Cyclone Blog

What's happening IRL

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Bigger isn’t always better

It seems you’re never too far away from the latest home renovation reality show– no matter where you are. From Grand Designs to The Block, Renovation Rumble to Better Homes & Gardens, home improvement reality shows have been gracing our screen for over two decades. Whether you watch them for the drama, the latest architectural design ideas or the encouragement to pick up that paintbrush, there is something about refurbishing homes that has the nation transfixed.

 Personally, I have had my fill of rendering tips & wallpaper styling sessions from those overnight ‘reality star’ celebrities to last me 2 lifetimes. What I find far more interesting is the Small Home Movement, which has quietly been gaining momentum across the globe over the last couple of years – and for good reason.

 While most of us are still stuck on the ‘bigger is better’ style of thinking, when it comes to purchasing or renting our ideal home, then investing lots of time, money & effort to renovate areas of the house we barely use, the small house movement is encouraging us to question just how much space we really need. Does a young couple with no kids and 3 cats really need that 5 bedroom behemoth?  Should empty nesters still grip onto the giant house their kids grew up in now they’ve all flown the coup?

 If you’re looking for something better than a suffocating mortgage or those soul-destroying rental payments, maybe it’s time to check out a couple of alternatives...

 American builder and expert in the Small Home Movement, Andrew Morrison, gives a great overview in his TedX talk below.  Without giving too much away, that the average home size is increasing while the average family size is decreasing makes owning an enormous home, well… kind of pointless.  He champions these low cost alternatives by encouraging people to consider building smaller homes to save money on household costs and spend these savings on doing the things they really love.

 Watch his entertaining and enlightening TedX talk. 

You don’t have to be an architect to make these ideas work; even high school kids are having a go - check out this 16 year old forward planning for a rent-free future while he studies:

Still not convinced? If you're a fan of documentaries and have 2 hours to spare, ‘Small is Beautiful’ looks at 4 people who are investing in these tiny houses.

If you don’t have time to watch any videos, here’s a few Australian Award Winning Small Homes to get you inspired.

- Sean Cumming, Senior Account Manager

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Cyclone’s first ever food fight!

And what does double T stand for….

Yup you've got It. Tops Teppanyaki!

A wonderful Cyclone Social evening was had by all at the Ginzi Teppanyaki Restaurant in China Town.

Flames, bibs and delicious food were just the tip of the Japanese iceberg experience.

After being bibbed and numbered, our very talented Teppan chef started us off with freshly cooked prawns and deep fried prawn heads. Yah for some, nah, nope, no way for others! This was followed by a non stop flow of meat, oh and some meat and yes I mustn't forget more wonderful meat!

A bowl catching competition (Laura showing her exceptional skills in that arena) with a bit of food tossing here and there had us all ruby faced with joy.

There was a stand out highlight of the night with Leslie's husband Dom being a very good sport.

He was the brave warrior who stepped up to the plate, taking on the mouth catching challenge of the flying omelette the quick wristed Japanese chef rapidly fired straight into his face. Very amusing and oh how we laughed!

Summing up it was a terrifically tops night and would recommend this restaurant to persons wanting a fun, little messy but highly entertaining evening out.

A massive thank you to the lovely Leslie for organising the whole evening.

- Danielle Haran, Finished Artist

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Baking up to beat cancer - Cyclone’s Biggest Morning Tea

Cyclonians got together on Tuesday 2nd June to host our own Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea. Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea is a chance for Australians to get together and raise money for a great cause. 1 in 2 Australians are diagnosed with cancer by age 85 and every dollar contributed makes a real difference to helping fund The Cancer Council’s vital research, prevention and support programmes. The team’s support was amazing with almost everyone contributing by baking up their own secret recipes – while some who are less skilled when it comes to baking simply visited their favourite bakery or had their better halves to pitch in! We began setting up at 10am and the spread looked and smelt amazing, after a few quick Instagram pix we started filling up our tummies and the donation box. Needless to say, we will need to work off those extra calories over the upcoming weeks.

