I’ve had some work done on my house recently. We chose a builder, told him what we wanted and stood back and let him at it. There were times when he needed to discuss issues that arose but a few weeks later, bingo, a new kitchen that we’re very pleased with was installed.

There comes a time when everyone needs to hire a professional to do a job they can’t do. Whether it’s a builder, an accountant or a chef, these people are skilled professionals who have trained for years at perfecting their craft. Years learning the rights and wrongs. Years getting to the top of their chosen professions.

The chances are that the last time you were dining at a restaurant you didn’t return the meal along with a few suggestions as to how the chef could improve things by adding a touch more garlic and reducing the amount of dill. Which leads me to my point. I’m an Art Director. I’ve spent 4 years at art college and a further 25 constantly learning, keeping up with trends, brushing up my design skills and basically knowing what works, what doesn’t and, more importantly, the reasons for both.

Why keep a dog and bark yourself?

There are times however when I begin to wonder why a client has asked for my professional expertise at all. All they want to do is to think of an idea and design it themselves. Another request I have had in the past has been “can you do as I ask, just to show me that it doesn’t work!”

There have been occasions when a client has made so many changes that the end product bares no resemblance to the original design and then the same client wonders why the results weren’t what they expected. (Now, I do NOT believe you wanted to do that!)

So here’s the dilemma. Every one has an opinion, and there is always more than one answer but does it not make sense to trust the people you’re employing? Surely it would be one less thing to worry about if we all did what we were good at? Telling a builder how to build isn’t the way ahead. I employed a builder that I trusted and whose skills I respected. I didn’t get him to put the roof on upside down, just to show me that it doesn’t work.

We all love the chance to work great briefs and that’s where I’d love for the client’s energies to be concentrated. Great briefs lead to great work. So let’s all work together to reach our goals; work that we are proud of, that stands out for all the right reasons and, most importantly, gets results.

Paul Gibson
Art Director

Another beautiful Autumn day outside with the sun shining here in Dublin. Pop on the kettle and have a look at a few of the top stories from the past week. Here is your mid-week mash-up!

This Latest Guinness Ad Is Irish Historic Perfection

Often following in the footsteps of both parents and grandparents, this latest ad from Guinness focuses on the historic roots of the brand, proudly boasting the best is yet to come. Take a look…

#NotInMyName Campaign Hopes To Give The World A True Look At Islam

With more than 14,000 tweets in less than 7 days, the campaign #NotInMyName continues to trend worldwide. Created by London-based organization ‘Active Change Foundation’, the campaign was created to remind the world that ISIS is not a true reflection of Islam–in fact, it couldn’t be further from the religious foundations of Islam. Have a look…

The Sounds Of Oreo Are Delicious

Anyone else craving an Oreo and glass of milk after watching this ad completely made up of Oreo sounds? Have a watch…

KLM’s Lost And Found Dog To The Rescue

We couldn’t help but love this idea–a cute dog tracks down the owners of items left on a KLM flight. Need we say more?

Heineken Powers Live CNBC Program Highlighting Hidden Gems Within European Cities

As part of a recent partnership, Heineken is powering a live CNBC International television program called City Limits: Live, showcasing a number of the best kept cultural secrets across 3 of Europe’s most iconic and loved cities. Heinekin encourages viewers to participate in the campaign and push to make it viral by using the hashtag #openyourcity to generate buzz across social media platforms. In addition to the hashtag, the new @wherenext platoform (powered by crowd-sourced, real-time information across social media platforms) allows access to some of the hottest, hidden treasures in each town. Here is a look at what London has to offer…

Halfway through your week and ready for another midweek mashup? Not to worry, we have you covered with some of the latest stories that caught our eye in the past week. Don’t forget to pop on the kettle before settling into this week’s stories…

Samsung Mocks Latest iPhone Announcement (Yet Again)

Following Apple’s big announcement of the iPhone 6 last week, Samsung realeases a series of ads that mocks the “innovative” updates to their biggest competitor’s big realease–again. Not sure about you, but theses latest ads felt a bit weak. Sour grapes, anyone?

Cinnabon Hits The Sweet Spot With Social Media Chatter

It’s been more than 2 years since Cinnabon released a TV ad, but that doesn’t mean the company has gone quiet. In fact, the brand currently has over 1 million Facebook fans and nearly 64,000 followers with a running tally of 63,400 Tweets, to date! Smells like someone has a taste for social…

Dancing Traffic Light Encourages Safety on Streets of Lisbon

The company behind the world’s favourite tiny Smart Car have developed a new campaign that encourages pedestrians to wait for the little green man to light up (indicating that it’s safe to cross the road) by making the little red man much more entertaining. This ad is part of Smart’s #WhatAreYouFor campaign, emphasizing the company’s dedication to safety. Have a look–we dare you NOT to start busting a move, yourself!

