DDB Cares

Eagles in the City

2010-02-22T17:41:54Z

DDB Canada has a long-standing tradition of helping worthy causes and charities, by lending our creative and strategic expertise to develop PSA campaigns and programs for worthy causes and organizations. We are a proud supporter of the BC Lions Society’s “Eagles in the City” program, which raises funds for Easter Seal Services and the Canucks for Kids Fund. We have participated in similar BC Lions Society public art projects, "Whales in the City" and "Bears in the City" by sponsoring artists to design both a pair of whales and bears. Last year, we were approached by BC Lions Society President, Stephen Miller with a partnership opportunity which involved working closely with the BC Lions Society and providing support in the development of various marketing communications materials. Also, this year we have sponsored eagles that are located in both Vancouver and Victoria. We allowed the local artists, who designed the two eagles, complete creative freedom. Eagles in the City is a creative fundraising program and a great initiative to help support and build the profile of our talented local artists. For more information: www.eaglesinthecity.com Paige Calvert, Director of Public Relations and Corporate Communications,
DDB Group Canada

"Hunger-free Latvia" steps up its efforts

2010-01-28T15:55:21Z

DDB, in partnership with: Ziedot.lv, Swedbank, Maxima, Hanzas Maiznca and many other benefactors, are turning the charitable project "Hunger-free Latvia" into reality. The project’s goal is to help to feed those Latvian families that are unable to provide themselves with the most basic items, including food. It may be that we won’t rewrite history but this local grassroots effort shows the good that can happen when a community comes together and embraces a cause. The project is currently in full swing – ads can be seen on TV, heard on the radio and spotted outdoors. "Circenīša Ziemassvtki" a song written by Raimonds Pauls and remixed by a singer from Riga - Alisa Joste- has become the food bank's anthem while its TVC uses an approach which is a first for Latvia - sand art created by talented, young artist, Krišjānis Bols. We’ve also launched a partnership with the LNT show "Tautas Balss" in which a report on our project is shown every Monday evening at 19:10. By the way, during the first three shows, more than LVL 11,000 were donated by callers calling the project's charity hotline: 9000 64 88 which means that 1,337 families will receive food parcels! All of which leads us to believe this community will reach its goal. Follow "Hunger-free Latvia" on Twitter and Facebook! Andris Rubins Managing Director DDB Latvia

DDB Korea officially re-launches

2010-01-25T19:38:45Z

On the evening of January 14, CEO Ted Kim officially launched the new DDB Group Korea office in Seoul. Attending representing DDB Worldwide was special guest Douglas Faudet, Vice Chairman of DDB Asia Pacific. Both Ted and Douglas made warm and inspiring speeches to a large group of employees, clients and industry peers. Congratulatory video messages were also played from Bob Scarpelli, Chuck Brymer and John Zeigler. The new DDB offices are bright and open plan, reflecting the new spirit and collaborative approach Ted envisions. DDB global and local work is prominently displayed as is a DDB achievements timeline from 1949 to present day. The DDB Korea Group includes Optimum Media Korea and Tribal DDB, with plans to launch Rapp and DDB Health within the year. Les Edwards Senior VP, DDB Korea Group

Haiti Earthquake Relief

2010-01-15T19:42:36Z

On January 12th, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck near Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince, causing massive death and destruction. While the toll is only beginning to be understood, huge parts of the capital are in ruins and there are the eyewitness and news accounts of "total disaster" and chaos. An estimated 3 million people are struggling with the aftermath of the earthquake. Current estimates of the death tolls from the Red Cross are over 45,000, and thousands more are living in the streets. At this stage of the emergency response, the greatest priority is providing survivors with medical aid, food, shelter and other supplies. Your financial contribution will provide support for those in need. We encourage you to make a donation to a reputable organization. The American Institute of Philanthropy, a charity-watchdog group, has provided a list of top-rated Haiti relief organizations which you can access here, www.charitywatch.org/hottopics/Haiti.html. Thank you very much for your consideration. Jeff Swystun
Chief Communications Officer
DDB Worldwide

DDB Yellow Paper Bookshelf

2009-12-04T21:50:44Z

About a year ago, DDB started using Issuu to make the Yellow Papers series available to audiences beyond its main site. The initiative turned out to be successful. We gained a large number of readers above and beyond those who came directly to our site, which is great since the idea was to give away the papers to as many people as possible. Plus, the Issuu document viewer is so well designed that reading the paper directly on screen might not be such a far fetched alternative after all. The hope is to save a few trees in the process. And now that Issuu has just launched its bookshelf feature, we quickly adopted it to showcase our growing collection of Yellow Papers – 19 and counting. If you head to our Yellow Paper section, you will see from now on a mini bookshelf below the most current paper.

