Wedneday- Saturday

Wednesday-

Seeing Conan O’Brien in real life and having him talk to us one on one was a very cool experience and not one that I will soon forget.  I think he gets the reputation of just being a funny talk show host, the face of the talk show.  I think he showed a great deal of depth and humility throughout. I especially related to what he said about the importance of emotional intelligence in life mostly because I think that enough people are extremely intelligent and have a great vision for their future but they’re such assholes no one wants any of that.  It also usually seems like the most outgoing and very often most obnoxious people get noticed.  It did not seem to be the case with him.  I think what got Conan so far was his ability to see people for their actual worth not the front they put on.  The rest of the day in comparison was extremely lackluster.  The presentation by Unilver I assumed would be interesting because they’ve been able to keep the Axe/Lynx image alive for so long but so little insight was put into the presentation it was clear they thought putting together just a series of commercials would be sufficient.  The presenter merely introduced the era in which the commercial was produced.  Also trying to portray Axe as respectful to women and not just as sex objects was a little insulting because that is mostly what they’ve based their image off of.  Overall Conan and Anderson Cooper were the only useful and insightful part of the day but I did see some interesting exhibits and talked to creatives at the Google bar from BBDO and Leo Burnett.

 

Thursday:

I would say it was frustrating trying to get into seminars.  Saatchi and Saatchi was nearly impossible to even get into a line.  The presentation by Susy Dearing was very inspirational in that she admitted that she felt insecure about taking a position in Moxy.  It was nice to see that even the most successful of people second guess themselves and it doesn’t mean that you’re unable to do the job, you might just need some objective perspective.   The workshop I went to was probably the best thing I attended during the whole week, perhaps because at that point I had honed in on the areas of interest in advertising.  They gave us a brief introduction on the essentials of brand marketing.  Focusing in on the one aspect of not bullshitting your way through advertising the product, especially in social media.  It was amazing to see how some adverts on facebook are completely incapable of relating to real customers.  Although bullshitting is an excellent skill to have, they emphasized how people know when and if you are being genuine.  Though obviously a certain degree of bullshit is entirely necessary to sell many products, its how well the idea is executed determines how successful the ad is.  Seeing how Dove creates a kind of genuine image of around themselves, focusing on “the experience of being a woman” was really educational when compared with another company that made a status telling people to tell their “other sensitive skin friends” about their product. I think people don’t want to know they’re being sold to, so if it is concealed well enough, there is some level of success. A very cool addition to that workshop was seeing Lydia win a prize out of the entire class for her slogan idea for a smoothie brand : Try our banana flavor, it’s ‘apeeling’. It also made me realize that just because we are young does not mean we can’t contribute an equal amount of value, if not more than people who have been in the industry.

Friday:

Friday was interesting for me to explore how the essential aspect of creativity in an area I had not considered entirely for financial reasons.  Non profit organizations are quicker in adapting to trends in changing creativity.  It has been found, also through common sense, that some of the more abrasive and graphic commercials inspire sympathy but so much so that viewer simply does not want to think about it.  While it would be nice to show the horrors of the world directly and blatantly, I think we all know it is necessary to not desensitize the viewer/reader but to inspire sympathy in new and changing ways.  This is were strategic and dynamic creativity come into play.  In the second debate, I am confused as to why this was even an issue.  Nobody wants to see a starving African child drinking dirty water during prime time.  Though that is a reality, it is not what is most effective and in this case the ends do justify the means.

Saturday:

LatinWorks was a very relatable seminar I felt obligated to attend.  I agreed with most of what they said.  I think people should value the minorities opinions more often due to the fact that they’ve had to adjust and assimilate without losing their identity.  Many of the people telling their stories were very similar to that of my dad’s.  They grew up in horrendously poor conditions but managed to somehow make a name and living for themselves and families.  It was uplifting to see that people who were so much less fortunate all of us make it in an industry that seems very hard to get into.  The awards ceremony was also amazing.  It was the grand finale of the week and to see the best of the best film awards (my favorite catagory).  I am most interesting in film advertising

Tuesday

 