Touching Ad Suggests How To Cash In Your Expedia+ Rewards Points

Parents who spend a majority of their working lives travelling will definitely relate to this latest ad from Expedia. Not sure about you, but we wouldn’t mind spending a bit of time on the road if it meant we could cash in on a safari…take a look!

New Coca-Cola Ad Thanks Nameless Strangers In New Feel-Good Ad

And finally, we leave you with this uplifting ad from Coca-Cola that proves sometimes the people that make your day, are the people you don’t even know…

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words, however in business, a picture can be worth a lot more. When choosing images or pictures to tell a specific story, it’s important that the business knows what brand or message they are trying to convey. With popular social media sites like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter becoming important sources of traffic, it’s vital for businesses to know which photos to choose  and when and where to post them. Today’s consumers gravitate towards visual content with photos generating 53% more likes on Facebook compared to the average post. All of these social media channels help businesses to tell a story that creates engagement and helps to nurture and build brand loyalty with customers.

A simple picture has the ability to capture emotion, mood and ideas without using any text, so it is important that your brand produces something that grabs the attention of the viewers. Our brains process pictures 60,000 more times faster than text therefore you really only have 1.3 seconds to capture our attention.

Below are some compelling pictures that tell a story without using any text…

Madison Duffy
Account Executive

Catching someone’s eye is a task that consumers subliminally engage in thousands of times every day. It’s also the all-powerful first step in great communication. With information overload all around us, we get a mere 1.3 seconds to catch someone’s eye. This is now the most serious challenge facing marketers desperate to engage with new consumers, especially if they want their message to be shared socially.

Social media encourages consumers to shape news and share content adding to the blizzard already out there. Marketing needs to engage professionals who understand the strength of Instant Visual Storytelling (IVS). Designers, Art Directors, Photographers and Illustrators are trained to appeal to different audiences with killer IVS. They are fixated with winning the 1.3 second engagement battle.

Consider why the following image stops you in your tracks

Nothing about it is carefully staged. It is authentic and editorial in style, creating that instant story that locks you in and leaves you wanting more. We need to focus less about showcasing product features and more about appealing to the emotional side of the consumer’s brain. Try sharing a stock photo on Facebook and see where that gets you. But show a picture of your customer care team up to their wellies in manure at electric picnic… you get the picture.

Every company in Ireland has invested heavily in technology that spreads copy-heavy content, which adds to this problem. We need to take a leaf out of our farming cousins by spreading less manure but of a higher quality.

This is why it has never been more important to invest in powerful visuals that tell instant stories.  Invest less on systems and more on original photography, illustration and professional art direction and watch your engagement rates soar. While your internal marketing team know how to operate the system they know ‘Jack Manure’ about how to win the 1.3 second battle.

For more Check out our latest eBook ‘ You’ve Got 1.3 Seconds. Make Them Count!’ available here 

Michael Killeen
Chairman

Happy Wednesday, all. Don’t forget to pop on that kettle before settling into some of our favourite stories from the past week–here is your mid-week mash-up…

Marks and Spencer Tickles Our Tastebuds In New Ad

Nothing like a bit of slow-motion video footage of delicious food to get those tastebuds gunning for a bite. Anyone else hungry after watching this?

US Open Uses Social Media To Tell The #StoryOfTheOpen on New York Billboard

Watch the #StoryOfTheOpen unfold as daily updates are incorporated into a beautiful mural that visually captures key highlights of the tennis tournament. Painted by local artist Josh Cochran for 15 consecutive days, the billboard rests above New York’s Midtown Tunnel. Cochran uses tweets featuring #StoryOfTheOpen as inspiration for his daily additions while you can view each day’s update on both Facebook and YouTube. Here is a look at week one…

Guinness Africa Shows The World What It Means To Be ‘Made Of Black’

The latest ad from Guinness features a beautiful montage of African culture set to the track of Kanye West’s “Black Skinhead”, proving black is not just a colour, it’s a state of mind.

Irish Gay Rights Advocacy Group Prepares Us For ‘Armagayddon’

To prepare us all for the upcoming referendum on marriage equality, Irish gay rights advocacy group ‘LGBT Noise’ has partnered up with Like Minded Productions to produce this hilarious short film on the impending ‘Armagayddon’ that is due to hit Ireland in the Spring of 2015. Have a look…

For The Love Of White Russians

Jeff Bridges gives a nod to his White-Russian-loving character from ‘The Big Lebowski’ in this short film for Kahlúa. The dude still abides, it seems…