Highlights of 2008

I’m glad the year of the Mouse/Rat is over. It was a tough year, but also a very rewarding one, filled with events, color and life. It was definitely a great one for meeting new people and leaving the dead end contacts behind. It was a year of travels, learning, emotional change of scenery, breaking the habits, and finding peace. In short:

Vice internship, movies with Slava, Barbi, snow angel challenge, high tea, cuckoo New York trip, mad revelations and heartbreaks, the legendary night of the Justice show at the Great Hall, indoor pool voleyball in Richmond Hill with a blizzard outside, Montreal for the first time ever, straight to Vancouver, the return of Dimitri, straight A’s that semester, “I love nature” cottage visit, summer internship, more Montreal, Lemeac, Rajni, Ottawa, Rafael Nadal, gourmet adventures with Roberto, Magdalena’s return, dancing late and coming to work early, Osho, red eye to Europe, constantly ringing cell in Berlin, Baltic Sea, goth party in the bunker, wasp attack, Kunstwerke, Michael and Karin’s epic search for a gallery, scootering in Ibiza, flying, getting lost in the hills with fuel running out, Gaudi, Joan Miro, Catalan people, Faulkner’s Light in August, La Tomatina, Valencia’s paellas, the girl from Jupiter, getting lost in Barcelona with a flight to catch, gloomy London and port, vintage stores in Shoreditch, Strategic Planning, yoga, wonderful professors, wonderful people, PalmsOut in October, jerks stealing my possessions, Vosges chocolate in SoHo, Coney Island freak show, Mad Men, calming down, peace of mind, movie night with dear C.L., playing the tambourine till 4am, BBDO, roommate reunion, blizzards in Vancouver, the return of Scotch, securing that opportunity, The Sacred Book of the Werewolf, light at the end of the tunnel, Russian madhouse, caviar and champagne on New Year’s Eve.

Filed under: memories , 2008, barcelona, bbdo, Berlin, career, Europe, friends, fun, fun time, ibiza, improvements, joy, life, London, memories, montreal, plans, review, ryerson, Spain, tomatina, toronto, travels

Think Outside the Dodecahedron

Here it is again! While reading Sean Moffitt’s SlideShare Presentation: Word of Mouth – A Prescription for the Bad Economy, I saw a slide which was yet another miracle from the BBDO NY’s office for UK-based The Economist. I understand it’s last year’s, but I don’t get to see many billboards, especially The Economist billboards here in Canada. “Think outside the dodecahedron.” First of all, dodecahedron is any polyhedron with twelve faces, but usually a regular dodecahedron is meant: a Platonic solid composed of twelve regular pentagonal faces, with three meeting at each vertex. Second, ’tis brilliant. I’ve seen the blogosphere really take on the expression. Thirdly, I personally think that the ad is not “telling you to think outside the dodecahedron”, as if you can do it just like that. This is more about the power you will attain by reading The Economist (damn it, I missed the last two issues myself, they’re in Toronto, and I’m in Vancouver until the 2nd). This is thinking about the thinking outside of the box. Squared, cubed. It’s about innovation².

By the way, while we are on the topic, check out the rest of the amazing advertising slogans (following the cut) created for The Economist and selected by Chand Arora. My favorites are highlighted:

Filed under: advertising , advertising, bbdo, creative, marketing, the economist

High Achievements & Still Highs

Ibiza, Aug 2008. Rocking out with my socks out...

…on life Been hustlin’ and hustlin’ and hustlin’.

When I was at BBDO on Monday, the HR lady practically interviewed me right there and then. One of the many questions she asked me, “What was your greatest achievement?” Or the achievement I was most proud about. Historically, my victories have all been academic, as I haven’t actually embarked on that up-the-ladder journey (I’ll more likely be hopping up two or three ladders simultaneously) yet.

So, an achievement that I am most proud of so far is the one relating to me having gone from a B/B- GPA at the University of British Columbia (my finance dark days) to an A average, which then led to a Golden Key Society Membership. I have always been a straight A student, but some things happened at the university level and I had a lot of ground to cover to reach a Golden Key level. And I did.

Another achievement that I always think about took place in 1997 when my family just moved back to Russia (Magadan city) from Czech Republic (Prague). I was 11 and I forgot Russian at that point. But I quickly got it back. I was placed in grade 3, and our homeroom teacher presented us with a mathematical problem from the grade 6 curriculum. I did not have the math backing to solve the problem, but since all 40 of us 11 year olds had to present some kind of a solution to our teacher, I struggled. I struggled for 48 hours and couldn’t figure it out. I couldn’t figure it out until 2 hours before the class, when a strike of genius commanded my hand to write some grade 6 math gibberish (grade 8 by Western standards), and et voila – the satisfied and respectful face of my teacher always appears in my head when I do something amazing.

Filed under: memories , achievement, bbdo, career, development, future, improvements, marketing, memories, monday, productivity, work

BBDO NY for The Economist

I love The Economist. I love their advertising. BBDO forever!
Look at this smart way of getting their message across:

I simply can’t get enough. These pizza boxes with world food distributions stats appeared in 20 Philadelphia-area pizza shops. They are strategically located around universities and colleges, showing how students’ food consumption affects the rest of the world, and how The Economist is relevant to their lifestyle.

If I wasn’t hooked already, I’d go out and buy an issue immediately.

Filed under: advertising , advertising, bbdo, creative, marketing, the economist

Mad Men

Oh Gosh, in episode 7 of the season 1 Roger pours vodka into a glass of white calcium-rich liquid as he tells his wife (via phone): “Mona, I am drinking my milk.”

My professor Marla Spergel suggested I watch to get a faint/not so faint idea of what the advertising world is about. The award-winning series Mad Men (from the producers of The Sopranos) certainly caught my eye. Besides the constant smoking, gorgeous costumes and notable script, the show’s wit and solid character development make it a worthwhile show to watch. I’ve been streaming episodes from the first season; have no idea what happens in the second yet.

I won’t write at length what my opinions are on the “original” idea of the advertising agency, but I certainly am glad that things have changed. Thank God for the advertising standards and self-regulation in the industry as a whole. I don’t know how I would feel joining the ad force in the 60s, but I am certainly optimistic about what I can bring into that world once I graduate (very soon). It ain’t as bad as you think it is. Just look back to compare.

Oh, the Halloween Simpsons episode featured a Mad Men parody. Homer killed off celebrities so ad men could features ze celebrities in their advertisements. Watch the parody opening credits here.

PS. And the original opening credits, which are quite attractive:

Filed under: advertising , advertising, bbdo, mad men, oldies, television, tv