Converting the Converted, and Other Tricks of the Light

On Wednesday at the One Show Festival, design guru Brian Collins illustrated the power of branding with a history lesson about pirates.

Or rather, just their flag.

Back in 1748, if you had the misfortune of being a single bobbing ship at sea when a tattered vessel with a skull and crossbones crossed your path, you knew instantly what to expect.

"You're fucked." (Collins, verbatim.)

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Conversations with People that Did Not Win One Show College Competition

Tonight was the awards ceremony for the One Show College Competition, for which schools nationwide turned in their top student portolios. See some here.

Doritos -- which in the last couple of years has devoted much of its promotional budget to lobbing cash at "creative" users (1, 2, 3) -- also solicited a campaign brief seeking "Doritos advertising that is iconic as Doritos."

The word "iconic" sparked interesting conversation after the show. Links to video below.

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One Show: Advice from the Father of Joe Isuzu, Advertising's Most Beloved Liar

Jerry Della Femina, founder of Della Femina Travisano & Partners (now DFJP), reminds me a lot of the ads he's sprinkled in TV Land's past. Remember Meowmix's singing cat? And Joe Isuzu? Like the spots, he's impossible to get out of your head.

Because Jerry's voice could cut through Valium. You will listen to every last thing he has to say, uncertain whether it's the ideas seducing you or the man's own confidence.

In the hour Della Femina spoke during One Show's Tuesday afternoon speaker session, I could have filled notebooks with what he continuously called "secrets of life" and "career advice."

Here's a taste.

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Halo 3 Won Best in Show, and Then I Had Epilepsy

The One Show ceremony took place last night and I Twittered like a woman on a suicide mission (or at least a "lose-all-my-followers" mission).

Highlights of the show: the ads were incredible! The King made a speech! Sometimes Tom Papa was funny!

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One Show Design Honors HBO Voyeur, and I Meet a Sword Swallower

It was good times for Leo Burnett at the One Show Design ceremony last night. (Or maybe it just seemed that way because LB's only representative, Connie Lam, wife of Alex Lam at Leo Burnett Singapore, left with more pencils than she could carry.)

Considering we had to sit through the awards ceremony while standing amidst an indecent amount of beer and alcohol, the event was pretty swanky. The ads were amazing and the crowd littered with select members of the design elite. But I was disappointed to find most pencil recipients didn't bother to send anybody by to pick their awards up. I hate the *cricket, cricket* feel of accolades left unclaimed.

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One Show: W+K's Kevin Proudfoot Talks Intimacy

One thing I love about the One Show speaker sessions: they're only an hour long. And because the speakers want to show off their advertising, they have to be brief where actual talking is concerned.

Between ESPN and Nike plugs, Wieden+Kennedy's Kevin Proudfoot shared five guidelines for establishing intimacy with users. Intimacy, he imparted, is key to brand success.

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Shots from the One Club Student Exhibit

On Monday night I hit One Club's 14th Annual Student Exhibition. Buzzing from a bottled cola high, creatives-in-training hovered from display to display, murmuring competitive remarks.

It kind of felt like a grade school science fair.

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Before Hanging Yourself with that Apple Extension Cord, Consider the Park Lane

I think I'm on suicide watch at Helmsley's Park Lane Hotel.

Somewhere around Madison and 28th St., I contemplated this while absorbing the sight of the NesQuik rabbit, whose gentle invitation to "come to your happy place" seemed to exist just for me.

Everything that happened leading up to Park Lane death watch:

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Because Isn't It Time that Gorilla Was Knocked Off Its High Horse?

You may feel finished with 2007, but that doesn't mean you've seen the last of its advertising. (Far from it, actually.)

Visit OneShow.TV to vote for one of the top 100 TV spots of 2007. We've seen most of them (remember Skittles Touch and Levi's Dangerous Liaisons?), and probably trashed a lot of them, but hey, it isn't ultimately us that ends up doling out the One Show People's Choice Award.

The Cadbury gorilla ad by Fallon -- the one with that catchy Phil Collins song -- is currently leading the audience sentiment race.

The People's Choice Award winner will be announced this Wednesday on May 7 at One Show.

One Show Draws Nearer, Adrants Prepares for Liftoff

Monday the 5th kicks off the One Show madness in NYC all next week. This may be your golden opportunity to stand in dark corners with me (!!!), get trashed, and make fun of those less fortunate.

I'll be hitting cocktail events, awards ceremonies and after parties, most of which are listed on the AdGabber Events calendar. (I promise that, before Monday, I'll separate the cocktail and after party events from their accompanying ceremonies so you guys can plan better. I've never used the calendar before, so I had a lot of Retarded Usability issues.)

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