Big shout out to Denise who organised our Biggest Morning Tea, it was great to have everyone stop and get together for a good cause. Thank you to everyone who contributed! We hope our contributions will help make a difference and look forward to our next Biggest Morning Tea.

- Kajendran Karunanethy, Finished Artist

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Seb Lester is bringing Calligraphy back!

Seb Lester is a trained Graphic Designer who has developed typefaces and type illustrations for some of the world’s biggest companies, including NASA, Apple, Nike, Intel, The New York Times, British Airways, The Daily Telegraph and H&M. His profile has blown up in the past four years with over 500,000 followers on his various social media networks. It’s his series of time-lapsed calligraphy videos on Instagram that are truly mesmerizing! I stumbled across his work and instantly became fixated on his meticulous penmanship skills. I’m pretty sure I have viewed every single one. There is something hypnotizing and calming about watching his linework. Watch him work his magic as he re-creates these iconic logos in just seconds!

A video posted by Seb Lester (@seblester) on May 2, 2015 at 5:16am PDT

A video posted by Seb Lester (@seblester) on Mar 10, 2015 at 6:09am PDT

A video posted by Seb Lester (@seblester) on Mar 19, 2015 at 6:18am PDT

A video posted by Seb Lester (@seblester) on Jan 26, 2015 at 7:34am PST

A video posted by Seb Lester (@seblester) on Apr 11, 2015 at 6:13am PDT

Seb Lester on Instagram 

About Seb Lester 

Seb Lester on Facebook

- Gaby Vaysman, Finished Artist

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Autocreativity

I love cars, what can I say, I am addicted to the smell of leather interiors, the purr of a V12 when it’s idling and the roar of a throaty V8. My head turns when I see a clean line or stunning detail and when I see a coupe or drop top I wished I could have one, but alas I have champagne tastes on a beer budget. I can’t walk past a Mercedes Benz, Porsche or Jaguar without the small vein on my forehead starting to throb.   

I am in awe of how advertising agencies with humongous budgets get to create some really outstanding creative ways to sell cars. Whether it’s all about the luxury, the aspiration, the benefits, the performance or the price to entice the consumer, you MUST have it.

Once in a while car manufacturers go into battle to out do each and vex one another to see who is the better. I stumbled across these great ads Mercedes Vs Jaguar from 2014 that demonstrated one aspect of Mercedes stability in a much more simple and entertaining way than Jaguar replied. Creative, clever and no animals where hurt in the making. Jaguar replied with an even smarter rebuttal. To further aggravate Jaguar, Mercedes demonstrates its super aerodynamics in a way that is so cute and yet again really clever, Jag is yet to reply. Competition can truly be creative! And yes I am a MB fan.

One upmanship spawns great creativity when BMW and Audi do the battle of the billboards ‘A game of chess’ with each manufacturer making its move to out-do each other. Simplicity personified with great media buying that only intensifies the campaign. The ultimate billboard can be seen at the end of the clip. How did they get that spot?

One of the most inspiring commercials I've watched is the “Class Reunion” from Porsche.

As a semi-petrol head, this commercial gave me the motivation to continue wanting to own my dream car. Whilst you can dismiss commercials that show a car's safety, technology, performance and everything technical, this commercial shows passion, joy and emotion. Hmmmm isn’t that what motoring is all about. Though there is some unlikeliness that three school friends and their former teacher would all own Porsches, but it's certainly an awesome dream!  Over produced and probably over budget, it is grandiose and very very, American.

- Richard Foster, Production Manager

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MET BALL 2015 - THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

This year’s Met Ball themed China: through the looking glass, lived up to its reputation as the ‘Oscars of Fashion’. From sparkle and feathers to tattoos and tiaras, this red carpet had some of the most memorable fashion moments.

 THE GOOD

Kate Hudson sparkled in Michael Kors staying true to her signature red carpet metallic style, while fitting with the Asian theme of the night.

As co-host of the event, Jennifer Lawrence looked elegant and chic on the red carpet in Dior Haute Couture.

Who says you need haute couture to look glamorous? Emily Ratajkowski was stunning in a Topshop bespoke dress.

