We’ve got accolades for two Leo Burnett offices that warrant some applause: First, Leo Burnett Beirut became the first agency in the MENA region to crack the Top 50 in the Big Won Report’s “Best Agencies in the World,” released last week. A big part of LB/Beirut’s success was attributable to the “Khede Kasra” campaign for the Hariri Foundation. That effort, which subtly used the Arabic language to advance women’s empowerment, charted at number one in the Big Won’s Media Campaigns list. Quite a feat!
Next, Leo Burnett Toronto ranked first in four of the five categories in Strategy Magazine’s annual Creative Report Card. Judy John and Israel Diaz were named Top Creative Directors; Steve Persico and Anthony Chelvanathan were the Top Art and Copy team, with Chelvanathan and Persico topping the Art Directors and Copywriters list, respectively. Two of the agency’s clients, Procter & Gamble and James Ready Breweries, charted at one and two in the Top Advertisers category. Overall, LB/Toronto ranked second on the Agencies list, which included more than 100 shops. Again, well done… great way to cap of a stellar year for both offices.
Montreal-based green entrepreneurship organization Challenge Your World partnered with Motionographer for the 20/20 project, a collection of 20 shorts from 20 artists that showcase a variety of “wild, whimsical, and unconventional machines that solve environmental issues.”
The group asked artists to “share their idea on how to challenge your world,” and the result is a creative assortment of both practical and quirky solutions. Among those I enjoyed were “Natural Re-sasters,” which imagines the world in the year 2067, when natural disasters are rechanneled into new forms of sustainable energy, and “Recycle Invaders,” which proposes a device that could transform paper back into trees. Some fun stuff.
There are few digital destinations that draw me into a time vacuum quite like the Favourite Website Awards (aka the FWA), which has been showcasing the best of the web for nearly ten years. Each day the FWA posts a site that’s invariably innovative, inspiring and, quite often, unlike anything else out there online. And at the end of each year, the FWA crowns one of its daily picks Site of the Year.
Announced today, 2009’s winner was “We Choose the Moon,” a rich, real-time recreation of the 1969 Apollo 11 mission to the moon. And while we somehow completely missed the voting, “Labuat,” a blissful, interactive music video that circulated widely this summer, was elected the People’s Choice.
The science and technology think tank known as the Edge Foundation has released its annual question for 2010: “How is the Internet changing the way you think?” For at least five years the group has submitted a fairly heady query to all its members, an elite lot that includes intellectuals representing fields ranging from evolutionary biology and mathematics to art and media studies.
There’s already been plenty of debate on this topic, much of which kicked off in the summer of 2008 with Nicholas Carr’s “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Atlantic cover story. And the range of thoughts on the matter you’ll find at Edge are about as varied as one would expect. (Scroll down and you’ll find them in a column on the left.)
Here’s a great example of a brand act that’s about as charming to watch as it must’ve been to experience. A one-of-a-kind Coca-Cola vending Happinessmachine was placed in the middle of a busy college campus. When a student casually tried to purchase a Coke, the device responded a little more generously than expected, doling out an entire armful of bottles. And before long the machine was delighting the crowd with even more unusual – but welcome – offerings including balloon sculptures, a pizza and a giant sub sandwich.
The clip ends with the line “Where will happiness strike next?” suggesting this is likely the first of several executions based around this fun gesture.
Nice cartoon synopsis of the year in social media from Rob Cottingham. Clocks in at nearly nine minutes, and the slides move a bit slowly, but a pretty thorough look back at the high- and low-lights of 2009.
Here’s a clip of a pretty stunning building projection installation from an “interactive collective” known as YesYesNo. The group transformed the Auckland Ferry Building into a spectacular five-story psychedelic display that the public could play around with via body, hand and phone interaction. More photos from the installation here. Spotted at today and tomorrow.
Still catching up with assorted web ephemera missed over the break and ran across this delightful video mash of Disney/Pixar’s 2009 feature “Up.” An Australian producer who goes by Pogo composed the bubbly techno-pop soundtrack using only samples from the film. According to the Wall Street Journal, the piece was made in collaboration with Disney.
A little off-topic, but a refreshing diversion… at least, here in Chicago, where we’re trapped in the midst of a winter storm that threatens to drop up to 12 inches of show.
