Former Leo Burnett adman Donald Gunn founded The Gunn Report in 1999. Like all big ideas, it was deceptively simple: combine the results of the leading award shows all around the world to come up with an annual global ranking of the world’s most awarded agencies and their work. Ten years later, what’s changed? How does Donald see the internet? What does he think of the concept of Media Arts? And just what the hell is All Gunns Blazing? The man himself answers these questions and more in an exclusive interview with mad-blog.com:

If you have any comments, suggestions or simply want to learn more about The Gunn Report please email Donald Gunn (donald@gunnreport.com) or Ulrich Proeschel (ulrich@mad-blog.com).

Kauppalehti is a leading and oldest business newspaper in Finland focusing on marketing and economics. Is an integral part of each decision makers’ working day and is issued every weekday (Circulation: 86,577; Readership 193,000).

About ten years ago The Sanoma Corporation – the 2nd biggest media house in Scandinavia – decided to wipe Kauppalehti off the map with their own business daily newspaper, ‘Taloussanomat’. By the end of 2007 Taloussanomat was forced to terminate the printed version of newspaper. Taloussanomat brand was left alive only online at www.taloussanomat.fi.

Instead of a traditional advertising campaign the plan was created to do something a bit different and something much bigger. The 2nd of January 2008 was the first day when Kauppalehti was issued without it’s competitor, Taloussanomat. For just one day the name of the newspaper was changed. Instead of “Kauppalehti“ the name was changed to “Minä elän!“, which means “I’m alive!“.

Why those words? They are very important to Finnish culture as they are said to be the last words of the late Aleksis Kivi, one of the most famous national writers in Finland and one of the creators of the whole Finnish literature, when he understood that after his death he will continue living as long as there will be printed literature in the world. 

If you have any comments, suggestions or simply want to learn more about the results please email Mia Luostarinen (mia.luostarinen@tbwa.fi).

After talking about Big Dreams and how they influence the current business of lotteries, today another angle is beeing added: Perhaps the biggest symbol of dreams itself – Disney – is also reported to be providing relief from recession woes across the world. Disney Land has reported an 8% rise in revenue  for the year according to the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report.  Does this suggest that consumers need escape from the more sober realities facing them?

High end fashion designers certainly support this thought. While showcasing January’s haute couture Spring and Summer collection in Paris, they deliberately paid no attention to the recession when choosing the seasons fashion inspiration. John Galliano, of Christian Dior stated “Of course I’m aware of the credit crunch, but it is not a creative crunch”. In true spirit, all the designs on show were just as flamboyant, luxurious and enchanting as before. Again, fashion provides a just about reachable dream- this one of glamour, grandeur and illusion. In documenting the show, The China Post puts it best: “Paris is a place to dream…their job is to offer clients beauty and fantasy.” 

If you have any comments or suggestions please email European Intelligence Team (intelligence@mad-blog.com).

On New Years Eve Pepsi aired a spot welcoming 2009 with love, joy, optimism and lots of positive energy. As it’s a brand that enjoys entertaining its audience, the creative team has produced a 2:42 minutes behind the scenes. Enjoy.

The original spot:

And how they made LOVE:

If you have any comments or suggestions please email Rob Schwartz (rob.schwartz@tbwachiat.com).

During the UEFA EURO 2008™ adidas is turning the main hall of the of Zurich Central Station into the worlds largest celebration of team-spirit. Eleven European adidas players, representing nine nationalities, create the IMPOSSIBLE HUDDLE.

The Impossible Huddle in the main lobby of Zurich Central

The production of this spectacular installation started in October 2007 and continued in February with the first 3D scans of bodies. In March 2008, the faces and hairstyle of all eleven players were scanned and photographed to ensure an authentic look. At the end of May, forty trucks left the production sites in southern Germany and moved all components to Switzerland were the parts where assembled inside the main lobby of ZURICH CENTRAL.

The gigantic installation was seen live by more than 14 million people passing through ZURICH CENTRAL and millions more across all media. Uncountable photos and films  have been exchanged between friends and posted on the web. This was obviously great fun for the audience of adidas and global football community.

Two videos created by fans and posted on youtube.com:

If you have any comments or suggestions please email David Barton (david.barton@tbwa.de).

With the current economic state, we are entering an age of cutting down, cutting through, and cocooning. Less is very quickly becoming more. But with this also comes the rediscovery of value. As our deprivations grow, so perhaps, do our dreams. When we realise we can no longer have everything, suddenly real wants become clearer, achievements more tangible, and things … including dreams, more precious. 

With plans like big weddings and holiday homes reported to have been suspended across Europe, this downturn sees many of 2008’s aspirations put on hold. But then, value needs a waiting period. The easier it is to obtain something, the harder it is to understand its worth. It goes to follow then that the longer the wait, the bigger and possibly more necessary the dream. 

Perhaps also, at this time, it is the dream itself rather than its realisation that is important. Read more…

The largest indoor fresco in the world: adidas football heaven in Cologne (Germany)

For the FIFA World Cup 2006, adidas briefed to show that they cooperate with the best football players on the planet. We disrupted the process of simply buying media space and running a poster campaign on it. From a selection of the most interesting OOH sites in Germany we picked the ceiling of the main lobby at the Cologne Central Station to create a real football landmark. Next to the stunning Cologne cathedral we elevated football stars like Zidane, Messi, Balack or Beckham into football heaven and produced the world’s largest football fresco – 800 square meters big.

Five minutes after revealing the fresco it was already on national TV, and the press covered it during the full course of the World Cup. More than 8.5 million people visited the landmark advertising site and many more saw it across all media.

If you have any comments or suggestions please email David Barton (david.barton@tbwa.de).

On February 12 mad-blog.com featured adidas Originals search for Berlin‘s most original person. The website, created in cooperation with the German edition of Vice Magazine has been extremely busy since it has been launched. Rumors said, they even had to upgrade the server structure to handle all the traffic. It turned into a meeting point for Berlin‘s original tribe. 

Other cool brands realized this and highjacked the web-presence to advertise for their themselves. Check this out.