THE BAD

 Just wearing red isn’t going to cut it when channelling the Asian theme of this year’s gala. Amal Clooney and Kris Jenner, you can do better.

THE UGLY

Chloe Sevigny missed the mark in this ill-fitted gown by JW Anderson. Better luck next year Chloe!

- Laura Wiebe, Account Manager

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Edible Art by Brittany Wright

Brittany Wright’s bright and vivid photographs caught my attention while browsing Instagram on the weekend. Wright views food as art and has captured it in it’s true colour and form. Her photos show an array of tones and hues, often in gradients to show how the colours of food naturally manifest. You can tell that Wright has spent a lot of time experimenting with various compositions to show food at its best. My favourite of hers has to be the donuts, showcasing a delicious variety of donut forms and their sweet colourful toppings.

Check out her instagram account @wrightkitchen or visit her blog wrightkitchen.com for more yummy goodness!

Brittany Wright @wrightkitchen Photography, Seattle

- Denise Cheang, Account Manager

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Hush Puppies AW15 campaign and activation

Following on from the SS15 campaign Cyclone created for Hush Puppies, the AW campaign continues to pitch the brand at a more youthful, fashion savvy customer – one that is not prepared to sacrifice style for comfort. Inspiration for the colour palette was taken directly from the collection - neutrals and pastels in washed out, winter sky hues. Looking directly to AW15 trends, styling was relaxed and modern, with an emphasis on texture, knitwear and tailoring. Minimal Scandinavian-inspired furniture, luxury rugs, cushions and throws were used to style the warehouse space.

To celebrate the launch of the AW15 collection and communicate the brand message of ‘style & comfort’ to a wider audience, Cyclone came up with a game-changing activation, based on an insight about people wearing their daggy sneakers with their workwear on their daily commute. The Hush Puppies ‘Style Patrol’ was developed as an elite squad on the lookout for the crime of pairing runners with workwear. Those guilty were arrested and fined with a free pair of Hush Puppies to prove that they can look stylish and be comfortable – even on their walk to work. Check out the video!

- Clare Richardson, Art Director

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Style Workout!

Our Autumn Winter fashion shoot for Westpoint Shopping Centre is now live. Westpoint is situated in Blacktown, Sydney and has a very diverse demographic.

The concept speaks to this target market through the street inspired styling and the ways in which it was shot. We used a concrete backdrop, which when lit made it feel like an underground parking garage. The model we chose had to be able to move as well as ooze attitude.

It was an obvious fit with sports luxe being a worldwide fashion trend this year. Take a look at Chanel’s Fall-Winter Ready-to-Wear COCO COACH campaign by Karl Lagerfeld just to get an idea of how much this trend has and will be blowing up in 2015.   

With our fantastic team, I’m happy to say we got great results! Thanks Bec Cole for the awesome styling, Andrew Richey from Ripe Studios for amazing lighting and Toni Newman for keeping us all in line!

Leslie Preyer, Art Director

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In the midst of Autumn Winter fashion season, we're always on the look out for inspiration. This beautifully executed AW15 campaign from rag & bone has got us talking about movement (and we're secretly pleased our latest fashion campaign is bang on trend)

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Watta weekend.

Cyclone was out and about this weekend and getting stuck into some of the incredible creative events happening around Melbourne. The agency was basically glowing from the lights of smartphones this morning as everybody traded videos, pictures and stories of new technology, sweet design and insane ideas.  

 On Friday, two Cyclone creatives spent the day brainstorming at Pause The Road Toll, an ideas hack presented by Pause Festival and the TAC to help put an end to drowsy driving! Cyclone’s Hannah and Sam came a way with a very special honourable mention and plenty of giggles with their out there (maybe a little too out there) idea. Hannah spent the rest of the weekend immersed in the future of technology and ideas at Pause festival, even attending an exclusive Storytelling Masterclass with the producers of This American Life (S*** = lost). So what is the technology of the future? Augmented reality nail art, that’s what.

