Dentsu NYC Blog

This month, our very own EVP of Media, Scott Daly and Managing Director at STEAK, Mark Schwartz will be speaking at SES New York. Their talk focuses on best practices for how a traditional and digital media agency can partner together. Using real client data, they’ll show how a truly holistic approach to advertising yields great benefits for agencies and the clients too. Incisive Media’s SES Conference & Expo is a leading global conference and training series focused on search engine marketing. Visit SES NEW YORK for more information and how to register.

My advice to people just starting out in advertising – don’t do it. Unless you love the work. In which case please do it. Do it because rewriting a banner headline sounds delightful. Do it because you never fast forward through the commercials. Do it because you really, really, really want to write a fabulous mobile strategy. Do it because you have an unusually strong opinion about Helvetica. One of the great ironies of advertising is that if changing a logo by 4% causes you gastric distress, then this is probably a good occupation for you. The most successful account man in the business has been known to cry when looking at storyboards. Because he loves the work. If you do too, then join us. Advertising is for lovers.

Congratulations to Dentsu America’s Santa Monica office on recently winning the 2011 Award of Excellence in the Best Entertainment/Gaming Deployment category from the Digital Screenmedia Association.

The Get Your Game Face interactive kiosk was developed by Dentsu America in conjunction with technology partner InWindow Outdoor as an extension of our campaign promoting Union Bank’s San Diego Chargers sponsorship. The unique interactive installation engaged Chargers’ fans attending games at Qualcomm Stadium, adding a whole new dimension to their game day experience by transforming participants into Chargers’ super fans instantly through augmented reality and real time face tracking technology. To see how it works check out the video.

An exciting new hour-long TV Special produced by Dentsu, Three Thieves airs this month on the Cooking Channel. Following three winemakers on their journey to uncover undiscovered wine gems from around the world.

Three Thieves Intro from Dentsu Communications on Vimeo.

This entertaining and enlightening blend of wine, travel and food stars Joel Gott, fifth generation west coast winemaker and restaurateur; Charles Bieler, wine innovator, explorer and New York hipster; and Roger Scommegna, serial entrepreneur, connoisseur, grape grower and hotelier.

For the premiere set in Chile, their mission is to find and bring home a wine that best represents the country’s vast contrasting landscapes, cultures, foods and people. The Thieves navigate through backstreet watering holes, sample indigenous fare at marketplaces and savor haute cuisine from leading Chilean chefs as they learn how flavors influence the nation’s wine.  Their experiences lead them to Chile’s best undiscovered vineyards where they select one magical wine to bring home, and ultimately to bring to market.

If you missed the premiere, you can catch repeat airings during the following times:
Saturday, January 29th at 7p
Sunday, January 30th at 8a
Saturday, February 12th at 7a
Sunday, February 20th at 7a
Wednesday, February 23rd at 7p
Friday, February 25th at 5p
Saturday, February 26th at 5p

If you’re interested in learning more about Three Thieves Wine you can visit their website at ThreeThieves.com.

Last night Dentsu Canada was honored with 2 big Cassies – Gold in the Not-for-Profit category and Bronze in the category of Best Insight – for their work for the Sunnybrook Foundation.

“Four days and near 1,400 racing miles really takes a toll on your body and mind and taking the hands and feet off the gas was
perfect. I spent the day with my buddy Fewelly body surfing in the cold Chilean ocean, supped strong coffee watching some of the nutty
locals and walking, not riding, around the city exploring the art and architecture of this 230,000 person city.”
- willindakar.wordpress.com

“750km ridden today over 14 hours of dirt, hairpin bends and mobbed towns and
I’ve just collapsed in my room. But what an amazing day!!!”

The adventure continues, as Will Travis completes Day 2 of Dakar. Read all about it over at willindakar.wordpress.com.

After overcoming a few logistical hiccups, our CEO Will Travis obtained all of his necessary gear, and successfully completed day one of the legendary Dakar Rally.

“Today was over 400 miles of riding in 98 degrees heat. My face looks like I just lost a slapping competition and I won’t go into how sore my rear is after eleven hours of riding. But I must say, I have never, in my life, experienced so much support and warmth from people anywhere!” You can read Will’s full account of the first day over at http://willindakar.wordpress.com.

If you’re not familiar with this world renowned, 14 day,  3500+ mile off-road rally, visit their official site for more details – http://www.dakar.com. This year’s race runs along an epic course that takes participants through some of the most beautiful and intense terrain of Argentina and Chile. Good Luck Will!

