Adfest 2012

Posted on March 14, 2012 by coochcreative

It’s Adfest time of year again and Cooch is sending Ron, Spencer, Mick and Josh to Thailand for the conference. Here is Josh’s preview of what’s to come…

“One of the main reasons Cooch sends staff to Adfest is the diverse range of speakers that span various creative industries, not just advertising. This year there is representation from the gaming, music and scriptwriting industries.

Some of the subjects covered are gamifiction, the emotional impact of music in communication, the ever changing media landscape, working on creative with the client rather than for the client and the process of creating memorable experiences rather than memorable technology.

Hollywood scriptwriter, Kirsten Smith, co-writer of Legally Blonde and Ten Things I Hate About You, will also be speaking, which I’m sure Ron, Mick and I will enjoy as we have all dabbled in writing scripts in the past.

We attend these events to broaden our knowledge base and keep abreast of the latest trends so we can provide better solutions and services. So please take a look at the program schedule and see if there’s anything of particular interest to you. Feel free to send us questions to pose to the speakers or ask us to keep in mind a particular problem or issue you may be facing.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW ADFEST PROGRAM

We will be keeping you updated with tweets, posts and blogs.

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Posted in Adfest 2012, Josh | Leave a comment

Beware a cyclist scorned

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Cooch Creative

There was a recent discussion in the office about the advertising during the Tour de France, which prompted office cycling aficionado , Alf, to give us his views on some interesting media planning he noticed…

“What the hell were SGIO thinking when they put their anti-bike ad on during the Tour de France? The SBS broadcast of Le Tour was reported as having over 5.3 million viewers over the whole event. I would have thought that among those there would be quite a large number of people who are cyclists themselves, watching the greatest cyclists in the world compete in the peak event of their sport. So why would SGIO run an ad with a negative message about cycling?

I’d put myself in that group of people where cycling is more than just a hobby (I may have competed in a national event or two but I didn’t do that well – just being honest), so this kind of advertising is going to alienate some people, like me, watching the Tour.  The 30 second ad is part of their “You’re Never Without a Car” campaign and is used by NRMA Insurance in NSW as well as SGIO insurance in the West and shows cycling as one of a number of horrific alternatives to using your car. Watch it here and pretend you’re a cyclist for the next 30 seconds.

 

Many people actually make the decision to leave their car at home and use alternate transportation. Youi, another insurer, actually rewards people for doing this by lowering their premiums.

 

 

What I really want to know is why they couldn’t either edit the ad and remove the cycling part, or spend their money elsewhere and not offend viewers.”

Posted in Alf | 1 Comment

Don’t Put The Cart Before The Content

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Cooch Creative

Josh takes a look at a campaign that recently won the Cannes Creative Effectiveness Grand Prix…

“I’m looking at work that reinforces a long held view of mine regarding ‘viral’ campaigns. I have previously bemoaned the fact that the cart is too often put before the horse with such campaigns. By this, I mean that too much focus is placed on the desire for the campaign to become ‘viral’ and not enough on the idea and content itself.

The Cannes Creative Effectiveness Grand Prix winning ‘Sandwich’ campaign is a great example of content clearly leading the way with the ‘viral’ appropriately following.

Walkers Crisps wanted more people to eat Walkers crisps with their sandwiches. For those that don’t get the link between crisps and sandwiches, it’s a big thing in the UK and US. My tip, try whacking a few salt and vinegar Samboys into a ham and salad sandwich… texture, salt, crunch… well worth it.

The way Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO London tackled the brief was nothing short of brilliant. Walkers descended on the small town of Sandwich, Kent, with a heap of celebrities in tow. The idea, that any sandwich is more exciting with Walkers.

Pamela Anderson pulled beers at the local pub, Chelsea champion Frank Lampard led the local soccer team’s training session, Formula1 driver Jenson Button drove a cab for the day, along with a heap of other guest appearances throughout the community.

What resulted was genuine engagement and content. The best bit, a lot of the content was created and distributed by the people of Sandwich, Kent. The agency ensured they also seeded their own content, which pushed the campaign along nicely.

I think this is a great example of what is so often said but not always adhered to, content is king.”

Posted in Advertising Ideas, Josh | Leave a comment

Crouching Ron, Hidden Shower

Posted on April 8, 2011 by Cooch Creative

Josh gives us a rare insight into Cooch Creative’s Creative Director, Ron Samuel…

“Within a creative communications company you must have a leader. If you don’t all hell would break loose. This leader provides astute insights and creative guidance ensuring you stay on track.

