There are good clean briefs. And then, there are the usual skidmarked travesties from the mind of supposed marketing maestros.

What separates the men from the boys? This ballsy little article from the Planning Lab looks at some great  (and not-quite-so-great) briefing forms from a few global agencies: The Better Brief - via the Planning Lab

Do you have a preferred briefing format, or do you favour the same approach as one commentator's one word ideal:  Why?


Advertising in a recession. The question isn't whether you can afford it. The question is, can you afford not to.

There is a famous quote on the topic, attributed equally often to Thomas Jefferson and Henry Ford. It goes "A man who stops advertising to save money is like a man who stops a clock to save time."






Google doodles at their best are a demonstration of the power of a brand to enliven one's imagination. I've picked a delightful few. Here they are and not in the order of appearance (c'mon, you can guess which is which) Cezanne's 172nd birthday, the Indian kite festival, Robert Bunsen's 200th birthday, Miriam Ruth's birthday, Van Gogh's birthday.

Look for all of them here.

There is something good here. Listen when you're not laughing.

Definitely worthy of a series of posts. Google's always transformational logos are among its best ideas. They keep the brand alive with change and rich with cultural treasure. Here's a beauty marking the birthday of the great sculptor Brancusi.




This video (from Intel's Visual Life series), featuring noted English designer Michael Wolff made me think about the little things that make us better creative people.


Multicultural wealth is intellectual treasure. Shakespeare knew that when he borrowed from Boccaccio and Ariosto.

I've always believed that diversity gives us inspiration, sources, variety, talent - that it enriches us culturally because it expands our knowledge.

So it was a pleasure to discover this 24 min video by the VCU BrandCenter. It's a thought provoking look at the impact of diversity on advertising and how it has brought us to the edge of a new creative revolution in the industry.

Pursuit of Passion: Diversity in Advertising from Jacob Abernathy on Vimeo.

Popular Posts

  • The One Line Creative Brief Format
    In search of that holy grail, the elusive, perfectly distilled creative brief I've come up with this one-line format. What and what and ...
  • Advice to a young writer: what the job takes
      Photo: The Hindu Archives Dear copypuppies  Before you go all aww-goofy on me because I used the word puppies in a sentence, let...
  • Logos with wheels on 2
    Another logo "poster". This time it's a poster of the logos of a few major international rail transit brands. If you'd lik...
  • evian baby inside - US version
    Evian and Skittles are doing some genuinely engaging YouTube work. We knew the Evian babies could roll. Now we're seeing that they rock....
  • Oh, Good Brief!
    There are good clean briefs. And then, there are the usual skidmarked travesties from the mind of supposed marketing maestros. What sepa...
  • Bruce Lee viral spot smashes Chinese advertising clichés
    What could possibly make you want a mobile phone so much that you'd pay the equivalent of 5 month's salary to get one? JWT Beijing, ...
  • The Best Ad Campaigns of All Time? Really?
    The sharp eyes of MediaBistro's AgencySpy team found this infographic at CollegeOnline (of all places!). Highly debatable and ex...
  • Yo' Virgin Mama
    Full disclosure: this campaign was my brother's work. (Russell Barrett - at the time Executive Creative Director at Bates in India - is ...
  • The Bite of the Underdog
    Some of the most remarkable ads in the world took the position of the underdog. They celebrated their difference. They nipped at the heels o...
  • Search: Google, Find: a brand
    Google doodles at their best are a demonstration of the power of a brand to enliven one's imagination. I've picked a delightful few....
@ Gavin Barrett. Powered by Blogger.

Plagiarism Watch!

About the ideawallah

Gavin Barrett is Owner/Founding Partner + Chief Creative Officer, of award-winning Toronto agency Barrett and Welsh. In pursuit of big ideas he has: nibbled on pigs' ears (not on a live pig at the time); gone elephant-back in the Thai jungle (no elephants were hurt); gambled in a Macau casino (was utterly destroyed). His ads: have run in 35 countries, helped elect prime ministers, attracted the ire of the lawyers for Dolly the clone sheep, drawn an angry crowd in Lagos, have been studied in business texts in Canada and India and received derisive mention in a John Irving novel. His poems: can be found in Penguin’s anthology of 14 contemporary Indian poets, Reasons for Belonging. He cannot: sing.

Social

Gallery