Branded Entertainment in the Digital Era…

2009-10-30T18:34:11Z

I’ve always been fascinated by the power of entertainment over the human mind, especially with the advent of Web 2.0 and the unlimited possibilities it affords for using video and the internet in the form of a highly targeted, interactive broadcast. Since 2003, we’ve been exploring the worlds of music, dance, video games, advergames, TV programming, and cinema, and making them fully interactive Web 2.0 experiences, all the while growing our clients’ businesses, even winning a Cyber Lion along the way. Now, it’s time for everyone in this field to take it to the next level. I recently was introduced to Rock Corps, a great initiative sponsored by Orange which marries brand entertainment with social responsibility. Rock Corps has played out in the US, the UK and France with huge success built on a simple concept: the virtuous circle. Rock Corps is a major concert production featuring top-range artists, such as David Guetta, one of the top global DJs and winner of a Platine album for his last album, When Love Takes Over; Akon, a star in the R&B genre, six times nominated for a Grammy; Busta Rhymes,a top Hip Hop artist; and members of Razorlight, the UK rock band that was the front band for the Rolling Stones in their last tour. The catch is: The only way to attend a concert is to give four hours of your time to a charity. No snagging tickets from a scalper or through a well-connected friend. And guess what? In every country Rock Corps has played to thousands of young adults, it has “sold out” all the while creating community involvement and some pretty good PR. So here is my new challenge: to use branded entertainment to make brands contribute to a better society by bringing more fun and more utility to people. Rock on! Delphine Beer Gabel, Managing Director, DDB Entertainment Paris

A Sheep and Two Hens

2009-10-13T20:15:58Z

Mario Gascon, Executive Creative Director at DDB Barcelona, recently posed these questions to me: Can advertising help make the world a better place? Can one idea cause a little miracle? Can DDB be proud of helping make that miracle happen? Mario answered each of his own questions with a very proud “yes.” Here’s why. DDB Barcelona’s client Bellota has made high-quality tools for over a hundred years. The tools are so durable that they are passed down through the years from father to son. Customers say Bellota tools “can be lost but never broken.” So obviously it is a challenge to sell new tools. Plus Bellota’s marketing budget is much smaller than their competition’s. Samanta Judez, Director of Strategic Planning, had an idea that turned into a miracle. Sam thought of offering customers 10% off the price of new tools if they donated their old ones at point of sale. It was a simple promotion under the theme “Give your old tools a longer life.” But what do you do with the old tools? Well, with the help of a not-for-profit organization, Bellota sent those tools to villagers in the West African nation of Burkina Faso, one of the poorest on Earth. For the villagers, receiving these tools was a miracle. And the emotional reward of experiencing the gratitude of the Burkina Faso villagers has been huge for everyone involved. In fact, some of the villagers wanted to say thanks for the tools by sending some kind of gift. And that’s why DDB Barcelona now is the proud owner of a sheep and two hens. More importantly, as Mario pointed out, every so often our profession gives us special occasions when we can feel like more than professionals. We can feel like human beings. Thanks to Mario, Sam and everyone at DDB Barcelona, I couldn’t agree more. Bob Scarpelli, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer, DDB Worldwide

Sports Skills are Life Skills

2009-08-31T14:14:30Z

As schools and parents both face the need to trim budgets, and sports being one area that often falls under the axe, private grants that enable kids to participate in sports make a lot of sense. And so does a gentle reminder of the positive impact sports have not only on physical well being but on the development of interpersonal and social skills. KidSport BC, a community-based sport funding program in Canada that makes just this type of grant, and DDB seek to raise awareness of the importance of sports in childhood development and the achievement of success in life with an entertaining TV and radio campaign that to date has received the 2009 Humanitarian Award from the British Columbia Association of Broadcasters and $3 million in gifted media placement.

Paige Calvert, Director of Public Relations and Corporate Communications,
DDB Group Canada