Here at Cooch Creative our leader is Ron Samuel. He is wise beyond his years and while literally we all look down on him, we couldn’t think of him more highly.

During our recent trip to Thailand for Adfest Ron ran into a few troubles. Here they are in chronological order:

  • Booked the hotel for three nights instead of five.
  • Lost the key to his suitcase, requiring a hotel staff member to smash it open.
  • Lost his phone. He’ll tell you someone stole it from his room.
  • And the icing on the cake… bathed in a very awkward manner when he couldn’t find the shower in the hotel room.

There is a video reenacting the bathing incident below.

Ron is the Creative Director and Head of Strategy at Cooch Creative. If you would like this brilliant mind working on your business you can contact us on +61 (08) 9383 7350 or info@cooch.com.au”

Posted in Adfest 2011, Josh | Leave a comment

Smashing Idea

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Cooch Creative

Some of the best ideas we saw at Adfest weren’t ads. Josh takes a look at one of his favourites…

“If you give someone a brief for an ad, they’ll more than likely give you an ad. If you give someone a problem you never know what they might come up with. A great example of this is a piece for Japanese guitar manufacturer K’s Japan.

Given the rise in interest in other forms of music, interest in rock was in steady decline. Not good for a guitar manufacturer. The solution to this problem wasn’t an ad campaign but a product. A product that could be smashed.

The SMASH guitar was an electric guitar that played as a normal guitar and when the player had had enough they could smash away.

It just goes to show how creative and intuitive people can be when they are provided with a problem rather than a brief for an ad.

Take a look at the below YouTube video to see how the guitar gets smashed and find out more about the campaign and its results.”

Posted in Adfest 2011, Advertising Ideas, Josh | Leave a comment

Baan Rim Pa Made Spin Go AGGGGHHHH.

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Cooch Creative

Spencer had a bit of trouble with his choppers in Thailand. Here’s his take on how it went down…

“Baan Rim Pa is a fantastic restaurant positioned at the top of a hill on the cliff edge north of Patong Beach . The views at sunset aahhhh amazing. The Thai food was aaaahhh awesome. The garnish was also crafted to perfection for example a carrot piece carved like an abstract mini sculpture and it made me go aaaaaarghhhh!!! I was so impressed with the carrot I decided bite into it … the result was aaaaarree fracture to one of my molars, let’s say the pain was greater than the bill at the end of the night.

So what do you do when you’re in Thailand with a tooth problem… PANIC… that was my immediate reaction. I was having visions of a dirty work shop that had motor bike parts everywhere, grease on everything and a mechanic standing in the corner holding a dentist drill and the noise of the drill was revving like a Harley… Man, I was breaking out in a sweat.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the table, Ron was excited with the challenge of finding AAAAAAahhhh dentist. As it works out there isn’t an after hour emergency dental care… yes the mechanic doesn’t work at night. WELL major dilemma sleeping with a fractured tooth. That led us straight to the bar and out came the Blue Label Whiskey and I asked for a triple shot. Surprising, I slept well.

We found out that the dentist at the International Hospital opened at 9am so off we went Ron and I. We arrived at the hospital 8.55 and my imagined mechanic was nowhere to be seen… thank God. This hospital was fantastic, it made Royal Perth hospital look third world. We entered the dental section and it was designed like a cosmetic boutique, cool curved purple lounges a mini internet café, futuristic tv and sound system. This place rocks… I really thought we were in the wrong section it was a set out of Hollywood Make Overs.

We were in the right section the dentist was world class and service was 5 star. My tooth was fixed in 1 hour, fracture extracted, mended tooth and the costed AHHHH $93 dollars including all medications. So in a nutshell, I recommend biting on a carrot, there is no problem here. And if you thinking of getting dental work look into The Phuket International Hospital and get them to do it.

Ahhhh, happy ending.”

Posted in Adfest 2011, Spencer | Leave a comment

The Cost of Being a Good Samaritin

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Cooch Creative

A Thailand tale from Mick…

“A funny thing happened on the way to breakfast.

I was coming back from the beach and saw a man in the back of a tuk-tuk asking for a ride to Phuket airport. His face was bleeding and swollen. The driver wouldn’t take him so he had to get off.

I asked him what had happened and he said he’d been beaten up by a room mate. Even though he was from England and I was at risk of having him sledge me about the Ashes, I told him to come with me and I’d try and get him a cab from our hotel.

