The Toronto branch of Halifax-based Extreme Group and Toronto-based Lollipop have been tirelessly working on this unique branding and interactive campaign for a new Toronto business venture. The edgy campaign received final blessings and was about to launch when nature decided to rear its ugly head in Haiti.

So, instead of the massive launch this campaign was about to receive, a highly subdued roll-out took place. I’m being deliberately vague here because I don’t want to spoil your first interaction with this campaign. Go ahead and click on the image below to visit HaitianPure.com (Edit – March 1 2010: website has changed to PureBlackSunshine.com). Turn your volume up, set your browser to ‘Full Screen’, then follow the website prompts and you’ll know what I’m talking about.

While I can understand the potential risk of backlash, I can’t help but wonder if the campaign (and the client) would have benefited from the publicity that would have resulted from any potential controversy. In the end, I think the client and the agency correctly decided to err on the side of safety.

Despite the quiet launch, the campaign’s viral potential will make up for the lost attention. Extreme made sure to furnish the interactive with the necessary tools to squeeze as much social juice out of the site as possible. You can add it to your Facebook or MySpace profile. You can also Digg it and Tweet it (but for some reason, you can’t Stumble it).

Regardless of the outcome, this campaign is surely heading for some award nominations (at least a Davey Award!).

[via AdblogArbia]

Similar to the Atlantic ICE awards, the Dubai Lynx awards ceremony features a competition among the best ads and campaigns created by agencies in the MENA region. FP7-Doha is based in Qatar, a small GCC country where Newfoundland’s College of The North Atlantic has an operating campus.

You may remember FP7 Doha by their famed Medal of Honour ads that earned them 2 golden awards at the 2008 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.

With offices spanning the Middle East and North Africa, FP7 Doha committed the advertising industry’s 3 cardinal sins of…

1. Submitting fake ads to an awards show for products that don’t exist or for clients who didn’t hire them!
2. Submitting ads with plagiarized creative
3. Submitting ads that were not approved by clients and not used in client campaigns

Arabian Business magazine reported a statement yesterday from Fortune Promoseven announcing that the company is conducting an internal investigation:

“We are continuing our internal investigations and we are taking strong punitive action against anyone who was in contempt of our reputation and our standards,”

Below is one example of the withdrawn winners. This ad won a Golden Lynx in the Print category. The problem is that this model of washing machine isn’t even sold in the Middle East.

Samsung Washing Machine Ad

Our discussion was about how an ad agency in another part of Canada has been successful in utilizing effective outsourcing to provide its clients with competitive pricing and shorter delivery times by being able to have people continuously work on projects around the clock due to the advantage of various time zones.

That prompted a larger question of whether ‘creative’ work can be outsourced. Can ‘good creative’ be delivered only by creative talent that exists in the location of the client, and who have natural cultural/geographic ties to the environment where the creative will be used?

In my experience, here are some (not all) of the factors that I would look at when evaluating the option to outsource (to India, for example):

1. Proven Expertise & Reliability

A solid portfolio of projects and talent. References from other outsourcers who worked with the Indian company. In short, the quality of the work has to be at least the same (or even better) compared to local quality in the country of the outsourcing company.

The Indian provider must also have (and be able to demonstrate) a stable market presence. The outsourcing company can not take the risk of accepting a client project and making commitments, then turn around and discover that the Indian partner has closed shop without prior notice and is no longer in business.

This is the basic requirement of vetting and pre-screening the potential partner before starting any serious discussions or negotiations. Quality and reliable delivery can not be jeopardized by the potential advantages of outsourcing the work.

2. Communication

This includes factors like language, technology platform, people, professional practice, and cultural contexts (when applicable).

Communicating effectively is perhaps the single most important factor that affects the quality of the end product. Having an open and reliable channel of communication (between the company outsourcing the work and the company providing the service in India) is the backbone of a successful relationship.

