I’m a big believer in serendipity — and that’s how I became a part of eCamp, an amazing trade group of industry leaders. I ran into one of the founders of eCamp in Las Vegas where we were promoting our documentary, “The Next American Dream”. He asked me to join and, not being a big “joiner,” I hesitated. But I said I’d give it a try, and when eCamp held their next meeting in Boston, I joined them. I was amazed at how much I learned from others in my industry — and how much I referenced what I learned when I got back home. It’s a great concept, and one of my colleagues in Dallas wrote about it. It’s a fun read and includes some pictures from our last meeting in San Francisco.
And believe it or not, they are all excited to come to Kansas City next September when T2+Back Alley Films will host the group. Boston, San Francisco…Kansas City? Why not?
The Sears account is in review and the opportunity to land the account is tempting. Very tempting indeed.
Not only is it a huge account, it’s one direly in need of a new creative direction. What an opportunity to attempt to make Sears relevant again to multiple generations of consumers who have mostly lost interest in the brand except when they need an appliance or some tools.
The problem is, agencies are opting out of the opportunity to participate in the pitch because of language in the NDA by Select Resources International, the consultancy heading up the review.
That small print requires that participants in the pitch essentially sign over the rights to both the ideas and the materials – even if they don’t win the pitch. Talk about a complete and total lack of respect for intellectual property, never mind the talent, effort energy AND financial investment required for a pitch of this size.
Interpublic Group of Cos.” Deutsch, Publicis’ Leo Burnett Worldwide and Omnicom’s DDB Worldwide and TBWA Worldwide have opted out and I’m sure they won’t be the only agencies smart enough to do so.
According to AdAge, the 4As have gotten involved, requesting Sears to allow the agencies to retain ownership of the materials.
AdAge’s Agency reporter Maureen Morrison and AdAge’s podcast Host Bob Knorpp did a podcast on February 22, 2011 discussing the controversy, and that podcast is linked here if you’d like to have a listen.
As agencies begin the process of trying to recover from some really tough economic years, I’m sure there will be agencies who believe the benefit of giving their ideas away for free is worth the risk. I can’t speak for everyone, but to me, this really devalues the creative process and the talented people behind it.
Chocolate. Everyone loves it. But is there a dark side? This documentary film produced by Danish journalist Miki Mistrati explores the dark side of chocolate. Is it produced with child and labor trafficked children? And, if so, will it change how we feel about it? And more importantly, will it impact how we consume this tasty treat?
At T2 + Back Alley Films our love for documentaries and the people who produce them is endless. The Dark Side of Chocolate is no exception. It’s a compelling piece, expertly executed and, most importantly, inspires thought and conversation.
Doritos and Pepsi MAX dominated in the consumer-generated videos that got attention during Super Bowl 45. And Kansas City got a piece of that national attention, albeit in a small way, courtesy of a Leawood native who was a big winner. Contestants were vying for some $5 Million in prizes and the resultant media attention could pretty much be considered priceless in terms of the ability to leverage it into more great opportunities.
This was the first time that Pepsi and Doritos partnered for an event and Crash the Super Bowl was a huge success. Not only did the contest garner a record number of fan submissions, it also generated an unprecedented number of consumer votes. Just goes to show the power of the consumer and how the creative landscape has changed. Not only do consumers want to watch great spots, they want to be a part of the process of not only creating them, but also selecting the winners.
Brad Bosley, a 28 year-old Leawood, Kansas native is the creative talent behind Pepsi MAX’s “Love Hurts” Super Bowl spot. He wrote and directed the spot for about $800 and took home 5th place in the competition. That was no small feat, considering there were more than 5,600 entrants, representing the most ever in a single year of competition.
The winning ads (in alphabetical order) were:
• “First Date” (Pepsi MAX) by Nick Simotas
• “House Sitting” (Doritos) by Tynesha Williams
• “Love Hurts” (Pepsi MAX) by Brad Bosley
• “Pug Attack” (Doritos) by JR Burningham
• “The Best Part” (Doritos) by Tyler Dixon
• “Torpedo Cooler” (Pepsi MAX) by Brendan Hayward
It’s also no small feat that out of the top 5 most popular ads identified by USA Today’s AdMeter, that two were spots created by consumers.
It was great to hear Brad interviewed on KCTV5 this morning and share that the inspiration for his spot was his grandparents. He said that his grandmother had always been somewhat aggressive with his grandfather, and known to kick him under the table if he tried to eat something that wasn’t good for him. I’d say Brad figured out a great way to not only honor and memorialize his grandparents, but to make one heck of an impression in front of millions of viewers the world over.
Here are the ads ranked in the Top 10 by USA Today’s AdMeter and the full list is available here.
The Experience Design team at T2 + Back Alley films was honored to work with the Kansas City Area Development Council and create an experience for attendees of the 2010 Annual KCADC Luncheon. The theme of the luncheon was Celebrating Creativity in Kansas City and that left us plenty of things to be inspired by.
The presentation was grand. It spanned the entire length of the interior wall of the Grand Ballroom of the Kansas City Convention Center. We used six different projectors to project the images onto the wall and the combined final image was visually stunning – 300 feet long and over 30 feet tall.
T2 + Back Alley Films is a visual design and storytelling company. For more information, please visit our sites at t2.tv and backalleyfilms.com or call 800-471-6554.
