Publicis Life Brands Resolute

Tales from an ad agency

planetjanek — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:34:23 +0000

Inspired by teenage romance comics from the 50s, here’s something for Valentine’s day!
But what should our heroine Sophie do next? Vote on Facebook for your favourite ending…

The new year brings Positive Vibes

louisagarnier — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:01:06 +0000

January can be a depressing month. Fading Christmas memories, foul weather and failed resolutions can all make for a gloomy outlook. However, rather than starting off the new year with a long list of resolutions, perhaps it’s better to take things one step at a time and start with some positive thinking.

At PLBR, we kicked off the new year by harnessing the power of positive thinking to help teenage cancer patients.

We entered the eyeforpharma Mobile Health Competition, which challenged us to develop an idea for a mobile phone app to help teenage cancer patients through the tough times.

We wanted our app to speak directly to patients and inspire them to connect with one another, share experiences and, above all, remain positive. We believe that our app, Positive Vibes, does just that by encouraging people to join an online support network – the Positive Vibes Loop. Once part of the Loop, members will be able to send out vibes to everyone else in the network, and receive them back. Positive vibes can be anything from funny video clips or blog posts to simple messages of support.

Positive Vibes is a place to be social, but it’s also a great information source. For example, if a user has a question related to their disease or treatment, they’ll be able to ask members of the Loop. There will always be someone on hand to provide support when it’s needed.

View our entry below and find out more about Positive Vibes:

The competition attracted almost 50 entries from pharmaceutical companies, advertising agencies, carers and even patients themselves. A ‘Global Superpanel’ of judges, made up of teenage cancer survivors, then whittled the entries down to a shortlist of the top 10 apps.

We were thrilled to hear that Positive Vibes has made the shortlist, which is now open to public voting until 23^rd January. After this date, the three entries with the most votes will be reviewed by the Global Superpanel and the winner of the Mobile Health Competition will be announced.

The winning entrant will receive $5000 to be donated to a cancer charity of their choice. The winner will also have the opportunity to see their entry developed into a real app.

It’s all for a great cause so we’re calling to you for help. If you love our app as much as we do, please vote for our entry and help us turn Positive Vibes into a reality.

Check back here after 26^th January to find out how we get on.

With all apologies to the Bing Crosby estate…

gregjporter — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:30:55 +0000

We’re dreaming of a white Christmas
Working through crisp white flakes of snow
Wrapped up in scarves and mittens
Our team will listen
To hear the light trill of the ‘phone

We’re dreaming of a white Christmas
The traditional festive scene
With snowballs flinging
and snowmen grinning
While we complete tasks in between

We’re dreaming of a white Christmas
Before we head home to our kin
For turkey and brussels
with tipsy aunts and uncles
From whom we hide the sherry and the gin

We’re dreaming of a white Christmas
Seems the perfect way to end the year
Some time spent relaxing
Attempting nothing taxing
Spent with those that we hold dear

We’re dreaming of a white Christmas
With every e-card that we send
To all our clients, colleagues and friends
May this year reach a prosperous end

Publicis Life Brands Resolute would like to wish each and every one of you a joyful holiday season, and a very happy New Year. We look forward to speaking with you all in 2012.

The easiest way to undermine your brand

Andy — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:30:06 +0000

Brand Managers spend countless amounts of time, money and effort creating detailed marketing and tactical plans for their brands. Hours are devoted to workshops to determine the brand’s essence, core values and personality. The briefs are written and distributed to agencies across the land who’ll beaver away to create a need, and then ultimately satisfy the eager public with a nice, big launch. All is well. Or is it?

Introducing the typo. A single word spelt incorrectly. All of those hours undone. Imagine you’re a carnival planner. Surely as a consumer you’d think twice about going to the carnival if you saw this sign? Or what if your local police force sent an email to you about preventing break-ins – would this garner your trust? Even though there’s a school of thought (note the spelling here) that suggests language evolves through typos, these mistakes are pretty extreme. But they happen.

Everything communicates

In one of my first lectures as a marketing student, I was told ‘everything communicates.’ At first it seemed obvious – after all, that’s what we wanted to do. However, I learnt that ‘everything’ even included times when we weren’t saying anything – “why the silence? Is it a bad brand?” – and when there were typos.