Both sides must be intimately familiar with any technology platform that they agree to use for handling communications, manage document exchanges, event logging, feedback, project timelines, etc. Both must be prepared to invest in training their relative teams.

The assigned person(s) who will handle communication between the two companies have to meet ahead of time and determine if they are able to understand each other and build trust. If the project manager from the Indian side is not a good fit to handle communications with the outsourcer, then a new one must be selected.

In many cases, companies seeking to outsource are concerned with language barriers, and they usually expect that the Indian partner be able to communicate effectively in the language of the outsourcer (e.g. English) and not the other way around (the outsourcing company doesn’t expect to make provisions to communicate in Hindi).

While cultural context does play a factor in communicating creative requirements, this is not necessarily a deterrent. Ensuring that briefs and project requirements are clear and thorough is a shared responsibility between the outsourcing company and the Indian provider.

In fact, some people agree that it is an advantage to have access to creative output that is not bound by local conformity to cultural biases and norms. To some businesses, ‘different’ makes their design/ads stand out, and that is a competitive advantage.

The cultural relevance of a project can be determined on a per-project basis. For example, would/should a local newspaper in Dublin be able to outsource the creation of daily cartoons about local politics? Not likely. Can a Dublin ad agency outsource the creation of ads for a local car dealer? Most certainly.

——-

There are other factors to consider, but if the above two requirements exist and are satisfactory to both partners, then the rest can be negotiated and agreed upon (including pricing that is fair for the quality of work, and that provides the outsourcer with a competitive advantage they wouldn’t otherwise have).

For those who don’t know, the Ice Awards is an awards show that celebrates creative advertising and marketing made in Atlantic Canada (‘ICE’ stands for Innovation, Creativity, and Enterprise). To see the winning ads, you can visit the ICE website or click on the TV below.

Halifax-based agencies Extreme and Colour, and Newfoundland-based Target took home the majority of awards.

One thing I noticed while mingling with the local advertising crowd is their common use of Twitter. Now, while I pride myself for having above-average knowledge of social marketing and interaction tools, I must confess that I never really adopted the micro messaging site, or really understood why people use it. For Arabic users, a similar site called WatWet.com offers the same service.

In comes the ‘In Plain English’ series from the folks at CommonCraft.com, a service by a young couple based in Seattle who specialize in ‘explanations’. They produce short fun tutorial and training clips to explain, in plain English, whatever you want them to explain. An excellent substitute to boring corporate training videos that make you want to take a toothpick to your eyes for all the bad 80′s style cinematography you just had to endure.

So, if you are like me and you just don’t get what eveyrone is ‘Twittering’ about, here is Twitter – In Plain English.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o

Dan Rather (in an upbeat voice): With me here to comment on today’s democratic debate is Andrea Crowley of CNN, Demonte Evans of Slate.com and… (dropping to a semi-derogatory voice) Ron Lahar of the Washington Post.

Nelson pops up

Nelson: Hah Hah! your medium is dying!

Principal Skinner: Nelson…!

Nelson: But it is!

Principal: There’s being right and then there’s being nice.

One of my previous posts discusses the issue of new vs. old media for advertising (click here for post). This Simpsons segment from last night confirms that the concluded observation is more common knowledge than I initially thought. Yet, most advertisers (specially in Halifax) still utilize print mediums as the main vehicle for their commercial messages.

(Also noted on eaves.ca)

In the spotlight today is a piece of Haligonian over-regulation that caused many to throw their hands in the air in an expectant “c’mon!” The object of frustration is a bylaw that regulates the size of sandwich boards that businesses can display. Among the first to suffer is Halifax’s iconic life-sized Oompa-Loompa and Green Alien boards that adorn the entrance to the Freak Lunchbox on Barrington Street.

You can click here to read the details of bylaw S-800 (Licensing of Temporary Signs). Page 10 contains the provisions for Sandwich Boards. The whole thing amounts to one paragraph, basically stipulating that sandwich boards require a paid license, and that they can be no larger than 2.5 feet in width and 4 feet high.

