Quality Meat Scotland looks to get Behind the Label with campaign
Quality Meat Scotland has begun a new campaign starring over 100 farmers from across the country.
Created by Merle and with media planning and buying by Mediacom Scotland, the ‘Behind the Label’ campaign aims to improve consumers’ understanding of the quality, welfare and traceability behind Scotch Beef, Scotch Lamb and specially selected Pork brands.
The campaign will include 48-sheet and six-sheet posters featuring the farmers, which will be placed around 250 sites around Scotland.
A virtual visit to a farm is also possible through the campaign website by Whitespace, featuring a number of videos involving the farmers in the campaign to present where the meat comes from.
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Get thee behind me Satan.
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I like the novel approach taken to these posters. There's nothing quite like driving past a short story to really grab your attention.
Who are all those people anyway? Are we supposed to eat them?
Just when you thought Scottish Ad standards couldn't get any worse, they do.
38 words on a six sheet?
Do any of us up here have respect for work that has gone before? Do we still look at creative magazines and annuals and see the standard of work that the rest of the world is creating?
Do we want to raise the profile of our talent up here?
Are any of us still interested in learning from the masters of the past and the present?
Did a creative director bother to look at the work and try and make the idea tighter, more impactful?
If a student came in with work like this in their portfolio we would all send them away and tell them to try harder. Yet we as professionals sell this to a client, take their money and run to the bank laughing.
There is a reason we have been watching more and more brands dribble south. And until we collectively stop the rot, they will continue to do so.
I'm sorry if Merle tried hard. But they should have tried harder.
The hacks are winning at the moment. Isn't it time we fought back before their is no industry left?
Should have just got Lady Gaga donning a pork kilt.
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I try to keep merle out of the forum that continues to allow the purveyors of vitriol to ply their sad trade under the cloak of anonymity but occasionally the words reflect too much spite and personal agenda just to let it ride.
Apart from having an unusually large amount of spare time on his hands, "anonymous" of 10:41 seems to have a lot to say for himself as defender of the industry. Such comments often reflect deep-rooted prejudice, possible troubled personalitiy, and judgement which is as uninformed as it is flawed.
Let us know who you are 10:41. Then we can all judge whether or not you have done anything in your life which might remotely entitle you to be judge and jury for the industry. No? Ah well, just another day hunched over your keyboard. But don't worry, there's more where that came from and you will be able, once again, to flex your creative writing muscles. Aye, right....
I wonder what the QM dog tastes like? Where can I buy some?
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I'm with Anon 10:41 on these poster/brief/advertorial things. On the plus side though, if you fold them up small enough and they could almost make a passable leaflet.
Anon 10.41 is talking a lot more sense than John Morgan.
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So If I said I was Anon 10.41 John.
Do you fancy that fight at Heart hill Lorry Park?
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Gareth, I'm not sure he'll buy that. Anon 10.41's spelling is excellent.
John Morgan was never particularly high in my estimation but he has now dropped further.
Have some grace man. The childish response is pathetic and please—leave out the 'show's yer work' bullshit. You're the one putting your work out there to be judged, and judged it has been. The verdict? Well, you can see for yourself.
If this is flexing your creative muscles, you need to get to the gym.
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Chris. Eh eh eh eh
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Hello John, I am anon 10.41.
I did not post my name because I did not want it to be a fight between agencies but I feel strongly about our industry and the quality of work we produce.
Every day I watch talented creatives come up with good work that could make us proud.
I rarely see any of it made.
Why is this? You own an agency. Are you proud that this work would not get you a placement at Robson Brown?
Do you think if we keep coming up with weak work we will attract international clients with big budgets to spend that will re-energise the Scottish advertising scene?
I have done a fair bit of work in my time. Much of it has been shite. Some good. But I have always tried to do work that has some ambition.
I would like it if Merle or Newhaven or Leith were being compared to BBH, Weidens, Mother, it means as a country we would have got our fire back. We would be showing people what we can do and reaping the rewards. The truth is, at the moment we are not and I would like us all to do something about that.
I'm sorry if my stance on making Scotland somewhere we would all be proud to work in again offends you.
It's just I think if we keep 'selling' clients this kind of craftless pap you wouldn't pay a student £50 a week to do we are heading the way of the dodo.
I am Spartacus.
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Hello John, I am anon 10.41.
I did not post my name because I did not want it to be a fight between agencies but I feel strongly about our industry and the quality of work we produce.
Every day I watch talented creatives come up with good work that could make us proud.
I rarely see any of it made.
Why is this? You own an agency. Are you proud that this work would not get you a placement at Robson Brown?
Do you think if we keep coming up with weak work we will attract international clients with big budgets to spend that will re-energise the Scottish advertising scene?
I have done a fair bit of work in my time. Much of it has been shite. Some good. But I have always tried to do work that has some ambition.
I would like it if Merle or Newhaven or Leith were being compared to BBH, Weidens, Mother, it means as a country we would have got our fire back. We would be showing people what we can do and reaping the rewards. The truth is, at the moment we are not and I would like us all to do something about that.
