Harry Webber: The Meaning of Magnificence

Every morning I wake up to create something magnificent. Every night I go to sleep to realize that magnificence in my dreams. Magnificent. Not cool. Not slick. Cool and slick are easy. Magnificent is really, really elusive. Magnificent takes you on a journey through deserts of despair and desolation. It takes you past the rotting corpses of borrowed interest and shock and awe. If you were a Knight Templar, magnificent would be your search for the shadow that was Saladin. Sought but seldom found.

To create great advertising; advertising that withstands the test of time and engages the intelligence of steel workers and hedge fund millionaires; this is not for the weak of heart. To create magnificent advertising is to seek the impossible, yet know it can be realized. Every morning I embrace the insanity that such a journey entails. I inhale its scent, for I know it awaits the chase.

 To create magnificent advertising is to seek the impossible, yet know it can be realized. Every morning I embrace the insanity that such a journey entails.

I am not a black man. I am an advertising man. This is my life’s work. I do not care that you will not hire me. You are not my problem. The next magnificent idea is my problem. I ride through the bowels of my city, listening to the subway voices for clues to the next moment of language that will point me to a point of understanding not found in client briefs or analytic myopia. Rap lyrics, not account planners inform me of the visions of the prophets. The scent grows stronger in the grocery isles when I spy shelf facings below eye level where missing products identify hidden trends.

Magnificence is not an easy prey. I am not in casual pursuit. The hunt gives me life. My clients are not the brand managers and CMOs. They grew up with my work but the agencies have wiped me from their awareness. I am the look of the Motown Sound and the longest running advertising and public service campaigns in history. It matters not. The past is irrelevant to me. Magnificence lives in the future.

I mourn the passing of craft from our profession. I feel empty when technologists worship at the alters of the next new irrelevance. But I am not distracted. My day begins at dawn and ends at exhaustion. My sword is Photoshop and my shield is html. My path is uncharted and in my wake are the trophies of my victories. The brands I have elevated to art, before once again returning to the hunt. It does not concern me that you do not see fit to hire me.

Last week a young boy turned in his gun after he read the words of http://FederalPrisoner6094709.com. Winning the One Show cannot compare with saving a life? I take time from my passion to speak to those of you like the great Jim Glover, Derek Walker, Hadji Williams and other senior black creatives. They seek their blacks in the high schools. People like us are of no interest to them. Do not despair. Seek your own magnificence.

This gem of sagacity is taken from Mr Harry Webber's response to a post at Ad Age. Mr Webber is an Ad Man's Ad Man. This stuff just drips from the man's being. He should be running three agencies, no, conglomerates... simultaneously.

~Craig

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Field Notes: Church Fans

by Kristy Tillman
The church fan has long been a fixture in the ritual of worship in African American churches. In the days before air conditioner became ubiquitous, hand held paper fans displaying religious motifs became a staple in southern churches to cool parishioners. Over the last century they have transitioned from simple ephemera into an iconic cultural symbol in the black church. The church fan has been on my list of ʻcurious aboutʼ subjects for some time now. Last week on one of my favorite social media outlets the topic came up again and I decided to dedicate this weekʼs Field Note to taking a closer look at the church fan as a piece of art.

One of the most striking things about the church fan are the motifs displayed that range from traditional religious iconography such as the last super to imagery of black families in worship and children in prayer. It was not uncommon to break from immediate religious representations to feature prominent black leadership such as Martin Luther King, Jr. Outside of its functional use as a body cooling the device the fan took on a life of its own acting as a graphic messenger to the black community. The scenes work as
poetic meditations that reflect a point of view of everyday black life. The imagery also serves as a visual narrative of changing ideals over time within a community.

Within their historical context, it would be safe to say that the scenes represent an enthusiastic idealism that provided a source of strength within what was often one of the few safe havens for Blacks, the church. In their imagery, black church fans, reveal much about the past and their use as a cultural icon which is supported by their continued relevance despite the prevalence of air conditioning.