Learning to give, learning to walk and taking flight

2009-08-25T18:37:28Z

The Foundation for the Orthopaedic Children’s Hospital or “el Ortopédico” - as we call it - is one of ARS DDB’s oldest and most prized clients. When Eugenio Mendoza, a very important Venezuelan businessman and philanthropist founded the Children’s Poliomelitis Hospital in 1942, he needed support for his cause from the best agency in town. At that time he came to Carlos Eduardo Frias, an intellectual and visionary businessman, founder of ARS Publicidad (that’s us) who offered to work pro-bono for the hospital. Ever since we’ve been their “agency of record.” After more than 60 years, it’s become increasingly challenging to creatively convince people to give to charities. However, regardless of the current economic situation, we at ARS DDB have been more than happy to work for the Ortopédico during all these years for two main reasons: because we’ve always shared the common value of educating and investing in the protection of the next and future generations of Venezuelans, and, more importantly, because there are few things as satisfying as knowing that we’re doing our part in bringing a smile to a kid who very much needs it. To that end, we embrace the entire Foundation as a brand, and as such, develop communication strategies for it to grow and achieve its yearly objectives. We, as individuals, also contribute to the Foundation’s cause through donations and participation in events. In short, working for the Ortopédico is great. Not only because it brings out the best in people’s creativity, but also because the motivation goes far beyond top-or-bottom line results. This in the end yields much higher returns for everyone involved: for the kids and for all of us at ARS DDB. Javier Moya, Executive – Corporate Communications, ARS DDB

DDB World Gallery

2009-07-07T18:24:02Z

Using Flickr and Slideoo, DDB is building a World Gallery of its people from each of its 200 offices. These social media tools allow us to populate our website with images of our talented people. The widget can be found in our Culture section and soon also in our Careers section our site. A small but important way of bringing our values of Creativity and Humanity to life. Jeff Swystun, Chief Communications Officer, DDB Worldwide

An Innovative Charity: Canada’s Cottage Dreams

2009-06-15T20:42:31Z

Many cancer survivors will tell you that their condition not only had huge impact on themselves but on their family. That is why it is important for families impacted by the disease to address it together and heal together. A charity in Canada has developed a program that helps them do just that. “Cottage Dreams Cancer Recovery Initiative is a registered charity that offers recent cancer survivors the opportunity to spend a week at a private, donated cottage to reconnect and rejuvenate with family and friends after successfully completing treatment. For over a century, Canadian families have been finding peace, tranquility and inspiration in cottage country. Cottage Dreams was created with this in mind.”

Since 2003, Cottage Dreams have facilitated 452 families (representing 3,100 people) in some of the most beautiful settings in Canada thanks to those donating their cottages for a week at time. Cottage Dreams has criteria on both sides of the equation to ensure the family visiting has the proper facilities and the donors cottage is respected and returned in the same condition. The testimonials on their website are emotional and heartfelt. Visit www.cottagedreams.org for more information.

Jeff Swystun, Chief Communications Officer, DDB Worldwide

Honoring a Mad Man

2009-05-28T14:14:55Z

An honorary CLIO Award was presented to Matthew Weiner, the Emmy Award-winning creator and executive producer of AMC’s critically acclaimed drama, “Mad Men”. DDB Worldwide’s Chairman Emeritus, Keith Reinhard, presented the award at The New Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The room had a 1960’s theme to suit the “Mad Men” salute. There were newsreels of swinging London fashions,1969 moonwalk footage and vintage ads from VW and others.

“What can we say about ‘Mad Men’? Has there ever been such a buzz, inspiring fashions, department store windows, a new line of Zippo lighters, not to say nothing of the critical raves, Golden Globes, Emmys’, said Keith who went on to confirm the depiction of those days in advertising. Keith shared the story of how he met his wife as she was fleeing an “inebriated account director who was chasing her down the hall. How lucky was I?, he said. “ ‘Mad Men’ has captured the essence of the 1960’s ad world and given us a fantastic look at what it was like.”

Jeff Swystun, Chief Communications Officer, DDB Worldwide

Art with a Cause

2009-05-21T13:48:32Z

Is creativity something strictly reserved for the creative department? When Ad Lounge asked me to contribute an original piece of art to their fundraising event, “Art from the Unexpected”, I couldn’t resist the challenge. Ad Lounge has dared me and 19 other agency and marketing CEOs to create an original piece of art and present the concepts behind our creations at the event. On June 16th in Toronto, each CEO will be given one minute to present their art for auction; providing a fascinating glimpse into the creative minds of some of the industry’s leading business personalities. It might surprise a few people to know that early in my career, I studied at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver. My painting for the auction, “Bloodsport,” depicts our current economic climate through the metaphor of a Bull and Bullfighter. Like a top marketer today, a Matador needs to be fit and fast in order to triumph and live. I was drawn to participate in “Art From the Unexpected” because I welcomed the chance to return to my creative roots – and to support a unique and deserving cause. Proceeds from the art auction will go to SKETCH; a Toronto charity that provides homeless youths with art studio space and supplies. DDB Canada has also lent its support to the charity auction by donating additional resources and by becoming the only agency Gold Sponsor. I truly live each day being creative, which is why I see significant value in the artistic outlet that SKETCH provides. Creativity isn’t just a vital part of the advertising industry, it’s what gets me up and keeps me fresh and alive. It’s also great to see an organization like Ad Lounge use entertaining ideas to rethink industry fundraising events and explore the nature of creativity. If you’d like to know more, please follow me (@DDBFrank) being interviewed live on Twitter by Ad Lounge (@adlounge) on May 27th beginning at 8:30 p.m. PST.
Frank Palmer, CEO, DDB Group Canada

