You can find us at www.saatchi.be
The University of Ghent and the Olympic upheaval
As you might have noticed, there is quite a bit of commotion surrounding our recent campaign for the University of Ghent, still under the Durf Denken moniker.
Apparently a journalist from De Morgen phoned the IOC itself upon seeing the advert above (before it was published, apparently). An ad we presented in raw form in december 2007 the Belgian Olympic Committee agreed to the use in this context. However, the IOC disagreed because the use of the trademarked rings is principally forbidden and asked the university to pull the ad.
As some of the articles seem to suggest that we would use a simple political statement in a campaign for one of our clients, we feel compelled to react. As De Morgen does not leave us any room for a rebuttal (we weren't contacted either) we want to use this forum to give you a bit more of an explanation.
We presented the ad above to the Communication committee of the university in the beginning of December 2007, after a check with the BOIC who told us we would be allowed to use them in this context. The campaign never intended to be a political statement, but it sure is one way to view the ad.
For the record, that's what we've been trying to do with all the ads for the University of Ghent from the beginning: invite people to start thinking. In this case, the ad raises several questions: will the world be changed by 2020? how would you start organising such a thing? what is the role of sports in global politics?...
Many different lectures are possible, and if you take a look at the other subjects that are a part of this campaign (not to mention the radio commercials), it will become apparent that there was no explicit political intention:
It is true that the whole commotion surrounding Steven Spielberg and the role of China (as the host country) in the african conflict became hot news at a certain point (culminating in the heading 'Breng de Olympische droom naar Darfur' -transl. bring the Olympic dream to Darfur- in De Morgen on the 15th of February). But as we did not see it grow into a bigger issue we decided to publish the campaign anyway.
And while we can understand the IOC's decision to ask the University to withdraw the campaign (even though we had permission from the BOIC), we don't agree with the allegations that we capitalise on a small political event to use in a campaign for a client which steadfastly allows us to make great work for a fantastic brand.
Durf Denken 2007
It's that time of the year again...
De campagne is ondertussen afgelopen maar je kan het verhaal grotendeels volgen op de site. Dit jaar hebben we samen besloten om de aanloop naar de campagne (de 11 geboden van het onafhankelijke denken) voornamelijk lokaal te houden: in Gent en een aantal steden waar mensen nog wel eens durven twijfelen over de keuze van universiteit... En eindigde met het 11de gebod, u had het al geraden:
Dit laatste gebod ging ook gepaard met het volgende campagnebeeld in de nationale pers:
En we willen u ook één van de virale filmpjes niet onthouden rond gebod nummer 3: 'Denk eens wat anderse dan wat je denkt'...
The Durian Story
Seth Godin has an interesting parable (he has lots of interesting stories so you might want to check his blog from time to time).
This article in the Seattle Times tells the tale of Songpol Somsri, who has spent the better part of the last twenty years trying to come up with an odourless Durian. As some of you may know, this Asian delicacy has a smell that could be used to drug animals before slaughter, but the fruit itself is rather tasty.
What the article recounts is that most of the people in Asia, and I'm willing to bet a lot Europeans (possibly even Americans) as well, don't believe in a Durian that doesn' smell. It just wouldn't be a durian fruit anymore. And that's the fault a lot of marketeers make, as Seth put is so succinctly:
This is what most marketers do. They listen to complaints from non-customers ("why don't you buy from us?") address them and wait for the market to grow. After all, if the people who don't eat Durian don't eat it because of the smell, then removing the smell ought to dramatically increase the size of your market.
Except this almost never works.Non-durian eaters don't have a 'durian problem'. They aren't standing by, fruitless, impatiently waiting for Songpol Somsri to figure out how to make a stinkless one. Nope. They've got cantaloupes and kiwis and all manner of other fruits to keep them busy.
The feedback you get from non-consumers is rarely useful, because the objection they give is the reason they don't buy from you, not the thing that will cause them to affirmatively choose you.
Will stinkless durian revolutionize the marketplace? Possibly. I've been wrong before. But if I were a durian farmer, I'd work hard to make durian stinkier.
Ask yourselves, are you trying to make yourself stinkier, and do you need any help to get the smell on?
Flanders Pixels
Patrick en Caroline zijn een nieuwe aanwinst en werken als team op creatie, dit was een van hun eerste projecten: Een banner die werd ontwikkeld om jonge ingenieurs aan te trekken op jobbeurzen, in opdracht van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap. Supertotto stond in voor de pixel-art die het geheel de dynamische, diverse en energieke uitstraling moet geven die Vlaanderen zo kenmerkt. Meer informatie op de volgende site.
Een aantal details:
Het volledige plaatje (klik om te vergroten):
En ook al is hun fototraining nog niet volledig afgelopen, dit zijn Patrick en Caroline:
Adler made me do it
Robert Adler, the man who cocreated the first remote control, passed away last week. We could be singing ('ding dong the witch is dead') but he's at least partially responsible for the fact that ads got better throughout the years... Read the full story on Engadget.