Tuesday
 was by far one of the most inspirational and useful days of the festivial. David Droga provided a much needed dose of reality through many of the things he said.  “It doesn’t count if we love it, it doesn’t matter if the client loves it, the world has to love it” and “Don’t quit because someone else has done it before, make it better”.  It made me remember that advertising isn’t all about faking it until you make it but rather the most successful ads are the most genuine.  I realized through seeing a few other advertisments that day that the most important and influential ads are very in tune to what people want out of life and many of our deepest fears and insecurities are almost comforted in the persuasion of buying a product.  Maybe it’s a little bit unscrupulous but if the advertiser is smart enough to be able to capitalize on it then they might as well. Arianna Huffington was also an excellent career role model.  She acknowledged how difficult it was for women to succeed in the business world.  It was good to hear that women’s rights are still evolving through time and women are demanding more respect and power in almost every aspect of life.  I thought her sass level regarding men in business/ running the world was a little abrasive and off putting.  It did make me realize that you do actually have to overcompensate in that aspect to gain respect or authority because of the routine and norms that are established in the business world.  I think the part of her lecture where she emphasized rest and the power of relaxation vaguely refreshing. People do emphasize working harder, not smarter.  Staying up all night studying for a test is almost expected as a student and surely as a business person.  I think that is a rather unhealthy cultural norm.  It was interesting to hear how businesses are changing and even creating yoga stations in the corporations, some of the most high stress environments.  Hopefully, this idea will spread and become more accepted and not viewed as laziness but an actual human need.

Monday

Monday

The first seminar I went to was a showcase on three very successful independent agencies.  Mike Sheetal of Ultra Super New has an agency in Japan and has very efficiently integrated Japanese culture into his advertising strategies.  Though he was Australian born, he carefully considered what Japenese culture values.  I feel like this was one of the most impressive displays of creativity.  Sheetal focused on the pop culture aspect and created an animated commercial to promote the product.  I think many advertisers try to bring their views from their country of origin to a new country, which proves to be offensive and ineffective to the country.   I also saw a presentation that explained why Hemingway, Michelangelo, and Dickens each had crucial talents to collectively create a perfect ad agency.  Hemingway obviously had a way of efficiently using words.  A quote was used in the presentation:  “I know all the big words… I just choose to use the simple ones”.  I think they used Hemingway as a model for an ideal copywriter for good reasons.   I find many ads are too wordy and hard to read in the “10 seconds audience attention span”. Though the words can and will be the “hook” for many ads, I think the visuals are the most important part. This presentation did give me some background into how ads are made, because I really had no idea what went into making a successful advertisement. It did however, get me thinking as to all the parts that go into an advertisement and all the individual talents that were required to complete a profitable ad.  I am most interested in creating a persuasive and visually enticing ad and I was disappointed that they did not go into more depth but I found the entire presentation to be rather lacking in sufficient information. 

Sunday
 went to a workshop about making animations and how it can be effectively and creatively used.  It was rather lacking in depth on how these animations and technology is being used.  I did like how we  had paper cutouts of various things in order to create an advertisement through slides. It was interesting to be able to work with other people and gain some insight in to the development of an ad.  Before, I really no idea how they even begun to brainstorm or start an ad.  This was one of my favorite experiences because of how it got me to thinking about the behind the scenes process.  I also saw Nick Cannon, Martha Stewart and Mel B.  As expected, they did not provide too much valuable insight into advertising or anything I was really interested but Nick Cannon and Martha Stewart talked about branding and associating your name with an entire brand.  They both were interesting in that they did create a name for themselves and had an active role in creating an image.  This seminar would have been very useful for someone looking into PR with celebrities.
I stayed to see the the presentation on the London 2012 paralympics game.  I found the way they portrayed the paralympic athletes to be very effective in dignifying their image and eliminating any stigma.  The commercial the team put together i found to be one of the most effective I saw during the course of the festival.  The middle part where they showed the source of the athletes' disabilities and how it was of little consequence to them throughout their competition, was exactly how they needed to be portrayed.

Day 1 saturday

Day one was a short day but I decided to watch the majority of the innovations short list. I saw a variety of interesting ideas such as the LED t-shirt, and emergency transmissions from ambulances.  I thought these were the 2 most interesting candidates.  the LED t-shirt was amazing to see because of how far technology has progressed that they have been able to create a wearable, LED screen on a shirt.  The ambulance interruption transmissions interferes with popular radio transmissions to warn the driver of approaching ambulances.  This is a simple idea that needed to be made but many people haven't even thought of.

Coke Advert
I think Bansky portrayed his message in a very creative way. He used one of the biggest corporation's symbols and added his ironic twist.
I, however, do not agree with the message.  Advertisers get a bad reputation but the reality is that advertisments and selling products is necessary and vital.  No one is forcing the public to buy certain products.  Bansky is angry because he feels like people have been brainwashed but the truth is if people cannot use their cognitive functions well enough to distinguish what they do or do not need then it is hardly the advertisers fault.