Green Awards

Yet another great night for the Green Awards, which seems to go from strength to strength year after year. This year they abandoned the old sit down for a more freestyle networking evening - brilliant! I so hate those stuffy dos where you sit at the Grosvenor eating crap food and drinking bad wine.

Despite a recession, green marketing is growing. More and more companies are waking up to  a simple fact that consumers are looking at your ethical credentials. But a bit of advice, it's not all green they are looking for.

One thing that separates the Green Awards from others is the community feeling. We are all part of an eco-ethical group so talking to anyone is easy and there's no resentment when someone wins, everyone rejoices - unlike many ad awards! I managed to walk up to Jonathan Porrit and had an illuminating chat. He previously mocked the Act on CO2 climate change ads featuring a dad reading his kid a scary story. JP obviously has little time for government green propaganda. I agree, the last thing we want is a nanny state deciding what's green and ethical and then spending tax payers money on party politics

Great venue, St Luke's church near Old Street.  Sampled  some great food and binged on RDA soft drinks with a chaser from an interesting French Fairtrade Vodka called FAIR (check it out online).

I won't announce the winners as I'll leave that to the professional journalists, but there was some great work up there.

Did I win anything? Alas, I didn't enter but next year I'll be in there next year. 

Should Christmas ads be banned?

Nov 1^st and suddenly half the ads are full of Christmas clichés. I for one have started channel hopping because the ads are so bad. Not that the non Christmas ads are any better.

Well having got 100 replies to my Survey Monkey survey here are the results.

OK, not a massive survey but a recent survey that reported most people thought ads with celebrities were less effective than ones without, turned out to be conducted in a college canteen among just 60 students. Still managed to make the nationals though.

Should all Christmas ads be banned?  Well 69% said yes. It’s certainly the worse brief you can get as a creative. Imagine, you get briefed in May, shoot in August in a studio full of fake snow for a late October launch (yep some appear that early). Humbug.

79% thought Xmas ads shouldn’t start before Dec 1^st. Maybe the Tories can use that to get in at the next election, a definite vote winner.

But do Christmas ads sell? 61% think Xmas ads do sell. But is it the Christmas theme or the offers? See below.

What is the best Christmas ad of all time? 76% said there aren’t any. Those brands that were praised included Coca-Cola, Woollies, Argos, Hellman’s and M&S. But no one actually named an actual ad, so seems none have made a big impression. Certainly can’t think of one I’ve seen in D&AD.

Of course, let us not forget that it was Coke in the 1930s who relaunched Santa Claus in their red and white colours.

To top this up we’ve been doing a few street surveys, though only 100 people. This time it’s the punter’s turn.

One question we asked was “Is the commercialisation of Christmas destroying the magic of Christmas?” Interesting narratives. 72% think that commercial brands have devalued Christmas, though mainly through over exposure and over use of cliché’s. 

Most thought they would be just as likely to buy if the ads had no Christmas theme. Relevance and discounts was the key element, so maybe all the Christmas trimmings really adds nothing. Or worse, actually makes the ad more of a turn off. With so many Christmas ads, how do you get noticed?

But almost all (92%) felt strongly that Christmas comes too early in ads and shops. which does spoil it. Consumers see the two together.

Most thought Christmas ads were generally bad unless they were funny, though no one could think of a funny one. A lot of consumers thought they are more likely to ignore Christmas themed ads. “It’s a turn off” . “Maybe in mid December but in October or November it’s too early”.

So advice to adland – avoid the clichés, you don’t need Christmas trimming – great ads sell just as well without the clichés. And please don’t book those slots too early. But one small piece of advice from the consumers mouth, make it funny, that’s a real winner every time.

Checkout the Independent’s 2007 article on The best Christmas Ads of all time.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/the-best-christmas-ads-ever-764037.html

Check out Google today

What  a brilliant visualisation of the logo. The best yet.

While so many brands are stuffy about their logos and actually think messing with it will open the door to others messing with it (never let lawyers have a voice in your corporation) Google likes to have fun. No wonder they are so successful.

About time more brands stopped being so anal and let themselves go.I think we must be at the bottom of the HOW BLAND AND BORING CAN BRANDS BE  curve.

Many years ago I worked on Ford and presented a headline 'ONE FOUR LETTER WORD MOTORISTS SWEAR BY'. Boy did we get a bad reaction. Client freaked. My only thought at the time was "get a life, it's only advertising". 

Think I'll make that the title of my next book.

Christmas is here early… please save us from the ads!

It seems Christmas is getting earlier every year, Nov1st and the media onslaught starts. Last night almost half the TV commercials had a Christmas them, please can someone invent an app that screens Christmas ads out.

Two years ago we conducted a street survey into Christmas ads and how consumers felt about them. Too early – big brand negative. Clichéd theme– highly ignorable. In fact most people wanted an alternative approach, Christmas trimmings just makes the ad appear even less genuine.

You don’t need a survey to intuitively know that running Christmas ads in early November falls into the ‘irrelevant’ box. Who the hell is buying presents now? I thought most people are adopting the “I’ll buy you something in the Jan sales” approach.

Personally I’d ban all Christmas themed ads. As a creative it’s the worse brief of the year. Humbug? You bet.

Go to my Survey Monkey survey and have your say on banning Christmas ads.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=O7DQsx1xvMoVeh0isifhBQ_3d_3d