While I understand that sandwich boards on sidewalks shouldn’t interfere with pedestrian traffic, going out of the way to dictate the dimensions of allowable signage is no more than an exercise of bureaucratic power. Business owners are not stupid, and if they see that a sign is causing havoc outside their store they would take steps to correct the situation immediately. After all, would you want angry pedestrians when your business depends on having them think positively of your store? In any case, such advertising faux pas are a rare exception. When was the last time you almost tripped on a sandwich board downtown?

If some insist to take issue against the alleged clogging of sidewalk arteries (because, you know, we have to make way for the thousands of tourists and locals who roam Halifax on foot in a density that cause dangerous pedestrian spillage into the road) then why not simply regulate the WIDTH of the sign. How does restricting the HIGHT of a sandwich board help anyone? To me, that just sounds like a decision by city council along the lines of ‘why regulate a little, when we can regulate a lot!’

Word has it that Paul MacKinnon, executive director of the Downtown Halifax Business Commission, is working on a grandfather clause to save the Freak Lunchbox signs. Freak should be allowed to keep the sandwich boards, but I don’t support the grandfathering effort. Grandfathering will mean that other stores who want to sport similar creative endeavours to lure customers into their shops will not be allowed to do so, which will create an unfair privilege for Freak.

The bylaw affects all retailers, and should be fought collectively as an effort to preserve their right to creative marketing and advertising. Let people work for (deity’s) sake! Retailers are small business owners whose livelihoods depend on walk-in traffic. If some of them take the time to get creative in a city that relishes the mainstream, they should be rewarded, not stifled.

What do you think of this by-law?

(Photo Credit: The above photo is from a Facebook group called ‘Save Freak Lunchbox’s Oompa Loompa!‘. The photo was posted in the group by Sascha Veinot.)

Kick Media recently installed LCD screen technologies in limousines and taxis that service Halifax airport exclusively. The digital medium offers a new and affordable way for restaurants, tour operators, retailers, and commercial accommodation providers to present their businesses to Halifax visitors who normally ask their drivers for advice on where to shop, eat, visit, or find entertainment in Halifax and the Province of Nova Scotia. More information can be found on Kick Media’s website: www.kickmarketing.ca.

Below are some screen captures of Kick Media in the news. I would like to thank Gilian Cormier for the interview on AllNovaScotia.com. Click on the images below to enlarge.

Kick Media is the first and only provider of LCD digital screen advertising inside limousines and taxis exclusively servicing the Halifax Stanfield International Airport in Nova Scotia, Canada. The advertising channel is ideal for businesses that target business, tourism, and general travel passengers.

Kick Media is working closely with the Halifax International Airport Authority (HIAA) to ensure that airport passengers receive a quality travel experience. Airport taxis/limos will display relevant tourism and travel information alongside a number of ads for products and services that maybe of interest to the passenger.

This new innovative advertising channel is receiving a lot of interest from hotels, restaurants, tour providers, theaters, shopping malls, retailers, and other businesses interested in limo/taxi-riding airport travelers. Advertising and marketing agencies in Halifax are also beginning to add this medium to their roster of ad-placement offerings to their clients. Digital mediums in airport vehicles offer rich media capabilities (video, animated graphics, etc.) and a captured audience (30 minutes average trip time between the city and the airport).

Taxi advertising is popular in cities like Toronto, Montreal, and Calgary. However, the extent of advertising has been mainly restricted to the outside of the taxi, with in-cab advertising being limited to print-ads/posters. However, recent upgrades by the Toronto-based company ‘Cabads’ ntroduces LCD advertising inside taxis, in a movement similar to the recent decision by the New York City taxi authority to outfit city cabs with LCD screens that offer visitor information via touch-screen interactivity, in addition to available ad-space for revenue generation.

Kick Media in Halifax will be entering the market as the trend begins to gain popularity in Canada, and potential advertisers become more aware of the proposed medium.