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Happy Hallow E'en
Not that you care, but happy whatever you may do/celebrate this weekend. I will probably crash a few ad agency office parties and tell them I've been hired. This should be scary. But seriously, I'm too busy to blog (TBTB). See you nexters.
All the best
C.
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Livestream Today: Hateerade teem at 3:00 5:00 EST.
http://atslopes.bigcartel.
Multicultural Approach Charts Future of the Beauty Business
Open a magazine or simply turn on the TV and the ads for cosmetics are unavoidable. That’s not anything new. Advertising has always been a war paint battleground. What has changed are the faces showcasing these products. Where these promotions used to be filled with Caucasians, today they’re just as likely to feature African-Americans, Hispanics or Asians. Though it’s unclear how much of this shift has to do with a changing standard of beauty in the U.S., one thing is apparent: the cosmetics industry has recognized women of color as a growth opportunity.
Though the slate of Black, Latino, Asian and Indian spokesmodels is long now—Rihanna for Cover Girl, Halle Berry for Revlon, Eva Longoria Parker and Aishwarya Rai for L’Oreal and Jessica White for Maybelline, to name a few—it’s important to note that the first African-American model wasn’t signed to a major brand until 1992 when Cover Girl tapped Lana Ogilvie. This means that all but the youngest of today’s adult women came of age without seeing themselves reflected in cosmetics ads or offerings.
Before these companies can capitalize on this market, many beauty brands will need to kiss and make up with communities that often felt marginalized by the industry. After all, as a recent study by market research firm Mintel revealed, black women don’t believe the majority of beauty advertisers are speaking to them. Further, only 35 percent of these women feel they are positively reflected in the media in general.
Strength In Numbers
While consumers might be hesitant to embrace this new inclusive normal, today women of color often take center stage in the marketing and R&D initiatives for many entrepreneurial brands as well as cosmetics conglomerates. According to Bob Wallner, national sales manager for Milani Cosmetics, this shift occurred for one very good reason. “As a result of the 2000 census, all of the major retailers selling cosmetics in this country focused on the browning of America,” he said. “All of them initiated a search for brands to answer that constituency—not just African-Americans but also Hispanics.”
And taking a look at the numbers, it’s easy to see what sparked merchants’ interest. According to the Census, both the African-American and Hispanic populations had a higher growth rate than the overall U.S. population from 1990 to 2000. While the U.S. expanded by 13 percent during that time, African-Americans grew by 15.6 percent to 34.7 million. And the number of Hispanics in this country jumped 61 percent to 35.2 million.
Taken as a whole, these statistics add up to big potential for brands that can address these demographics. While accurate numbers are difficult to come by for cosmetics specifically, market research publisher Packaged Facts has reported that ethnic haircare, makeup and skincare products combined constituted a $3 billion business in 2009.
more here.
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For colored guys who considered 15 movie posters when 1 was enuf
More Tyler Perry movie posters? WHat was wrong with the others? This one's not as nifty as the rest. Why do one more? Because he can dammit. And He knew I'd post it.
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Common, Jennifer Hudson, Lupe Fiasco & No I.D. - "We Can Do It Now"
Check it out at www.REPLAYtheSeries.com.
cred:
T-to-the-B-W-A
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Toyota's Green Initiative to promote sustainability at black colleges
from Target Market NewsThe Toyota Green Initiative was recently launched as an environmental stewardship platform for historically black colleges and universities (HBCU). The initiative will give students and alumni the benefits of adopting a sustainable lifestyle. The program will provide multiple touch points to mobilize the collegiate audience to go green including a content-rich website and an HBCU campus tour.
At the hub of the Toyota Green Initiative is the interactive website, www.ToyotaGreen.com, which will provide easy cost-saving tips on going green, eco-conscious articles, videos, campus events and volunteer programs. ToyotaGreen.com features a Promise Drive to secure personal commitments from site visitors on the reduction of their ecological footprint and adoption of a green living philosophy.
"The Toyota Green Initiative is an extension of our key focus to support educational and environmental programs and provides our future leaders the tools and resources to be environmental stewards in local communities," said Jim Colon, vice president of Toyota product communications for Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. "Continuously working towards sustainable mobility, Toyota strives to preserve the natural environment and establish systems to provide a brighter future for coming generations."
GlobalHue puts Jeep's greatness on display
copy:
Greatness comes from a well-crafted lineage. Here's ours.
