Kevin Swanepoel Lecture

Kevin Swanepoel, the president of The One Club, graced us Minneapolitans tonight with a series of great work done for The One Show, as well a mini-lecture about "The User Revolution and the Creative Evolution." (I got to meet him. He has an awesome accent. Don't be too jealous ladies...)

Quick summary of the lecture for those who were unable to run on over to MCAD to see him speak:
The User Revolution (which consists of
1. Emergence of "Communitainment" [Community+Entertainment]
2. Growth of User Generated Sites
3. Mainstreaming of the Internet
4. Declining usage of tradition media and
5. Fragmentation of content consumption)
has led to a need for a Creative Evolution in our industry. (I think we Yaybies are already hip to that jive, but I'm just summarizing.) The Creative Evolution that he talked about was one that strays from the traditional advertising formats. However, he warns: even newer forms of advertising still need proper copywriters, art directors, producers, and all of the other talents that come from traditional backgrounds, so DON'T FRET MY FRIENDS!

Kevin also said that in order to be successful as a Creative in this modern world of advertising, you must answer "yes" to all of the following questions:
1. Do you own an XBOX, Wii, PlayStation, etc.?
2. Do you hold a MySpace/Facebook account?
3. Do you own a website?
4. Do you write (or contribute to) a blog?
5. Do you subscribe to any RSS feeds?
6. Do you know what an RSS feed IS?
7. Do you post your creative online?
8. Have you ever created a video or podcast and posted it on YouTube?
9. Do you have a Twitter account?

According to Kevin, however, don't throw in the towel just yet if you haven't conquered all of the points on the list... there's always time to quickly whip up a podcast of how you plan on taking over Hollywood as the next Miley Cyrus! But seriously, knowing how to interact with a variety of digital/technological devices and sites makes you a better advertiser. (Does this mean I can beg my mom for a PlayStation so I can play SingStar? "But Kevin Swanepoel told me I NEED one Mom!")

The show stoppers of the evening, however, were the examples of "new media" advertising. Here is a not-so-exhaustive list of what was shown: (Sorry if you've seen some of these before. I have too, but I want to make sure EVERYONE has!)

Super Monkey Ball Deluxe's Chad Series This is just one episode in a series of hilarious webisodes for the SEGA game. A viral video that I actually WANT to pass on - WHO KNEW? (Actually, I share a lot of shit that probably isn't very deserving... so I guess that's not saying TOO much.) Never mind my rambling. This is funny stuff.

GNUF How do you advertise for a new online casino in a fresh and BIG way? Make HUGE DICE and roll them down a mountain and have people bet on it! Wish I would've thought it first...

Coke Happiness Factory Hiring Everyone on NSAC (REPRESENT!) loves Coca-Cola and especially the Happiness Factory, but AKQA New York added even more fun to the experience by letting you apply for a job in the Happiness Factory! I'd <3 style="font-style: italic;">you know where.)

Hema A hysterical way to have fun with your site. No need to create viral ads to send traffic, just make your SITE viral!

HBO's "Voyeur" site This work brought up a series of questions about to whom work belongs during collaboration. I don't know whether to give claim to BBDO (who originally started the campaign) or Big Spaceship, who BBDO hired to help make the campaign interactive. Either way, this site is intriguing, if not creepy.

Smirnoff Raw Tea The Tea Partay music videos are classic. If you haven't seen them yet, you haven't lived a true advertising life. P(rep) Unit FOREVA!

Ford Sportka This viral vid is devilishly funny. The cat one got a lot of criticism and was removed a while ago for just going a little TOO far, but I still enjoy them nonetheless. (AND I LOVE KITTIES!)

Okay, I've blabbed on enough, right? So, if you want to check out some more sweet ads, Kevin gave us the link and password to access a bunch of The One Show stuff that you normally need to pay for. I suggest looking at MINIMALISM by Taxi 2 Toronto for Mini Canada. Perhaps Get the Glass for the California Milk Processor's Board too. (It's only good for 90 days, so GET TO IT!)

Just go to: www.oneclub.org/creativerevolution
Username: creative@oneclub.org
Password: revolution

Peace Lovas!

P.S. Got to see my JJ tonight! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Jennifer Johnson!