The Insight
Percipient thought-pieces and opinions from some
of
the world’s most respected industry leaders.
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Most brands recognise music's emotional power, yet too often treat it as one of the last decisions in the creative process. Brian Berger, Founder and CEO of San Vito Agency, explains why brands should treat music as a strategic asset rather than simply another line item in the production budget.
Question time? We're getting better at getting it wrong
To get the right answer, you have to ask the right question and, as the old adage goes, 'to assume can make an ass out of u and me'. So, asks art director Syed Shuja Hussain, if AI can make an assumption look like certainty, who’s brave enough to reopen the brief?
From product placement to creative partnership: The new age of branded entertainment
Having your brand or product appear in a film or TV show might be great but, says Amy Gardner, Founder of Finite Films & TV, the new landscape of branded entertainment can allow those brands to have much more creative control.
How the art of film can make the unseen seen
Beast Films director Lawrence Jacomelli considers how cinema can represent the reality of our internal psychological worlds without directly depicting them.
Hoard, sweet hoard: What IKEA’s Skyrim shelf can teach brands about fandom
When brands try to play in the world of fandom they can often get it wrong, but not IKEA, says Cat Botibol, Managing Director at Studio Secret Cinema, who thinks the furniture brand's foray into Skyrim is a perfect example of playfulness and intelligence.
Nike & Mbappé: Visibility versus distinctiveness
Nike can claim to dominate sports branding with former athletes like Michael Jordan and Wayne Rooney and current stars such as Erling Haaland and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce all brand ambassadors, but, asks Sam Pittman, Creative Director at Butterfly Cannon, with Kylian Mbappé leaving Nike for relative athletic wear upstart On, are times changing, and is visibility as powerful as distinctiveness?
Filming reality in an age of fake feelings
After two decades in advertising, filmmaker Christopher Theodore moved into documentary. Here he explores the uneasy relationship between unscripted and fiction and what it means to claim an image is real in an age when almost anything, including emotions, can be fabricated.
Agencies have too many waiters and not enough chefs
Michelin star restaurants have three cooks to every waiter. So why do advertising agencies have a structure where creative is outweighed by other departments? Tom Elliston, CEO at LOLA Madrid, explains that too much agency process is taking away from the important creative work.
Can AI-generated food really get the tastebuds tingling?
Olaf van Gerwen, Founder & Global Creative Director at Chuck Studios, finds that AI-generated food may be everywhere, but our finely tuned appetite for the real thing means even the smallest synthetic slip-up can leave a bad taste.