The use of the fan as an advertising space came to prominence around the early 1900s when the commercial printing press came into wide use. All sorts of businesses from funeral homes to insurance companies placed advertisements on the back of fans. The fans became the best means of advertising to a captive black audience, and solidifying the church as an early economic power.


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ENTER THE TOMORROW AWARDS

Unlike other award shows, the Tomorrow Awards are category-neutral, celebrating boundary-pushing advertising creativity and use of new technology, no matter which form it takes. Besides, ideas that are truly revolutionary don't always fit snugly inside of a pre-existing award show category.

All Tomorrow Awards entries are showcased for the world to see, and are judged in two stages. The first stage is judged by the general public, while the second stage is judged by a panel of renowned "Monster Judges." These Judges will ultimately decide who wins high honors, including The Tomorrow Awards Grand Prix.

MORE ONFOR HERE

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General Mills Marketing Goes Up in Smoke With Pot-Linked Brownie Pitch

from Adage
General Mills might have unlocked the secret for reaching Baby Boomers: pot brownies!

OK, before you spit up your Cheerios, the family-friendly food giant isn't actually selling marijuana-spiked brownies, or directly promoting them. Rather, General Mills makes a fun-loving reference to every hippie's favorite dessert in a new digital campaign for Fiber One 90-calorie brownies starring none other than Cheech and Chong.

The pot-loving duo star in an online video trailer for what appears to be a movie called "Magic Brownie Adventure," a typical Cheech and Chong misadventure in which they seek to deliver "thousands of magic brownies to Flaming Pole," a Burning-Man like festival on the West Coast.

Here's the kicker: When they finally get there, towing the treats in a wheel barrel, they find out that the brownies are filled with another kind of weed -- fiber. "Because now that you are getting older, you need a new kind of magic from your brownie," intones the announcer, plugging the brownies, which General Mills introduced in June.

The movie, of course, is a fake, serving as the centerpiece for a digital-only campaign by Publicis Modem aimed at reaching Baby Boomers. "It was an effort to reach boomers online in a fun and humorous way, leveraging the nostalgia from the 60s and 70s in tying that to the benefits of fiber," said Kerry DeLaney, associate marketing manager Fiber One. "As people are getting older the magic in the brownies of yesterday have transformed into something more relevant today."

And it's getting plenty of attention, even without much of a public-relations push. The trailer -- which debuted about a week ago on YouTube, the brand's Facebook page and a micro site -- has gotten about 83,000 views so far, Mr. DeLaney said. On Friday, General Mills paid for a promoted tweet that generated a 15.8% engagement rate (meaning 15.8% of viewers clicked on the link).

The campaign -- which includes five videos profiling various aspects of the "film" -- was also promoted with banner ads on Yahoo's "Vitality" web page, a partnership between the internet company and General Mills aimed at boomers.

We're Rich B*otch!

African-Americans' buying power is expected to reach $1.1 trillion by 2015, according to The State of the African-American Consumer Report, released yesterday at a Washington, DC press conference. The document was collaboratively developed by Nielsen, a leading global provider of insights and analytics into what consumers watch and buy, and The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), a federation of more than 200 Black community newspapers across the U.S.

This growing economic potential presents an opportunity for Fortune 500 companies to examine and further understand this important, flourishing market segment. Likewise, when consumers are more aware of their buying power, it can help them make informed decisions about the companies they choose to support.

"Too often, companies don't realize the inherent differences of our community, are not aware of the market size impact and have not optimized efforts to develop messages beyond those that coincide with Black History Month," said Cloves Campbell, chairman, NNPA. "It is our hope that by collaborating with Nielsen, we'll be able to tell the African-American consumer story in a manner in which businesses will understand," he said, "and, that this understanding will propel those in the C-Suite to develop stronger, more inclusive strategies that optimize their market growth in Black communities, which would be a win-win for all of us."

