Over the weekend, I was discussing with my husband and some friends whether or not the author William Gibson was a prophet, especially as relates to technologies like Google Glass. Where does the influence lie? Is it that these technologies were already nascent and Gibson heard about them? Or is it that clever and inventive people read books like Gibson’s (and others’) and make things happen? Is it the chicken? Or the egg? Read more on Life changing brands…
After a hiatus, it seems Dove is returning to its ‘Real Beauty’ theme with the beauty of a film about self-image. It packs a real emotional wallop. And, it’s had more than 8.8 million views, demonstrating some great retransmission.
I’m not necessarily the world’s fiercest competitor but, you know, I like to feel like I’m doing my best in any given situation be it in sport or doing a task at work or at home. My husband, a runner, is all about personal bests and beating the people in the surrounding area with his fancy-schmancy running app. I must admit that I’ve always been a little bit sceptical.
I come from America’s heartland, so I’m familiar with, if not experienced in creating, hand-items and the good old country look. My grandmother is a quilter and indeed I have one of her quilts at home, which she made for me from fabric I chose. The one she made for me is beautiful. But, to be honest, perhaps not in tune with the more historical type of quilting, which is to take many varied pieces of fabric – often fabric connected in some way to an emotional experience – and bond them together to create a beautiful whole (even if part of the fabric is a double knit monstrosity from 1975).
With our event on Nurturing Great Creative happening on Wednesday, I’ve been thinking a lot about creative and creativity.
As you may have noticed in my Super Bowl post the other week, I love a good joke. I love to laugh. I like it when brands can get into the spirit of something in the now and poke a little fun at it. After all, life isn’t all seriousness.
Once again, I’ve had the opportunity to be mesmerised – in person – by the phenomenon that is the Super Bowl advertisements. The shushing when the ads come on; the volume turned up for the ads, not the game. Fascinating.
In my last post, I said just how much I was looking forward to this. And broadly, it delivered. I steered clear of nearly all of the previews, wanting instead to experience the first flush of excitement alongside my fellow viewers. And I had the pleasure of watching it all with my rather excitable family, who got even more in the spirit than usual, once they realised I was taking notes.
It’s getting close to that glorious time of the year: the advertisers’ holiday. Yep. It’s Super Bowl season. In less than two weeks, we’ll be privileged (or horrified) to watch a parade of ads that will doubtless, at the very least, be entertaining.
I’m back from holiday and note a number of unread emails summarising the best ads of 2012. But 2012 is so over. Welcome to 2013 instead, with all of the pleasure of anticipation of exceptional creative that it offers. At least once we get past the ‘healthier you’ comms that will litter this month.
I’m normally a Christmas sort of a gal. I love the sights, smells and sounds of the season. I love the giving (I am more of a giver than a getter, always have been) and the joy of the season that pervades everything except possibly travel. As far as I’m concerned, Thanksgiving (the best of holidays in the States) is the start of the holiday season. That is, usually. But, this year, in spite of the lights, decorations and even Christmas trees that have sprung up everywhere over the past couple of weeks, I’ll admit I wasn’t feeling very Christmas-y until I started hearing Christmas tunes.
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