Lürzer’s Archive Vol 3 2022
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25274 83086
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USD 21, CAD 26 ISSN 0893-0260 LuerzersArchive.com
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Contents
1
HELLO
4
THE SMALL PRINT
6
ECLECTIC
10 INTERVIEW David Raichman 16 PRINT WORK 146 CREATIVE LIVES Vivian Yong + Jody Xiong 153 FILM WORK 163 FOOD+DRINK SPECIAL REPORT Need To Know The Social Drinker The Global Bunfight Top 20 Searches 255 BACKDROP Classics Reviews Ranking
Painted by a trained AI with the concept of ‘David Raichman’
INTERVIEW
The revolution has already begun With a provocative expansion of a Vermeer masterpiece for Nestlé, Ogilvy Paris announced that AI (artificial intelligence) was more than ready to make a big impact on advertising creativity. But it gets a lot more disturbing than that, as we discover in talking with the agency’s Executive Creative Director David Raichman. He explains why and how we must embrace working with AI as a creative partner.
Vol 3/2022
10-11
373648
Print [18–145] Client Queer Britain Agency M&C Saatchi, London Lürzer’s Archive
Creative Direction Benjamin Golik Photographer Benjamin Golik
Vol 3/2022
16-17
CREATIVE LIVES
to the occasion and does not contradict the brand’s beliefs during one of the most traditional cultural moments in China? Our creative team came up with the Chinese custom of handing out hongbaos during the Spring Festival and turned it into an annual running race between an aunt and her niece spanning over a decade. The copywriter in charge is a native of Yangzhou, China; the art director is a native of Hubei who studied in Singapore; the CD is from the US; the director is from New Zealand, and the clients are from all over the world. One of the characteristics of such a team is that they will try to dig deep into the authentic details of the Hongbao cultural scene, while at the same time they hope to tell a story that can move all people with universal human truths. I think the reason that this is a powerful film is precisely because the people in the team are not from the same province or country, so as we crafted the story we had to keep discussing because you had to explain to people from different backgrounds every detail: that meant every element was well thought out and interesting to the viewer. JX I also saw the case you did for HP Omen, which is very creative and quirky. Is this so Hong Kong and magical because you are from Hong Kong? How do you balance your personal style with the brand’s ethos in your work? VY Just like The Great Chase, the creative team for Omen is from all over the world! The CD is from Taiwan, the director from England, and one copywriter from Vancouver, Canada and another Guangzhou. So instead of saying it’s a Hong Kong style, it’s a creative explosion of various cultures colliding. This combination is also in line with the modern game culture. Because many game players love to watch dramas from Europe, America, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China, and they love the video platform Bilibili, which is also a melting pot of global cultures. Therefore, it’s not that we are building the brand’s ethos but more that our creative world is as diverse as the target audience. The background of this idea comes from a pain point of gamers, which is that society holds prejudices against them, thinking that they are addicted to the virtual world and neglect their studies and regular jobs. However, when we took over the Omen project, we did research and found that there are scientific studies that prove games can train the brain’s ability of planning, organizing and coordinating. Therefore, we came up with the brand positioning of ‘Achieve Gamefulness’, hoping to defend gamers: games are not drugs, but brain vitamins! We made three films to create a virtual world like the training ground, with characters’ brains visible through glass skulls. Then we designed a brainwave scanning device for Omen at China Joy, the largest game expo in China, to transform the brain waves generated by gamers during fierce battles into colorful animations, so that the world can see how brains are activated and tested in game-play. The response later proved that the line ‘Achieve Gamefulness’ really speaks to the hearts of players. This hashtag has been viewed more than 260 million times on Weibo and became a catchphrase among players. Let’s talk about Kung Fu Water. When I saw this film, I was amazed. In addition to being unexpected and whimsical, it takes a fresh approach to present a feature of Chinese food culture: Chinese people really eat everything! If this film were launched in Europe and the United States, the food chain would probably be cows, sheep, chickens, pigs, fish and some seafood, and it would soon be over. But because this is for the Chinese audience to see, the food chain can be very long. There are a lot of strange creatures we eat! Why do you call this film Kung Fu Water? What is its relationship with Kung Fu? JX Vivian, you mentioned that Chinese people love to eat everything, and they do! Every meal is rich and diverse, chicken, fish, shrimp, beef, bullfrog, blowfish... The pots and pans are sticky with all kinds of greasy stains, which are especially difficult to wash. The most powerful function of the Vatti dishwasher, our client’s product, is that it uses different angles of water to rinse away the dirt and bacteria layer by layer. Bruce Lee once used water to describe the essence of Kung Fu, saying ‘be like water’ . He explained: ‘Kung Lürzer’s Archive
