She Says comes again with its Xmas Bash! (London, 19th of December)

After a busy year, She Says invites its members, and anybody who want to join the club, for the Xmas party. The ¨sisters¨ want to celebrate a hectic year with a drink, some seasonal nibbles and a big pat on the back. Boys are allowed! ;)

Female leadership

Farah Ramzan Golant is one of those women who leave no one indifferent. She was born in Nairobi, Kenya, and today she is the Executive Director of Abbott Mead Vickers in London, where she works for brands as Sainsbury's, General Electric, British Telecom, Mars y The Economist. She was awarded in Cannes in 2006 for the spot "Noitulove" made for the Guinness beer. If you want to know more about a woman that is in charge of one of the world’s most important advertising agencies, see the article published by The Independent.

The 5 most sexist advertisements of 2008

Alex Leo is a columnist in a daily newspaper, The Huffington Post, and the editor of 236.com, (where she’s paid to behave as a kid). In this week publication she presents 5 most sexist ads of 2008. What’s curious, the brands represent strategic advertising sectors. Watching ads of this kind, I keep on asking myself: where is the common sense of the advertising agencies...?

Who has pushed the trigger?

I´ll do my best to be down to earth and reasonable. Wode de Boudicca has launched a new perfume. The bottle is of the shape of the spray can, and in the moment of application it is first blue and then becomes transparent, as we can see in the spot. What worries me, is the graphic expression. Creatives, artists and fans of vanguard: I beg your pardon, but what I see here is a woman bleeding to death after being shot. A terrible connotation.

Woman as an object

It seems absurd, but unfortunately it's real. Instead of feeling embarrassed when watching this photo, that illustrates Marc Jacobs brand, the protagonists of the campaign seem to be proud of participating in such an undertaking.

The author of this very creativity is the photographer Juergen Teller. The model is Victoria Beckham, who doesn't need a presentation. This primitive lack of delicacy caused an instant controversy in the advertising industry. But the polemic reached the boiling point when the protagonists have published their statements in The New York Times. The pictures speak by themselves.

The winner of The Golden Stiletto Awards 2008

The Golden Stiletto Awards 2008 - the award for the best digital advertising campaigns created by the young female professionals from Great Britain.


Agency: Dare
Creative Director: Flo
Creative Team: Yasmin Quemard, Andy Amadeo and Simon Burnett
Account Director: Ash Amrite

Summary by the creative team: ¨This is a brand with a unique music heritage, but it's not necessarily the music player of choice. To reawaken the brand, it developed a new strapline: Music.Like.No.Other. A bold TV commercial was soon to follow. The client wanted an innovative online idea to sit alongside it.

The Sony Walkman project is all about online music collaboration. The sounds can be as diverse and dynamic as you like. You can be a performer, a creator, a co-creator… it's music the way you like it.

Opening up the process of making music to everyone was exciting and scary at the same time.¨

Web site: www.walkmanproject.com

* Information provided by She Says.

For mothers, by mothers and about mothers

The advertainment is home for good. The brands Suave and Sprint have united their efforts and produce together the online series "In the Motherhood" where mothers are the main protagonists and much more.

Through the web page we can follow chapters, watch the making of, and all the details of the production. But there is much more to be seen: the mothers themselves are the ones to write the script, vote the best plots and participate in the shootings.

There is no product placement and the plot is not being influenced to seem as an advert. It’s a pure entertainment sponsored by two brands that bet on women as consumers and opinion leaders. Highly recommendable for those who search for an entertainment or a marketing tool.


Episode 1:

Golden Stiletto Awards 2008

I had the pleasure of being invited to the celebration of the Golden Stiletto Awards, which recognizes the best digital advertising campaigns created by the young female professionals from Great Britain.

The event was celebrated on the 19th of November, in Canon Getty Images Gallery, in the London city centre, where the top females of British advertising industry, members of She Says community meet every month to share their experience and help people to either get started or work their way up. The meetings have a loyal public and every time more new participants.

This brilliant initiative has been brought to life by Laura Jordan Bambach, Head of Art in Glue London and Alessandra Lariu, Group Creative Director at McCann NYC. This time girls met to reveal who is the great winner of the golden stiletto shoe.

From the beginning the atmosphere was informal, lively and very feminine. In fact, the security staff on the gate and the waiter were the only men around. During the welcome cocktail and then throughout the entire gala hundred or so female voices, laughs and whispers reverberated in the ambiance. As there were mostly young creative women, the spirit of female creativity was in the air.

Jury members have described the level of participating works as very high. From the 28 campaigns competing the jury have chosen the top 5. While the finalists were presenting their campaigns, the public was reacting spontaneously.