Back in September we blogged about an ambitious project launched by Len Kendall and Daniel Honigman to chronicle 2010 through the voices of 365 different people. Each participant was to be assigned a specific date for which he or she would pen a 250-word reflection on what’s happening in the world and how it relates to them. (That word count has since been adjusted to 350.) The result would be a sort of collaborative diary, a crowdsourced record of the year.
Well, we’re seven days into the ‘10, and I was pleased to check in and see that The 3Six5 is up and running over at Posterous. Entries so far include a dispatch from Haiti, reflections on sustainable housing and some inspirational thoughts for the year ahead. A few open slots are still available, though I assume they’ll be claimed soon as word of the endeavor spreads. Info on how to get involved can be found here.
Very cool demo of a Tokyo shopping mall with a façade that’s been layered with QR code. Peering at the exterior through a mobile provides users with the latest info about the stores inside: coupons, the ability to make reservations, etc. To cap it off, a specially developed iPhone app gives a snapshot of what shoppers are saying online.
The endeavor is a group effort between teradadesign and Qosmo. Read more about the project here.
Back from the holiday hiatus and catching up on a few of the more interesting items we missed over the break. Mag+ is a conceptual magazine tablet commissioned by Swedish publisher Bonnier and created by BERG. As you’ll see in the clip, the designers aimed to translate the magazine reading experience into a touchscreen digital format. The result is a bit like the Sports Illustrated prototype that debuted online last month, though distinctly calmer. And as Bonnier’s R&D chief told the Guardian, this was intentional: “Some things we have left out because they will be included in prototype 2.0 – for example some social functionality. Our purpose of the prototype is to create a curated and relaxed media experience, some kind of silent mode, in a digital media world of information overload.”
In case you missed it over at Creativity, where it was recently a Pick of the Day, take a minute to meet alien Miles Melman, who discusses the difficulties of living among humans and explains how Kellogg’s Raisin Bran Crunch has helped make his life on Earth a little bit easier.
Creative credits: Global CCO: Mark Tutssel
ECD: Mark Oosthuizen
CD/AD: Vince Cook
CD/CW: Colin Selikow
Agency Producer: Mary Cheney
When you’ve got an idea this great, it deserves an encore. After the tremendous success of LB/Lisbon’s Store+ effort for the Portuguese Red Cross, the first Spanish Red Cross Store opened last night in Madrid Xanadú, an upscale shopping center near the city’s center. The opening ceremony was a star-studded affair – those in attendance included Real Madrid footballers Álvaro Arbeloa and Ruben de la Red, recording artist Raúl, journalist and televison personality Paqui Peña and several others.
If you’re unfamiliar, the Hope Store first opened its doors in Lisbon for the Christmas season last year. While it looked like any ordinary retail shop, the store sold nothing you could wear, touch, hear or see – only feel. That’s because the “merchandise” included only cards that enabled visitors to make donations to the charity. While customers left with empty bags, their hearts were full.
At the Madrid opening, the shelves were filled with books that had covers each associated with a particular cause that the Red Cross supports. Each was blank inside, but held a bookmark letting customers know that by making a donation, the story would end a happy one.
Today we celebrate our annual Leo Burnett Breakfast. A former Burnetter named Dick Heath initiated the yearly event in 1962, according to Joan Kufrin’s Leo Burnett biography “Star Reacher,” “because he felt that it was ‘important for management to stand up in front of the people at least once a year, so that they could hear first-hand how the company was doing and what the company believed in.”
Since then we’ve gathered each December to hear that first-hand account, reflect on the year, and do a little merry-making to boot. But perhaps no Breakfast has lived in legend more than the 1967 meeting during which Leo delivered his renowned “retirement” address. So take a moment today and have another look at that speech… I think he’d be pleased the agency still bears his name.
Following a tremendous year during which the office earned multiple awards at each of the top seven award shows, produced the second-most awarded commercial in the world (Shelter “House of Cards”) and ranked third in the U.K.’s New Business Gains League, Leo Burnett London was named the global network’s Agency of the Year this evening in a ceremony held in Chicago.
