screen like he did in Company. But then even fine actors have their bad days, I suppose.

Another view I had is that despite A Wednesday being made to fit the multiplex genre of things, it wouldn’t alienate audiences in B and C class towns. Whereas Unnaipol Oruvan would find it tough in rural centres in TN as Kamal spews venom in a clipped angrez accent. Though the tamil remake has done away with the subtleties of the original for hard-hitting, in your face storytelling, it works wonderfully. Full marks to the writers who have adapted the screenplay to suit the southern sensibilities.

While I was walking out of the theatre after watching Unnaipol Oruvan, someone in the crowd was asking his friend: What has Shruti done in this movie, macha?

Good question, you may say. But with all due respects to her debut as music director, the score doesn’t really stick.

Posted by Murali.

Photographer Watch: Andrea Galvani

Sample more surreal works of Italian photographer Andrea Galvani here.

Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 285: Musician Ram Sampath

Who scored the Do Co Mo signature tune? Who composed the catchy Close up 'Paas aao na' jingle? Who gave the 'Reclaim your life' campaign a soulful score? Who launched Kailash Kher onto the national stage? Who's the lead singer of the band Color Blind? Who's the composer of the soon-to-be-released Delhi Belly? If you didn't know, it's Ram Sampath. Check out his work here.

Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 284: Axa Evolution

A cliched theme delivered stunningly. The Origami animation was conceived and executed by Tronic Studio. Using 3D Studio Max. I felt a 3-word super could have achieved a better closure for Axa Insurance.

AXA_EVOLUTION from TronicStudio on Vimeo.

Posted by Anantha.

Packaging Watch: Joyce Belly Flattener

I am not sure if such a product exists (a belly slimming gel). But the packaging beautifully illustrates the benefit. Design by Leo Burnett Hong Kong. The Belly Flattener was a finalist at the London International Advertising Awards.

Posted by Anantha.

Spot of the Week: Low Low Mouse

Created by Fallon London. Produced by Outsider. Direction by Dom & Nic. Post Production by MPC.

Posted by Anantha

A Link A Day # 283: Travelers Drifters

Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 282: Big Insurance Race

Does this commercial need Heather Graham? It would have worked even without her. But since it's a political issue, may be her presence will turn the spotlight on 'public option' in Health Care.



Posted by Anantha.

The writings of Neville Cardus

Here's someone who brought poetry into the art of sport journalism - specifically cricket. Neville Cardus, known as one of the best cricket writers ever was also a great critique of music. His columns for the Manchester Guardian on music and cricket were treasures to behold.

Some kind souls have put together the cricket writings of this great man. Go here and savour.

Posted by Murali.

Matchbox Art

Some terrific matchbox art from various countries.

Courtesy: Bad Banana Blog.

Posted by Murali.

Top 20 Ad Agency Blogs in the World

1. BBH London. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 323,397.
2. CST Advertising. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 417,910.
3. W+K London. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 418,302.
4. Leo Burnett Frankfurt. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 693,376.
5. Renegade Agency Confessional. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 930,849.
6. Publicis France. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 1,616,187.
7. Leo Burnett Toronto. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 1,656,493.
8. BBDO UK. Alexa Traffic Ranking =2,850,974.
9. TBWA Portugal Blog. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 4,179,687.
10. Draft FCB. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 4,407,538.
11. Orchard India. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 5,386,247.
12. JWT India Planning Blog. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 5,394,106.
13. DGWB California. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 5,982,353.
14. W+K Delhi. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 6,306,553.
15. Bates Asia. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 6,868,219.
16. Evok Advertising Orlando. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 8,200,548.
17. KGB Advertising Alexa Traffic Ranking = 9,073,699.
18. DDB Paris. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 11,188,801.
19. TBWA Blog. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 16,396,902.
20. Publicis Hong Kong. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 17,955,768.

Note: Orchard Advertising is at No.11 in the world and No.1 in India!

Posted by Anantha.