  Laura, Danielle and Anna made annual design and illustration event, Supergraph, their mission. Anna indulged her love of print, coming in this morning with a handbag full of printed material, while Danielle pronounced birds to be the unofficial theme of the event. Laura checked out winning emerging artist, Kate Balwin’s installation, which featured a whole lot of robotic puppies running around with pens stuck to their tails. Laura filmed the exhibit on her iPhone and this morning managed to reduce the agency into a puddle of not being able to deal. Check out Laura’s video below!

A video posted by Cyclone (@cycloneadvertising) on Feb 15, 2015 at 9:51pm PST

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Boutique Homes 'Make an Impression'

We are pleased to announce that the NEW BoutiqueHomes TVC has gone live on Victorian channels over the weekend!

This TVC was conceptualised and developedby Cyclone with our production partner New McPherson and was filmed in the latest Boutique Homes design launched late January, the Grange 45.

 Boutique Homes are newer to the Victorian home building scene, moving here from WA in 2009, and they wanted to introduce themselves to the market and present their unique offering to homebuilders and homebuyers.

 After reading the brief from Boutique we felt that a unique standout in the Boutique Homes offering was affordable fashion.  

 This was supported by their personalised and transparent approach to building a home. This approach considers the customer journey throughout the home building process from initially presenting a home to potential buyers and explaining all costs associated, right through to ensuring that the home is just right for the customer when it is delivered.  

 We wanted to communicate the ease of building a Boutique Home and the quality of the final product. Using a combination of macro and wide shots, a rich visual narrative weaved together the experience of living in a Boutique Home and the quality of the lifestyle it promises.      

 We wanted our audience to aspire to live in a Boutique Home and to understand that it would be easy to make yours – to build, to maintain and to entertain in.

 We believe this TVC really makes an impression on potential home buyers and showcases the value of a Boutique Home. Have a look! 

- Jo Stokes, Senior Account Manager

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Dove speaks to gurls with curls

Dove’s new #loveyourcurls campaign is a welcome breath of fresh air for curly haired girls – and that’s saying something, as fresh air usually means my hair is a comb-killing mess.

As someone who entered the world fro first, I’ve spent the last 25 years locked in the prison of my locks. From putting an iron dangerously close to my face, to having strangers pull my curls without asking, to the constant unsolicited statement: you’d look so nice with straight hair, believe me people, I know the pain!

  But finally, curly girl problems are starting to see the light. Thanks to a new campaign by Dove, girls are encouraged to love their curls, waves, kinks and frizz.

  The campaign offers a heartbreaking insight into the way young girls view their curls. These frank interviews are the strength in the campaign, perhaps because we don’t realise how often curly hair is regarded as inferior in the advertising world. Think about the classic before and after shot. The girl on the left, depressed and disgusted with her level of frizz (read: normal curly hair) sits sadly next to the girl on the right, glowing with hair more akin to Lego hair than anything achievable for many of us. I’m telling you, no matter how much silicone and hot irons you throw at my fro, the beast can’t be tamed.

  Dove has long adopted a ‘love your body’ brand image, but until now this has mostly focused on body shape and size. It’s good to see them start branching out into all kinds of body love. The campaign, like Dove campaigns can be, is a little over produced, however the sentiment is right.

  Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ou7CyPtkpng

  Female empowerment is a growing trend in adland, possibly in response to consumers becoming tired of the traditional model of creating problems for women before solving them with products. Forbes magazine recognised that 2014 was a watershed year for women’s empowerment advertising, citing Pantene’s Not Sorry, and Always’ Like a Girl as examples. Similarly, WGSN brought up this trend in the 2014 WGSN live as a key cultural change in how we market to women.

  Bang on trend, a new fitness campaign by the UK government encourages women to get fit for their health in a positive and empowering way. Championing messages like ‘I swim because I love my body, not because I hate it’ and my personal favourite, ‘sweating like a pig, feeling like a fox’, the #thisgirlcan campaign is a high energy jump in the right direction.

  Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN7lt0CYwHg

  Off to the right start, here’s hoping 2015 is the year of body-positive advertising. 

