#6 "To be a rock star, you must have a great band"

BBDO and HP Graphic Arts Master Class:

Today was a shorter day at the festival. All of my technological belongings are dying and I might still be dying from the Microsoft party. Although it did not last as long as the other days, I enjoyed the Master Class the group attended. I initially was upset that I was missing the Wieden+Kennedy Workshop; however, what the BBDO and HP graphic arts touched on was very interesting because it applied to the music industry. I had gotten a few of the BBDO employees at the Microsoft party, but did not see them at the class.

From day one,  I had noticed the Rockstar invitation and became curious as to how it applied to advertising. Each of the letters stating “A Rock Star Talking About Rock Stars” were different images applying to music, famous artists, and random funky symbols formed into letters (also serving as product placement). Marcus Medeiros, Creative Director, Almap BBDO, was introduced as a rock star of advertising. Being humble, he forgot to mention that he had won 12 lions, including the 2010 Press Grand Priz for the Billboard Magazine campaign. A huge image of a famous artist appeared on a screen with a small key showing four other famous artists’ names. The background artist was made up of smaller icons of four other artist that shared some aspect of their style. This was not only a picture full of other pictures, but a way to compare an artist’s music with another artist’s. The ability to share that much information, yet still look like a picture amazed me. I respected Medeiros’ humbleness as well, “to be a rockstar you need to have a great band”. What a rock star. 

BBDO Speaker:

Chris Hall, CEO of BBDO Atlanta, was kind enough to speak to the group after the HP meeting, and weirdly enough knows some of our friends at UGA. He stressed the importance of creativity, making a business 11 times more effective for a company. He informed us that it was the golden age for creativity. He actually quoted Space Jam, “if you can dream it, you can do it”. He admitted that if you’re not digital, you’re dead. When Claire asked him if he was able to take risks with his advertising being in a large corporation, he replied, “you have to build trust with clients, then you can sell risky ideas”. I think it is interesting that we have heard multiple times the potential for Atlanta to dominate advertising. Being so close this is an exciting goal to work towards.