‘Everything communicates’ is a philosophy I have stood by, and it continues to work well. It’s a benchmark for all marketing strategies and tactics, and can simplify a sometimes unnecessarily complex discussion.

In the world of celebrities, individuals have become brands. And it’s not just celebrities. Arguably every professional wants to look after their own, personal brand. So what about that hasty email to a client? Or that brief sent over for their approval? What could they say about your personal brand? A single typo can undo all respect your client has for you – now you’ve got no attention to detail, no interest in double-checking anything for them and a lack of pride.

It may seem like over-kill, and it probably is, but it could be worth thinking twice about where that apostrophe really should go next time you hit send. You’ll be doing a world of good for your brand. All of them.

Christmas’ most wanted

planetjanek — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:30:18 +0000

At this time of year when we all want to be safely ensconced within the bosom of our family and friends, here’s a cautionary tale. Having been the victim of crime during the festive period I thought I’d post a photofit. Here’s an individual, who has year-on-year entered my property, hoofed my mince pies and had a pop at my finest bottle of brandy. To add insult to injury, he has left all manner of assorted tat under my Christmas tree and trodden reindeer poo into my carpet. Now I want payback ‘Oi, St Nic, this year you’re nicked!’

Please circulate this image and remember vigilance pays, bah humbug!

Janek, PLBR Art Director

The Penultimate Paradigm of the Century! 11.11.11

sarahleaderplbr — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 11:11:47 +0000

Nearly eleven years ago we celebrated the start of a new Century and a new Millennium.

Over this time we have possibly got a bit tipsy, fought, loved and prayed on a set of dates of which only a dozen exist in each Century.

1.1.01
2.2.02
3.3.03
4.4.04
5.5.05
6.6.06
7.7.07
8.8.08
9.9.09
10.10.10
11.11.11
12.12.12

… And we are approaching the penultimate one!

A few loose facts!

11.11.11 is a paradigm meaning it is numerically repetitive and forms a pattern. 11.11.11 can be a colour reference – grey I believe. 11.11.11 is a primary numerical phenomenon which Google has demonstrated on many of its search pages; and would you have guessed a spooky film to be released on the 11th November 2011. Or, as perhaps one prophecy might add – the END OF THE WORLD.

Whether 11.11.11 marks the end of the world or a grey day, I urge you to celebrate… THE PENULTIMATE PARADIGM! Wear a paradigm outfit, hop for 11 minutes, sing for 11 minutes, dance for 11 hours – get involved and share it! Do what no man or woman (since 1911) will do (until 2111).

If you’re lost for inspiration here are some tips:

11 cream crackers in 11 seconds
11 tiered cake with 11 candles
11 legged race
11 hours of silence
11 hours of singing
11 hours of hopping
11 letters to friends and/or strangers
11ses – tea and cake at 11mins past 11 (remember the 1 minute silence at 11am)
11 good deeds
11 photos
11 comments on this blog

So there it is, 11 ways to enjoy your PENULTIMATE PARADIGM.

Not only is the 11th November 2011 the PENULTIMATE PARADIGM OF THIS CENTURY but it is also Remembrance Day, also known as Poppy Day. I know I for one will be pulling out my red outfit and buying a poppy or 11.

Finally, if you are going to be 1, 11, 111, 1111 on this day then Happy Birthday and I think you are very special. Especially if you are 1111!

PS for those that may not have done this, if you re-read this blog and imagine the voice of ‘our Graham’ from Blind Date or the voice of Big Brother, to read the words in caps it will make it more dramatic. A better read for you.

Win a year of your life

nickrobinsonplbr — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:00:16 +0000

A few months ago we blogged about a competition involving the new Justin Timberlake movie called In Time, and promised to come back with an update, so here we are.

To quickly summarise, earlier this year in May, a couple of A-level students named Ewelina and Kasia came into our studio for a week to work on a brief. The brief, set up through the Ideas Foundation, Metro newspaper and 20th Century Fox, was to promote In Time, a new science-fiction thriller starring Justin Timberlake. The film is set in the future, where time has become the ultimate currency. In this future, medical advances allow people to live forever, but only if they can afford it.