- Hannah McElhinney, Copywriter

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THE ADS OF SUPER BOWL 2014: A POPULARITY CONTEST WITH PUPPIES

For a nation whose economy was built on consumption, Americans don’t pay much attention to advertising. Experts call it fragmentation. TV shows no longer attract big audience that once made mass marketing possible, so advertisers lost faith in making big budget emotional spectaculars to move the general public. Critics called Breaking Bad the greatest show of all time, but fewer than 3% of Americans actually watched it. More Americans own ferrets than watch Fox News. Even when they’re in front of the set, today’s audiences aren’t paying attention: Buzzfeed gets a spike in site traffic every evening as people switch on primetime TV and almost immediately zone out.

The Super Bowl is the exception. More than a hundred million Americans come together to watch the game. And a hundred million viewers glued to their TVs for four hours is as big a deal for advertisers as it was for the Broncos and the Seahawks. For one night of the year, everyone’s paying attention, and advertisers get to party like it’s 1979.

And you pay to get in to the party. The airtime alone costs $4m for 30 seconds. Many advertisers budget a further $4-6m to preview their spots on YouTube and promote them on Twitter. They have staffed up social media command centers, an anxious hybrid of air traffic control and a sitcom writers’ room, to talk their way into the online conversation. Add the cost of shooting special effects and hiring the Muppets or Bruce Willis, and the fifty advertisers who appear in the Super Bowl have staked half a billion dollars on a night’s popularity. It’s the marketing equivalent of going to the prom in a hired limo and a haze of body spray. The urge not to screw up is overwhelming, and it shows.

As a result, last night’s Super Bowl advertising resembled less of a commercial break and more of a weaponized popularity contest. Making the best spot came second to gaming the contest.

Some struck early. This was the first Super Bowl where the ads were already in the public domain weeks in advance of the event. Budweiser racked up close to 20m YouTube views of their Super Bowl spots before game time.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQB7QRyF4p4

Like single guys who have read The Game, some advertisers had a cunning plan to trick their way to the top. Esurance pledged to give $1.5m to someone who tweeted #EssuranceSave30 during the game. H&R Block was said to be buying online ads before the previews of other Super Bowl spots. Tide set out to tweet responses to other brands’ Super Bowl ads, which means – deep breath now – advertisers advertising other advertisers’ advertising.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABxP3t7XP3g

No subject matter is too loveable or too obvious to be a weapon in the popularity contest. National pride, nostalgia TV and cute animals are all in the arsenal. MetLife gave the Peanuts gang time off from hawking life insurance to let Schroder play The Star Spangled Banner on his piano. Chobani unleashed a bear on a country store to look for real honey yoghurt, RadioShack dialed in the stars of 1980s television and Budweiser built an axis of adorability with horses and puppies. These emotional hot buttons work, but they’re pressed too often.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbTVOEVy6p4

Because it’s a place to put a message in front of the nation, new brands with enough cash can use the Super Bowl to say: “I’ve arrived.” Engineering toy brand Goldie Blox found $4m down the back of the sofa and nicely showed girls gathering their pink princess-y toys and blasting them off in a rocket.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnqLgbKKUjw

At least Goldie Blox remembered to say something when the spotlight turned on them. Other brands had put more thought into bagging a star than finding something interesting for the to do. Maserati put Quvenzhané Wallis at the front of its first ever TV ad, laboring through a long manifesto about the brand that could rival Brad Pitt’s ad for Chanel for celebrity meaninglessness.