I'm sorry if my stance on making Scotland somewhere we would all be proud to work in again offends you.
It's just I think if we keep 'selling' clients this kind of craftless pap you wouldn't pay a student £50 a week to do we are heading the way of the dodo.
I am Spartacus.
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Chris. Eh eh eh eh
We love you Chris. John Morgan wouldn't know a good idea if it grabbed him by the balls!
Keep fighting and viva the creative revolution!
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So, John, you threw down the gauntlet and Chris picked it up. As one of Scotland's finest ever creatives (his book and reel speak for themselves) i'd say he has every right to judge. And you, along with plenty of the other self-appointed guardians of the Scottish Industry, are guilty as charged.
Well said, Chris.
John Morgan = Clamped
Chris Watson? Out of Caberet Voltaire?
You're right. Genius!
I'm behind the sheep.
'The proposed creative route will be judged on its originality and should be factual, relevant, yet innovative and entertaining. It should not jeopardize the current reputation of the brands.'
This is what Lauren, Gordon and Suzie at QMS tasked agencies to create. John Morgan won their competition with his entry against this creative criteria. I wholeheartedly agree with Chris Watson but would suggest that looking for creative opportunity in the public sector is the first sign of madness. John Morgan is guilty of giving this client what it wants.....the fact it looks exactly the same as all the work Tesco do with local produce makes it feel familiar, non threatening, generic. All the things QMS really wanted but could never say in a brief......
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It maybe madness to try to do creative work in the public sector, but if we just say 'it's ok to give them what they want' then this industry really is dead.
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It maybe madness to try to do creative work in the public sector, but if we just say 'it's ok to give them what they want' then this industry really is dead.
For all we know Merle pitched some fantastic ideas at the client. But at the end of the day the client pays the bills and if that's what they want then that's what they get. It's not the end of the industry, it happens at every agency...even the shiny London ones.
The issue is, how often.
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I'm sorry 13.49. That is a well thought out response but I feel it highlights the problem I am discussing.
What does the term looking for a creative opportunity mean?
A picture has been painted to clients that without the suits and businessmen keeping us whacky guys under control we would be in a whole world of trouble. It seems to have been given the meaning that all 'the creatives' care about is winning awards so you better not trust them.
This is a fallacy. Creatives are not like that. We actually want to sell stuff and probably take it more seriously than anyone else. We know creativity can cut through, that is why we are passionate about it.
A lot of work assumes that people give a shit. Good creatives realise we have to make people give a shit.
Every brief should be a creative opportunity. Some of the best work in the world has been done on public sector clients. No creative wants to damage the reputation of a brand. They want to make a brand more successful. That is why we understand tone of voice and create different work to suit different problems.
To say it is madness to try and do good work there is why we are in the state we are in.
We need to stop making excuses. And start selling clients work that will work. Remember ads that made people smile or think or feel?
This is not a dig at you personally, I just feel this is a wider, important issue that we need to stand up and start changing.
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Anon 13.49 is wrong
The public sector is awash with creative opportunities. Many agencies have done some stellar work for the public good. Knife crime? Anti-ageism? Smoking cessation?
There's no distinction between public and private. You get ambitious, focussed and smart clients in both. And dull, fearful box-tickers too.
And Chris is right. These aren't brilliant.
But it takes only one amazing piece of work to make the world notice.
Why shouldn't someone in Scotland win at Cannes?
If Special group - a wee Kiwi agency with an English CD and a Scottish MD - can do it then anyone can.
Including Frame, Newhaven and dare I say it, Merle.
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John. The Art of Advertising by George Lois. I'll stick it in the post. Might be worth a read.
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So let's boil that brief down ANON.
Originality? Farmers in a field telling us they're behind a label? That's just a boring fact. There's nothing 'original' about that whatsoever.
Factual & relevant? I'll give you that. It is a fact and farmers are relevant.
Innovative? How many portraits have we seen on posters with staff or customers spouting some nugget of info about their company / product? Bloody thousands.
Entertaining? Please. They're not clever or funny. Apart from the production values... they're 'entertaining'.
The typography is awful, the wardrobe is none existent and who the hell did that poor woman's hair?!
They look like really bad RBS posters with a label attached.
Anyone's capable of doing bad work that's for sure. But to then defend it in an aggressive manner on a public forum? You've had too many red Smarties mate.
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I'm sorry 13.49. That is a well thought out response but I feel it highlights the problem I am discussing.
What does the term looking for a creative opportunity mean?
A picture has been painted to clients that without the suits and businessmen keeping us whacky guys under control we would be in a whole world of trouble. It seems to have been given the meaning that all 'the creatives' care about is winning awards so you better not trust them.
This is a fallacy. Creatives are not like that. We actually want to sell stuff and probably take it more seriously than anyone else. We know creativity can cut through, that is why we are passionate about it.
A lot of work assumes that people give a shit. Good creatives realise we have to make people give a shit.