Not surprisingly (this is Thailand remember) I was told the hotel couldn’t call a cab for me. We’d find out later that afternoon they couldn’t call a restaurant for us either. Instead, I was sent back to the street. I told my new pommy mate to stay at our hotel and I’d get him a cab. Twenty minutes later, I was back – without a cab. So I told my mate I’d go to another hotel for him.

I finally found a taxi pimp and they said they could get one in 30 minutes, so I excitedly ran back to tell my mate. The only problem was, he was nowhere to be seen.

Feeling somewhat deflated, I ate breakfast and when I was done headed back out the front to see if my mate had returned. He hadn’t, but the cab was there and waiting.

I sheepishly told the driver I couldn’t find the passenger. Unfortunatley, the cabbie didn’t care. All he wanted was compensation for coming to pick him up. So I’ve pulled out my wallet and handed over the 200 baht he requested.

If anyone sees a 5’8” English backpacker with a bloody nose, fat lip and graze on his cheek, telling him I said hi.”

Posted in Adfest 2011, Mick | Leave a comment

It’s Contagious

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Cooch Creative

We had the pleasure of hearing the co-founder of Contagious magazine, Paul Kemp-Robertson, speak today. Contagious is a publication out of the UK that is at the forefront of trends in marketing, advertising and communications. Josh gives us his view on the presentation…

“Hearing Paul’s view on where the advertising industry is heading was refreshing to say the least. His messages were simple, logical and well worth passing on. I have listed some below:

No Media Metric Test – Paul recommended a simple test when producing content you expect people to pass on to their friends. Imagine you have a $0 media budget. You cannot drive any traffic to your content. Will it still be consumed and passed on based on its value alone? If not, maybe it’s time to re think the content.

Engaging the Quality Few – social media should be about engaging with those that matter. You should influence those that influence. A head honcho (I should have taken notes) from X Box said they would rather have 100 fully engaged and active participants than 1,000,000 inactive participants.

Traditional Media Is Not Dead – While Paul is a strong advocate of social media and the digital space, he is far from announcing the death of traditional media. In fact, he said that a great TV spot is still the best way to move the masses. But he did state that if your campaign stops at traditional media and doesn’t continue through the line to engage the audience you are not truly communicating with them.”

Click here to take a look at the Contagious Magazine website.

Posted in Adfest 2011, Josh | Leave a comment

Welcome To Thailand

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Cooch Creative

Ron, Mick, Spencer and Josh have landed in Phuket, Thailand for Adfest. You can keep up to date with what’s happening here. Josh gets us started with a quick intro…

“It’s been an interesting start to the trip. Phuket is awesome, hotel is great, weather is perfect, food is superb – and cheap, and Mick has been able to find chicken and cashew on most menus.

Now for the interesting bits… Ron lost his dignity when he couldn’t find the shower, Mick lost 200 Baht trying to be a good Samaritan, Spencer is currently on the way to Phuket International Hospital emergency dental department after cracking a tooth on some garnish and Mick took on the role of Ashton Kutcher as he teamed up with a client to Punk me.

Blogs covering these weird and wonderful events, along with some insights on Adfest, will be posted in the coming days.”

Posted in Adfest 2011, Josh | 4 Comments

Christmas Party Wrap

Posted on December 15, 2010 by Cooch Creative

Josh gives us a run down of Cooch’s 2010 Christmas party…

“Cooch’s surfing Christmas party tradition continued this year as we packed up and headed to Secret Harbour. Our online surfing references were giving us differing reports. Seabreeze was boasting a 1.8 metre swell with nice wind conditions. Swellnet said don’t bother.

Secret Harbour served up some heaving, knee-high waves, which were actually perfect for us to have some fun. Everyone stood up, although we are lacking photographic evidence of Jayden’s triumphant three-second ride. You’ll just have to take our word for it.

After a morning at the beach we headed to a friend’s holiday pad in Melrose. Thanks to Chris Richardson and his family for letting us trash the place. Perfect views of the ocean complimented the butterflied lamb and overcooked beef fillet (the gravy covered that up nicely).

It was a great day and all were buggered and had early nights… except for me as I had to shower up at the office and head to my wife’s Christmas party. Tough times.

Click here to check out the picture gallery on our Facebook page for images of all the action.“

Posted in Josh, What We Like | Leave a comment