Commercial 2

Universal Studios- Hulk 3D

This advertisement was for Universal Studio’s newest attraction set to debut in July 2011, Hulk 3D.  It started off at a close-up shot of a person’s face in slow motion as they appear to be shocked or scared.  The commercial then continues in slow motion by reversing the action of the actors’ facial expressions and movements.  The hair, eyes, and mouth start moving and slowly their 3D glasses reappear and finally make it back to be placed on their faces.  You have no idea what the commercial is about until the final cut when the print for Universal appears.  The entire commercial creates a guessing game for what it is for.  An ad such as this causes the consumer to be engaged and want to watch the entire commercial until the end.  I thought it was an overall creative, entertaining, and mysterious commercial.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

McCann Worldgroup & MRM Worldwide

The topic was technology and how it is transforming creativity.  Marketing is the biggest driver of innovation and it is moving faster than ever before.  At the same time, the entertainment world and the world of technology are combining to create the next big thing.  Technology is giving people the resource to be able to recreate and express their dreams.  Technology is the new creativity.  Technology makes creativity that much more human.  The classical youth are closer to their interests shared with the older generations through technology.  This is the first generation that has completely grown up on technology.  They have the ability to use a number of tools to vocalize any idea.  A major danger of having technology so widely used is still being able to have a passion without having to be on a computer to generate it.  You still need to go out in the real world to discover yourself.  As Will.i.am said, “Think big and it will lead you somewhere unusual.”  There is a change of thinking that is taking place; a linking between left-brains and right-brains is happening like never before.  Will.i.am also said, “Don’t wait for someone to solve your problem.  Take personal risks to solve them.”  The point is to keep pushing for new ideas and new technology. 

Amr Salama- Egyptian film maker

Salama spoke about how people are learning more from social media than government in present times.  In Egypt, the success of the revolution this year was made possible because of the wide spread use of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.  Nobody had hope in the Egyptian public actually revolting in the beginning but when the people heard about cruelties and abuse happening to those few already rebelling, more and more joined the cause.  National TV in Egypt wouldn’t report on the enormity of the revolt but through Twitter, the real numbers were heard.  After the successful revolution, there’s strong interest in Egypt now which is helping Salama continue his film making.  The news is more open since the revolution as well.  He ended in saying, “What Americans have for rights, Egyptians have for dreams.”

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Mofilm

This seminar was about gauging public perceptions of things.  Can a social network build a global brand?  Jesse Eisenberg, the youngest member on the panel, created oneupme.com, a website you can post clever comments giving different takes on one topic.  The panel pointed out that the consumer is really the one who owns the brand.  Chevrolet has opened up to Mofilm to find out what people think of the company and brand overall. 

Time Warner

The headline for this seminar was “thinking inside the box.”  It is no longer TV versus internet rather it’s TV on the internet.  Internet provides tons of new power to the viewer for viewing their favorite shows.  Also Twitter is becoming more popular than news because its instant.  For instance, one tweet caused a huge interest for a CNN special program about Charlie Sheen just minutes before it was to air.  This is reiterating the point that social networking is hugely impacting the entertainment world.  It cannot compete with TV however for how perfect a platform it still remains to be for storytelling.  With journalism, there is a danger of wrong information.  It causes such a threat because of how it is able to spread so quickly.  TV provides better and faster information than newspapers which has led to the demise of the newspaper industry.  HBO has completely changed the TV industry by its commercial-free format.  Film directors are also exploring new territory by doing commercials in order to further challenge their creativity.    

Commercial 1

Planet Fitness

I watched a series of three commercials for Planet Fitness.  They all featured a typical “meathead” being given a tour of the gym by an ordinary looking employee.  Humor was the point of this series.  All three were poking fun at the stereotypical dumb jock that lives in the gym.  The take-home message from these commercials was that Planet Fitness is a gym for everyday people looking to maintain their health and wellness.  The shots were all at medium distance and used minimal camera angles.  All dialogue was done on screen by the two actors.  It was an overall simple message with a simple execution that got the job done and fulfilled its purpose. 

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

IPG & Women’s Leadership Network

This panel talked about gender balance in creative roles.  Martha Stewart pointed out that you should focus on the task at hand and that she never really paid attention to the heavy numbers of males in the creative field she was up against.  She iterated not to consider it men or women’s work, but just work.  It’s all about competence, not gender.  Overall, Stewart said she hasn’t felt discriminated against in her profession.  It was said that women have less of an ego than men so they are often more free to be adventurous and open-minded.  Women however do drop in numbers once they get past the manager/directors positions because they’re not sure if they want the responsibility and commitment.  As a creative team, you need to have the diversity of thought from having both genders represented.  Forcing diversity will not promise a change, mindsets are what need to change.  There is promise that there will be huge opportunities for women in the future.  Women just have to be optimistic, persuasive, and persistent. 

Yahoo!

The topic of this seminar was content as a conversation catalyst.  Robert Redford stated that he takes a more realistic and human approach to his profession which inspired him to create the Sundance film festival.  Sundance was a way to support new artists.  It stemmed from a place for these artistic films to be aired.  The content is devoted to new voices and change.  One of the best quotes said during this seminar was, “the only thing that really succeeds is change.”  A good story holds something you don’t know but will hit you emotionally and teach you something.  Risk is exploring new opportunities which lead to new discoveries.  But you have to have a passion for the risks you take on.  But how do you keep yourself authentic?  You have to maintain a sense of quality, trust, and integrity.  You can’t sell out when you have success or you risk losing it all.  So what keeps Redford going?  He always goes back to zero.  This means not getting too taken away by all the success by starting new and fresh ever so often.  Take new initiatives and new risks.  Failure is a step forward in terms of growth. 

Digitas & VEVO

This panel discussed arts, brands, and the marriage of music and marketing.  Brands are necessary for today’s acts because that’s the only way they know.  But how do you connect with everyone who loves music in this growing age when they don’t necessarily buy it anymore?  Revenue in the industry is going to come from brands in the future.  They are going to have to rely on creative innovation.  It’s not about marketing to people; it’s about what feels natural and marketing to the human psyche.  You have to understand your customer in order to produce a new product.  If you do it right based on your customer, you will succeed.  You must be accountable for your brand’s destiny.  The recording industry is getting it right by concentrating on servicing on humans, not about selling records.  New partnerships between musicians and marketers are immensely important for emerging artists.  There is promise for infinite amounts of creative and innovative relationships between brands and artists in the future but the integration must be real and natural for it to be believable and work.