Brilliant online campaign (YouTube) for New Zealand Tourism. Everyday for 366 days, everyday Kiwis became global tourism ambassadors for New Zealand with a simple “Good Morning World”. Created by Special Group, the content was always shot in the morning and often was topical with what was happening in the world. It had to at times be sensitive to events of day like the heartbreaking events surrounding the White Island Volcano eruption. Every execution of the online campaign had 8 different formats, was subtitled in over 6 different languages resulting in over 2,700 versions. We love this simple, but relatively ambitious effort. A perfect example of using video to deliver a simple, impactful message over time. (source: Create with Google) ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
Author: PaulK
Thom Browne’s holiday fantasy
… mr. reindeer’s dream …
in the quiet of nowhere, a dream. empty but for a glowing house … up is down, down is up, looking up, a snow-flocked tree looks down, looking ahead, a blue-antlered reindeer enters the scene … a wooden dancer, at rest in black tie tails and tutu. mr. reindeer approaches, pulls out his grosgrain key and winds. one crank, two cranks, three… dancer, the masterpiece, springs to life … a plié, an arabesque, a grand jeté. dancer takes the stage, mr. reindeer applauds with delight, a magnificent show, soon to be shared … nearby, on mr. reindeer’s pebble leather desk pad, a list. a top secret, confidential, don’t tell anyone, very important holiday list … who gets what and what goes to whom, mr. reindeer takes note and examines his haul … four-bar holiday stockings … grosgrain ribbons … grey faille boxes … a tree trimmed with lights and grosgrain ribbon bows … the scene is now set, the guests enter, bundled in a holiday sweaters featuring holiday joys, bows and ornaments and hector in a hat a patchwork skirt, a patchwork sweater, a patchwork hand crocheted scarf … with a pirouette, dancer is at the pile of gifts. to you good sir, an aran cable classic crewneck. to you dear madam, a full set of fragrance. to both, a down-filled four bar scarf … floating through the air, another round of gifts, the guests are back for more … a holiday hector with snowman pullover, a prince-of-wales cardholder. for the study, a pen holder with gold pen and a black leather notebook … the guests once again, more gifts in the air, is hector wearing a tuxedo? it’s a black tie affair … with that, a “happy holidays”, and “thank you for coming” … “goodbye, my guests, see you next year” … for mr. reindeer and dancer, one last plié, one more arabesque. one more pirouette … before dancer winds down, he offers a note, with the gleam of a letter opener, pulled from its black pebble grain case. a flourish, a lightning swipe, the letter is clear … …thank you mr. reindeer… …oh no… …what have you done… …one tear… discover thom browne gifting now, on thombrowne.com
Perfect together
What is romance these days? The recently released commercial for Match.com from Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort production company, with Satan himself meeting his perfect match in a petit, athleisure-clad woman, the hellish year, 2020 offers a humorous take on finding one‘s true love (or at least a date). Set to Taylor Swift’s 2008 smash-hit “Love Story,” Together, they romp around reveling in the decline of modern society, stealing toilet paper from public restrooms, catching a movie in an empty theater, and enjoying an empty football stadium in pandemic-ravaged America. Certainly captures today’s vibe. All set to Taylor Swift. Good for a few chuckles. May God help us…
Office party, 90s Gucci style
All about workspace + integration
It might sound familiar already, that’s probably because Google Workspace was previously called G Suite. The search giant introduces the new brand identity along with enhanced integration between included individual apps. On the brand identity side, the most noticeable change other than the name change is the new Gmail logo, which is now a colorful “M”, replacing the envelope icon. The logo shift is meant to represent the tweaks made to the service earlier this year, with the incorporation of video conversations and real-time chat. Google obviously sees the need to make its move on potential competition including Slack, Zoom, Facebook and Microsoft Teams. Hence, Meet’s video conferencing being built into Docs, Sheets and Slides, in order to the user fewer reasons to want to switch platforms. With Covid and many more of us working at home, the improved integration makes total sense. While we do find the numerous icons in the brand’s company roster of apps and features a bit confusing visually, they are “more Google” or on brand. We are big believers in giving new identities some time to be used and accepted. Fair enough?
