How About You Decide? (Gaming Post No.2)

Pic from www.guardian.co.uk

The launch of the WiiU has caused a lot of debate around the gaming community. As with the first Wii console, the 'hardcore' gamers have been scathing in criticising Nintendo for producing something that isn't an all powerful technical behemoth, even though they haven't done that for any machine in over a decade.

Nintendo have always been smart at making the very most from their machines, taking something that is technically less powerful, but utilising it in a way that produces great end results, and importantly, is profitable. Sony got every major technical decision on Playstation 3 wrong, Nintendo rarely do.

The key question though, is what exactly IS WiiU? It feels initially like a machine that has had tons of things chucked at it in the hope that some of them will stick, yet on closer inspection it feels far more clever.

A touch screen in the middle of a gamepad, compatibility with the Wii controllers, it feels a bit like trying to cash in on iPad mania, until you look more closely at the details.

The handheld screen shows two bits of possible thinking that are beyond what Microsoft or Sony have previously done. Firstly, sales of handheld consoles are dropping. Ownership of phones and smartphone gaming mean fewer people are buying, and those that do are far less likely to play them outdoors. So suddenly this screen gives you the option to play your game in bed without having to buy a separate handheld machine and a new catalogue of games. You could also use it to watch Netflix in bed.

Secondly, multiplayer gaming in the same room has always been spoiled by the need to use split screen. The new controller screen finally takes that away, allowing two player gaming with one TV and no splitting of the screen. It also means the usual four player limit on games can go up to five.

Cute pictures and game related chat.
Miiverse even adds a tick to let you know if the person
 writing actually owns the game they are talking about!

Even Miiverse and it's ability to draw players into a simple online community around each game they play, without the horrific over competitiveness and conflict you get on Xbox Live or PSN. Several early users have said the Miiverse has become like Facebook, something they check each morning.

When Apple launched the iPad, there was a lot of talk about where it would sit in the world. People have laptops and smartphones, why would they want a hybrid? Apple, instead of trying to define a position for the device, just showed all of the possibilities and let people and developers work out for themselves what they wanted it to be. Nintendo appear to follow the same strategy in recent years, DS, Wii and now WiiU all take cheap and clever technologies and compile them together into a bundle that can be used in many different ways.

For example: The streaming technology means that the console can process a controller action, send it to the console, update the game, compress the image, send it to the controller and display it with less lag than the average high quality LCD screen. This makes it remarkably responsive, even when used several metres from the machine. It also opens up the WiiU to be used with technologies like Onlive.

So while it looks a little bodged together, what Nintendo have actually delivered is something flexible. A machine that gives developers and gamers a huge scope of choice in the way they wish to play their games. This is why, no matter how weird their machines looks initially, I always trust Nintendo to deliver something worth owning, they think better and they plan better than the competition. Now if only their ads matched up to that thinking!

If you are interested in more games stuff, I've also been doing some writing for a new Gaming Site - Voxel Arcade.

Why Planners Should Love Creativity

Creativity and strategy is like a game of chess,
only with less horses and more pawns

Now and again you speak to a creative who has the impression that planners aren't that fussed about the creative output of an agency. That disappoints me, because everyone involved should care about the creativity and quality of the work their agency produces. To me it is absolutely fundamental that planners both understand and fight for creativity in the work they do.

Look at the link between creativity and effectiveness. http://www.ipa.co.uk/news/impact-of-creativity-on-effectiveness-increases

Look (in the UK at least) at the ads that the public truly get involved with and remember, they are entertaining and creative. The ones that stick in your head. It's been said so many times that advertising is far more long term than we ever try and track, and the influence of a great piece of work far far outlives the campaign.
Think about the Smash Martians that over 30 years later are still influencing people to buy Smash and have created a gigantically long term positive association. If we want to change behaviour then what way is more exciting that to create lifelong positive shifts towards our brands.

Consider those brands that have made, or reclaimed their fortune based upon great creative advertising: Stella Artois (a tiny brand until the Reassuringly Expensive campaign), Levis (a brand stuck with dated perceptions at the time - turned around several times by great work from BBH. I know personally that there are many brands that I have bought purely because of a piece of great work. (Sprite - Obey Your Thirst, Tango - You Know When You've Been Tango'd, Kia Ora - We all adora Kia Ora, etc). Hell, the advertising for Sony Minidisc not only made me buy a Sony MD player, the track on the ad was the very first thing I copied over to it.

Let's keep reading creative books as well as planning,
strategy and behavioural books.
(I just wanted an excuse to post this photo,
it took ages to set up)

More importantly, people like entertaining, engaging and creative advertising. No one wants to watch 4 minutes of being shouted at. No one wants to see ads that are painful to experience. (I once sat in a focus group where they referred to an existing ad as noisy, crowded and 'stressful' to watch. How can you expect to change behaviour if the creative idea and execution tunes people out? No one wants to see 50 ads all made exactly the same talking about the same thing for indistinguishable products.

A key part of planning is understanding the people who buy the products we sell, and finding a better, more effective way to talk to them. If you don't understand what types of advertising people like, how can you expect to produce ads that they will engage with and respond to? At the very least we should be finding exciting new ideas to spark off the imagination of the creatives. Taking the right thing to say, the right audience to say it to, and then giving the creatives a platform to create amazing work.