The report, the first of annual installments in a three year alliance between Nielsen and NNPA, showcases the buying and media habits and consumer trends of African-Americans.

The 41st Annual Legislative Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Conference week's activities set the backdrop for the announcement. Flanked by civic, business and legislative leaders, Nielsen and NNPA executives spoke about the relevance and importance of the information shared in the report and the fact that it will be distributed in NNPA's 200+ publications, reaching millions of readers and online viewers.

"We see this alliance with NNPA as an opportunity to share valuable insights, unique consumer behavior patterns and purchasing trends with the African-American community," said Susan Whiting, vice chair, Nielsen. "By sharing, for example, that African-Americans over-index in several key areas, including television viewing and mobile phone usage, we've provided a better picture of where the African-American community can leverage that buying power to help their communities," she said. "Likewise, the information points businesses in the right direction for growing market share and developing long range strategies for reaching this important demographic group."

Consumer trends in the report include facts such as:

�With a buying power of nearly $1 trillion annually, if African-Americans were a country, they'd be the 16th largest country in the world.
�The number of African-American households earning $75,000 or higher grew by almost 64%, a rate close to 12% greater than the change in the overall population's earning between 2000 and 2009. This continued growth in affluence, social influence and household income will continue to impact the community's economic power.
�African-Americans make more shopping trips than all other groups, but spend less money per trip. African-Americans in higher income brackets, also spend 300% more in higher-end retail grocers more than any other high income household.

- There were 23.9 million active African-American Internet users in July 2011 -- 76% of whom visited a social networking/blog site.

-33% of all African-Americans own a smart phone.

- African-Americans use more than double the amount of mobile phone voice minutes compared to Whites -- 1,298 minutes a month vs. 606.

- The percentage of African-Americans attending college or earning a degree has increased to 44% for men and 53% for women.

The report is also available at www.nielsen.com andwww.nielsen.com/africanamerican -- Nielsen's microsite which highlights tailored information to the African-American community. 

The Pursuit of (Cool): Coltrane Curtis

Coltrane Curtis, most recently known as the managing partner of New York-based media company Epiphany, is the latest to be chronicled in R+I Creative’s The Pursuit of (Cool) series. This latest video focuses on Coltrane’s fashion influences from the world of jazz. He speaks about why people like Duke Ellington, Wynton Marsalis and Mos Def have been so influential to his own personal style. It’s quite refreshing to see a taste maker talk truthfully about what has molded him as a person. Check it out above!


hypebeast


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Field Notes: Emory Douglas

by Kristy Tillman

In light of all the buzz about newly released documentary The Black Power Mixtape, I thought it would be fitting to highlight Emory Douglas. Douglas was the Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party and the force behind the extremely effective and prolific graphic communications pieces of the Black Panther party, most notably the BPP's newspaper. Douglas was trained as an artist designer at the City College of San Francisco. It was there he received foundational lessons on typography and image making. He credits his time there as essential to learning to make messages with meaning. He would eventually come to offer his design skills to the BPP around 1967 after a meeting with Huey Newton and Bobby Seale and becoming an official member. He has a secure place on my all time top 5 favorite designers list. Douglasʼ work exemplifies the notion of design for social impact employing human centered design principles at their barest essence. He truly designed with, not for. 

The potent and often very literal images created by Douglas were expressly designed to carry the message of the BPP while contending with the high illiteracy rates in the communities they served. Douglas became a master of distilling often complex messages down into digestible easily understood visual “sound” bytes. This functional aspect undergirded every piece and served to propel the message of the BPP. By the 1970s the newspaper reached hundreds of thousands across the United States. 

He also employed a variety of very cost effective techniques in his work including mimeographs, photostats, lithographs, screentones and offset printing. Douglas did not allow the confines of traditionally low resolution techniques to become a stumbling block for creating images. He effectively used the inherent benefits of the technologies to his advantage.