Little Black Book

2009-05-04T20:48:41Z

I was recently asked to appear in a short film promoting Little Black Book Online (www.lbbonline.com), an emerging website that creates online city guides based on recommendations from advertising and production professionals. As you’ll see, my fellow creative directors Sir John Hegarty of BBH, Tony Granger of Y&R and Paul Lavoie of Taxi also appear in the film, which is being seeded through targeted emails and industry websites. You can view it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfhzxC1E-9w. The reason we agreed to help promote this site is that LBBOnline.com offers to donate one English pound to One Laptop Per Child (www.olpc.com) for every recommendation accepted for where advertising and production people should eat, drink and sleep in any advertising center in the world. The mission of OLPC, a nonprofit association, is “to create educational opportunities for the world’s poorest children by providing each and every one with a rugged, lowcost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning.” Their mission statement goes on to say, “By giving a laptop, you are helping bring education to children in some of the world’s most remote areas. You are connecting them to each other. To us. And to a better future.” That sounded good enough for me. If you visit Little Black Book Online, you’ll find that you can really make a difference just by giving your opinions and a little bit of your time. I’ve already listed places I like in Cannes, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. As the site grows, we’ll see if anyone agrees with my picks! And in addition to donating my acting “skills,” I’ve also made a donation to purchase a computer to give to kids through the OLPC website. It seemed like the right thing to do. Bob Scarpelli, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer, DDB Worldwide

A Tale of Zappos, Twitter and The Future

2009-03-30T08:30:00Z

Let me tell you a story, and it all starts with me needing to replace an old pair of my favorite boots that were literally falling apart. And if you squint your eyes even a little bit, I think you might just see a big part of the future of marketing. Given what's happening in this country right now, it's only reasonable to be purposeful about any purchase decision. So, as I was headed out the door one morning, I said to my wife, "Hey, I think I'm going to order a new pair of Blundstones from Zappos today." My wife, Ann, who orders a good percentage of our kids' shoes from Zappos, informed me that if I ordered by 10am, I'd have them the next day. So I ordered ... hopeful. And five days later, my boots had still not arrived. Though this order was my first with Zappos, I was disappointed. I wanted my boots. So on my way to work one morning, I Tweeted this (by the way, follow me on Twitter): I had heard that Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos was active on Twitter and I wrote this as much as a test to see if they would respond, how quickly and in what way. The threat of Endless, Amazon's shoe store, was an extra worm on the hook. Well, within about an hour, I got a notice that I'm being "followed" on Twitter by Tony. Yes, the CEO. (By the way, to "follow" someone on Twitter is something akin to "friending" someone on Facebook. If you aren't familiar with Facebook, the rest of this post is going to read like total nonsense. I forgive you if you quit reading now. Some of you may ask why I'm being so basic about these technologies. Reality is Facebook has about 175 million users and I know a lot of smart friends -- and marketers -- who are not among those 175 million. And I think I just heard that Twitter is at something like 7 million. That means a lot of people who could use the background info. Pardon this aside if you are not one of them). Within an hour, I got a message from Tony telling me my boots should arrive that day. To make a long story short, we exchanged "tweets" that day and eventually emails about the source of my frustration and ways I thought they might improve their customer experience. Zappos has built a reputation as a service company that just happens to sell shoes. How did that happen? I think that's the moral of the story. Tony and his team monitor in real time what people are saying about them on Twitter and in the blogosphere (it probably won't take long for them to find this post). Is that marketing? Certainly not in the traditional sense, but it's working. Direct Marketers have spent the better part of the last two decades talking about "1to1" marketing, and "customer relationship marketing" (CRM), but it always seemed to me that it was still essentially one way dialogue. Yes, marketers have access to a lot of rich data and laser/digital technology allows marketers to do some amazing "personalization." But in the end, it is still essentially a company talking at a customer or prospect and only becomes two way if the customer/prospect chooses to respond to the query -- usually to buy something. Well, with the advent of newer digital technologies (like Twitter, for example) the customer really is in the driver's seat. They're starting these conversations every minute of every day. The smartest, most progressive companies are finding ways to engage and respond -- and win the hearts and minds of people along the way. Which path are you on?
John Livengood, EVP/Executive Creative Director, DDB Seattle