The Bowler.

Meet Rocky Salemmo. He’s a ramblin’ gamblin’ man. For the majority of his adult life Rocky has hustled bowling for a living. Here is his story. A short documentary about booze, broads and bowling.

The Bowler, another top notch short from Sean Dunne, the bloke who brought us the Archive, Stray Dawg & Man in Van.

Buckfast jump on the Royal Wedding bandwagon

We've spotted a few cringeworthy, vomit inducing, Royal Wedding bandwagon jumping ads over the last few days, but this one takes the biscuit.

Duvet And Pillow Warehouse Says No Thanks To Marketing Nonsense

Good for them, we say. Funny spot for DAPW by Naresh at Pentagram, which takes the piss out of marketing mumbo-jumbo. And also features a funny cameo by Arthur from Fentimans. (We know Naresh by the way, full disclosure and all that malarkey)

Bill Bernbach Said #29

Number 29 in our Bernbach series...

“I warn you against believing that advertising is a science.”

Read all of the previous Bernbach Said posts here.

Stanley Kubrick's Chicago

Interesting collection of photographs by Stanley Kubrick. Apparently, before he started making movies he was a star photojournalist. These shots are part of a story called "Chicago City of Contrasts" that he did for Look magazine. See the full set here at the excellent How To Be A Retronaut.

It's Funny Because It's True...

...as Homer (Simpson, not Ancient Greek Poet) would say. Well written too.

Via @guybingley

This Card Does Not Belong In A Rolodex!

This guy knows what is what when it comes to business cards (via Jim).

Bill Bernbach Said #28

Number 28 in our Bernbach series...

“Playing it safe can be the most dangerous thing in the world, because you’re presenting people with an idea they’ve seen before, and you won’t have impact.”

Read all of the previous Bernbach Said posts here.

Your Bets Mate: Our New Commercials for Racing Post

Our new TV campaign for the Racing Post app breaks over the Grand National this weekend. The ads were made by taking some interesting Getty library footage and shooting scenes to match closely (but not toooo closely). A big Sell! Sell! thanks to director Tom King at Gas & Electric for a really great job, and a fun time doing it. To Peter Serafinowicz for a cracking voice over and funny session. To Stef and the guys at Framestore for excellent work matching the grades of completely different types of footage, and giving them a strong finished look. To Yellow Boat Music for their silky musical skills and attention detail. And of course, to our lovely clients at Racing Post for going with the idea in the first place, and keeping us on our toes throughout the whole process.

Best Of A Normal Day

Just like a typical day at Sell! Towers. Except with less breakages.

We’re Not Poets, We Are Salesmen

Ben posted this interesting David Abbott interview yesterday. It's well worth a read. It seems more relevant now than ever.

A part that stood out to me was this:

“In advertising, words are the servant of the argument. Choosing the precise word is important, but I don’t use words to impress the audience by their strangeness or the their intellectual quality. Good plain words usually work better. The language we use in advertising should serve the argument. [It should] not stand out in sense that makes on think, “Oh my God, that’s well-written.” It’s like typography. If something is well-written, you walk in and out, you don’t notice that it’s well-written. You just know you’re into the ad, and you’re liking what they’re saying. You might buy this product or go on that cruise ship or whatever. We’re not poets, we are salesmen.”

That is pretty much bang on the way we approach our work. Today 'creativity' in advertising and marketing seems to be about cartwheels and spangly bits, not communication. I guess that's one of my frustrations with the creative awards. They don't seem to recognise great advertising craft - just entertainment and creative tomfoolery for its own sake. Advertising that says "look at how clever we are" rather than "look how good this product is".

The best advertising makes a star of the product, not yourself.

We All Cook Better When We're Cooking With Gas

I heard this as part of a DJ Shadow album (showing my age) many years ago and always wondered if it was real. We came across it yesterday and it appears that it is indeed real. I think you'll agree it's a cultural high-point in the art form of hip hop.

Marketing and communication in 2011. How to cut through the crap. #12

SO HERE WE ARE IN 2011. Never has there been a more competitive time to be in the business of marketing. There have never been more ways of spending budgets. There has never been more pressure on budgets. Or, come to that, more theories about what you should and shouldn’t be doing. What is clear is that whilst many are waffling on about this trend and that development, some are simply getting on with doing things that get results. We are some of those people. And this is some of how we do it.


PART 12: ACTION. NOT WORDS.

This is the final part of our How To Cut Through The Crap series.

Overall, it contained over 2,500 words.

But in themselves they are useless.

We wrote them down only in an attempt to be helpful to others.

The actions that represent are for more important.

Time spent talking about stuff rather than doing stuff is time wasted.

Time you could have been out there connecting with your audience, making a difference.

Understandably, especially in these pressurised times, everyone wants to be properly prepared, and obviously that’s important.

But month after endless month are often spent in rounds of meetings, gathered around charts and descriptions, tinkering away.

Why do small brands often run rings around the big guys?

Because they get to the doing quicker.

Big companies are often hamstrung by process and over-examination.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that to be right, something has to take a long time to get to.

No matter how many meetings you have, you can never be certain that what you are proposing is perfect.

Better to be out there competing, and fine-tuning as you go along.

Act like a challenger.

Take action.

PART 1: CREATIVITY & CRAFT ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER
PART 2: THE BEST COMMUNICATION IS STILL ABOUT PEOPLE 
PART 3: FOCUS YOUR COMMUNICATION ON CHANGING BEHAVIOUR, NOT JUST CHANGING ATTITUDE.
PART 4: BE DIFFERENT IN THE CATEGORY
PART 5: DON'T SPEND ALL YOUR TIME & MONEY TALKING TO FANS OF YOUR BRAND
PART 6: BE IMPATIENT & AMBITIOUS WITH YOUR TARGETS
PART 7: REPETITION. REPETITION. REPETITION.
PART 8: BE WARY OF THOSE PROFESSING ABOUT "THE FUTURE OF ADVERTISING"
PART 9: DONE WELL, TV IS STILL THE SHORT CUT TO SUCCESS 
PART 10: DON'T SCRIMP ON YOUR PRODUCTION BUDGET
PART 11: HALVE YOUR PRODUCTION BUDGET

Liberate Your Member, And Other Spam Email Headlines

Say what you like about spam emails, but they know how to conjure a benefit into a headline. Ish. We must have received a hundred variations on the "Make your knob bigger" theme alone. Here we have picked out a few for your amusement and delectation.

Bring ardor to your love life
Best manhood augmentors
Lack of mojo in pants?
Feel the carnal impulse
Your rod will stay
Best for wang augmentation
Make her pleasure terrific
Give her more hot emotions
Feel the amatory impulse
Try for amazing love power
Girls remain dry with you?
Protect your bed desire
Best for your nimrod

And my personal favourite:

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