Douglas continues to work as a graphic artist in San Francisco lending his legendary talent to causes in social justice such as black on black crime and HIV/AIDs issues.

BMW Adds Two New US Diversity Shops

BMW of North America has finalized the last part of its agency review launched last spring, adding two new multicultural shops to its roster: Ramona was named BMW USA’s Hispanic agency of record and Sanders\Wingo Advertising assumes all diversity marketing for Mini USA.

Matlock Advertising and Public Relations, Atlanta, retains BMW’s marketing duties for the African-American market. However, Austin, TX-based Sanders\Wingo replaced Matlock as the multicultural shop on Mini.

Ramona, NY, which takes over from Bromley Communications, San Antonio, is a unit of MDC’s Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal + Partners, which last month won duties as BMW USA’s lead creative shop.

“Both of these agencies bring a unique set of strengths to the table that will compliment BMW,” Dan Creed, vp, marketing, BMW North America said in a statement. “We are looking forward to working with our talented roster of new agencies as we continue rolling out our strong product offensive. ”

In March Creed, named as the head of BMW’s North America marketing last September, launched a review for most of its US agency business. KBS+P prevailed after the auto marketer narrowed the field of contenders to also include The Martin Agency, Richmond, VA; Gotham, NY; Grey West, SF and Cundari, Toronto.

Roth Associates in New York, managed the multi-cultural and general market
searches.

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NBA 2K12 - Jordan Invitation

Check out http://www.NBA2KDebate.com - Michael Jordan invites you to join him in the debate over what the greatest NBA team of all time is. He, of course, has his own idea. Six in fact. Think he's wrong? Prove it: Submit a video at http://www.NBA2KDebate.com and join the #NBA2KDebate on Twitter. It may end up in a future NBA 2K12 commerical. 




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Field Notes: Curious about Asafo Flags

By Kristy Tillman

I first became curious about the Asafo flags through one of our recreational design sessions at work. I was initially struck by the graphic stories told on each flag. I was also curiously intrigued by the incorporation of some variation of the British union flag in the distinctively local motifs. Within the context of Ghana's colonial history it seems a logical part of the narrative, but the ironic juxtaposition of the two typologies were not at all lost on me. The flags that are made post independence tend to either have no external flag representation or the Ghanaian national flag.

Asafo is a term used for loosely organized military companies of the Fante ethnic group in Ghana. The Asafo were initially charged with defending the territory state but they also are involved in additional stately and social affairs such as inauguration of chiefs and religious events. Each company has a set of flags that illustrates its values through graphic interpretations of proverbs and they can be seen paraded proudly at festive occasions.

Historically, the flags can be traced back over a period of 300 years. The motifs on the flags asserts the wealth and power of the group and serves to challenge its rivals through a distinctive set of symbols, colors and patterns representative of the company. The narratives range from local proverbs, to favor from God and military superiority in capturing enemies. The design language captures a striking balance between traditional story telling and military pomp and display.

The images are striking by their simple, powerful forms; its composition points at a preference for asymmetry, which has a dynamic effect. The flags are constructed through a variety of techniques such as patchwork, embroidery and applique. Each new flag has to be approved by the highest authority within the hierarchy and subsequently inaugurated in a special ritual before it becomes active.

Photographs © Tim Hamill

#Amazing!

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Fan Made: Mad Men Season 5 posters

A self initiated poster series for AMC networks Mad Men.

cred:

madebyradio.com

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Selling The New Cool: Inside The World Of 'Influencers'

from Forbes.com

Coltrane Curtis, in the short film "The Pursuit of (Cool)."