The celebrity advertising campaign lives on with Apple and the evolving Mac
Another installment of the under appreciated “Behind the Mac” advertising campaign debuted during Apple‘s “One More Thing” special event last week. The new advertising spot again featured celebrities, musicians, journallists or notable people who use the machine to create music, television, movies and more. Set to Raury’s “Take Back the Power,” the ad transitions between photographs and video clips of Kendrick Lamar, Gloria Steinem, Billie Eilish, RuPaul, Tarana Burke, Spike Lee, Stephen Colbert, Takashi Murakami, Iris Apfel, Saul Perlmutter and Lisa Simpson. They are all featured using a Mac (surprise, surprise) and according to Apple, have all participated in the commercial “honor” SMASH.org, an organization that seeks to build a diverse tech workforce by providing equal access to STEM for students of color. The commercial is another typically beautifully produced spot from the tech giant. We especially like the music and voiceover, “There’s a certain kind of person who doesn’t take no for an answer. They don’t walk in quietly. They parade in, trailblazing, eyebrow-raising, status quo-breaking, grazing greatness, braving hatred and taking up space. Never got a set at the table so we can’t sit and behave. We’d rather defy the rules and amaze. There’s a certain kind of person who doesn’t wait for greatness. They make it.” Yes, and btw, we love our new Macbook Pros…
With challenges, come progress + victory
After launching full-coverage swimsuits and hijabs to help make swimming more inclusive, Nike has just debuted a new Victory Swim ad that is another inspiring piece of advertising. The ad by longtime agency Wieden + Kennedy begins with a mom teaching her young daughter how to swim. It then cuts to women diving into pools, strapping into scuba gear, surfing the waves, and rowing along the water, showing all the places you can go and things you can experience when you learn to take that first plunge. As the daughter swims away on her own, her mom declares, “Don’t stop now!” Beautifully shot and scripted in signature Nike style. Empowering is a great thing these days. Girl power!
Encouraging behavior for the greater good
Today, Google has replaced their homepage logo with a signature brand “doogle” that informs people exactly how to vote. The new modified logo depicts a variety of traditional pin buttons encouraging you to “Go Vote” in Tuesday’s election. Clicking the artwork brings you to a “#election2020” tool providing all of the important dates and deadlines for your state, along with guidelines on voter eligibility. All of the information in Google’s tool comes courtesy of the website HowTo.vote, maintained by Democracy Works, “a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to changing the status quo.” Although we have never been big fans of the aesthetic of these Google adapted logos, the company should be applauded for its nonpartisan effort here. Hopefully, given the search giant’s massive reach, the impact will be noteworthy. We hope everyone either has voted already or will vote in the next few days. And please, encourage love ones and others in your circle to do the same.
Simply for safety
We love this recent promotional campaign for Swedish public transport operator Västtrafik to create social distancing for commuting passengers. The “No Douche Bag” serves as a solution to this, presenting as a graphic tote bag that kindly asks people to sit elsewhere. The tote bright yellow and black and with a striped pattern resembling barricade tape. They signal warning, but as a contrast, the text politely reads, “I’d love to sit next to you, just not right now. Thank you for keeping your distance.” This simple reminder is another way of encouraging individuals to take personal responsibility and practice social distancing. Created by Forsman & Bodenfors, Sweden. Reinforcing key messages of public policy in a simple, clever and direct way is undeniably, a very good thing…
Positive can be downright refreshing
One of the better positive ads by the Biden campaign. Narrated in the comforting, raspy drawl of actor Sam Elliott. “Joe Biden doesn’t need everyone in this country to always agree,” he says. “Just to agree we all love this country, and go from there.” Old-school patriotic values but in a sea of negative craziness and misinformation, we welcome the cinematic call to return to American values. Production values aside, the spot is a well-crafted message and a welcome ray of hope.
