These are going to be addictive. 'The New Yorker' weekly captions competition, just for fun...

(1) "Fido's water & food bowls have been full for the past three days."


(2) "It just gets lonely out there sometimes, y'know."

Bridging Understanding and Embracing Engagement.

Two recent pieces of creative advertising I admire for seeking to challenge common ground and engage audiences in a way that is actually, well, engaging, are Ogilvy NY's work for IBM "A Boy & His Atom – The World's Smallest Movie" and BBDO NY's online mini-drama series "Daybreak2012" combined with a multi-platform experience for AT&T.

For me, the reason Ogilvy's IBM spot works is because it asks me to be interested, learn something and appreciate the research and work behind the product. It showcases the capability of the scientists who work for IBM and their innate skill to produce something new and push their own boundaries. I see people who genuinely love what they are doing and really want to share this fascinating work as well as challenge themselves. This in turn gives me a unique insight into the commitment and desire IBM have towards innovation and development. Breaking weird and wonderful world records along the way is also a nice bonus. Most importantly; its interesting, educational beyond the product, engaging and I feel like I've benefitted from watching (a rare bonus from an advert).

BBDO's work 'Daybreak2012' for AT&T is a different animal. There's always the argument that agencies and clients are so keen to engage audiences on a multitude of digital levels for the sake of it that the idea (if any) becomes the secondary vehicle to getting a brand 'talking' in whatever online space is available even with no story to tell or relevance to the platform (ugh).

BBDO though have made sure the online platforms are utilised correctly and in an engaging and involving way (say I anyway). It doesn't feel like the product is being shoved into the spaces but it sits quite comfortably into them, admittedly here and there the occasional shoe-horn is used but not to the point were you're thinking 'For f**k sake! That was completely irrelevant and unnecessary.' I'm actually curious about the technology AT&T are flogging me. But again, more importantly, I was interested in the story being told around the product. BBDO have tapped into the available on demand TV series zeitgeist that people are gorging on (people talk about Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, House of Cards, Dexter etc. like they matter more than real life sometimes but they are genuinely good shows, a purple patch for TV series'). The use of discovery and investigation within Daybreak2012 is a nice device that involves me, if I choose to, but it doesn't need me which might be the only flaw. If I made more of a difference to the story it could make the campaign more robust. But overall I was excited and engaged in being a Jack Boxer & following the Daybreak story. Good work BBDO, Tom Kring and AT&T.

IAPI One To Watch Award 2013 nomination

I am absolutely delighted to be nominated for the IAPI One to Watch Award 2013. The award recognises the achievement of excellent professional standards, creativity and innovation in marketing communications by a graduate student of the IAPI/DIT Advertising and Digital Communication Postgraduate programme. The nominees are voted by their peers and then the winner will be decided by lecturers from the postgrad. What a great finale to a brilliant year. The Winner will be announced on Tuesday March 12th in Smock Alley, Dublin.

School's Out for Summer!

There's been a substantial gap in the frequency of posts here but for good reason; in January I was accepted onto IAPI & DIT's Advertising & Digital Communications Postgrad. I applied for the course with a view to furthering my education and keeping pace with the rapidly changing face of advertising and the role of digital technology within the field. Semester one has ended for the summer and the course is living up to the lofty reviews from graduates, as well as my own expectations. Roll on Semester two!

Ads of Super Bowl 2012

Thanks Mashable for collating all of these. Some good, more bad unfortunately, babies and dogs can't hide a poor ad. VW, very disappointing to see them attempt to shoehorn in the Star Wars theme. Some of the better ones are the Chevrolet Mayan Apocalypse, History Channel's Swamp People, Audi's Vampires and for purely nostalgic reasons Honda's Broderick's Day-Off. None will live very long in the memory or have broken any new ground in what is the biggest commercial window in the world. Opportunities missed all round.

ICAD Creative Shorts

ICAD presents ICAD Meitheal. A series of events designed to celebrate the creativity of ICAD folk.

First event is an evening of eleven short films all shown together on this one epic night, taking place in The Sugar Club on the 26th of this month.

Featured on the night will be Brian O’Malley & Gary Moore’s Crossing Salween | Conor Ferguson’s Atlantic | Dylan Cotter’s Washed Up Love | Eoghan Nolan’s John Duffy’s Brother | Gavin Kelly’s Avatar Days | Johnny Kelly’s Shelly | Ken Wardrop’s The Herd | Mark Tuthill’s Venom | Michael Creagh’s The Crush | Nick Kelly’s Shoe and Last But Not Least | Steph Green’s New Boy

My work featured in LeCool Xmas exhibition

LeCool Dublin are teaming up with the Bernard Shaw for their second annual Xmas show.

Launching on December 8th with works from:

Ivor Noyek / Alan Clarke / nerosunero / Shane O Driscoll / Maser / JOR / Rich Gilligan / Des Moriarty / Isabel Reyes Feeney / ADW / Fink / seanandyvette / Solus / James Earley / Killian Dunne / Paddy Lynch / Thirty Three Trees / John Rooney / Phil Dunne / ...and MORE!

50% of all sales will go towards the Simon Community.