London was vying for the honor with four other LB offices, each deemed “Bright Stars” for outstanding performances in 2009 across all aspects of business – from creative to financial to people. Those honorees, along with a few highlights, were:
Bangkok. Leo Burnett Bangkok bagged a robust collection of awards from shows including Spikes, AdFest, AWARD and a Grand Prix at ADMAN. The office also earned new business from Tesco, Thailand Military Bank and the Thailand Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.
Lisbon. Lisbon brought home more Lions from Cannes (eleven!) than any other Leo Burnet office. According to Creativity, the agency was the seventh most awarded in the world in 2009. And last but not least, Lisbon turned Crisis into Opportunity – literally – with a browser plug-in that replaced the word “crisis” with “opportunity” on the web pages of anyone who installed it. The ingenious application resulted in 16 calls for new business.
Sydney. Sydney earned two Gold and one Bronze Lion at Cannes for the WWF “Earth Hour” effort, which inspired one billion people to “Vote Earth” this year. The office was named 2009 YoungGuns Australian Agency of the Year, while Michael Canning was named Young Gun of the Year. Finally, over the past 12 months Sydney won 26 new pieces of business from new and existing clients.
Toronto. According to the 2009 Gunn Report, the James Ready Beer “Share Our Billboards” was the fifth most awarded print campaign in the world, and Toronto ranked 44th in the world’s top 50 agencies. Further, the office had a 75% success rate in new business pitches, winning five pieces of new business in total last year.
The ceremony also recognized the most exceptional creative from across the network with the Pencil Award. LB/Chicago’s “Zack Johnson” effort for P&G Tampax took the Gold Pencil; LB/London’s “Favourites” for McDonald’s took Silver; and LB/Lisbon’s “World’s First Ephemeral Museum” for Diageo Pampero Rum took the Bronze.
Nice new campaign from Leo Burnett Sydney that taps into a few simple human truths by looking at the humorous ways people waste energy, time and money, and then juxtaposes them with the efficiency tips that EnergyAustralia provides. Here’s a look at two of the TVCs, “Parrot” and “Coach Allen”:
The integrated effort includes cinema, TV, outdoor, print and online. From Leo Burnett Sydney Executive Creative Director Andy DiLallo:
“I’m a firm believer that great clients get great work. This campaign is a perfect case in point. In what is usually a very tired low interest category together we’ve been able to deliver memorable work that is full of character and humour. A special thanks has to be extended to our production partners Chris Budgeon and Dave Klaiber who both brought their magic to this project.”
Credits: Executive Creative Directors: Andy DiLallo, Jay Benjamin
Group Head: Gary Dawson
Writers: Gary Dawson, Tim Green
Art Director: Gary Dawson, Tim Green
Agency TV Producer: Rita Gagliardi
Agency Print Producer: Jo Hoskin
Photographer: Chris Budgeon
Account Service: Paul Everson, Alice Smith, Amanda Groom
Client: Jane Mills, Sean Van Wyck, Michelle Monaghan
Production Company: Plaza Films
Director: Dave Klaiber
Producer: Suzanna Dilallo
Fresh from winning Agency of the Year and the Golden Kancil at last month’s Kancil festival, Leo Burnett and Arc Worldwide have turned in another outstanding performance – this time at the Direct Marketing Association of Malaysia (DMAM) Awards 2009 held last Friday. In total, the LB & Arc took home more Gold honors (four) than any other agency, as well as five Silver, six Bronze and seven Merit awards.
Three of those four Gold went to the Hicom-Chevrolet’s “I Almost Starred in Transformers 2” effort, which won in Best Retention/Loyalty Programme (B2B), Best Direct Mail Flat Mail, and Best Direct Mail Flat Mail (B2B). The Dutch Lady Malaysia “Yes! For The Right to Play” won in Best Use of Integration. Other trophies were awarded to clients including WWF Malaysia, Women’s Aid Organisation, ING Berhad and Sunway Lagoon.
From Tan Kien Eng, CEO of Leo Burnett & Arc Worldwide Malaysia & Singapore:
“This is indeed great news for the agency, giving us the perfect ending to a truly remarkable year. But more importantly, our achievements at DMAM Awards underscore our dedication to continuously raise the bar on creative standards that deliver effective solutions, in turn growing our clients’ market share. Not only that, this win also demonstrates our strengths in our other disciplines and reaffirms our capabilities as an integrated agency.