Sometimes the pursuit of greatness starts with the ones who come before us. So to our legendary history we've added a bit of opulence. Ingenuity meets craftsmanship to create new American style. Introducing luxury for all terrain, the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Greatness isn't just built, it's earned.
cred:
GlobalHue, Detroit, USA
Creative Directors: Vida Cornelious, Dolph Kawaleck
Art Directors: Dilam Mattia, Aubrey Walker, Bert Loera
Photographer: Scott Harben / SEE Pictures
Producers: Alicia Conner / SEE Pictures, Michael Miller, Lori Mass
Creative Directors: Vida Cornelious, Dolph Kawaleck
Art Directors: Dilam Mattia, Aubrey Walker, Bert Loera
Photographer: Scott Harben / SEE Pictures
Producers: Alicia Conner / SEE Pictures, Michael Miller, Lori Mass
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Dwyane Wade in Dominate Another Day
Sometimes these spots are so hyped up it's hard to deliver on the promise of the entertainment they propose. The man did just fly in on a jet-pack, sneaker-ski on a motorbike and get horizontal beneath a gas truck and then you cap it with 'to be continued?' What? What you got next W+K, what you got, huh? Yeah, you did your thing on that LeBron ad, but you uppin' the ante here, aint ya? Can you come close to making this slice of spy in the sky brand worthy?
Don't let us down, we will lampoon that ass.
#trahstalk
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Film: INFLUENCERS
INFLUENCERS is a short documentary that explores what it means to be an influencer and how trends & ideas become contagious today in music and fashion.
The film is a Polaroid snapshot of New York influential creatives (advertising, design, fashion http://www.facebook.com/influencersfil
cred:
R+I Creative
See the video clip after the jump.
Industry trend: Zombies (are dead)
But leave it to the Black folk to take it somewhere else. See the reversed script after the jump
LeBron channels Tiger Woods
Judged in the court of public sentiment and on the court of play, The young Mr James seems to be at a cross-roads. It reminds me terribly of the Tiger Woods commercial, but a hell of a lot less apologetic. Not that I think he should apologize, he simply tok a new job. But they both ask deeply probing questions that the public would love to hear the answers to, but they both feel no real compunction to answer. It's almost like saying you answer it yourself, I'm very wealthy and frankly I don't have to.
He's been hero-ed and hated, both criminal and cop right about now. I could try and wax extra reflective here, but the fact is; This dude will be hated in Cleveland and Ohio maybe, close to forever. And if his new team comes close to the finals and a few great play are made in Miami (and they will on both accounts), all will be forgiven outside of Cleveland that is. Why so deep? It is just a game -- a high-stakes, mega-cash, heart in your throat and on your sleeve - GAME. Pretty commercial too.
He's been hero-ed and hated, both criminal and cop right about now. I could try and wax extra reflective here, but the fact is; This dude will be hated in Cleveland and Ohio maybe, close to forever. And if his new team comes close to the finals and a few great play are made in Miami (and they will on both accounts), all will be forgiven outside of Cleveland that is. Why so deep? It is just a game -- a high-stakes, mega-cash, heart in your throat and on your sleeve - GAME. Pretty commercial too.
cred:
W+K
See the shoe after the jump
Clutch Magazine's Top 50 African-American Women Tastemakers
The uber hot Clutch mag drops a list of the Hot 50. The Top 50 Amazing Tech Tastemakers! This is an absolute must read to know who's what and why. They've assembled the go-to team of the net's NEXT. These folks alway peep the future and tell the net where to go... in a nice way that is. Congrats to all who made the list and the list maker!
Clutch defines it's tastemakers:
Here at Clutch tastemakers are the women who are passionate about elevating and representing Black women in a positive light and make a point to do so in digital environments. They are the risk takers, the thinkers, and most importantly the doers. Tastemakers are not influenced, they create influence and they do it through amazingly bold and innovative action. They are redefining the women's lifestyle and ensuring the digital revolution will be televised, tweeted, blogged, and crowdsourced.
I couldn't have said it better myself! Go'head ladies!
Check the list served here.
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Behind-The-Scenes: Jordan Brand/Dwyane Wade Commercial “Agent D3″ 2
The NBA season starts tomorrow, and when you sit down to catch the opening night games, keep an eye out for the new Jordan commercial. Titled “Agent D3,” Jordan Brand’s new ad will feature Dwyane Wade running through a variety of stunts, including flying, riding a motorcycle, and, uh, wearing a suit. It’s top-secret, but hit the jump for a behind-the-scenes preview of what is sure to be an interesting presentation on opening night.