The Top 50 Advertising Related Sites

Just did an Alexa ranking of advertising related sites I visit, and this is what it threw up...

1. Youtube. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 4.
2. Flickr. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 32.
3. Deviantart. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 96.
4. iStockphoto. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 318.
5. Dafont. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 1182.
6. StockXchange. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 1,205.
7. Gettyimages. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 1552.
8. Adage. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 4332.
9. Behance. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 4,541.
10. Ffffound. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 4,928.
11. Corbis. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 5023.
12. AdsoftheWorld. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 8001.
13. Afaqs. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 11,583.
14. Logopond. Alexa Traffic Ranking =12,646.
15. Brand Republic. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 13,084.
16. Fubiz. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 19,017.
17. Adrants. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 20,945.
18. Exchange4media. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 22,536.
19. Notcot. Alexa Traffic Ranking =22,979.
20. The Inspiration Room. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 28,648.
21. Coloribus. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 33,119.
22. Creativity Online. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 33,122.
23. Ibelieveinadv. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 33,412.
24. Swiss Miss. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 35,811.
25. Adland. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 39,873.
26. Adweek. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 43,380.
27. Adverblog. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 55,932.
28. Campaignindia. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 66,867.
29. Frederik Samuel. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 73,308.
30. Scaryideas. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 74,569.
31. CampaignBrief. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 76,610.
32. Cannes Lions. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 91,493.
33. Adpulp. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 92,338.
34. Adforum. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 92,619.
35. Boardsmag. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 95,122.
36. One Eyeland. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 117,162.
37. Adverbox. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 117,464.
38. Bestadsontv. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 145,842
39. The Denver Egotist. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 168,552.
40. Osocio. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 185,937.
41. Ihaveanidea. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 186,951.
42. D & AD. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 207,145.
43. Ad Contrarian. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 236,433.
44. Shots. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 256,478.
45. Joelapompe. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 268,103.
46. One Club. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 260,368.
47. Adblogarabia. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 290,220.
48. Theadmad. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 404,920.
49. Dave Trott's Blog. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 417,910
50. Luerzers Archive. Alexa Traffic Ranking = 427,057.
Posted by Anantha

The Internet as an advertising medium

The effectiveness of the web as a potent advertising medium is something that has been widely discussed for some years now. Not just digital gurus, but traditional ad types too have vouched for it in forums and conclaves. But the truth seems to be far from what they profess.

A study published by Deloitte/YouGov on behalf of the Media Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival tell us a different story.

Some pointers:

* 64% of respondents ranked television commercials as the advertising format with the most impact.

* Young people (18-24) ranked tv commercials even higher, with 3/4 saying tv was the ad format with the most impact.

* 12% of consumers chose search advertising as one of the top three types of advertising with the most impact and only 8% ranked banner advertising in their top three.

And this comes from a market that's far more savvier towards new media.

Thanks to AdContrarian for the dope.

Posted by Murali.

Trailer Watch: The Lovely Bones

Let’s hope that this December, we, the Indian movie going public are asked to the party. Not just Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes in on the way, but also Peter Jackson’s adaptation of Alice Sebold’s breathtaking novel – The lovely bones. Should be a real treat, if the trailer is anything to go by...



Posted by Niru.

How to fight your own brand with your own brand

Well, Starbucks seems to have done it successfully. Pitting its new instant brew Via against its house blend. For the results go here.

Posted by Niru.

Spot of the Week: Sleevie

Blood donation is a brief we've all wrestled with. Here's a fresh new take on the same...



Link tip by Adland. Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 281: Survive Mumbai. Survive the World.

A commercial by Contract. Written partly by Ravi D. Nice thought. Should do very well, internationally.

Link Tip: Campaign India. Posted by Anantha.

Advertising in 2009

Courtesy: The Hidden Persuader Blog.

Posted by Murali.

A Link A Day # 280: Dominatrix

Posted by Anantha.