We showed the girls how we tackle briefs that come into the agency and helped them develop their ideas, which they then presented to a panel of judges. Their winning idea was to promote the movie by offering readers the chance to win a year of their life in time.

The film hits cinemas next week and is being heavily promoted at the moment. Today’s Metro features a wrap-around promoting the film and the ‘win a year of your life’ competition that Ewelina and Kasia came up with. It’s a fantastic idea and a worthy winner and we recommend that you get involved and win some time!

That worked, let’s copy

Andy — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 10:00:51 +0000

Part of any marketer’s job is to keep up to speed with what the competition is doing, and positioning themselves to respond where necessary. Sometimes this is an unenviable task, as the competitor’s latest advert is brilliant, and captures exactly what you’ve been trying to say about your own brand for years. Sometimes, it’s because that brand receives a huge amount of publicity from their latest ad. Take price comparison websites, for example. Who would want to be the brand manager for any site other than comparethemarket.com?

Back in 2008, comparethemarket.com was running this ad

All price comparison sites were slugging it out over who could offer the best discount, the widest providers, or the most guarantees. But this all changed in January 2009, courtesy of VCCP and Aleksandr Orlov. All of a sudden, comparethemarket.com had a character. Not only that, but it was a distinct character, with that distinct phrase that immediately entered any type of social conversation.

But as a marketer, how would you respond to this character, knowing your ads were still harping on about prices, providers, and guarantees? Well, put simply, the majority tried to mimic the core principles that this ad set in their industry. Let’s have a character. A distinct character, with a recognisable tone, that reminded people of the site URL. Once at the site, the facts will become apparent. The ads are a race to clicks. Mimicking is not new – apparently it’s flattery. But what does this say about your brand? A me-too product? I would say so, in my opinion.

The returns are good for those brands that manage to captivate through strong creative, yet the mimicking continues. Obviously creative alone won’t sell your brand – it has to be well researched and executed – but it’ll go a long way to getting it recognised.

PLBR hopped on the bus and stayed on it for a fair while

nickrobinsonplbr — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 09:06:04 +0000

Having found out last month that we had made the Big Bus Challenge longlist, we were invited to the London Transport Museum to attend the awards presentation. On entering we were handed a cocktail, appropriately named the Routemaster. From there we worked our way down the stairs to the lower floor where all forms of public transport from past, present and future surrounded the longlisted entries on pull up stands.

After a few canapés and drinks, Jason Cotterell of CBS Outdoor stood to announce the shortlist,

“Optive!” he bellowed.

I looked around. Did he just say … Was that Optive?

For me this was a mixed bag of emotions, ecstatic for making the shortlist, a touch disappointed for the inescapable fact that we’d be missing out on top spot, and a little embarrassed as I tried to sober myself up a little on the way up to the stage.

When you consider the competition, with 653 entries from 250 agencies, 14 longlisted adverts, it is amazing how just one little idea for Optive was able to come out on top of ads for some of the biggest brands like Mercedez Benz, McDonalds, Philips and Clarks.

A huge thanks to CBS Outdoor for organising the event and for the judges and everyone involved. Click here for more information on the entries. The online write up is available here

Written by Nick Robinson, PLBR Junior Designer

PLBR hops on the Big Bus Challenge

nickrobinsonplbr — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 16:00:26 +0000

What’s the most sought after place to put an ad? The one every copywriter and art director dream of? Is it a massive billboard on Times Square? A full page spread in the Sunday paper? A 30-second Super Bowl Spot?

How about the side of a London bus? It may not seem quite as glitzy, but if you consider that over 8 million people flood the capital on a daily basis and that the average bus ad runs for 4 weeks, it could actually be seen by just as many people. Perhaps more importantly, a London bus is simply a very unique, very cool place for an ad to live.

That’s why we jumped at the chance to enter the Big Bus Challenge. Agencies across the UK were invited to create a piece of advertising uniquely suited to a London bus, with the winning campaign to receive £200,000 worth of free media space. Needless to say, we were thrilled when we received the recent news that our ad had advanced to the final round of judging.

Check back in a month and we’ll let you know if our work will be roaming the streets of London…

Written by Stephen Cooney, PLBR Copywriter