The award winner, Yasmin Quemard from Dare Digital, showed her surprise and enthusiasm at the same time. As she said, she didn’t really expect to win, and was really happy that she managed to bring the Sony Walkman Project to life. As she remarked, it was a product of teamwork (creative team: Yasmin Quemard, Andy Amadeo and Simon Burnett).

It was really exciting to meet all these young creatives, to watch the fruits of their efforts and share their enthusiasm. Many of them were there, because they are convinced that it’s really worth to do what inspires you. And they find an inspiration in events like that. Well done sisters!




The judges:

Lee Wright- MD, Dare
Larissa Vince- Acting Deputy Editor, Campaign
Christine Turner- Creative Digital Head, Lowe London
Alessandra Lariu- Group Creative Director, McCann NYC
Laura Jordan Bambach- Head of Art, Glue London



More information.

20 yars of Dim Up

It has been already 20 years since Dim revolutionised the entire market with its seamless stockings. To celebrate the anniversary the company has asked the French agency Publicis to prepare a commemorative campaign. For this purpose they created a separated web page that presents the history of stockings and its advertising throughout last decades.

Moreover Dim (that now belongs to DB Apparel) has published billboard and magazine advertisements. The company has celebrated its anniversary during the party that took place in Madrid, with a presence of celebrities and a catwalk show.

Woman in the Advertising Industry

Some days ago I read a really interesting survey: "La mujer en el sector publicitario. Categorías, especializaciones y conflicto trabajo-familia en las agencias españolas" (¨Woman in the Advertising Industry. Categories, Specializations and Job-Home Conflict in Spanish Advertising Agencies¨), conducted by Grupo Investigador Comunicación y Sociedad del Conocimiento (The Communication and the Society of Knowledge Investigation Group) from the University of Alicante, under the supervision of Marta Martín Llaguno.

The survey was done in 2004 and 2005 with the participation of 36 biggest Spanish advertising agencies, members of Asociación Española de Agencias de Publicidad (The Spanish Advertising Agencies Association), that divide between themselves about 80% of Spanish advertising cake.

The survey was published by AEAP and it’s available in Spanish on their web page.

It’s fundamental for anyone who wants to understand the functioning of Spanish (and not only Spanish…) market.

The good ideas are always smart

Lifting up the women’s skirt in the first shot is offensive and vulgar. But the Epuron spot, created by the agency Nordpol from Hamburg is a beautiful idea that justifies the scene and focuses the attention of spectators. Brilliant.



Agency: Nordpol (Hamburg - Germany)
Production: Paranoid Projects
Advertiser: Epuron/BMU

Natural born blogger

Debbie Weil is a blogger and social assessor of some of the most significant world enterprises (many of them are listed in the Global 100 and Forbes 500). She gives speeches during conferences in different countries all over the world. She teaches the great companies how to develop their own blog, and make the best profit of this most democratic tool ever known in the history of communication.

Apart from her blog-oriented job, Debbie has got her own blog where she publishes very interesting information and a wide scope of marketing case studies. It’s really worth to visit: http://www.debbieweil.com.

Offenders & defenders

About Face is an organization from San Francisco (California) that has got one goal: to defend women and teenagers from the advertising harassment. On their web page we may find a shortlist of offenders and defenders of women in advertisements. Through the means of the web we may participate in the activity of the organization as well.

It is very combative in its character and has gained this way a respect and authority among creatives and advertisers. To be included in the TOP 10 WOMEN OFFENDERS means troubles and is not very recommendable for any brand.

Here we go again!

Can anybody tell me what is so appealing about this add that it deserved to be published? Christina Aguilera is wearing sexy nurse clothes in order to sell some trainers…? No main story, no text, no concept. Pure provocation without any sence of responsibility. The author agency of this masterpiece is Agenda Inc. with offices in San Francisco and Paris. The advert is from 2005.

From: Adpulp

Creative games or creation of new values?

While searching for the fresh perspectives on a women’s role in advertising we have found this document:

It’s elaborated by the Ministry of Work and Welfare (the Spanish one) in the cooperation with the Secretary of Equality and Women’s Institute in Spain.

Even though it’s brief and too overloaded with graphics, it analyzes quite well the advertising profile when it comes to seducing consumers.

What it says, is that the health is nowadays a consumer’s good and thanks to great variety of ¨easy and instant-use¨ products one can face all kinds of situations.

What’s curious, this scheme works the same with men (with the exception of well known advertising protagonists: femme fatal, Lolita, woman-sexual gratis that comes with a product).