“I believe, really, all cool things come from the hood,” says Coltrane Curtis, CEO at Team Epiphany. “So if you’re able to have that education, and see the trends before they happen, then you got an advantage.”
Curtis isn’t saying these words over the phone, or in a cafe somewhere while sitting across the table from me. Instead, his image moves back and forth within the frame of a YouTube video, where he stands on a stage at Miami Ad School speaking to a room filled with America’s advertising and marketing hopefuls, young men and women who have enrolled at an institution that boasts the tagline: The School of Pop Culture Engineering.
The skills being learned here, and that will later be put to use when pitching holistic media campaigns to the corporate heads of coveted Fortune 500 brands, are considered vital to survival in a market that’s continually being reshaped — and redefined — by the mechanisms of technology and, most importantly, social media.
Curtis is just one of the many players who populates the ever-growing world of “influencers,” a new breed of marketer that shuns the traditional strategy of selling directly to a target demographic and focuses instead on appealing to key individuals (i.e., celebrities, influential bloggers, social media wunderkinds, etc.) who hold sway over a large base of potential customers.
For example, instead of attempting to capture the attention of 18- to 34-year-old consumers solely through print or online advertising, a so-called influencer might turn to Tumblr and its cult of product obsessives — those who blog and reblog images from fashion label lookbooks or commercials masquerading as short films — to initiate consumer interest on a more casual level. An influencer might also put his or her client’s product in the hands of a cultural luminary — Kanye West, Jay-Z, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, etc. — with hopes of initiating a trickle-down effect. As in, Kanye wore those sneakers, I need a pair. Or, Lady Gaga carries that handbag, who’s the designer?
As Curtis explained to me, influencers help “engineer the consumer-facing persona of most celebrities.” It’s emulation, commodified. Or more aptly, idol worship leveraged for a profit. It reminds me of a well-rehearsed magic act that involves transforming the concept of cool into a bankable currency, time and again.

More @ Forbes.com






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Field Notes: The Photography of Carl Van Vechten

W.E.B DuBois, 1946

Billie Holiday, 1949

By Kristy Tillman

Carl Van Vechten (1880-1964) primarily known as a music/dance critic and novelist gained a reputation as a theatrical and society photographer during the time of the Harlem Renaissance. Based in New York City, after completing a stint at the New York Times, Van Vechten took great interest in black artists and writers of the time period; documenting many who are considered canonical figures in the black collective as subjects of his work. Many of the sitters, such as W.E.B DuBois, Billie Holiday and Alivn Ailey, were acquaintances of Van Vechten. He primarily photographed them in his studio portrait style, in private sittings, and also at social gatherings. It was also not unusual for Van Vetchen to implore bright colorful backgrounds and elaborate costuming in his photography.

Alvin Ailey, 1955 

Mary McLeod Bethune, 1949 

Langston Hughes and Horace Cayton at Fisk University, 1947 

The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975

The Black Power Mixtape is an award winning compilation feature documentary that displays the story of the African-American community 1967-1975, the people, the society and the style that fueled a change. Told with sparkling, beautiful and deep footage, lost in the archives in Sweden for 30 years.

Written and Directed by: Göran Hugo Olsson
Produced by: Annika Rogell, Story AB
Co-Produced by: Joslyn Barnes & Danny Glover, Louverture Films
Art Director: Stefania Malmsten
Edited by: Göran Hugo Olsson & Hanna Lejonqvist
Including appearances by:
Angela Davis, Stokely Carmichae, Dr. Martin Luther King









Poster design by Gravillis Inc.



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People on the Move: DraftFCB Names Vita Harris Global Chief Strategy Officer

from adage.com

Vita Harris, formerly chief strategy officer ofDraftFCB, New York, has been promoted to global chief strategy officer of the agency network. Prior to the merger of Draft and FCB in June 2006, Ms. Harris was exec VP and director-insight services at Draft, New York. There she pioneered an approach called Behavior Path Marketing to mine consumer insights to relevant marketing-communications programs. Before joining Draft in 1996, Ms. Harris was senior VP-group research director at N.W. Ayer & Partners, and she began her career at Saatchi and Saatchi Compton. In 2010, Ms. Harris was named a 2010 AAF AdColor Legend.

