We love our reality television shows, but there’s a new tv show that will be right up the alley of all creative professionals. If you’re a fan of Donald Trump’s The Apprentice or Celebrity Apprentice, then you will definitely like the new AMC TV series The Pitch even more. Here you can watch the first episode, S01E01 of The Pitch for free (also viewable on Netflix through May 28th in HD). The Pitch gives us a real life look into the lives of creative professional and process behind landing the next huge marketing campaigns for Fortune 500 companies.
Another Reality Series?
Yeah, it’s another reality series, but we don’t have that many relating to the creative fields. Sure there are cooking shows, bakery series like Cake Boss, and custom motorcycle documentaries like American Chopper; but it’s not often that we actually get a show relating to our field of marketing and advertising. That’s what makes The Pitch so exciting! In the first episode, we see two competing advertising agencies travel to Milford, CT to pitch their ideas to Subway on their next breakfast sandwich marketing campaign. The two agencies literally are working head to head just to win the job.
What’s Cool
Celebrity Apprentice and The Apprentice are a little similar, because we get to see an entire marketing campaign from brainstorming sessions through the final branding and execution. With the The Pitch, these advertising pitches aren’t made up for the sake of a TV show. This is the real thing – the big leagues in the marketing and advertising world. We get to see the agencies’ branstorming sessions, the good ideas, the bad ideas, and even their creative processes. You get to see how they interact with one another. We even see how some of the creatives’ ideas become things they are personally attached to, while other members of the team don’t always see the value in them. You also see how hard these advertising professionals have to work, and travel. It even gives us a glimpse into the private home life for some of them. Let’s just say it’s not the type of job we’d all like to have. Unless you like to work to live; working long hours, lots of travel, and
Advertising in a Show About Advertising
Not surprisingly, you have to remember that the point of all television shows and movies are created to also bring in advertising dollars. At one point in the Subway pitch episode you will see them browsing for stock images on the Getty Images website. Getty is obviously of a traditional stock agency (non-microstock pricing) where iStockphoto is their microstock collection. Not surprisingly enough, at the end credits, you’ll note that it says “promotional consideration by Getty Images and iStockphoto”. Talk about a great advertising opportunity, because ever single advertising/marketing/graphic designing creative type (at least that I know) is going to be watching this show. Getty is smart to have added this paid product placement, but it would be nice to see if we could also see behind the curtain to when the ad agencies actually purchase from microstock agencies, as well. We probably won’t, because that is what the promotional consideration Getty has paid for will mask.
Let us know what you think about The Pitch. Leave a comment below, and please share this post!
The advertising agency Leo Burnett, USA recently created an amazing McDonald’s fry lights billboard in the windy city of Chicago, Illinois. It consisted of a billboard shaped like a french fry box, with ten yellow vertically beaming lights shooting out the top, and into the night sky. This created the look of french fries, of course – for a unique marketing piece that was bound to turn heads. Spotlights and laser lights have long been a way to attract attention. In Time’s Square, the Top Ramen billboard actually uses real steam, so that it looks like the cup of soup is steaming hot. How effective are these simple methods at getting your brand’s message across? Very! Read the rest of this entry »
Talk about a cool tear-sheet… Kohls (a United States based clothing department store chain) used an ArenaCreative.com stock photo in a commercial featuring Jennifer Lopez’s clothing line! What an honor, and a surprise. At 00:03 during the above video, you can see the stock photo of the NYC Uptown / Bronx subway sign that I shot one day while in the city.
J-Lo is really popular again and in the limelight right now; coming off the whirlwind of being an American Idol judge, having the biggest hit single of her life (On the Floor, featuring Pitbull) and recently being in all of the tabloids regarding her recent split with husband and Latin singer/actor Marc Anthony. He also has a new clothing line at Kohl’s now, as well. I had seen this JLO commercial a few times before, but hadn’t paid much attention to it. As I sat there staring at the TV, realizing that was on of “my babies” on national television, I flipped out. In this business, we never really know where our images are going to end up. When we stumble upon them, and see them being used in real life applications, it makes up extra glad we were a part of it.Good old “Jenny from the Block”. At ArenaCreative.com we are proud to be a part of effective marketing and advertising materials, and want to thank the advertising department at Kohl’s for using one of our images. To learn more about us and other large corporations that have used our royalty-free stock images, click here.
I had to share this very-well-put-together commercial for the brand new video game installment of Forza Motorsport 4 for Xbox 360. It’s a live-action trailer entitled “Endangered Species”, narrated by famous automotive guru Jeremy Clarkson. This is another example of an effective ad spot that doesn’t even show more than a glimpse of the product until the last few seconds. This method often induces intrigue within the audience; the element of surprise or curiousity in the product is heightened, especially toward gearheads and car lovers.
Ever wonder how to get paid for testing video games? Check out http://bit.ly/uqHmLG
Feeling a little creatively dull? We all get caught in creative ruts once in a while; sort of like how writers get writer’s block. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here are 30 amazing digital Photoshop manipulations that will get your creative juices flowing! Some of the techniques used below are simple, while others get pretty complicated. Try some of these things out on a rainy day when you get a chance. There are many tutorials on this blog as well as elsewhere on the web that can get you started in the right direction, in case you find yourself in over your head. You can also click on each individual image to learn more about the artist, and to see more of their work. Be sure to let us know which images are your favorites in the comments section below!
We love our reality television shows, but there’s a new tv show that will be right up the alley of all creative professionals. If you’re a fan of Donald Trump’s The Apprentice or Celebrity Apprentice, then you will definitely like the new AMC TV series The Pitch even more. Here you can watch the first episode, S01E01 of The Pitch for free (also viewable on Netflix through May 28th in HD). The Pitch gives us a real life look into the lives of creative professional and process behind landing the next huge marketing campaigns for Fortune 500 companies.