I think that this document should pass through advertising agencies so that we could rise the awareness, that what we do is not just a mere creative game but a problem that needs to be solved. It’s a high time to start looking for new values and new creative formulas. We have to create responsible habits and to avoid hurting people’s feelings.

It is really a great challenge for the advertising of this century.

Feminine creativity without limit

Anyone can have fresh ideas! But one Irish girl made them come true. One day she just grabbed the camera and she has recorded herself dancing. After few time almost 3 millions of people have watched her dancing. From that moment on starts her amazing adventure with advertising, viral marketing, glamour and creativity:


Part One:



Part Two:

Seducing the boys club

Do you want to be a woman at the top of advertising?

If the answer is yes, you have to read this book:


Source: www.seducingtheboysclub.com

Who dominate-Who is dominated

There are two worlds of bottom smacking, the world of BDSM and the world of ketchup bottles. The company, Dressing for Pleasure, a specialist in fetishwear and all things S&M related, married these two worlds by putting stickers of enticing rear ends on the bottoms of ketchup bottles. Thus inviting bar patrons to explore a completely different appetite while addressing their hunger.

The chosen stickers are these:

I think this controversial advert discriminate against women. From my point of view, it is directed only to men, heterosexual or homosexual, in their role of the one who dominate, so women only is represented as the one who is dominated.

This discrimination is subtle because there is a man's backside (anyway, there wouldn't be equity), so someone can argue the opposite. But I think this is the role of women that is offered. Moreover the only one who hits is a man's hand.

By the way, I haven't been able to find out the names of the creative team, because they aren't in the technical data. The campaign is made by JWT agency.

Source: Ads of the world

Men's things

Some months ago, I was in a grocery store in Edinburgh and one female friend said to me: "Look to that packaging". They were some chocolate bars that she usually bought and the text said 'It's not for girls'.

That diferenciation by the gender atractted my attention and I asked by myself why they had chosen that communication estrategy. Today I have decided to research. Yorkie, the brand, belongs to Nestlé and they explain the campaign like this:

YORKIE - 'IT'S NOT FOR GIRLS'

In 2001 the Yorkie "It’s Not for Girls" campaign was launched because, in today’s society, there aren’t many things that a man can look at and say that’s for him.

The 'Not For Girls' campaign theme for Yorkie uses humour, which resonates with today’s British male and simply states that Yorkie is positioning itself as a chocolate bar for men who need a satisfying hunger buster. With five solid chunks of chocolate, it’s a man sized eat!

Although I haven't try that brand, I feel that I'm also the target of chocolatine bars. Although, personally, I'm faithful to Snickers chocolatine bars, which communication I think it isn't directed either to me.

I don't ask for the chocolatine bars communication direct for me or for the rest of girls, because I think they wouldn't get either right with that diferenciation... Anyway, targets (or no-targets) do what they want.

Source: Nestlé UK

Your saliva is also important!

To carry on with the 'revolutionary' topics that I started yesterday, I let you one campaign that I have seen in the last days and I like it. That is the campaign of Saatchi & Saatchi Southeast Asia Regional from Bangkok, Thailand, to Amnesty International. Two female art directors, Brandy Vu and Linda Pham, have participated in it.

I like that they have used the colour to encourage to the public to collaborate through sending their letters. Instead of mentioning the culpability, and make the spectactor feel attacked, or intead of showing shocking or negative images, here they show in a kindly way that you can help much only putting a stamp and sending a letter, and that is something that doesn't require any effort. I think is a very right campaign and it uses a very interesting tone to this kind of campaigns.

Creative team

Advertising Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi Southeast Asia Regional/Bangkok, Thailand
Executive Creative Directors: Steve Hough, Andy Greenaway
Creative Directors: Sumesh Peringeth, Joel Clement
Art Directors: Sumesh Peringeth, Brandy Vu, Linda Pham
Copywriters: Steve Hough, Joel Clement
Illustrator: Tran Thanh Truc
Photographer: Pier Laurenza, Teo Studio
Published: 15 March 2008


Source: Ads of the world

A sexist or revolutionary ass?

This is the advert to relaunch, surprisingly, 'L'Unità', the historic Italian newspaper founded in 1924 by the Marxist philosopher and theoretical Antonio Gramsci. This newspaper was the official organ of the Italian Comunist Party (PCI).

Copy: new, free, mini, beautiful, strong, independent, couragerous, surprisingly, revolutionary, intelligent, generous, essential, indomitable.

The campaign has been created by the controversial Oliviero Toscani to illustrate the transformation process of 'L'Unità', Italian left-wing symbol newspaper, which has reduced its format (it will be tabloid) and it will have a new design.

