Campaign clipping

Here's some more info about the Wanted ad comps from todays Campaign. Hopefully the website with our work on will be running soon.

chip shop Nominations 2010

We didn't get our entry into this years nominations. But big congrats to HS&P'S other entries from Jules, Chris and Nick for there nominations in "most shocking copy" and "best politically incorrect" and "best consumer campaign"

But take a look at our entry below for the Mobile App Category. The App was for Alka seltzer called 'Memory Aid' which acts as a lost and found app for the day after a heavy night out.

Wanted Ads- Young Team of Year 2010

Last Friday we entered the wanted ads Young team year contest.

We rolled up at 9.30 for a long day of pressured thinking and manic scamping.
The brief was set by Al young, Creative Director of St Lukes which was to advertise Strongbow within a local media context. Immediately I was happy as it was a brief for cider and so I felt on very familiar grounds.

So after a long day trying to get to grips with the brief we quickly scamped our campaign and then presented it dragon den style to 5 judges. Not sure how it went we then sat down with the other 20 teams for the results... a few words from the judges and by-eck we won! surprised? We were too!

So next stage is Brussels in May to represent the UK in the Best Yet Competition.
We are very excited and we will be joined by runners up Julia and Gav.

Overall fantastic day and we met so many lovely and talented creative teams. Be great to see everyone again soon for another drink. I will post up links of work once they have been published online.

Reel them in

I'm a sucker for a show reel and if it makes my heart skip a beat i'll post it. This one has to be my reel of the month. Nando Costa.

Nando Costa Reel 2010 from Nando Costa on Vimeo.

Spontaneous Combustion. The Birth and Death of an Idea.

I stumbled across an article in the Metro last week that struck a chord with me. The article suggested that brainstorming restricts creativity. It caught my attention as I had spent two days locked in a room brainstorming with a few people on a tough brief that didn't want to crack easily and so I was in a collaboration mindset.

The article read:

Brainstorming 'makes you less creative', researchers say
It will come as no surprise to those of us who have groaned at the thought of another session of ‘blue-sky thinking’ – brainstorming does not work.

Far from generating a raft of brilliant new ideas, thrashing out random thoughts in the boardroom on a Monday morning is counter-productive.US researchers have concluded we get the best ideas when sitting quietly on our own.
‘Fixation to other people’s ideas can occur unconsciously and lead to you suggesting ideas that mimic your brainstorming partners,’ said psychologist Nicholas Kohn.
‘You potentially become less creative.’
He and his colleagues at Texas A&M University carried out three experiments using groups of two, three and four subjects and found working together caused a gradual decline in the number of fresh thoughts they came up with.
Brainstorming can lead people to becoming fixated by just one possibility, blocking out alternatives and eventually leading to conformity.
‘Exchanging ideas in a group reduced the number of domains of ideas that were explored by participants. Additionally, ideas given by brainstormers conformed to ideas suggested by other participants,’ said Mr Kohn.
The study concluded that group creativity may be an overestimated method to generate ideas and individual exercises may be more effective.


So, what do I think? Working with a copywriter everyday often means we collaborate on briefs and so discussing concepts is a natural daily event. I however can understand where the research rings true. Often break-through moments for me come when i'm alone, completely absorbed and train of thought is clear from conflicting conversations and distractions. This is usually when i'm maniacally scribbling with a good Spotify list blasting through my headphones to keep me ticking along, or on the tube where no one actually cares if your unsocial and lack of eye contact is encouraged. For me I feel I have to have a moment alone to absorb the brief and think it through myself. However I see these first thoughts as just germs of ideas, I think the ideas come alive when people collaborate and expand on them. Often steering ideas into a clearer and stronger direction.

Here's a little more research (found here) that also suggests mainly negative outcomes of brainstorming.

In a [1987 study, researchers] concluded that brainstorming groups have never outperformed virtual groups. Of the 25 reported experiments by psychologists all over the world, real groups have never once been shown to be more productive than virtual groups. In fact, real groups that engage in brainstorming consistently generate about half the number of ideas they would have produced if the group’s individuals had [worked] alone.

In addition, in the studies where the quality of ideas was measured, researchers found that the total number of good ideas was much higher in virtual groups than in real groups.

So the evidence is there. Poor little Brainstorming (or "Thought Showers", if i'm to be politically correct) is getting some right jipp. However I find it hard to believe that the greatest adverts of all time came from one person's vision alone. Often anyone that's at the top of their game has a fantastic team supporting them. Also, if the method of brainstorming didn't work so well then perhaps the "creative team" structure wouldn't have passed the test of time as being a winning formula to produce award winning ideas in agencies that we still see today.

Jimmy the Jester

A little bit coincidental, but after posting Brooker's attempts at pulling apart adverts, I noticed Jimmy Carr had a go On Creative Review Blog. Carr's attempt is a little more involved but I think Brooker wins hands down for comedy value. Jimmy just doen't seem to hit my funny bone and often I did that slightly amused snot of a laugh that never progresses to a full chortel. Sorry Carr, I'm with Brooker on this one and thats not just because I like a good swear word or two.

what a cock up!

and just incase you thought women escaped.