“Why Asian advertising is strong and mystic” was the theme of AdFest 2011, an exhibition of the best ad work in Asia. Commissioned by the Yoshida Hideo Memorial Foundation/ Advertising Museum Tokyo to promote this pan-Asian event, Dentsu Inc. in Osaka developed a poster series with lavish illustrations that reminds one of a reflexology foot chart or, in the case of the open palm, like a spiritual mudra (a hand gesture that symbolizes divine manifestation).
Motel 6 chose an interesting way to tell consumers that they’ve been around for a half century. They “time traveled” both the station wagon and the family of four inside through the decades by morphing them into the latest styles. For those who are baffled about how Motel 6 got its name, here’s the story. The motel chain was founded in 1962 by two building contractors in Santa Barbara, California, who figured out how to offer bargain rates by calculating out the cost of land, construction and ongoing maintenance. By cutting out any frills, they decided they could offer rooms at $6 a night and still make a profit – hence, the name Motel 6. Of course, inflation and other factors have caused room rates to go up multifold over the past 50 years, but relative to other hotels, it is still considered affordable to penny-pinching families.
This commercial was made by Dallas ad agency, The Richards Group, which has been running Motel 6 ad campaigns since the 1980s. They were the ones who came up with Motel 6’s famous tagline “We’ll leave the light on for you.” The Richards Group teamed with the production firm King and Country (K&C), which made the 30-second spot from start to finish – production, direction, editorial, animation and VFX – completely inhouse. Rick Gledhill directed for K&C.
De Lijn, the public bus company run by the Flemish government in Belgium, has launched a new ad campaign showing that it is smarter to take the bus or tram than travel alone. The concept for these commercials came from Duval Guillaume Modem in Antwerp, and the 3-D production was done by CC (Creative Conspiracy). Don’t know if there is safety in numbers by taking a bus in Belgium, but in the U.S., it’s crowded and a good way to get elbowed by strangers and attacked by psychopaths. Still, the ad is memorable and cute.
Speaking of up-close-and-personal and really getting into the music, here’s a print ad campaign for the Berliner Philharmoniker. Designed by Scholz & Friends Berlin, with photography by Mierswa Kluska and art direction by Bjorn Ewers, these images were shot from inside the musical instrument using a macro lens. The wind pipes of the pipe organ gleam with wondrous complexity. The violin’s sound holes filtering in exterior light make the space look vast and architectural, like a medieval theater. The flute is beautiful in its simplicity. It’s a whole new way of appreciating music.
The Guardian, the UK’s leading media organization, just launched a major brand repositioning campaign with a TV ad that reenacts how its “open journalism” approach works. Created by ad agency Bartle Boogle Hegarty (BBH) and directed by Ringan Ledwidge, the two-minute TV spot follows a breaking story of the Three Little Pigs being arrested in a police raid after boiling the Big Bad Wolf alive. It goes on to show how The Guardian coverage invites interaction with readers and internet users through the newspaper, website, blogs, tweets and video. Eyewitness reporting along with participatory analysis and opinions are facilitating an open exchange of information that has the potential to bring about real change — and The Guardian wants the public to know that it is leading the way.