Always that female body is used gratuitously to sell a product, that advert is considered sexist. However, Concita de Gregorio, first woman to be at the top of the newspaper in its 84 years of history, doesn't feel that this advert was sexist.

Concita de Gregorio

According to her: "I don't think it's right to use a woman image to sell, for example, cars. But in this case, I think it's perfect. Since two months, this newspaper is controlled by the body and the head of a woman, me, so in this case I think is pertinent to use a woman's image."

Toscani also rejects the acussations of sexism. "The miniskirt was revolutionary and, as the format of 'L'Unità' was going to be reducted, I thought that this image combines very well these two concepts".

"The photo is like her (Concita de Gregorio): solid, present... It isn't the image of a woman in seduction position, but it's the image of ordering", he said.

At the moment, the controversy is there and there are views to suit all tastes. What do you think?

Source: El Mundo

3iying, only women in advertising!

Finally advertising is starting to realize the power of women. An example is 3iying, an all-girl advertising agency and specialized in marketing for girls.

3iying, pronounced “three-eye-ying”, was set up in New York by the versatile Heidi Dangelmaier. Heidi has a broad experience as an expert in the female market. Among her merits, she led Sega’s first initiatives to make videogames for girls and she has worked for clients as Barbie and Metlife focused in the female audience.

3iying emerged with the idea of contributing to end with “the gap between what girls want and what the marketing community is giving them”. Their communication talks to girls ranging in age from 15 to 25.

Their web: http://www.3iying.com/

Copys for female teens

The Indonesian agency Lowe Jakarta has used copys full of lyricism in its campaign for Rexona, some copys with a sensibility not very common in the texts of men-targeted deodorants.

They aren't only focused on the other sex, but also they talk about friendship, as one of their worries. This is the vision that a completely women's creative team, except for his Executive Creative Director, has offered about female teen's motivations.

I would like to enhance some values showed in this campaign, created in the biggest Muslim nation of the world. They could perfectly work in places as France, Australia or The United States. Many times we think the West and the East are very different, but, as we see, the common people's motivations can be more similar that we usually think.

"32,
33,
34,
35!
Those are the amount of Annie’s freckles whom I’ve just met. A strange coincidence indeed… those are also the amount of her ex-boyfriends.
Dare to be closer. Rexona Teens."


"I have never seen eyes as beautiful as his. I noticed his pupils enlarging, the moment I held out my hand. I know now, that he likes me too.
Dare to be closer. Rexona Teens."


"I'm Malicca. She said. Her ear resembles a question mark. Somehow I knew that she will be a good friend and help me find the answers in my life.
Dare to be closer. Rexona Teens."


Creative team
Advertising Agency: Lowe Jakarta, Indonesia
Executive Creative Director: Din Sumedi
Creative Director: Hanny Shinta
Art Director: Stephani Pribangun
Copywriter: Wury Handayani
Photographer: Mike Ting
Retoucher: Abun
Agency Producer: Haning Mila
Published: August 2008

Source: Ads of the world

Gold for borning female in India

I have read one copy that gave me goosebumps. This ad has been Gold Lion in the press segment at Cannes International Advertising Festival in 2008. The advert tries to make aware against female foeticide in India. The campaign was realized by the Indian Contract Advertising Pvt. Ltd. agency for the non-government organization Aadhar, which fights against this curse.

The strength of the ad is in its forceful, clear, direct, overwhelming copy. Also, it is shocking because this is something more than advertising. For the poor families of India to have a daughter becomes a serious problem, due to the dowry that the woman is used to pay to her husband. In the second country with more population of the world, the abortion is legal since 1971. However, knowing the sex of the baby before being born is banned to prevent the frequent selective aborts.


The ad starts with the copy “How to carry on the family name”. Then, it describes how to abort step by step. The final step is: “After three months, try again for a boy”.

In opinion of the Press Lions jury president, Craig Davis: “It’s wonderful that good work is coming out of places that were earlier not performing so well at Cannes. India is one of them. An entry like Aadhar ‘anti-female foeticide’ has beautiful copy”.

From here, our congratulations to India and specially to the female copywriter Anshumani Khanna. We hope, more than never, that this copy will be not only powerful, but also effective.