Antoine Dodson; Pitchman
How do you turn a near rape into business opportunity? Well, obviously, you cast aside any semblance of real concern for what happened, channel your inner Billy Mays and you ride the wave of American infamy all the way to the bank. Years ago Don King was famous for always saying, "only in America" and we balked every time he said it. Don King, in many ways, is a visionary, but he never saw the likes of an Antoine Dodson rising in the midst. This amazing dynamic system of media, sycophantic personality disorders and the elusive line between good and bad publicity have created a maelstrom of public produced and derailed train wrecks. And we can't stop watching. As intriguing as it all is, sometimes, it's best to just turn away. Get your money Antoine, get up out of a bad situation -- by any means necessary.
h/t Ill Mami
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...struggle with diversity in advertising
This is a post from 2009 by an incredible blogger named Macon D, His blog is called: "stuff white people do" His writing is always amazing and well researched. Macon always tries to present a balanced view of race in America. Although Macon is not from the advertising world, he has an interesting take on what he sees. Please visit Macon here.
I know very little about what goes on behind the scenes of advertising campaigns. I also don't know how diverse American advertising firms and departments have become these days.
However, it seem to me that if a product is not marketed to a specific non-white audience, then the advertisers still consistently place middle-class, heterosexual white people in the middle of things. Non-white characters still occupy the margins, occasionally entering center-stage to interact with the white characters, usually in order to spice up things a bit.
Sometimes, in these ads that are not overtly targeted to a specific racial demographic, the non-white characters do spend a lot of time on center-stage, fully interacting on a seemingly equal level with the white characters. These forced, ostensibly colorblind scenarios can easily become racially overloaded train wrecks, like the following Old Navy ad, which is part of their current "Supermodelquins" campaign.
Do you suppose the makers of this ad thought much at all about sexism and racism in advertising? Or about the history of hypersexualized representations of "aggressive" black women? Or about the "white male gaze," and the abusive, sexually charged power that white men long wielded, over white women, black women, and black men?
I imagine that at some point, someone working on this campaign may have said something like, "Okay, this is risky, kinda risqué, right? Attention getting! But, one thing we cannot do is have the white woman naked with the black guy looking at her!" That would have been different; but would it have been any worse?
For more clues about what was on the minds of the makers of this ad, and of the other ads in the Supermodelquin campaign, here's a sort of featurette that provides some backstory for each character:
What do you think? Is this enlightened, multiculturally aware marketing? Or more of the same old clueless recirculation of hoary racist and sexist stereotypes? Or something else?
I know very little about what goes on behind the scenes of advertising campaigns. I also don't know how diverse American advertising firms and departments have become these days.
However, it seem to me that if a product is not marketed to a specific non-white audience, then the advertisers still consistently place middle-class, heterosexual white people in the middle of things. Non-white characters still occupy the margins, occasionally entering center-stage to interact with the white characters, usually in order to spice up things a bit.
Sometimes, in these ads that are not overtly targeted to a specific racial demographic, the non-white characters do spend a lot of time on center-stage, fully interacting on a seemingly equal level with the white characters. These forced, ostensibly colorblind scenarios can easily become racially overloaded train wrecks, like the following Old Navy ad, which is part of their current "Supermodelquins" campaign.
Do you suppose the makers of this ad thought much at all about sexism and racism in advertising? Or about the history of hypersexualized representations of "aggressive" black women? Or about the "white male gaze," and the abusive, sexually charged power that white men long wielded, over white women, black women, and black men?
For more clues about what was on the minds of the makers of this ad, and of the other ads in the Supermodelquin campaign, here's a sort of featurette that provides some backstory for each character:
Also, Harry Allen follows up with a post that knocks it through the roof.
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Hello Brooklyn - Starring: Akzidenz Grotesk
Jay-Z - "Hello Brooklyn" (Marvin Gaye sample).
A tribute to New York, Brooklyn and Jay-Z.
Music video based on typography and still images of Brooklyn.
Production, SFX, animation and edit by Greg Solenström.
Starring: Akzidenz Grotesk & Brooklyn.
Music creds: Shuko & The Gunna available on jayandmarvin.com
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Pushing Diversity in Ad Sector
Richard Kirshenbaum says he wants to see his industry look less like the days of the television show "Mad Men," where white men ruled the advertising world.
To that end, the advertising entrepreneur is creating a scholarship to support diversity in advertising through the Torch program, an organization that provides career training and programs in the arts and communications for underserved New York City high school students.
