Strategically placed billboard ads- This one's got the X Factor!

I love seeing billboard ads which are strategically placed to utilise the surrounding ads/use the ads' content to make their ads more amusing, current and sometimes shocking. Not only does it make them noticable it makes them more amuzing and memorable- they seem to take over from the other ads and become like the star of the show. The ads around them seem less clever and pathetic in comparison. It's like they got upstaged, like they performed but then another ad came and did one better than them. In this sense, the latest milkshake ad from McDonalds certainly has the X factor.

It's probably the best one I've seen as it uses a very famous and contraversial campaign to promote the product. The loreal ads came under fire when cheryl was accused of using hair extentions to thicken her hair, therefore misleading consumers in the ads.

McDonalds claims their milkshakes are 'painfully thick', making fun of Cheryl Cole and suggesting that their milkshakes are extremely thick. I think it works becasue by making fun of the Loreal ads it portrays McDonalds as an honest brand that wouldn't advertise their products as something they are not. Although I think the mesage would have been simpler and more effective if it said 'genuinely thick' as 'painfully thick' is a bit confusing- im not sure exactly what they are trying to say- that Cheryl Cole is painfully thick to have done the ads perhaps? Not sure but I love it anyway.

Would Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez have played the US president?

I was watching a quiz show earlier when there was a question on Emilio Estevez (whom i'd never heard of)- 'Who is the famous father of actor Emilio Estevez?'- the answer was Martin Sheen and I remembered seeing him on a chat show talking about how he had changed his name a while back. But I thought if his son has taken his real surname Estevez, why had he changed his name, as it's a perfectly interesting, attractive and glamourous sounding surname- unlike mine (Hancocks). I then read that his real full name is Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez and that he changed it to avoid being type cast as ethnic characters. It totally made sense becaue hearing his real name didn't suit his persona atall- it didn't suit his brand. I realised that a stage name is like a brand name. Martin Sheen couldn't say powerful, white, American, good-guy any better and as a result he has played US president more than once as well as other athorative characters.

A recent advert for Aviva asked 'Would Walter Willis be the leading man in a movie?'- the answer is probably not but Bruce Willis would be! As with Marilyn Manson- would Brian Warner become a terrifying heavy metal super-star?

There are the many more obvious examples of stage names which create a brand- from 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg to Dita von Teese and of course Jordan.

And 'Jordan' is the perfect expample of how changing a brand name doesn't always work- as Katie Price is just as hated by the public! Maybe if she changed her name to Dita von Teese's real name, Heather Sweet she might get somewhere...

The Logo Board Game

I got the Logo Board  Game for christmas as my big sister knows I have an interest in logos. At firt I thought it's be a bit geeky and somethig that only I would enjoy and would have to pretend I didn't. But it's actually a really fun and interesting game for all the family. 

I think it should perhaps be called the Brand Board Game as it's more about brands than just logos but  'logo' is a probably a more fun sounding word. The questions are about all sorts of brand related things; some are about identifying brands from their logos and packaging and some are about slogans and origins of brand names. There are cards where you are given a clue such as 'Animals' and are then asked to name a brand of boiled sweet for example: the answer being 'Fox's'. Then there are cards where you have to name the box of chocolates from looking at the shapes of the chocolate- definatley a good game for sweets and chocolate lovers. I found it to be really fun and competitive because you get questions that only certain age groups might know and all the questions are about things you could possibly know. You don't need to be clever or full of knowledge, the answers are all around you.  It was also really educational for someone wanting to learn about brands because you learn things abut brands you didn't know before and you can find out some interesting trivia to tell your fellow graphic designers if you want to be really geeky! Do you know what animal is hidden in the toblerone logo? That will give you something to look for next christmas...

Madonna for Louis Vuitton

These are definately the best looking pictures I've seen of madonna in a few years. Highly airbrushed they might be but who cares. She looks much better airbrushed and the photographs are really stunning. They are for Louis Vuitton's latest campaign for their Autumn 2009 collection. I love how the Madonna appears to glow in vivid colours but the photos have just been made negative in places- an effect I don't think I've seen or appreciated before. It makes the images look quite surreal and dreamlike. I think they're look great as giant billboards if they are used for that purpose.

Cool and Clever Doritos Packaging

I love, love, love Doritos and I love, love, love this new packaging concept by Peter Pavlov! The bendy box design uses the shape of the Doritos in it's structure and also the Doritos texture to decorate it. The packaging looks amazing on the shelf and just makes you want to have one of your own. It's almost like a work of art and would look great on a party spread. The best thing about it is that it stands up and acts like a bowl for easy nibbling and sharing and when you've finished, if (if) you still have some left you can close it with a simple fold and keep them fresh! Genius!

Another great thing about the packaging is, although it seems like a lot of packaging for some crisps, it must be better for the environment because the card would be recyclable, unlike the current foil bags. I hope they actually go into production and aren't just an idea. 

Logo's through time

I find it really interesting to see how logos have evolved over time. In the case of Shell, their logo has always been simply a shell but has got more and more stylized over time until the current logo which is very clean and simple. The name and the brand colours werent added until 1948 for some reason. Perhaps the colours weren't added until then because colour couldn't easily be reproduced until that time.

  

I came across these logos for Lego that feature in a new Lego book. The logo has changed a lot more than the Shell logo. It started as a 3d looking logo with the letters almost like building blocks. 

Next came this logo which looks somewhat like a car brand logo and doesn't look very fun. 

Then came this one which is more childish and fun looking and isn't far off the modern logo. I think it's the one i remember from my childhood too.

The most recent and best is this one in bright red and yellow, black and white. It's much more fun and jumps out at you. It's interesting that the letters are rounded but still suit lego really well despite it being famously square. 

Vitamin Water Flavour Creator

Vitaminwater is letting the fans decide its next flavour through the launch of their Flavorcreator application on Facebook. Its the first time that fans of Vitaminwater can come together to create the next flavour by voting for their favourite on facebook. The application also lets fans choose what vitamins they'd like the drink to have, and to help them decide there's a series of games that involve vitamins.

Vitaminwater enthusiasts will have the opportunity to name the flavour, write the bottle copy and design the label via a contest with the winner or winning team receiving a $5,000 prize from Vitaminwater.

This is just one if the increasing number of advertising campaigns that use facebook to reach consumers. I think it's a good idea getting the fans involved but the application was quite complicated to use and I got bored very quickly. Perhaps if I was a vitamin water fan id have had more patience. With nearly 200,000 users and many discussion boards it's definately got a lot of people talking. I think the idea of it is a good one (very similar to Walkers crisps recent campaign but online) but it could have been done a lot better.  

Summer Coca-Cola Cans

I'm addicted to coke anyway, but these summer Coke cans would encourage me to drink coke even more often.  They are a range of special designs released over a few months this summer in the USA and express the relevance of Coke to the summer. The designs are really simple, using classic symbols of summer in the classic red and white/silver colours. The coca-cola logo is, on most of the designs,  obscured or warped but because it's such a recognisable logo it doesnt matter and shows how strong the brand is.