We need another one though, urgently (and my guess is that pvr's are not cutting it at the moment):
Met Je Oren Zie Je Meer
Boodschap Zonder Naam wil door middel van een jaarlijkse campagne (in de breedste zin van het woord) optreden tegen de verz(e)uring in onze maatschappij. Voor 2007 werd er besloten om rond het thema luisteren te werken. Het gebrek aan begrip en aandacht voor elkaar spruit dan ook veelal rechtstreeks voort uit onze verminderde luisterbereidheid...
Mensen luisteren te weinig naar elkaar, maar hoe krijg je daar verandering in? 'Actief luisteren', 'Luisteren is meer dan zelf zwijgen', ... eigenlijk weten we hier wel wat er bedoeld wordt, maar het zet ons niet echt aan om er ook daadwerkelijk iets aan te doen.In plaats van ons te concentreren op diegenen waar niet naar wordt geluisterd, hebben we deze campagne veeleer ophangen aan het feit dat de luisteraar er zelf beter/rijker/slimmer van wordt. Vandaar de baseline 'Met je oren zie je meer'.
Uiteraard wordt de campagne in verschillende mediakanalen gevoerd, maar daarnaast wordt ze ook ondersteund door tal van activeringsacties, zoals gespreksstarters om mensen tot een dialoog aan te zetten. Deze zullen o.a. worden verspreid in het onderwijs en in de horeca. Een ander voorbeeld is de actie “Lesgeven in het donker” die op 7 februari plaatsvindt in de Vlaamse scholen.
Leg overigens je oor ook eens te luisteren op www.metjeorenziejemeer.be, een 100% auditieve website. Je wordt er als luisteraar verplicht de verhalen te ontdekken door de cursor te verplaatsen, geen letter op scherm te vinden. Want met je oren zie je meer.
Cristal University
Our 'Dare to think' campaign was rolled out again for the cyber jury in the Meribel Ad Festival, and the Cristal for Interactive campaign was ours...
Durf Winnen
Onze campagne voor de Universiteit Gent won tot onze grote voldoening goud in de categorie 'Best Interactive Campaign' op de Best Of Internet Awards.
Bij deze willen wij toch even die paar duizend studenten bedanken die de campagne zo succesvol maakten want het waren (letterlijk) hun gedachten die dit verhaal tot een succes hebben gemaakt.
Wanted: Web Folk
Granted, we're not as good looking (well, some of us aren't...) but we are looking for new people who feel they can contribute to our ideas and thinking:
A Web Designer
Job description
We are seeking a full-time experienced Web Designer to join our creative team. The Web Designer will team up with a Web Developer. Together with Saatchi’s Art Directors and Copywriters they will create unique, interactive ideas, designs and experiences for our clients.
As we believe ‘nothing is impossible’, the Web Designer is challenged to turn Saatchi’s interactive dreams into reality. Producing the interactive experience is therefore his second nature.
Profile & experience
The ideal candidate will have an extremely strong design background in all facets of web design, including a proven understanding of information architecture, UI design, page hierarchy, brand consistency. Strong layout and typography skills are a must. You breathe Dreamweaver, eat Photoshop for breakfeast, shower in Flash and maybe drive Illustrator to the office.
Requirements:
- 3-5 years of industry-related experience
- full website project life-cycle experience
- demonstrated understanding of UI design
- proficiency in Photoshop, Illustrator and Macromedia Dreamweaver MX
- ability to work in a team environment
- familiarity with the latest Web production techniques, especially CSS and Flash, and its design implications
- fluency in Dutch and English
A Web Developer
Job description
We are seeking a full-time experienced Web Developer who will team up with a Web Designer. Together with Saatchi’s Art Directors and Copywriters they will create unique, interactive ideas, designs and experiences for our clients.
As we believe ‘nothing is impossible’, the Web Developer is challenged to turn Saatchi’s interactive dreams into reality. Producing the interactive experience is therefore his second nature. The Web Developer brings the work of the Web Designer to a higher and more interactive level. He will take care of both client and server side development.
Profile & experience
The ideal candidate is creative within his own expertise. He creates refreshing user experiences by implementing technologies in an exceptional manner.
Requirements:
- 3-5 years of industry-related experience
- full website project life-cycle experience
- understanding of UI design
- expert knowledge of Web Standards; cross-browser & cross-platform (X)HTML, JavaScript and AJAX
- expert, in-depth knowledge of CSS positioning, hierarchy and (X)HTML/CSS architecture
- expert, in-depth knowledge of XML, PHP, MySQL and Flash Action Scripting
- ability to work in a close-knit, cross-functional team with both technical and non-technical team members
- ability to estimate development schedule for owned features
- fluency in Dutch and English
Extra credit:
- .NET & MSSQL experience
- working knowledge of RSS
- experience with campaign management tools
- working knowledge of Linux
What we offer
Being part of a curious and ambitious creative team that works for a wide variety of clients. You’ll have not only the opportunity but also the responsablity to share your ideas on both the projects and Saatchi & Saatchi Brussels as a company.
Contact
Interested candidates should send resume and samples of their work to this address.