The team has truly embraced the HumanKind philosophy, showing an intrinsic understanding of human insights which helped bring to life these award winning campaigns. I would also like to personally attribute our success to our clients who have continually supported us, and the way we work at Leo Burnett & Arc Worldwide.”
More news to report to round out Leo Burnett’s wrap-up from YoungGuns. Not only was Leo Burnett Sydney’s Michael Canning named the 2009 “YoungGun of the Year,” but Leo Burnett Sydney was crowned Agency of the Year and Leo Burnett Worldwide the YoungGuns Network of the Year. In total, LBWW garnered two Gold Bullets, one Silver and five Bronze, thanks to contributions from offices in Sydney, Lisbon and Toronto.
Canning won the two Golds for the WWF “Vote Earth” effort, and earned additional honors for work on Canon and McDonald’s Australia, all created along with creative partner Keiran Antill. Canning joins some impressive company – previous YoungGuns include Fallon London’s Juan Cabral, and Wieden + Kennedy’s Eric Kallman and Craig Allen.
LB/Sydney Co-Executive Creative Director Andy DiLallo offered some kind words:
“Rather than repeating the same sentiment about how brilliant, and how creative Michael is, I would rather talk about something that has nothing to do with his creativity at all, but for me is the single most defining characteristic of him. That is Michael’s humility; I have never come across a creative who is more gracious or kind. Michael is truly an amazing person to be around, nothing ever seems to bother the guy when trouble heads his way, he meets it with a cool laid back charm that makes anything seem manageable. It doesn’t always happen, but I am happy to be able to say, nice guys can finish first and in this case first in the world.”
Admittedly way off-topic, but too curious to pass up. “Rotating Kitchen” is an installation by artist Zeger Reyers currently at the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf as part of the “Eating the Universe” exhibition. As the title suggests, the piece is essentially composed of a kitchen in a cube that spins on its horizontal axis. As it turns, the contents crash all about… and will continue to do so for another three months. It’s likely the most unusual eleven minutes of film you’ll see all week. Reyers also posted a clip of the kitchen’s construction, and here’s a close-up of the damage.
I’m unapologetically old school when it comes to my taste in periodicals. While I’m certainly no Luddite, I still prefer the tangible, tactile experience of paging through a newspaper or magazine. But this conceptual Sports Illustrated tablet, a collaboration between The Wonderfactory and Time Inc., certainly causes me to reconsider. The aesthetically keen and intuitive user interface, customization, and social media integration displayed in this video demo hint at some incredible possibilities… not to mention the potential for some rich advertising.
Next Thursday, Burnetters from around the globe will gather for the annual Agency of the Year ceremony. The event celebrates the achievements of the top-performing offices from our worldwide network. And by the end of the evening, one will walk away crowned Agency of the Year.
Since Leo Burnett’s inception, one of the symbols of the company has been the big black Alpha 245 pencil, famously used by Leo himself. As such, for the past two years – as well as this one – the Agency of the Year trophy has been created by artist Jennifer Maestre, who crafts stunning sculptures from pencils. Though originally inspired by sea urchins, Maestre’s work is an ideal prize for the office named best of the year. (I should point out, however, that the sculpture above is not our commissioned trophy.) Take some time to check out Maestre’s portfolio here.
This infographic created by visual communication technology studentCurtiss Spontelli tracks the evolution of data storage through the past century. It’s a great rendering of how far we’ve come. It’s particularly incredible to see the acceleration just over the past decade. Really makes you wonder just how this illustration will look just five or ten years from now. Great work, Curtiss… please check back in with an update!
Film fanatics must be salivating over the debut of MovieClips, an online depository of 12,000 clips from more than 1,000 movies that launched in beta Wednesday. Hollywood’s six major studios are on board, and according to a TechCrunch report, “thousands more” clips are expected to be included soon.
The site bills itself as a one-stop shop for finding that particular scene you’re itching to re-watch. All are searchable by criteria ranging from actor to mood, and are sharable across Facebook, Twitter and a handful of other social platforms. Organizers expect to generate revenue from ad sales at some point, but for the moment studios are cashing in via the links back to points of purchase like Amazon and Apple’s iTunes store.
