When Lambs Eat Lions

Year after year, Cannes Lions changed from an elite advertising festival to an expensive touristic agency partially due to the growing lack of real content (weak presentations, dull seminars, boring-to-hell-and-back case studies etc,) and the strange decisions that the jury take for a while now. I'm amazed how this bastion of creativity recognition surely and steadily transforms itself into a dull presentation-based festival, dull as old marketing, dull as sales, dull as everything that stinks of conventionality. The other European festivals follow the trend and promote their destinations better than their purposes. "Baywatch Cannes" could be an appropriate title for an incoming soap opera about young branded creatives trying to fight their way up in the marketing ranks year after year, promoting mediocre ideas under splashy presentations. Shame or no shame, another festival is lost under the system's oblivion.

This year I was intrigued by the OOH GP for THEZIMBABWEAN NEWSPAPER. First, I question the originality of the idea. following this link (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0366777/), you'll find a great movie, worthy to be watched at least until the characters create an wallpaper of old quids; if not similar, very inspirational to the TBWA/HUNT/LASCARIS team.
Secondly, I'm done trusting political campaigns coming from neighboring countries where the freedom climate permits the message to "walk" untangled without fearing a certain and painful retribution.

I do not questions the good intentions of the guys that created the campaign; I just question if this prize will not unleash a NEXT GEN ghost campaigns wave, prize-oriented and well sustained in this direction, a sure method for finally getting the top cherry out of Cannes and other festivals. Because I myself could create a campaign about Moldova (formerly part of Romania, now a distinct communist neighboring country), publishing it in Romania, developing everything in Romania, using a multinational experienced agency as background then promote it straight-to-Cannes for a big fat prize. Sounds like ghost? For me it does.

Common Sense

I think about common sense and its practical sides for a long time, regarding or regardless of marketing and this idea keeps popping out of my head: is common sense a irrefutable condition for the development of great ideas or it's just an opportunity to better link the idea to the target?

In either ways any good advertising idea should have common sense. The foundation of a great idea should be a common sense insight, relational to what people might remember after "ingesting" the idea. Enough 100 percents; enough "the best brand"; enough glorious epithets which eventually will become not-so-glorious epitaphs when the campaign fails its purpose; enough scorning towards the "simple minded audiences". Intrusion must be preceded by invitation, or nobody invites an intrusive guest without a common sense opportunity. Enough evasion and S.I.T. tricks, because it makes great advertising/ers linger among mediocre recipes that call themselves marketing systems. Enough.

Great Crisis Song & Video

And this is music. Thanks to Liviu for the link.

My USP

"Shower" 50x50 cm/acrylic&a.t./2008

"Primordial" 50x50 cm/acrylic&a.t./2008

"The Middle Way" 50x50 cm/acrylic&a.t./2009

"It Happened Then" 50x50 cm/acrylic&a.t./2008

"It Happens Now" 50x50 cm/acrylic&a.t./2009

"Organic" 50x50 cm/acrylic&a.t./2009

"Inner Conflict" 50x50 cm/acrylic&a.t./2009

"Outer Conflict" 50x50 cm/acrylic&a.t./2009

"Focus" 50x50 cm/acrylic&a.t./2008

"Defocus" 50x50 cm/acrylic&a.t./2008

Here are some of my latest works in which I concentrate on using unconventional materials with powerful plasticity such as chewing gum (a.t. stands for artist's technique) and acrylic paint in obtaining dynamic pseudo-controlled visuals (mostly letting the materials express themselves) with an artificial if not toxic appearance, a moon-like aspect and under some unique modes of expressing myself through gestures and composition. The concept stands for the omnipresent duality of things, the sudden changes of angle and perspective that reveal different sides of the same story, the dispute between the done and undone terms and of course, the inner dualist nature that we can find in almost everything that surrounds us. The artificial silvery chromatic is applied to the "sculpted" image as an unifier; the lack of color permits us to focus on the composition and the image itself, revealing the concept naked, in its synthetic form, without the use of specific artifices of painting and traditional arts.

Regarding the previous post, if someone asks me about my works, I could resume what's written above in a simple yet comprehensive and endorsing USP:
Through use of cheap yet plastic unconventional materials, I visioned some sincere dynamic compositions about the duality that resides in the nature of all things. Duality unconventionally expressed (in short terms).

