These two advertising campaigns really caught my eye recently.

A beautiful execution and a very simple message. I think these are really powerful.

NH Hotels advertisement was placed on Iberia airline’s headrests. On the back of the headrests you could see illustrations enjoying the different activites offered by NH Hotels: golf, beach, sauna, and spa.

[via Ads of the world & Ad Goodness]

Recently advertising is taking a turn towards the absurd… well I shouldn’t say recently, advertisers have always pushed the envelope as far as unconventional humor goes, but you typically only saw this approach with smaller brands that were more flexible and willing to take risks.

I’ve posted one print campaign and three separate tv commercials from major brands to exemplify my point.

Orbit Gum:

There are two benefits immediately apparent in this style of marketing:

1. It is, or can be, dirt cheap.
2. It is very effective with mellinials (god how I loath that word, but it’s very apropos in this instance)

One warning though, it is much easier to execute this style in video rather than in print.

I would be curious to know what all of you think of this?

Unfortunately, for legal reasons, I had to take down a series of ads that I posted a few days ago, but I found these substitutes, which I really, really like.
They have the same light and warm feeling in their approach, and there is something fresh about these. The photos were taken by Jan von Holleben. Amazing work!

Via Ads of the world

Although somewhat morbid, these ads illustrate impeccable execution and clarity of concept.

Via AdsoftheWorld

These ads are an example of why a horrible idea on paper always equates to a horrible outcome, I would have loved to be a fly on the wall in this pitch meeting. “Let’s figure out a way to exploit the history of Japanese art for a cheap and ridiculous reason, because, you know, we are Japanese so it’s okay.”
For shame Honda, for shame.

Via AdsoftheWorld

This is very exciting, so start collecting all of your marketing material and documenting it along the way! REMEMBER to take pictures of events, keep pdf, jiff, and jpegs of everything you make!

The deadline for submissions Monday December 4th, 2006!

This was just announced and I am sure Jonathan and I will be writing more about it in the next few months so stay tuned…if you would like to see all the criteria for award please see the ACRL site… and if you want to see how happy you will be when you win the award see our picture from 2005 at ACRL Award site…

PS: Most importantly, on the ACRL site for the 2005 Best Practices in Marketing Academic and Research Libraries @your library Award, you will find American University’s communication plan and our video that rocked Minneapolis and our entire package that we submitted. All of this content is licensed under Creative Commons, this means that anyone can use our materials as long as they give attribution to our team. This enables us to build on each others work, instead of constantly reinventing the wheel and it contributes to scholarly communication.

An article, in the May 7th issue of The New York Times Magazine, called Shelf Improvement discusses the emerging “private label” or “store brand” and its growth in popularity. These store brands used to mimic the look of famous name products, but now a grocery store chain called Publix is taking an opposite strategy.

I think the ideas celebrated in this article and in the many accolades that Publix designs have garnered are applicable to libraries. These include pieces in Package Design Magazine and Private Label Buyer and an award from the graphic design magazine HOW. Each time I walk into a library I find tons of design clutter. Every brochure looks different from one another. Sometimes there is a mixture of home grown objects and free things that libraries have received from vendors (which are slick, but hardly well designed). My point is there is no clarity, no continuity in any of the designs. It is hard to tell what the library is trying to say, where you are supposed to go etc.

Some of the design principals that helped Publix win such awards could help us:

• “Instead of echoing brand-name designs, Publix’s products have their own look: clean, clever and — with lots of white space and simple but crisp typography…”
• “Cox’s (Tim Cox, director of the company’s in-house creative-service department) department set out to create a style that would “separate itself from what else is happening on the shelf.” If most packaging screams “look at me” with bright, colorful, busy graphics, one response is to go the opposite way, with a spare look.“
• “The aluminum foil boxes… feature little animals (a turtle, a swan, a moose) made of foil. The image changes depending on the message for the category but gives the designers some flexibility, Cox says. “The tinfoil has been very popular,” he adds. “And the intent was for the customer to say, ‘Oh, I get it,‘ and they can stand there and smile. If you can engage with them on that level, it’s a different means of interaction.“

Advertising/Design Goodness is a great resource for inspiration with some of the best ads from around the world including corporate design, student work, and guerilla marketing.

Advertising/Design Goodness