UPDATE: Erez has kindly pointed out that the service is currently only available in the U.S. and Canada. Though according to a comment from @movieclips on TechCunch, they’re looking to expand.
Here’s a great effort from Leo Burnett Brazil to promote the vast range of entertainment options on Emirates Airline (1,200 different channels!). Since Emirates turns its planes into virtual cinemas, why not turn cinemas into simulated airliners? For the next month, two São Paulo movie theaters have been converted to look and sound just like planes. The rooms are flanked by rows of lit windows, and when the lights go down before the opening trailers, the screen brightens with an image of clouds while the hum of jet engines plays in the background. Check out the demo here:
TREND HUNTER is out with its annual list of what to expect in the year ahead. Tangible personalization, unservice, DIY healthcare, nostalgia marketing, crowdsourced campaigns, and next besting are just a few movements to watch out for in 2010. Definitely worthwhile viewing.
Leo Burnett USA is partnering with the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), a global network of small business owners, to launch THE LEOS, an innovative new award in which one current U.S. EO member in good standing will receive $250,000 in pro bono marketing and brand building services from Leo Burnett USA.
The lucky entrepreneur will have a team of Leo Burnett associates come together and develop a creative solution to address any issue that a business owner faces, with the ultimate goal of helping expand the business and build a meaningful relationship between real people and a new brand.
A selection process will narrow down the top ten semi-finalists to the top three finalists, before a winner is announced. The top applicant will be selected by a committee made up of Leo Burnett executives, including Sebastian Mueller-Soppart, the Leo Burnett senior vice president and creative director who developed the award.
Some words on the project from Leo Burnett USA President Rich Stoddart:
“THE LEOS takes the incredible talent we have at this creative agency and makes it available to an up-and-coming entrepreneur with a vision, a plan and a whole lot of determination – the same things Mr. Leo Burnett started out with when he opened the doors in Chicago 74 years ago. Working with these entrepreneurs and establishing relationships through THE LEOS will be personally rewarding for our people and it’s also a great way for Leo Burnett to bring on fresh and exciting clients.”
U.S. EO members have until December 18 to submit proposals at registerfortheleos.com. If you’re not a member, applications can be found here. The winner will be notified by April 2010. And for more information about the award, please visit the ‘Contact Us’ section of the site.
First, Michael Canning, who you might remember as the fifth most awarded copywriter in the world, was just named the “2009 Professional YoungGun of the Year.” Michael’s had a stellar year, bringing home an abundance of awards, including two Gold Lions for the WWF “Vote Earth” effort. So a big congrats to Michael on this remarkable achievement.
Next, LB/Sydney Executive Creative Director Andy DiLallo was recently named to Media magazine’s “Generation of Achievers” list, a group of ad folk who are “young, ambitious and bursting with talent and energy,” as well as “Asia’s faces to watch in 2010.” Here’s what Media had to say:
“Andy DiLallo is one of the youngest and most highly awarded ECDs in Asia-Pacific. Early in his career, he was selected to represent Australia in the Cannes Young Lion competition, as well as winning a National Portfolio Search competition in the US, where he is originally from. DiLallo’s most notable industry contribution came this year when, along with his co-ECD partner Jay Benjamin, he launched the world’s first global election campaign on behalf of their client WWF Earth Hour, which became the world’s largest mass-participation event in history, with over one billion voters taking part.”
Big props to both Michael, Andy and the entire Sydney team for making the network proud!
I’d have thought a sizable portion of the profiles on Facebook and similar social networking sites present a representation of a user that was a bit more idealized or aspirational than what you’d likely find offline. But according to new research from the University of Texas in Austin, this isn’t exactly the case. As it turns out, our social networking profiles are actually pretty congruent with our real personalities. As psychologist Sam Gosling reported to Pysorg:
“…our findings suggest that online social networking profiles convey rather accurate images of the profile owners, either because people aren’t trying to look good or because they are trying and failing to pull it off.”
The second part of that sentence cracks me up a bit, but there are some interesting insights from the study, which looked at 236 profiles from college age people from the United States and Germany.
