Bottom Rung

TechCrunch stuns the internets with WebTablet

On July 21st, Michael Arrington (TechCrunch) struck a cord across the interwebs when he announced the creation of a project to create the ultimate web tablet.

Immediately the comments started to pour in as the idea was explored and within 24 hours of that first posting, he was just shy of 1500 comments. They feature everything from potential investors to programmers to distributors to future customers’ best wishes to critics to even a Canadian advertiser working for an international ad agency based out of Toronto………

The point is: When you have a great product (or just a great idea) you don’t need to market it, the people will come. Even if it’s just a blog that is crowd sourcing an open platform web tablet for under $200.

I can’t wait to buy one. Get involved here.

Heineken saves money on writers, enrages activists

The number 3 wrench in any creative’s tool kit is “Exaggerate the Benefit.” It can lead to deviously simply ideas that win award shows and garner bragging rights.

However it is also a fine line to tread, as Heineken found out in its latest ad for the famous brew. The suicide activists were on this ad quicker than the ones that went after that famed GM ad but it has yet to be pulled off the air.

It’s simply just a dumb ad for a great beer in my books. That said, I would have liked to be at the meeting where they sold through the script…

My question is: Should Heineken stay the course against the critics or was this ad in bad taste?

Moto Rokr e8

For a company going down the tubes, it still has a knack for cool ads.

What a waste.

You can find the song here.

Earning my salary this year

Believe it or not, I’m not dead. Who knew relaunching a brand was hard work.

In 3 weeks I will be back to regular business hours and regular posting habits.

Cadbury’s Gorilla Wins!

It’s not often that a Youtube favourite (with 2.3 Mil. Views) also win the Grand Prix @ Cannes.

Cannes 2008 Begins

Half of your agency is out of town, nobody is getting any work done and every time you call your boss it sends you directly to voice mail. It can only mean one thing… Cannes 2008 has officially begun with the first round of short lists dropping just this morning.

Here at Leo, we had our annual Cannes Predictions on Thursday of last week. I’m picking Cadbury’s Gorilla for the win! Haha but seriously, there was a lot of great stuff this year.

Who are your favourites?

Jackie Moon on Old Spice

The funniest thing I have seen all day. Old Spice has been doing some really great stuff lately.

Source: David Federico

Line Rider hearts McDonalds

McDonalds, oddly enough, is the first to pick up on the online hit Line Rider.

Whoever built this spent waaayyyyy too much time on it. But, so has everyone else who’s ever played it. Like me. Right now.

Source: AdFreak, LineRider.com

Only the Best Idea Wins

The best creative ideas should scare you. The best creative concepts should make you nervous. But they should also inspire you to put your job on the line in their defense.

Burger King and CP+B bet the farm when they produced BK Whopper Freakout. But doing so set themselves up for a award winning smash hit with magical moments that copywriters only dream of. Crispin Porter’s idea was so radical, so initially ridiculous that any other client would have passed without a second thought. But someone at the King got behind the idea and put their job and their reputation at stake just to see this idea come to life.

Here at Leo, we are busy working with a client that is relaunching their brand from the bottom up. Right from the beginning, the client fell in love with the creative platform and has fought for its survival ever since; both internally and externally. While we don’t yet know if it will be successful, the fact that they are willing to put their career on the line for a concept they are openly nervous about is admirable.

Both of these campaigns were created using trend challenging and outside-the-box thinking. They actively challenged convention and forced the client had to make tough calls regarding the future of their brands. But in the end, both sides of the agency/client relationship had to come together and push for what they believed in. And in our business, an idea worth fighting for is an idea that scares you.

The Fruits of Imagination

Great News!

I have been invited back to The Fruits of Imagination as a regular contributor. Only problem is that now I have to half research what I’m writing about…no more firing from the hip opinion pieces.