Ars Gratia Artis

I graduated Graphics at the Art University in Bucharest several years ago and suddenly after that I began revising my options: to art or not to art. There were two blurry options for me at that time: professional illustrator or Art Director in a local advertising agency so I chose the option that payed best. No need to guess what option I chose, isn't it?
Today, after my ten years trip in advertising I look back and ask myself what was the impulse that propelled me to this road in the first place; why an advertising career sounded clearer than an artistic one?

I asked several of my AD friends what was their impulse and several of my artist friends what was theirs, and the results were unexpectedly frank and "marketish" (a word that I just came up with). The advertisers told me that the agency path attracted them because it promised them a glorious way of making use of their skills: career growth, festivals, constant publishing, upgrade possibilities, etc.
The artists emphasized on THEIR place in the system: my ART is like that, my SKILLS are better than others', my IDEAS were just meant to be in the galleries, I am taking part in an wonderful process / art, etc.
And it popped out: aren't both ways marked by Unique Selling Propositions? Aren't both advertisers and artists directed on their paths by to-be-achieved promises? By things that make the natural difference? By some clear thoughts regarding their positioning on a market?

In conclusion, my advise to artists is to find their USP and promote it accordingly. First you have to discover this USP deep in your inner psychological apparatus then you have to communicate it as applied to what you do, applied to your artistic endeavors, applied to your art. Be your own marketer, treat your artistic products as unique products with specific targets and fully campaign them using everything you got at your disposal: guts, wits, skills, passion, uniqueness, originality, predominance, vision, style, etc.

Example: Damien Hirst sells crude realities under a satyric manner using all sorts of metaphor amplifiers that are directly extracted from the very present we're living in. USP: a modern metaphor of what is and what might be. Sounds like a slogan, isn't it?

Example: Picasso sold the vastest range of imagery using deformity and unique ways of de-composing and re-composing the elements, thus resulting in an original and well sustained imaginative universe. USP: I see reality through my personal analytic tools and I depict it thoroughly using my own unique style of seeing things. Maybe shorter would be better, bute here is a USP for Picasso.

Brand This Country!

Romania is the northern neighbor (across the Black Sea) of Turkey which was formally known about a century ago as the mighty Ottoman Empire. When you say Turkey today you think of one exotic European country, belly dancing, sunny beaches, good looking hotels and lots of shopping destinations. So far so good. But let me remind you that the Turks were known until about a century ago as the most crude and fierce Muslims, the people that nearly enslaved half of Europe, the people that were have to be payed loads of money just to keep your head on your neck or to preserve some sense of faith and national integrity within the borders of your country. Despite the general conception that Vlad Dracula (or the Impaler) was the guy that invented impaling as a torturing method; it wasn't. The Turks did it as well as lots of other unspeakable methods of individual and national dehumanization. The Turkish penitentiary system was considered the cruelest system until the '70s and Turkey was perceived as a poor and unwelcoming country until almost 15 years ago, and the former disadvantages could go on and on.

I don't intend to mess up Turkey's image and I do not hold a grudge against their former cruelty when they were known as the Ottoman Empire. I simply wanna talk about perception shifting and why some countries become Widely Known Brands with sustained Brand Values and Promises, with a whole elaborated ID System and a believable Single-minded Selling Proposition while some other countries (like Romania, my country) don't. One idea implies that the human mind is eager to forget the past information to make space for newly created one. True for most of the people who live the present at large and consciously ignore obsolete or deep buried past knowledge. True targets for marketers, of course, but in fact enjoyable not-living-in-the-past people.

On the other hand, Romania (for example), was never an expansionist country, never messed around with other countries internal order, and, beside that, we added our contribution, military and economically, from medieval times as crusaders, through the 2 W W Wars and now, as members of EU we try our best but it seems that we're not regarded as a true Brand. More as a sustaining force, a weak Brand endorsed by others. So why public perception does not see us as a Brand and speculate mostly our weaknesses when in other cases (Turkey for example) it regards only the newest emphasized values, disregarding the (I would say quite recent) historical truths.

I think that Country Branding has more in common with marketing than history and the country has to be sold as a product, through a whole branding and selling system, like any other marketed product. If you see something more truthful beyond this opinion please let me know, because I'm interested in any good ideas about Country Branding. I will write more posts in the future about this subject.