Kia borrowed Laurence Fishburne’s riff from The Matrix about taking the red pill as an analogy for trying a new luxury car. Cool hire, nice idea. Then they had Fishburne burst into song, just in case one extra gag might tip the brand into popularity. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmpiwU50f5w 

Chrysler, who had the coup of securing Bob Dylan as a frontman, seemed too awestruck to edit his script. Dylan narrated a rambling story about American cars that began “Is there anything more American than America?” This was the sequel to Eminem’s Imported From Detroit ad from the 2011 Super Bowl and Clint Eastwood’s Halftime In America spot the following year. Those ads found an epic way to say something meaningful. Dylan had style but no substance. If you’re going to bring a big gun to the contest, best to load it with some ammunition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlSn8Isv-3M

It was left to Coke and Cheerios to bring some meaning to the popularity contest. Cheerios became a champion of rainbow America after weathering hateful YouTube comments for casting a biracial family in a recent ad. Last night, they brought the family back. They didn’t need a gimmick: the return of the family was a defiant, affirming gesture. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKuQrKeGe6g

Coke had a truly diverse cast of Americans singing America The Beautiful in Spanish, Tagalog and Hebrew. Their willingness to champion the new America is a bold move, when the trolls who attacked Cheerios still lie in wait online.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLCIVZWq1FAwcWJmgdF5o3-QTZZ-OnBUgA&v=443Vy3I0gJs

Eoghan O'Donnell - Account Manager

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WINNER: 'MOST OUTSTANDING MARKETING CAMPAIGN'

Great news at Cyclone HQ. One of our campaigns has just taken out the award for ‘Most outstanding marketing campaign’ at the Exhibition & Event Australia Association Awards.

Our client Informa Exhibitions is a major international player in the world of  exhibitions and conferences and mounts an impressive list of exhibitions in Australia.

One of their most important events for the year is the Build & Renovating Expo, operating in the very competitive Home Exhibition market.

For 2013 it was agreed to rename and rebrand the exhibition, develop new creative and plan a more integrated media program.

As a start point Cyclone set up qualitative research that provided some real insights as to what renovators really want from an exhibition.

Along with a new name and refreshed logo this set the direction for an impactful  campaign using the emotional and highly relevant ‘ dream home theme’.

Success depends on maximising cut through and reach in the critical two weeks prior to the exhibition opening. To achieve this the campaign cleverly integrated 30 and 15 sec TV, press, magazine, radio and digital advertising.

The digital campaign was based on a Herald Sun home page buyout and the highly effective Cadreon targeting system.

The award was vindicated by attendance results, particularly ‘real’ renovators , and a positive response from exhibitors who experienced record leads and sales.

Rod Fuller - General Manager

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GAP GOES BACK TO BLUE 

Retail giant, Gap, has returned to TV after a four-year hiatus, launching their youth-targeted “Back to Blue” campaign, featuring second-generation artists – Alexa Ray Joel and Dhani Harrison.

Performing their own rendition of a song made famous by their parents, Billy Joel’s “Just the way you are” and George Harrison’s “For you blue”, the commercial execution is simple and intimate. In a show of their commitment to the social community, Gap debuted these tender musical moments on Twitter.

 The ads are accompanied by in-depth film interviews, quotes, images and facts about Dhani and Alexa, available across the brand’s digital platforms. This content strategy was adopted to drive a social conversation and deepen the emotional power of Back to Blue. The approach will strengthen and prolong the life of the campaign and brand message long after the commercials stop airing.

"The entire Back to Blue campaign embodies what it means to be comfortable in your own skin," said Gap CMO Seth Farbman, in a press release. "As a brand that is known for expressing itself through sight, sound and motion, we wanted to bring this idea to life through the voices of two individuals who are recognized for staying true to who they want to be."

Celebrating Gap’s denim legacy, the Autumn/Winter 2013 season will be the retailer’s broadest-reaching campaign in recent history, with assets spanning print, outdoor, mobile, direct, social, in-store, digital and TV.

Jill Hale - Senior Account Manager

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SHOPPING CENTRE BRAND RELAUNCH - SNEAK PEAK

With the first taste of Spring weather gracing our frozen winter bodies we nabbed two days in the glorious sunshine early this week for a big two-day photo shoot! 

We've been busy toiling away on a massive  Shopping Centre redevelopment for a while now and it was magic to see everything taking shape. Big hours and the challenges that four different locations can create, working with the team at Andrew Richey photography was as inspiring as ever. Take a sneak peak at some behind the scenes snaps below and stay tuned for the big launch when the new brand will be hitting the market!

Kate Bensen - Art Director