he who dares?

BBH. Second Life. you get the idea.

hats (and possibly gloves) off.

last week i had an idea about creating a virtual ad agency in second life. i even wrote a presentation on it. today i find this out. kudos.

Leo Burnett and Arc Worldwide are launching a creative department in the virtual world Second Life.

Called Leo Ideas Hub, the department will bring together more than 1,600 creatives from the global network.

Devised by Leo Burnett London, the project will be a centre where creatives can interact with colleagues from around the world working on briefs, sharing ideas and showcasing their work.

However, the Ideas Hub could expand to offer commercial opportunities. The hub will be open to all players, including those from the client world.

Jim Thornton, the executive creative director at Burnett, said: "The major benefit to us is that it brings together a global creative community in a way that we can't do in the real world. We can flex the muscle and potential of what is a massive creative community.

"The hub is then free to grow and develop into whatever. I don't know what it's going to become. We will judge commercial opportunities on their merit when they appear."

Early plans include moving its "Music Artists in Residence" event into the game, where Burnett staffers who are members of bands can put on gigs and play live music.

stop the press

great idea

Remember Ring

let's infiltrate the youth. with a crowbar

meet james. he's a regular* guy on myspace. but watch out. in his words, he's:

"going to explode if I don’t tell somebody about the most amazing job I’ve blagged. This is one of those things where you start something as a bit of a joke and then it turns into this 18-wheeler running down a hill with no brakes.

In a nutshell I’ve somehow managed to convince the guys at Müller to put their money where their mouth is as apparently Müller Rice is the tastiest and healthiest snack in the world, ever."

and what's more muller have not only given him this amazing job, they've also created a huge sales promotion campaign around him - including a 4 page advertisement pullout in the national press. what a blagger!

anyhoo. i like the idea of muller rice being the best snack in the world. i'm not sure this is the way to execute it.


*by regular, please read ficticious

don't all rush to the bookies at once

screenshot of a banner. part of a wider campaign that cleverly uses the popular "don't be a Trevor Bettor" phrase to promote a gambling website that "clever bettors" would use.

i like visual allusions to war criminals

the man who wants i.d cards for the nation. Don't care about the politics. like the idea though.

i like email ideas

it's part of my job to come up with good ideas for emails. this is the best one i've ever had. it turns out the the systems administrator at work receives all undeliverable emails. why not write deliberately undeliverable emails referencing the systems administator and his dirty secrets?*

*don't do this. it's a waste of time, money and technology.

it's funny cos it's true

life as a copywriter

brilliant

watch it here

aint no oil painting

beautiful ad. well, obviously not. but beautifully simple idea, slightly let down by execution.

website not quite so elegant. especially the loading animation. which i could have done better in powerpoint.

Ha de ha ha

just love the "somewhat more irreverent take on tonight's event" line, in this plea for business from a recruitment agency.

Dear XXXX

Hello!

With the Campaign Digital Awards happening tonight, we'd like to wish you the best of luck.

I thought you my like to see a somewhat more irreverent take on tonight's event.

What not to say in your acceptance speech.

· WOW, I cant even use a computer...

· Ooops, I think I'm at the wrong awards show#

· Hello everyone I'm Lucy Gao, thanks for turning up to my party#

· It all started with my Commodore C64#

· I'd like to thank my bank manager

As you can see, humour isn't our strong point, but when it comes to digital recruitment, that's a different matter. 15% for freelance and competitive permanent fees would put a smile on anyones face. All jokes aside, I really do hope you are triumphant tonight and hopefully we'll have a catch up soon.

Best wishes,

a newton moment

apple. does a simple thing, like fall from a tree, and revolutionises the world.

400 years later, same old story.



i love the simplicity of this campaign. and because it's so simple, i think it works well online too.

dinosaurs

simple ideas make for nice executions

nice that they weren't asked to do 30K banners. shame that you don't get anything without interacting. although the call to action is pretty, pretty tempting.

these people have very good ideas

Crispin Porter + Bogusky

an agency synonymous with ground breaking yet simple ideas, who have pipped me to the post more than once in recent awards. despite this. i love them.

they're now the subject of Hoopla. a book in which "the secret inner workings of this freewheeling, break-the-mold idea factory are revealed for the first time". i haven't read it. but it's probably got more to do with ideas than cost estimates.

white rabbit adventure

i like this idea.

taking mini adventures to a new level, this ad takes the punter on a mini tour of the wacky side of the web.

unfortunately, if you start to explore these sites, you can't navigate back to the mini ad that took you there. you become lost in a site that you didn't know you'd be going to. and if you do make it to the end, there's not much reward in store for you.

if only the pay off lived up to the premise. kind of makes me want a stella.

ideas put thoughts in heads

this is a classic print ad for Fisher Price rollerskates (ignore the watermark).

Don't say: Art Director had an easy time. There's only a shot of a kid.
Don't say: Copy Writer had an easy time. There's not much word play going on.

Try: And not think about the two kids who have fallen down. It's impossible. You've created a brand new visual.

Try: And disassociate a product benefit from the ad. It's impossible. The ad is the benefit. The benefit is the ad.

ideas are simple.

Why ideas

ideas solve problems.
ideas change behaviour.
ideas bring thoughts together.
ideas transcend execution.
ideas are more than words.
ideas are more than visuals.
ideas can be good.
ideas can be bad.

this pie ad is a bad ad. ignore the execution. it was a bad on the layout pad. because it is an idea so bad, it looks like no idea at all.