Lazy Saturdays

Saturday comes from "Saturnales" or "The Day of Saturn" which was the Roman god of agriculture and harvest. Both of them implying a great deal of effort. So why everybody (me included) is so lazy on Saturdays? Maybe because Saturday introduces Sunday, when you're supposed to relax and enjoy your quality free time.

No Taste, Big Money

I grew up in communist Romania and for 14 years of my life I never drank bottled water. Because (besides sparkling water) there wasn't any. There was joy when weather was cooling in autumn and winter, because the water seemed more fresh and "tasty" and there was disappointment in summer time when we had to refrigerate it, though not escaping the chlorine taste that was used for germ purification and other scientific reasons.

Water is scientifically described as being tasteless and odorless, but the consumer perception is quite different. The most adaptable people split "waters" in two: drinkable or undrinkable. A simple yet flawless description: good for me or not good at all. The marketers on the other side, label the waters then split them into: club soda, mountain spring bubble or still water, mineral or demineralized water, ion charged or deionized water, rich in deuterium water, ultra > semi > light > medium > strong mineral water, with or without laxative effects, etc. etc. etc.

On occasion I drink Perrier. I am familiarized with the Brand and I accept it into my life based on one simple fact: I like the bottle. Simple as that, even if it makes me look like a fly fallen into a spider web, I bit the marketing recipe and became Brand aware. But if you follow what marketers say about Perrier it's other story. Most of my friends think of the cool bottle when Perrier is brought into discussion, but the marketers tell us that this water is extracted from the purest spring in the optimal conditions and it tastes... like Heaven. Evian too. San Pellegrino also. Everybody is bragging about the GOOD TASTE OF OUR WATER.

If you compare the ordinary household water with the up-mentioned brands you'll figure it out quickly what the main difference is: the bottled water has no taste at all. Not chlorine, not rust, not metal, no taste at all. But people keep buying them because they all taste great.

From my point of view, Perrier means a cool bottle, Evian means Paris Fashion Week and San Pellegrino is cool because its logo resembles with the Converse logo. Which is cool. They are all cool and refreshing but not because they are drawn from a well that connects directly to The Promised Land but because they are stored into refrigerators, as indicated on their labels. That's it.

So why don't be fair and speak accordingly to what people really think obout Your Brands, instead trying to convince us that water has... taste?

How Much Is Your Future?

I often ask myself what price will We pay for this rush towards the FUTURE that we're onto these very days. How much will our FUTURE cost if we consume our present disregarding its simple fun moments, its relaxation "brackets", its (maybe) simple but not simplistic endeavors or its unseen beneficial moments. Everybody blames something that holds back his evolution and does not let him get away. Obviously get away from the present and toward the very FUTURE that's not foreseen and foretold.

These days I was pushed into several rush decisions by some Chief Sir Yes Sir Marketing Freak Officers with never-ending references to the ongoing crisis, to the competition's head start, to the fact that they NEED a shortcut to the FUTURE results NOW. After they finished their mouth drying speeches I asked them one simple question: How much does your future worth?

Then... silence.

The old-school sales people had the talent of bringing the FUTURE (beautifully wrapped and with a specially adapted price) directly at your door. They had a strong pursuit and a tough way of achieving the results, but here they were with a revolutionary vacuum cleaner, back from the future, standing right on your porch and filling your ears with glimpses of what technology may become an year from now on. And you must take part to this great transformation by buying NOW a... vacuum cleaner? They comfortably delivered the FUTURE-IN-A-PACK product, but let you enjoy the PRESENT in peace and even with a little upgrade.

Now the PRODUCT is the FUTURE. We have to promote it as a sure gateway to the FUTURE. We have to tell the people how will they feel after using the product in the FUTURE. Sometimes marketing feels like a palm-reading mumbo jumbo circus science, despite the fact that the PRODUCT eventually will achieve fame. In the FUTURE of course, and if the FUTURE advanced technologies will render it obsolete.

So my thoughts are: focus on the PRESENT, prepare for the FUTURE then wait for it to come. Don't rush and make others do the same because all of you may fall into an "probable" deep pit along with your products and your strategies.

The Wolf.