Maybe it didn't happen this way, but John Lewis's Always a Woman Ad perfectly nailed their target customer and brand reputation in a way that you'd hope a planner crafted into the right brief. Tango's 90's work created a brand that was bold, brave and noisy, giving the creatives a perfect opportunity to create some amazing work; the sort of brand thinking that you'd hope was down to good planning.

Every good planner I know cares about the creativity of the work. Maybe we need to put more effort into talking with the creative folk and creating some mututal understanding. Of course as planners we have other things to consider, but just because we write slides and draw graphs doesn't mean we don't love great work, and we should always be clear on that.

I believe that if we don't help inspire and fight for creativity, we really aren't doing our jobs right.

Two Nice Pieces

Sony's new 3D ad, why bother trying to convey the benefits when you can make people want to see it for themselves...




And a much better than expected piece for Coke / World Cup with Corden and Rooney. I love how Coke are trying to take hold of the celebrations angle of the football, it fits perfectly with the brand and makes their sponsorship stand out from the 50 others. Besides, it references Roger Milla; meaning instant awesomeness.

The Ad Pit Xmas Review 2009

It's that time of year again when I get irritated by the countless clips of red and white frivolity that pass by our screens.

So let's see what's out there...

Argos - Gifts



There's nothing here we haven't seen before in a Xmas ad, but it's done in a nice way. The tone is nice and it makes a good example of how to do traditional Christmas advertising.


Specsavers - Kitty

The usual joke with a reasonable punch line. Problem is it feels cheap, unlike the good TV work this feels custom made for the web, with a 1999 web budget to match.

Sony Centre - Xmas

Apart from the fact that without the VAIO and PSP branding it as Sony, this could easily be a fallout of the Toshiba ad from earlier in the year... only less cool and with cheaper graphics.

That sounds harsh I guess. Its nice, doesn't blast jolly old seasonal cliche's and is very watchable.


Maccy D's - Xmas menu

Not quite up to the standard of the excellent poem ad, but there is something joyful in the ripping of old panto traditions... and who doesn't enjoy comedy involving cranky old ladies? Oh. Never mind.


John Lewis - Sweet child O mine



As I mentioned previously, this is just wonderful. Would you Adam and Eve it, great ads at Xmas?!


DFS - All I Want for Xmas

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sony - Payback

The Onion absolutely hit the nail on the head after Sony's ill fated Web tv dodaah whatsit for the worlds biggest tech gamble (PS3).


Sony Releases New Stupid Piece Of Shit That Doesn't Fucking Work

Man City Fans Look Away

Fresh from referencing him about the Eyebrow ad, Kaka is making an appearance in the new Sony Bravia ad.

It features something called the Bravia-drome, which is apparently the world's largest Zoetrope... what ever that is.

But the ad looks like something interesting, that might make the Bravia campaign swing back to its heights. Lets hope!

Strange Things...

There are so many ads that everyone remembers. I wanted to update my "inspiration" section; but realised that I would probably just post 5 ads by John Webster and a couple by HHCL, so instead I thought about ads that you wouldn't expect to have had an impact on me but did.

As pretty much the head of the school magazine (aged about 11/12), the motley crew of 4/5 decided that as part of our stream of consciousness randomness we would write an entire article/sketch based upon the character from this ad.



The second verse of this ad is possibly the greatest piece of alliteration ever seen on a tv ad.




This ad alone made me buy a Minidisc, and Chinese Burn by Curve was the first CD I ever copied to it. *sigh* I still love my MD.




For pure brilliance in getting the point across without complication.




And finally (for now). Watch Out They Taste Curly...brilliant.



Actually, I do recall when I went on a uni trip to DDB in London; they told us how the previous agency had lost the account after the creatives or producers (I forget which) put themselves in a completely self indulgent piece of rubbish after previously making reasonable ads! Sadly I can't find it anywhere...

The Giant Bunnies Will Kill Us All!!!

Not really made my mind up about the new Sony Bravia ad (you know, the one with the bunnies that everyone is trying to clainm was nicked from 27 other sources)... I've only seen it once.

But, theres a pretty decent set of behind the scenes footage and interviews here:

It starts here...

Although the last Sony Bravia ad didnt live up to the hype, it was good enough for me to await the next ad with keen interest... and so here is the first batch of information, and some pictures of the build up:

The next ad is built around the idea of play-doh! Which to me opens quite a few interesting possibilities.

Apparently it's being directed by Frank Budgen, who previously directed 'Gorgeous'; and shot in New York.

I have been sent a couple of pictures if people are interested:









Just please be better than the last one... oh, and I am keeping my fingers crossed for a cameo by Morph.

Sony Sony Sony

Why are you killing the Playstation 3?
Why are you completely screwing over the customer for short term cost cutting because you raised costs so much to try and win the DVD format battle?

I know this isnt an ad comment, but it just completely tarnishes the whole image of Sony; at a time they REALLY need to improve it.

All the good work done by agencies to create good ads is being blown to pieces by a constant stream of stupid moves and bad PR.

Someone at the top of Sony has to start looking into what is going on at SCEJ (Sony Computer Entertainment). What was saving the brand looks like it could end up destroying it; and Sony has so much history and still so much potential... lets hope they dont let it.