Most people don’t really think too hard about what other departments do in an agency. So it’s nice to get an insider’s view every so often. In Media, one of the most amusing/frustrating/amazing aspect of our jobs is dealing with Ad Sales Reps. Some of them are pretty awesome and we love them to death (Note: this does NOT have any effect on our planning choices. Unless, of course, they’re really hot.), while others are so embarrassing that you just want to put them out of their misery. Here are a few fun examples of the more miserable ones (all names have been changed/initialed with the exception of those mangled beyond all belief):

1.   What’s My Name?

Listen, if you want to be taken seriously, get the name right.

Emily:

“Hi Elizabeth,”

“Hey Erin,”

“Thanks Jessica!”  (really?)

“Trisha”  (REALLY?)

“Hi (Name)” (This is just perfection) 

Also Canon is a body of rules, principles, or standards and is spelled with one ‘N’. Cannon is NOT a client but rather a mounted gun for firing heavy projectiles and has nothing to do with an electronics company. Get. It. Right.

2.    The Media Stalker

There’s nothing more frustrating than being harassed by a crazed rep who calls SEVERAL TIMES EVERY DAY. There is no one on earth we want to hear from so often. No one. Maybe the New York Lottery.

“Hey R –

I wanted to bring up something not related to the IO…X told me that you’ve been calling her multiple times almost every single day for a few weeks now and not leaving a message.  Even though you don’t leave a message, we have caller ID, so we can tell that you’ve called.  It’s just really odd and uncomfortable that you call her so many times, so can you please stop.  Obviously, if you have any questions you can email her or leave a voice message.

Thanks.
Y”

Thank the good lord for bosses who will tell it like it is. My favourite part is pointing out that we have a call log. Welcome to the 21^st century.

3.   Rap Fanatic + Business = Awkward

I’m leaving the best for last:

“What up E.  V-izzle?

It is your friendly neighborhood fiddy cent fan.

What is the wizzord?  For Reals, Yo, I wanna get a couple minutes of your time to discuss opportunities for next year.

Look at your Flavor Flav clock hangin round your neck and let me know what time works for you. 

Word,
Phizzil “

I can’t even comment on this because it would take away from its own magic. You just can’t make this up.

So that’s a sneak peek into the wacky world of Media. There are more of these to come, I’m sure, and I wish I could give examples of the Reps who are actually really fantastic. But we all know it’s the crazies of the world that make the best entertainment… we’re lucky that there are so many of them.

The Guardian Newspaper recently said that if you want to glimpse the future, go to Japan, because it’s already there. With that in mind, we give you the 2010 version of Dentsu Tokyo’s annual Buzz Research, which extensively measures word of mouth among blogs, to determine the top products in the minds of Japanese consumers.

1. Smartphones (34)

2. Twitter (104)

3. Munchable chili oil (-)

4. Digital broadcasting-equipped widescreen flat-panel TVs (7)

5. Ryoma Sakamoto (1836-1867; popular historical figure and visionary featured in the popular TV Drama, “The Legend of Ryoma” (101)

6. International flight services at Haneda Airport (-)

7. Tokyo Sky Tree (new broadcasting tower scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2012) (-)

8. Eco-point energy-saving home appliances (5)

9. 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa (-)

10. LED light bulbs (15)

11. B-grade local gourmet food (inexpensive, casual food (-)

12. Akira Ikegami (journalist and commentator) (-)

13. Domestic fast fashion brands (Think: UNIQLO) (3)

14. GeGeGe’s Wife (TV drama based on the 2008 autobiography by Nunoe Mura, the wife of manga artist Shigeru Mizuki, known for his manga character GeGeGe no Kitaro, a ghost boy who saves the world from evil spirit monsters) (-)

15. 3D movies, TV, cameras and other 3D products (60)

16. Hybrid vehicles (1)

17. Imported fast fashion brands (Think: H&M) (64)

18. AKB48 (48-member all-girl theater/idol group with its own theater in Akihabara, Tokyo) (-)

19. Tablet information devices (-)

20. Yoichi Watanabe (war photographer and popular talk-show guest) (-)

And in case you’re wondering how those living in the future glimpse the future themselves, here’s a peek at 2011. Again, courtesy of Dentsu.

1. Tokyo Sky Tree

2. LED light bulbs

3. Electric vehicles

4. International flight services at Haneda Airport

5. Smartphones

6. 3D movies, TV, cameras and other 3D products

7. Hybrid cars

7(tie). E-book readers

9. Discount airline tickets

10. Tablet information devices

11. Home solar power systems

12. Digital broadcasting-equipped widescreen flat-panel TVs

13. Compact data communication devices

14. Home fuel cell (clean energy) systems

15. Group purchase coupons

16. Bread and sweets made with rice powder

17. Bladeless electric fans

18. Cloud computing (including related books)

18(tie). B-grade local gourmet food

20. Alcohol-free beer-like beverages