Creative Circle: Malcolm MacLean + Ron Samuel
Campaign Brief asks two creative thinkers from the Perth industry to highlight recent great work that caught their eye from both our local WA industry and internationally. Creative Circle contributors this week are Malcolm MacLean (above left) and Ron Samuel (right).
Malcolm MacLean
Creative Director
Likeable Creative
WA: Want to watch something that is a pure celebration of West Australian creativity? Check out the social media video from the Shire Of Augusta Margaret River. It was created to say, “despite the main street looking like a mine site, the shops are still open”. It does it with cheeky charm and authentic Down South laconic humour. The editing wonderfully milks the awkward silences and mixes the scripted content seamlessly with the random comments. The quirky film answers the question that every visitor to Margaret River has been asking, “How long does it take to build a bloody roundabout?”
Non-WA: When I first saw the new Heineken commercial on TV, my quick judgement of the first three scenes had me felling that it was all a bit too contrived. Each scenario had wait staff making mix-ups based on gender assumptions. They delivered beers to the boyfriends and cocktails to the women, leaving the poor drinkers to swap and sort out their beverages to their rightful owners. But, on the fourth scene, when the girl passed a blue flamboyant cocktail to the man it was intended for, a graphic appeared on screen saying ‘Men drink cocktails too’ and I audibly chuckled. Well played, Heineken.
Ron Samuel
ECD & Partner
Cooch
WA: I found that the spot for DFES had me thinking seriously about bushfire season. It was well produced and straight to the point. The message is also well supported and carried through consistently on the website. If you’re going bush for the holidays it’s well worth a look before you set off. Agency: Wunderman Thonpson.
Non-WA: I’m always impressed with great retail advertising because it’s so hard to do. It takes real talent to turn the usual product, price and description into something that people will actually enjoy looking at. The ad for Swedish bedding retailer SOVA does just that. There’s no tricky image manipulation or expensive production, just a strong, simple idea, well executed. Product, price and description are all there with a nice payoff for spending your valuable time looking at it. Nice work.
Merry Christmas everyone. I hope next year is a lot happier than this one.