Digital Inspiration

Man, today I seem to be coming across great ads everywhere I look, maybe it's the great weather that's bringing them all out. I love the new Toyota Ad from Saatchi & Saatchi in Australia. It probably has more to do with the fact that they made a full size person out of glass, rather than what the ad is actually saying. I mean it's not a particularly new concept or anything, just really cleverly executed.

I saw an odd new Skittles ad that fits in with the ads I've shown on here before. It's just bizarre, and interactive too.

I also came across this clever ambient/digital idea for GranataPet dog food. Not the most amazing idea ever but pretty cool nonetheless.

But the main reason for this post is that I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to go to the National Digital Media and Marketing Summit in Croke Park in Dublin today. It's great for us students to get the opportunity to go to those industry events. It's a whole different perspective on the type of work we do every day in college, gives us a small idea of what we can expect once we (hopefully) get jobs in the industry and, most importantly, it's an opportunity to meet people and to 'network' (a phrase which I detest, but that's not for here). It basically makes the whole thing a bit more real for us.

There were some really interesting speakers there but unfortunately I had to leave early because we were recording radio ads in college this afternoon (which was great fun - it's brilliant to see a professional VO bring your words to life) and we couldn't miss that class, so I'm sure there were plenty more fascinating speakers that I missed but the ones I did see showed some great videos to demonstrate various points.

Inma Martinez gave a talk on how to build a digital brand on no budget and as part of it she showed this brilliant ad from a couple of years ago for the Audi Q5. I love everything about it. It was made just after the whole car market collapsed and it's a real back-to-basics idea and is brilliantly executed. The art direction is superb, the music perfectly suited and the idea is stunningly simple yet super effective.



The next video was shown by Jonathan Forrest, who is CEO of Cybercom here in Dublin. His talk was focussed around digital advertising and how it is this generation's "Parsons' Moment", in reference to Charles Parsons' steam turbine and how it was such a defining invention in the history of engineering.

He gave several examples of great digital campaigns (oddly enough they were all from New Zealand) and this one really stood out for me, and for most people I was talking to at the summit. The campaign, done for Coastguard New Zealand by the DDB New Zealand Group is one of the best, if not the absolute best, digital campaigns I've come across. Watch and learn.



There were plenty more great ads and videos shown there today, as well as some really insightful talks and observations, these two just really stood out for me. It's a real pity I didn't get to stay for the whole thing but I guess it was great to at least be a part of some of it. The future is digital so I guess the sooner we can all wrap our heads around it the better!