Creative team
Type of Entry: Newspaper
Category: Public Awareness Messages
Title: FAMILY NAME
Advertiser/Client: AADHAR
Product/Service: ANTI FEMALE FOETICIDE
Entrant Company, City: CONTRACT INDIA, Mumbai
Country: INDIA
Advertising Agency, City: CONTRACT INDIA, Mumbai
Country: INDIA
Executive Creative Director: Ravi Deshpande
Creative Director: Raghu Bhat/Manish Bhatt
Copywriter: Anshumani Khanna
Art Director: Manan Mistry/Vimal Singh
Typographer: Manan Mistry

Source: www.funonthenet.in
Source: http://theinspirationroom.com
Source: Desire creative

4 women, 32 men, the Golden Drum jury

Yesterday, I wrote about the female presence in the Grand Prix of Golden Drum Advertising Festival. Today, I'm going to talk about the female presence in the jury of this Festival. The data are also negative for women. Of the 36 members of the jury, only 4 were women. As a small acknowledge to the girls that got 'slip in' this, for the moment, 'boy's club', here are their names.

In TV, Press, Outdoor and Radio Jury, 9 men, 1 woman:

Suna Tancig

Co-founder and Creative Director, Original, Slovenia

In Ad Campaigns Jury, 6 men, 0 women.


In Interacive Jury, 3 men, 0 women.


In Media Drum Jury, 4 men, 2 women:

Anna Lubowska

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mediaedge:cia CEE, Poland

Susanne Koll

CEE Regional Director, Omnicom Media Group, UK

In TV & Film Promo Jury, 3 men, 1 woman:

Miša Molk

Executive Project Manager, TV Slovenia, Slovenia

In Design & Art Direction and Portoroz Piran Poster Jury, 4 men, 0 women.


In Open Ad Golden Drum Ideas Jury, 3 men, 0 women.



Source: Golden Drum

Girls don't play the drum

The Saatchi & Saatchi Bucharest's campaign for Proctect & Gamble has been Grand Prix in Press category in the Golden Drum Awards, recently celebrated in Slovenia.

I have chosen this campaign because it's one Grand Prix that has a woman creative among its creative team. This year, there hasn't been almost female presence in the Grand Prix of this festival and in this campaign there is only one, the art director Daniela Nedelschi.

We hope this situation will change soon.

1961 Man, Woman and Boy

Year/ID: 2008 / B07008
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi Bucharest
Awards: Shortlist
Golden Drum Grand Prix

Registrant: SAATCHI & SAATCHI ROMANIA
Advertising agency:Saatchi & Saatchi Bucharest
Advertiser: Procter & Gamble
Creative director: Nick Hine
Art Director: Daniela Nedelschi, Jorg Riommi, Arturo Vittorioso
Copywriter: Jorg Riommi, Arturo Vittorioso
Photographer/Illustrator: Carioca

Source: Golden Drum

Eider Suso

I encourage to you to see Eider Suso's work. She is an art director and an illustrator, who has received many awards and has beautiful works.

Eider has worked in Ogilvy & Mather NY, Euro RSCG NY, Villar Rosas in Barcelona and Lowe New York among others. Now she is working as a freelance among Barcelona, Brooklyn and Shanghai.

As some pictures are worth a thousand words, I let you some of her works:

Advertising:

Illustration:

One of the maps of her world

Cover for Wine magazine, NYC September 2007

30th bday invite

Information booklet for an NGO in Wukro

Invitation for the Halloween party at Lowe

Eider Suso's website: www.eidersuso.com

Censure for A Nymphomaniac Diary

The poster of the Spanish 'Diario de una ninfómana' ('A Nymphomaniac Diary') film has been censured in Madrid and in Cadena Cope radio channel.

The poster wasn't accepted by the dealer company of advertising for public transport interchanges and shelters of Madrid.

On the other hand, Cadena Cope radio channel said that “the campaign is of doubtful legality and gratuitously provocative”, according to the explanation of the film's director, Christian Molina, and they added that the film “wasn't for their target, reason why they refused to show it”.

Some people offered to Molina to change the poster, but he refused: “I sent one cut, another one in blank, because this is unjust, illogical and unreal. It seems to me of Dictator Franco's times, retrograde and subhuman: I thought that there was freedom of expression in this country”.

The French Valèrie Tasso, author of the homonymous and autobiographical book, added “If the film had been called “An assassin diary” wouldn't have been any problem”. She added, “I'm shocked because in 2008, in Spain, 'censors' like these exist ”.

Trailer of the film:

The director of the film, Christian Molina, remembered that the trailer of the film has the official certificate of the Ministry of Culture only for older than 13 years. “However, if we went to different kiosks of the Community of Madrid, we can see how the children have access to pornographic material”.

Personally, I'm surprised because they have censured a poster like this when there are thousand examples of same or more provocative posters. And in this case the poster only reflects the history of the film. What is what bothers so much to them?

Web of the film: : http://diarioninfomana.com/

Sources: Iberarte y 20 minutos


By the way, it remembers to me the poster of Whore (Yo, puta) film of 2004...