In the last week, the bad news about the current state of BDA’s (Big Dumb Agencies,) keeps getting worse. Publicis announced Q2 2009 earnings, saying that the recession, which started in 2007, was “unexpectedly steep,” and the company was facing “increasingly extreme” market corrections. Net income was down nearly 14%, and they are also in the bag to General Motors for $15 million. Over at Omnicom net income was down nearly 25% and they are talking about a further round of layoffs on top of the 3,500 people they’ve axed in the last few months. It’s the same dismal picture [...]

This video for We Have Band stands out with its use of face paint animation. The video was made up of 4,816 separate stills, where each frame had to be re-painted, shot, wiped off, and redrawn.

One question we have is why was it made by Wieden+Kennedy? Creatives Ida Gronblom and Fabian Berglund from the agency directed the video and knowing W+K’s wiliness it does make you fear that this is just one big ad for a cosmetics company…
[via CP Luv]

The recent headphone competition that was run by Nokia by the London office of the advertising agency Wieden Kennedy highlights how much the odds seem stacked against creatives who participate in crowsdsourcing. After receiving entries from creatives with designs of headphones inspired by a favorite track, one of the top prizes was awarded to a designer that works both for Nokia and Wieden Kennedy – an action that specifically goes against the rules of the competition.
There is big discussion going on across the web where creative minds are wondering if crowdsourcing has gone too far. A recent Wired magazine article [...]