Inglorious Basterds - The stamp is unmistakable

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian had written off Inglorious Basterds as the worst movie Tarantino ever made. But seriously, does the man make bad movies at all? You either love his work or hate it. To someone like me who has devoured most of his better known work, bad movie-making is something that QT doesn't indulge in. His sensibilities wouldn't allow for sure.

Inglorious Basterds has Tarantino's stamp written all over it. The most obvious being the way he has treated the war movie genre. Set during WW2, it is hardly your archetypal war movie. Next, his fabulously stylish writing shows off in every frame. That's something that we have been used to since the days of Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs. Violence - Tarantino style, is packed with panache and delivered yet again. And not to mention, music, which becomes a character itself in his movies is crafted so beautifully to help you get into the flesh of the film and stay there, rivetted, till the end.

The plot, unlike Pulp Fiction for instance, is simpler. Yet the storytelling has the stamp of a master. The performances by Brad Pitt, who has a distinct Southern accent, Diane Kruger who plays a hard-nosed German movie star and Melanie Laurent as Shosanna were noteworthy. But the man who makes this movie special is Christoph Waltz. He plays Hans Landa, the Nazi Colonel who is nicknamed the 'Jew Hunter'. Calm to the extent of being cold, Waltz inflicts psychological torture slowly yet steadily on all his victims that they finally capitulate after much resistance. Small wonder that Christoph Waltz's performance got him the Best Actor award at Cannes this year.

So, all you people who haven't yet caught the flick please watch it. Like I said, although his stamp is written all over the movie, it is distinct in more ways than one. That alone is enough for me to defy Peter Bradshaw. And watch the Basterds all over again.

Posted by Murali.

Spot of the Week: The Visitor

Posted by Anantha.

Surprise: Obama wins another prize!

First he won the Grammy. Then the Presidency. Followed it up with a Cannes Titanium. Now the Nobel. All that's left is the Oscar. I feel he got it all too soon. Guardian thinks he got it for being Not George Bush. Read up. Good stuff.

Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 279: The Incredible PhotoSketch

The world wide web is abuzz with a brand new in-development tool called PhotoSketch. Developed by Tao Chen & company, this amazing piece of software lets you convert your freehand doodles into a composite photograph constructed by stitching together images machine-picked from the net. If this becomes a reality, any one of us can generate photo storyboards or rough cut layouts at will! Awesome, na? Go check out the demo below...

PhotoSketch: Internet Image Montage from Tao Chen on Vimeo.

Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 278: Will California become America's first failed state?

"California may be the eighth largest economy in the world, but its state government is issuing IOUs, unemployment is at its highest in 70 years, and teachers are on hunger strike. So what has gone so catastrophically wrong?"

Extracted from The Guardian. Read more, here.

Posted by Anantha.

Know how much they make in advertising?

Here's an article in the Adage about salaries paid by big agencies to the big guys in advertising. Take a look at it. And don't blame me if I have spoiled your otherwise balmy day ;-)

Murali

A Link A Day # 277: Amnesty Insomnia

Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 276: Sherlock Holmes Trailer

Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 275: VW Polo Cool

Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 274: Sony Soundville

1 speaker 2 many by Juan Cabral & company...



Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 273: How to win 12 lakhs.

Easy. Just participate in the Wantrapreneur Business Plan Competition for Social Entrepreneurs. All you have to do is to visit this place, study the rules, and submit a proposal for an idea that can bring about change in agriculture, energy, water and dairy. Organised by our very own Villgro, the winner will take home 12 lakhs and will be crowned at the Unconvention to be hosted in Chennai from Dec 10 -12, 2009. Are you game to be a game changer?

Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 272: Why Hunger?

Posted by Anantha.

A Link A Day # 271: The Making of Afaqs

Sreekant Khandekar has chronicled the rise and rise of afaqs here. The interesting bit is Sreekant started with the concept of launching a MouthShut kinda site but market reality drove him to launch agencyfaqs!

Posted by Anantha.

Spot of the Week: Tiger Beer Zip

Posted by Anantha.