BEST TVAn interesting collection this week. We liked the return of the
VW Golf with this sweet and simple homage to the universal 'My Way'. A bunch of youtube style interpretations of the track got us to sit up and watch before Sinatra steps up and nails it as another classic is put through it's paces atop the Mirage in Vegas. VW ads are regularly a great slice of entertainment, this is no exception, and you want to see it again. But for us
GiffGaff was TV ad of the week, because, well it's not really an ad, it's a nice piece of entertainment, and it draws you in. It premiered in Channel 4's new zombie drama The Returned, and it's all about how the walking dead aren't as frightening as they may seem, much like GiffGaff. It's a nice piece of story telling, and something you might think was put out by the broadcaster itself so you're more likely to watch. Plus its got zombies, and they're the new vampires, yeah?
BEST PRINTPress was tougher, to be honest we we're taken by the
Siribuncha ad, it made us laugh, mainly because it's a bit bizarre. Certainly makes you look, if only to figure out what on earth's going on! But it was
Stop The Gendercide with its hard-hitting headline that drew us in the most.
BEST OUTDOOR The Outdoor work was more compelling, in particular there were a couple of campaigns that really had impact and that crossed over, becoming cultural events in their own right. The
PETA campaign was surprising, we're used to turning away from graphic violence in awareness ads but this approach drew the audience in to what appeared to be something charming and beautiful only for them to connect the dots and realise that what they were witnessing was a horror story of animal cruelty. The
AMIA Bread of Memory campaign however was the one for us. It's a simple and powerful idea, to create bread that promotes memory in order to promote remembrance of the unsolved 1994 terrorist attack to the AMIA, a cause built through advertising and social networks that was adopted by restaurants and shops, covered by news and the media, translated into soaps and theatre, and that ultimately encouraged a government to reopen the investigation into the terrorism. What an amazing piece of work.
BEST INTERACTIVEAnd finally in the Interactive corner. We liked the
Evian app. It makes a baby version of you - what's not to like. But it was
Walking to Education that was our best interactive campaign of the week. A clever use of technology and social media was used to raise funds for kids who have to walk huge distances to school everyday. Donations grew by 35% in the first month and some of the kids got a bit closer to education. It's clearly raised awareness of a major problem and it's a great use of the type of technology that most of us might dabble with to lose an extra inch or two off the waist band. Great work.
This week's guest judges are Niall Murdoch and Charlie Read, joint-MDs and co-founders of The Outfit, London.
The Outfit makes TV work harder for brands. They don't make ads, because they believe that people watch TV to be entertained, not to watch the ads. This gives them the freedom to think like a broadcaster. They call it Broadcast Thinking. They believe that when communications feels more like programming it engages the audience more, and frees brands to be more entertaining and more effective. To do this they have a team of people who make TV programmes mixed with creative people from broadcasting, advertising and social media who together produce bold, groundbreaking, award-winning work. Their clients include Freeview, Channel 4, L'Oreal, Andrex, Microsoft XBox, O2 , Rimmel, Sony Playstation, 20th Century Fox and VW. The Outfit 2012 campaign for Andrex Washlets featuring documentary maker Dawn O'Porter won a Media Week Gold, and they won Gold and Silver for their campaign for the launch of Ridley Scott's Prometheus featuring a TV-first live Twitter feed. Previous wins include Golds for innovation for Maybelline and for Orange Wednesdays, and O2 Load and Go, which also won a Guardian Best Award for innovation.
Niall and Charlie were co-founders of Channel 4's 4Creative and created a team responsible for the transformation of Channel 4's advertising output across the Channel 4 network of channels. During their time at 4Creative the agency received a series of awards including a D&AD Black Pencil for the 2005 Channel 4 rebrand, and a series of Creative Circle, Campaign and BTA awards for campaigns including More 4's Bloody Circus and Ghosts, Channel 4's Shameless and Jamie's School Dinners and E4's Skins, and a Cannes Lion Silver for the Honda Live campaign.
In 2012 The Outfit were responsible for numerous UK TV and transmedia campaigns, creating the Freeview+ contextual ad campaign featuring Made in Chelsea characters and Jamie Oliver which caused a stir in social media, they transformed the worldwide premier of Prometheus into a live and interactive TV Tweet event, and brought rocking man Paul Weller to Abbey Road and the famous crossing for the launch of the new VW Beetle. They created a contextual campaign for Xbox Dance Central 3 featuring Channel 4 talent, and created a transmedia documentary campaign with journalist Dawn O'Porter to get Britain wiping with moist toilet tissue Andrex Washlets, which is soon to be rolled out worldwide. All campaigns racked up impressive reactions and results from both the industry and consumers.
Niall started his career at GGT Advertising, and moved to the Guardian holding several senior marketing roles across The Guardian, The Observer, The Guardian's online presence Guardian Unlimited and the group's recruitment brand workthing.com. He was also publisher of the award-winning magazine The Guide. He moved to broadcast and as co-founder and Deputy Head of Channel 4's award-winning creative agency 4Creative, he helped create a team responsible for the transformation of Channel 4's advertising output across the Channel 4 network of channels. He co-produced the D&AD Black Pencil winning 2005 rebrand, and the agency won a series of Creative Circle, Campaign and BTA awards for campaigns including More 4's Bloody Circus and Ghosts, Channel 4's Shameless and Jamie's School Dinners and E4's Skins.
Read started his career at Central Television working on Spitting Image. After film school he moved into music videos working as a producer before moving in to commercials working at companies such as Partizan, Paul Weiland and Academy. He moved into broadcast as Head of Production and co-founder of Channel 4's award-winning creative agency 4Creative, he helped create a team responsible for the transformation of Channel 4's creative output. With Outfit business partner Niall Murdoch he was responsible for the advertising output for the Channel 4 network of channels. Their work included the D&AD Black Pencil winning 2005 rebrand of Channel 4, an interactive creative contribution BAFTA award for Charlie Brooker drama Dead Set, and a Cannes Lion Silver winning live TV 3 minute ad break for Honda.
In 2009 Niall and Charlie launched The Outfit, specialising in creating TV campaigns grounded in entertainment for brands including L'Oreal, Adidas, Andrex, Freeview, Microsoft XBox, O2, Sony Playstation, and VW. Recent awards include Media Week Gold in 2012 for Andrex Washlets, Gold and Silver for the launch of Ridley Scott's Prometheus featuring a TV first live Twitter feed, and Golds for Innovation for Maybelline and for Orange Wednesdays, and O2 Load and Go, which also won a Guardian Best Award for Innovation.