Fu – the best example would be a glass of water. Why? Because water is the softest substance in the world, but yet it can penetrate the hardest rock or anything – granite, you name it. Water also is insubstantial; by that I mean you cannot grasp hold of it, you cannot punch it and hurt it. So every Kung Fu man is trying to do that; to be soft like water, and flexible and adapt to the opponent.’ So, we personified the water in the dishwasher as the water man who practiced Kung Fu and took actions to rinse off stains that have also come alive. The rinsed fish spits out the chicken, the chicken spits out the bullfrog, the bullfrog spits out the pig, the pig spits out the octopus, the octopus spits out the goose, the goose spits out the cow... Finally, under the whirlwind power of the water man, the eel spits out a clean white plate. Through the form of humor and exaggeration, it reflects the powerful intelligent function of Vatti’s Trinity Health Dishwasher, which ‘washes away layers of stain’. This dishwasher is so powerful that ordinary water will become a martial arts master who can easily eliminate all the residues and grease of stains. We Chinese are good at developing new recipes, so there are many interesting inspirations we can use. After the film was released, some people on the Internet criticized us for ‘mistreating animals for the sake of making a commercial film’. In fact, these are all 3D animations, which in a way also reflects that our art director is quite good. For the first time, I felt happy to be dissed. NFT has been taking the world by storm. As a leading creative agency in China, are you ready? VY We did an NFT project for HP Omen. Like all our works, we want to make it collectible, but more importantly it needed to deliver a message. In 2021, a new law was enacted in China, limiting people under 18 to two hours of gaming per week. As a player-centric brand, Omen asked us to think about what we could do for players. We couldn’t oppose it, so we found roundabouts and celebrated the birthdays of adult gamers who turned 18, after which point they were finally able to play as much as they wanted. Because of this law, a gamer’s 18th birthday becomes more meaningful. We came up with the idea of using an NFT as a birthday gift. We collaborated with a 3D animator in the UK to create an animated short film, and then turned 575 frames of the film into 575 NFTs for the 575 gamers who would turn 18 in 2021, giving them a surprise and also feeling that Omen really understands their hearts and pain points. You also created a series of NFT collections. They’re very stylish and personal. Fans snatched them up the moment they were launched. What was the concept behind the creation? JX On April 22, World Environment Day, I released a set of NFT collections called Waste-Sorting Blind Box under the name of my personal studio, with the theme of Waste Separation. In Shanghai now, one has to sort personal waste based on a set of newly introduced regulations, which can seem puzzling to some. Against this backdrop, I designed 30 adorable licensed figurines using recycled trash, turning waste into objects of desire: glass bottles, banana peels, cigarette butts, expired pills, broken bulbs and used face masks etc. A series of metro posters were created for people to scan with mobile phones and participate in the Guess What Kind of Waste I Am? quiz. Winners would then have a chance to win a Blind Box. Bin-shaped vending machines were also set up in the metro stations where people can purchase Waste-Sorting Blind Boxes via their mobile phone payment system. A graphic description of fun facts about the waste classification system is attached, raising awareness of waste separation.The difference this time is that we gave the NFT collections a more complex and grand narrative. Among them is also a hidden-gem collection, which centers around the pandemic in Shanghai. Over 6000 NFTs were sold out overnight, totalling 300k RMB in sales. It was a boost of confidence for me as it was my first attempt into the NFT world. As a creative, I am always happy to interpret and execute the brief in the most creative and precise way to bring freshness and beauty to the client and the market. But at the same time, as creatives, we must never lose the ability to create freely. No matter what I do, I will never stop creating. For me that is one of the greatest joys in life.
Film [154–161] Client Gucci Agency Gucci in-house, Milan Creative Direction Alessandro Michele
Art Direction Christopher Simmonds Director Mert & Marcus Production Mert & Marcus
Vol 3/2022
152–153
FOOD + DRINK SPECIAL
Eat the planet better Consumers are hungry for change. Generation Z is well aware that they have the planet’s future in their hands, and are determined to make a difference both personally and globally. To their mind, and rightly so, a healthier planet will only emerge if they switch to a healthier diet. Brands that show how they prioritise a consumer’s health and welfare and the planet’s future over short-term profitability will be rewarded with loyalty for years to come.
Lürzer’s Archive
Hyper smart food The once revolutionary smartphone is now ubiquitous. Next up for transformation is the concept of smart diets – hyper-individualised approaches to eating better. Sharing their personal data with a multitude of Internet of Things-enabled devices, consumers will customise their eating preferences. Recipes and meals designed around their personal flavour, taste and texture proclivities will become the norm, and home devices such as Amazon’s Alexa and Nestlé China’s personal smart speaker XiaoAI will evolve and provide brands with huge opportunities to collect data and influence consumer choices.
Feast on data
Harvest technology
Mental health is coming out of the closet; and food has a big role to play in our future emotional well-being. Consumers will use data and biological tests as essential ingredients in their diet plans. Modifying their food choices to improve brain health, their state of mind and their mood. Brands that harness this trend will create individualized meal kits, mood-enhancing nutritional drinks, customized diet plans and even personalized products.
As resource shortages strain supply chains and hurt yields of conventional agriculture, science and technology will play an increasing role in feeding the world. And consumers will overcome their fears to see the value and necessity of lab-created or engineered foods. Already indoor vertical farming in environments more akin to high-tech factories is transforming the inner-city supply of herbs and vegetables in New York and London. Soon premium grocery brands will open branded indoor farms to offer just-picked freshness.
More and more ingredients will be grown in alternative places such as underground, underwater, even in deserts and, ultimately, out there in space.
left page: THE GREEN O Photographer Dan Goldberg 200best Ad Photographers 21/22 this page left: Digital artist Antoine Magnien, 200best Digital Artists 19/20 this page right: Agency Sancho BBDO, Bogota L[A] 5/2019
Vol 3/2022
172–173
FOOD + DRINK SPECIAL
A global bunfight Award-winning creative director Tony Malcolm explores the past, present and future of McDonald’s and Burger King advertising as these two mega brands slog it out in the world’s fast food market.