Notebook - Another Clever Video

Anyone who knows me, knows I love animation. The following 4 minute video is a great example of what makes animation special - the freedom to express imagination without the restrictions of the physical world around us.

Watch as Dutch art student, Evelien Lohbeck, uses a "notebook" in very creative ways!

Noteboek from Evelien Lohbeck on Vimeo.

Loewe Sound Ad - Who's in Control?

This spot for a German electronics manufacturer from advertising agency Scholz & Friends, gets the point across that Loewe Sound is very realistic and does it in a clever, intelligent and entertaining way that draws the viewer into the experience.

The ad starts out with a choir singing the “Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves” from Verdi’s Nabucco. You see a volume bar across the screen and soon realize someone is controlling this scene. As bass is increased, four fat men join the chorus. As the treble increases, the sopranos are almost standing on tiptoes. And when the balance is shifted to the left, the chorus shifts with it.



Advertising Agency: Scholz & Friends, Berlin, Germany
Creative Directors: Oliver Handlos, Matthias Spaetgens
Art Director: Michael Schmidt
Copywriter: Caspar Heuss
Director: Alex Feil
Production: Element E
Aired: December 2008

Link to Tropicana Article

Yesterday's link to the full article about Tropicana's packaging woes went to a subscriber page at AdAge, and didn't work properly for many. Here is another very good article: Packaging Lessons from Tropicana at Brand Channel.

Don't Underestimate Brand Loyalty

Sometimes it's hard to see the payoff from time and money spent building and defending a brand. Things change all the time, why not branding. But branding actually happens in the mind of the consumer. Consumer's minds are difficult to change.

Take a lesson from Tropicana. After a redesign of the package, sales of the Tropicana Pure Premium line plunged 20% from Jan. 1 through Feb. 22, costing the brand tens of millions of dollars. On Feb. 23, the company announced it would bow to consumer demand and scrap the new packaging, designed by Peter Arnell. It had been on the market less than two months.

There are a couple lessons here. The first is to be certain that changes are needed and wanted -- not by the marketing department or the CEO -- but by consumers. The second is to be sharp and quick to abandon something that turns out to be a bad idea and go back to what was working.