Torsten Kuenzlen has joined Molson Coors International as chief marketing officer, based in Denver. Mr. Kuenzlen previously spent 17 years with Coca-Cola, where he was most recently president-director of the Indonesia region. He led commercial and marketing operations for the company across the globe, and was part of a management team tasked with transforming Coca-Cola's business across Africa. Molson Coors established MCI in 2008 to manage the expansion of its brand portfolio outside of the U.S., Canada and the U.K., and it now manages the growth of its brand portfolio across 47 countries.

JWT HONORS BILL SHARP

Bill Sharp Award Ceremony / JWT Atlanta / Sept. 8 2011
JWT Atlanta celebrates the winner of the first Bill Sharp Award, a student grant awarded to one African American student to support their pursuit of a career in the advertising industry. The award is named after the famed African American advertising executive and industry diversity pioneer, William "Bill" Sharp. While working as a Group Copy Supervisor at JWT in the late 1960s, Bill Co-created and ran the Basic Advertising Course, which helped African Americans learn the business of advertising. In 1969, Bill published a book, How To Be Black and Get a Job in the Advertising Agency Business Anyway. His work and lasting devotion to helping create opportunities in the business for African Americans has touched thousands of individuals in the industry, and we are proud to honor his legacy.

A truly amazing man who I had the opportunity to meet years ago. He brought me into his office, completely unscheduled, at spoke to me at length about the joy, work and rigor of the advertising business. I'm nearly certain he wouldn't remember that day over 15 years ago, but I will never forget it. It has fueled my career and helped me to understand what it means to be gracious. I hope to one day attain his level of dignity and magnanimity.

~Craig

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Jenkins Takes Global Creative Role on Gatorade at Chiat LA

Jayanta Jenkins, A fellow Virgo,  has been promoted to global creative director on TBWA\Chiat\Day LA’s much-lauded Gatorade account. Last we remember, Jenkins was the creative director on the “G” spot from April featuring Serena Williams and Kevin Durant. His underlings will be Brent Anderson andSteve Howard, who were promoted from CDs to GCDs on the global and U.S. Gatorade account.
Jenkins joined Chiat LA after spending seven years as a senior AD at Wieden + Kennedy, where he worked on campaigns starring LeBron James as well as other Nike work. Prior to that, he served as an art director for nearly four years at the Martin Agency. As for new GCD Howard, he co-created the award-winning “Replay” work for Gatorade and worked on Nissan and Visa along with Anderson.


TBWA\Chiat\Day LA also hired Almap BBDO alums Renato Fernandez and Gustavo Sarkis as ACDs on Gatorade. Chiat LA’s CCO Rob Schwartz speaks from the heart of the appointments/promotions in a statement, saying, “Brent, Steve and Jay are three of the smartest and most modern creatives in the business. Brent and Steve’s work, in particular on Gatorade Replay, is one of the most awarded ideas ever. Their passion and ideas for Gatorade and TBWA will continue to keep us on the cutting edge. It’s a testament to the bench strength of TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles when the people we’d typically search the world for are right here in Los Angeles.”

By Kiran Aditham @ Agency Spy

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Introducing: Field Notes by Kristy Tillman

Field Notes, a division of Kiss My Black Ads, is a weekly column that will explore an eclectic mix of art and design curiosities and interestingness for and about black life, in a more in depth manner. Because the diversity and variety of contributions of the African diaspora often go over looked, Field Notes will bring you a curated selection of goods you didn’t even know you were interested in. Hand picked every week by designer, Kristy Tillman, we hope these pieces will serve up new ideas, insights, and knowledge that serve to inspire and enlighten.

Coming much sooner than you can imagine.



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Freddie Mercury Google Doodle

A Google doodle tribute to artist, performer, and pioneer Freddie Mercury for his 65th birthday. //