Sadly and amazingly


From 2009 to 2013, this blog was my sounding board for advertising. As I made the transition from bored Graphic Designer, to a pinching myself Art Director, it was all documented here. This blog was followed by people in the industry and people not in the industry. It viewed the existence of advertising with an objective and sometimes naive filter. Please enjoy....


According to Bill Heslop

According to Bill Hunter's character in the seminal Muriel's Wedding - You can't stop progress. Well no you can't. And you probably couldn't start stagnation either. I just wanted to share with you a fleeting moment in Melbourne's Neon history. Earlier this year I made sure to capture an Old Sign, the Australia Post Postie. Post New Years I stumbled out of Southern Cross Station to be confronted by a sight for sore eyes. A real shame they tore this one down, R.I.P. postie x

BEFORE

AFTER

a direct approach



Well things have been definitely been cajoled into the stratosphere.
I started my first job as an employee Junior Art Director last Monday, at the agency DDB Melbourne.
DDB has been around for yonks. The acronym stands for Doyle Dane Bernbach - a combination of 3 Madmen’s surnames: Ned Doyle, Mac Dane and Bill Bernbach. They started DDB in Manhattan New York, circa 1949.
This really excites me to know that I am working under the legacy of Bill Bernback. Particularly because I attribute my employment to one of his infamous creations. “We are number 2, so we try harder” (Avis car rentals). This has been my mantra, it truly has. So thankyou Mr Bernback.



Anyway. I can share with you my approach to getting a gig at DDB - cos I have the job now, so the idea must have worked. After winning an Award and receiving some press I felt pressure to do something big. I felt like I had stolen an audience, and could perhaps capitalize on this. But I became jammed with bad ideas. With big bad ideas, like a wrestling pantomime in an empty stadium. Frozen with anxiety I approached an AWARD school mentor, Kate Lightfoot Associate Creative Director at Ogilvy One - which happens to be the Direct Marketing arm of Ogilvy.

So I told Kate my big decomposing idea, and she was polite to say the least. It was just another attempt at relevance - a mash up of odds and sodds with one weak excuse for a meaning. Here is the logo anyway. Lets just say it involved questioning who to approach with your book - Executive Creative Director - or - Creative Director at said agency.

Kate gave me some simple advice - maybe you don’t need to go big. Maybe you need to try and go small, personal and targeted. This was rich coming from someone working in DM. But yeah she was right. So I chose a creative director, found out everything I could about them, then sent a package to reception. It involved a tacky caricature, a letter from Centerlink and some crossed fingers, feet and toes.





ad bounty

The winner chose Coopers Green, with a complimentary shade of glow in the dark.

we have a winner....


Thank you to all those who supported the Helen Neville Ads Follower drive. Stay tuned for some actual content, less long winded copy, the winners choice of six pack beverage and flavored condoms, plus an interview with Tom Kuntz. Muchas Gracias lovers x

star spangled rubber


To celebrate the 24-hour media crusade that was the U.S. presidential election, we are offering the chance to win a democratically elected “American Flavour” condom. It could be yours – if you become a follower of Helen Neville Ads. Our aim is for 50 followers, and with 4 days to go, we are 8 devotee’s off target. What happens if we hit 50?? Tom Kuntz, director of the holy grail Old Spice commercials will oblige an interview with HNA!

But that’s not all. Become a follower of Helen Neville Ads before 11:59PM on 15.11.12 and go into the running to win a Sexy Six Pack - your choice of Beverage and Condom 6 pack. To follow, click the “Join This Site” button on side panel and follow the prompts. You will need either a gmail/twitter/yahoo account and if you have none of these, a Google account. You can create a Google account here.

God bless America, and God bless Tom Kuntz.

latex = barrier to entry


Consider this. You wanna get lucky. But it just ain’t happening. There is no motion in the ocean? You’re about to score a conversion rate, then somehow things just flat line. In ad speak and marketing terms – it could be a direct result of the “barrier to entry”. So when reviewing the floundering Sexy Six Pack campaign for Helen Neville Ads – this was the buzzword it could be attributed to. But moving on. Helen Neville Ads needs your support. If you become a follower of HNA, the pay off is better interviews with more famous people. Why would a famous person answer questions for a blog with only 12 foreseeable audience members? Become a follower of Helen Neville Ads before 11:59PM on 15.11.12 and go into the running to win a Sexy Six Pack. Your choice of Beverage and Condom 6 pack will be shipped directly to a nominated address. To follow, click the "Join This Site" button in side panel. You will need either a gmail/twitter/yahoo account and if you have none of these, a Google account. You can create a Google account here. Indeed, there is a ridiculously high barrier to entry. It would be like wearing 12 rubbers. But you’ll still feel something. The joy of supporting Helen Neville Ads.