Camille Crawford, a freshman at Pace University, will be the first recipient of the $20,000 scholarship and will also receive a summer internship at KBS+P, Mr. Kirshenbaum's advertising firm, after her freshman year of college.
KBS+P parent company MDC Partners will match the gift with $25,000 to sponsor five high school students in the program each year.
"If you watch 'Mad Men' you can see how it was through the '50s, advertising companies were almost like investment banks," says Mr. Kirshenbaum, who started his firm 23 years ago. He says he came into the field as one of the first generation of men who worked for the first generation of female executives. "As demographics shift, we need to have creative voices that are representative of these changes."
In a digital world where cameras and art supplies can run students and parents thousands of dollars, he says not everyone can easily afford to jump into the field.
He says he wanted to give a "360-degree scholarship, which in addition to money will give kids the access and experience to help people get real jobs out of college."
The Torch program begins working with students as high school sophomores, engaging them in workshops and projects throughout the year. The program matches students up with summer internships and helps them apply for college.
"Our mission is clear: We give kids exposure, experience and access to jobs in the communications in the arts with an eye toward creating diversity in the work force," says Peter Drakoulias, a corporate strategy consultant who founded Torch in 1999.
The Most Iconic Men's Eyewear in the Last 100 Years
Framework is a series of posters highlighting the most iconic men’s eyewear of the last 100 years. It was designed by Glenn Manucdoc of Moxy Creative. Framework features 28 of the most iconic glasses from male personalities in music, film, entertainment, and politics; as well five posters highlighting the following iconic individuals:
Kanye West (The Ye’s), Yves Saint Laurent (The YSL’s), Andy Warhol (The Warhol’s), Ghandi (The Ghandi’s), and Johnny Depp (The Depp).
Legends 01. Woody Allen 02. Kanye West 03. Buddy Holly 04. Michael Caine 05. Kurt Cobain 06. John Lennon 07. Geordi LaForge 08. Malcolm X 09. Johnny Depp 10. Dame Edna 11. Stephen Colbert 12. The Blues Brothers 13. Austin Powers 14. Yves Saint Laurent 15. Elton John 16. George Costanza 17. Bootsy Collins 18. Elvis Costello 19. Terry Richardson 20. David Hockney 21. DMC of Run DMC 22. Andy Warhol 23. Mohandas Ghandi 24. Steve Urkel 25. Napoleon Dynamite 26. Clark Kent 27. Shock G of Digital Underground 28. Truman Capote.
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Coca Cola Mystic
French designer Jerome Olivet created this concept, Coca-Cola Mystic. A glimpse into the future?
via the dieline
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Prop 19 says Legalize it
cred:
Project/Art Direction: Michael Jeter
Character Illustrations: Jayde Cardinalli
Design/Supporting Illustration: Michael Jeter, Jayde Cardinalli, Carl Bender
Information Graphics: Jayde Cardinalli
Animation: Adam Peterson
Voice over: Paul Segel
Sound: Blake Henderson
Music: Dear Heart by Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra
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The Real Lesson of the Gap Debacle: Logos Aren't Key Anymore
Gap's recent failed attempt at a logo redesign is only the latest in what seems to be a monthly cycle these days. Looking back over the past couple of years, we see Tropicana, Pepsi, AOL, and evenApple being raked over the coals for similar missteps, and provoking considerable buzz from the design and brand industry.
Unfortunately, these pundits are almost all talking about the wrong thing...especially in the recent Gap debacle. Whether it new logo was designed by a well-intentioned but misguided “logo committee”, or an out-of-touch branding firm, the ongoing debate indicates, more than anything, the branding and corporate identity industry's myopia.
Simply put, no one really cares about the logo anymore. Today, people are more interested in what a brand can do for them. Great brands are discovering that logos or advertisements are losing relevance, and instead put their efforts into creating social brand platforms that invite participation and create value in authentic and relevant ways. The real reason the Gap logo failed was that it wasn't backed by any of this; the same goes for Tropicana and the rest.
Social brand platforms require a new way of thinking: a cross between advertising, branding and design. In contrast to static logos and corporate identities where the focus is on control and consistency, social brand platforms have five key characteristics: they’re useful, social, living, layered and curated.
read more here.
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10 Things Marketers can Learn from a Multicultural Muppet
Conservative Group ask Latinos Not to Vote!?
They didn't say change your vote. They said don't vote! Become disenfranchised and voiceless. This is insane!
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Hendrix flavored Converse
The pitch reads:
Jimi Hendrix’s career was short-lived, but his music left an everlasting imprint on all of us. Worship rock and roll with shoes adorned with Jimi’s album cover art from "Are You Experienced", “Axis: Bold As Love” and “Electric Ladyland.”
See more Chuck's here.
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Illustrator/Creative Director: Gregory Parkin
Ralph Santana on Brand Culturally Relevance
from Adage
It will take more than conventional marketing frameworks to unleash the full potential of the Samsung brand, Senior VP-CMO Ralph Santana explained at the ANA conference last week. "That's my role and that's the opportunity in front of me," he said. In order for the Samsung brand to be a "catalyst for growth," the marketer must work to "infuse cultural meaning into the brand," make it mean something to consumers, he said.
See the video after the jump.
November cover of XXL
Why is that man wearing a mask? Why does that grown man have his arm around that little boy? Why does that man have his hand down there? Why is that little boys pants pulled down? Why is... hey wait a minute... ???
Comparisons have been made.
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Adidas Basketball 2010: Slim Chin and Derrick Rose, adiZero Rose
cred:
180LA, USA
Executive Creative Director: William Gelner
Creative Directors: Gavin Milner, Grant Holland
Executive Producer / Managing Partner: Peter Cline
Producer: Anne Kurtzman
Producer: Dave Stephenson
Copywriter: Eric Helin
Art Director: Erwin Federizo
Group Account Director: Chad Bettor
180LA, USA
Executive Creative Director: William Gelner
Creative Directors: Gavin Milner, Grant Holland
Executive Producer / Managing Partner: Peter Cline
Producer: Anne Kurtzman
Producer: Dave Stephenson
Copywriter: Eric Helin
Art Director: Erwin Federizo
Group Account Director: Chad Bettor
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Artist: Erika Iris Simmons
Watch the Pursuit of Passion
The film really is engaging. I think it is very inspirational and will encourage young people to take a first or maybe second look at the advertising industry. The insights into the ad world are priceless and I was even inspired by lot of what was said. Did you note there was like three (3) senior level creatives of color at TBWA! (What is Lee Clow doing to the industry, I like it!) They found a pretty great group of talent to speak to and they all delivered nuggets of addy markety goodness for the neophytes to bite deeply into.
The film also has it's detractors (sometimes me), who feel the industry in a large part overlooks existing talent and ethnic talent of the past. That talent has been mostly relegated to ethnic work only or pushed out of advertising all together. Now, of course this film can't be all things to all people, but that is a true and legitimate issue.
For now I'll keep the focus on what the film is attempting to do; inspire young hearts & minds. For that task I believe it gets a 10+! I wanted to run out and get an advertising job and so will many youngsters. I just hope the industry is ready to accept (not assimilate) the new talents, cultures, hearts & minds that are probably very different and even scary to some who are not accustomed to them. There are kids on the street right now that could put the best of advertising luminaries to shame and probably will someday.
The film is 22 minutes and 34 seconds long, it is worth every second.
See the entire film here after the jump.
Carhartt Gallery Exhibition
Public Provocations II 2010
Here I like to share some pictures from the Public Provocations Exhibition 2010 in Carhartt Gallery.
Some pieces are part of earlier exhibitions, but I only show the new works here. You'll find the others in the other projets here on behance.
Very special thanks to Curators Wolfgang Krell and Sigi Koeding (rip) for being invited to exhibit my work among this superb field of artists.
The exhibition closes in the next weeks (end of october 2010). Don't miss to visit if have the chance to be there.
More photos of the whole exhibition can be seen in PISA 73's photostream here.
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Album Art Round-Up
Album art is always a great opp for art in design. Here are a few of the latest releases. Not all great art, but all interesting if only in the appeal of the artist. I love Kid Cudi's aged looking celestial dream and the clean cut Aloe Blacc album art. I love that Kanye West is never afraid to be an artist, but that fake hype around the "banned" art cover is just bland. Shouldn't banned mean we can't get it or see it? Shouldn't it perhaps be more "rarified." I know that's no easy task with the speed of the net, but why are you telling me something is banned, while simultaneously showing it off?
The Nicki Minaj piece is... mmmm, interesting. Almost fitting for the lady who came in and reset the rap game. The name of the record has a classic ring to it. If the music is as jarring and as marginally transformative as her fledgling career has been so far, that name and image will easily fit into "classic" lore.
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