Every brief should be a creative opportunity. Some of the best work in the world has been done on public sector clients. No creative wants to damage the reputation of a brand. They want to make a brand more successful. That is why we understand tone of voice and create different work to suit different problems.
To say it is madness to try and do good work there is why we are in the state we are in.
We need to stop making excuses. And start selling clients work that will work. Remember ads that made people smile or think or feel?
This is not a dig at you personally, I just feel this is a wider, important issue that we need to stand up and start changing.
Doesn't a huge part of the responsibility lie with the marketing team at QMS? Don't they also get paid to guide their brand forward? They are allowed to say that's cack...or in this case, mince.
Troy, leave it to the big boys.
Go Spartacus!!!! Why shouldn't Scottish agencies be up there with the Mother's of the world, we have the talent, lets use it and stop churning out rubbish!
Don't think John should have taken the risk speaking out on this one. The steaks were too high.
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So let's boil that brief down ANON.
Originality? Farmers in a field telling us they're behind a label? That's just a boring fact. There's nothing 'original' about that whatsoever.
Factual & relevant? I'll give you that. It is a fact and farmers are relevant.
Innovative? How many portraits have we seen on posters with staff or customers spouting some nugget of info about their company / product? Bloody thousands.
Entertaining? Please. They're not clever or funny. Apart from the production values... they're 'entertaining'.
The typography is awful, the wardrobe is none existent and who the hell did that poor woman's hair?!
They look like really bad RBS posters with a label attached.
Anyone's capable of doing bad work that's for sure. But to then defend it in an aggressive manner on a public forum? You've had too many red Smarties mate.
If these ads were a bit of an animal, which bit would they be?
I've always enjoyed lampooning the substandard work of others without having my singularly genius-like thought process encumbered with such trivialities as facts, client opinions, commercial objectives, budgets etc.
And I regularly put clients in their place when they have the audacity to challenge my award-winning ideas (they always come unstuck when I say "what do you know about creativity?").
By sticking doggedly to these simple rules I am widely regarded as one of the most creative people at my local Jobcentre Plus.
They made a pigs ear of that.
BOOM pork pun.
Anon 15:09 - Offal
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15.38 perhaps that is where you are going wrong in meetings. Instead of saying, 'what do you know about creativity?' you could listen to their concerns and come back with a better solution.
Also I am far from a genius. Are you? Because you seem very resistant to change and doing things better.
As for the job centre there are lots of people in the world who have managed to stay out of it by trying to be good. John Hegarty, Bill Bernbach, Dave Droga, David Abbot, etc, etc, yawn, yawn.
Should we try and follow their lead or yours?
Leave it Chris, leave it - he's not worth it.
This has got more responses than the amount of people out there taking in the QMS message.
Certainly it's got more responses than the text response service on the posters.
It looks like a mediocre ad.
It looks like a mediocre ad I've seen before.
It looks like a mediocre ad I've seen before and I'll see again.
Looks like Gareth's playground attitude is rubbing off on his creatives. Yeah the work is naff but Newhaven lost the pitch. boo hoo.
My dear Chris,
You seemed to have misconstrued the sentiment of my most recent post.
I was of course taking the p**s.
Try not to take things to heart old chap.
I'm not sure who's right and wrong here. Story have pummeled the big boys on the last two major government pitches. Merle have beaten them on a couple of others. And one major piece of business with VS and SNH stayed in-house.
Looks like the world order is changing. Maybe what we we thought was a great creative idea isn't any more. Maybe shooting a bunch of meat farmers, warts and all on their own farms, in all weathers is smarter than doing the default faux-real portraits that a bank would commission.
Maybe the media was booked in places with high levels of foot traffic and dwell times to allow the luxury of long headlines (a bit like those nice ads on the London village underground train system). Maybe I use the word maybe too often/
It just seems like the people winning the business and earning the fees at the moment don't do things the way we think they should. It doesn't make it wrong, just different.
BTW. I like the thinking behind the latest seat belt ad (though the effect at the end is a bit pony).
If you don't think this type of communication is wrong you understand nothing about communication.
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Well, who would have believed it? that in these days of fighting for every pound of revenue so many have the time to spend in this trivial pursuit.
Anyway, I would like to thank Chris for coming out. My beef (sorry!) was not so much what was said but that it was -as have been the majority of comments in this trail - anonymous.
I take at face value Chris's point that his reason for secrecy was to avoid a fight between agencies. Well, he's certainly got one although not with me.
If he re-visits his first comment and considers how it reads under Johnny no-name, he might better understand why it was a service to him as much as to anyone else that we know who wrote the words. Credibility established where before there was none.
If Chris had put his name to it in the first place I wouldn't even have responded. I'm just a little tired of having the comments of cowards pointed out to me.
What is interesting and encouraging is that I see more real names in this little lot than in any previous trails it's been my misfortune to take in. I wonder if we could ever contemplate the day when Anonymous is in the minority - or gone altogether. Just imagine how much more intelligent this industry of ours would appear to bemused onlookers if it was awash with challenging and articulate arguments, each one suitably accredited and written with passion and without fear.
I have read all the contributions from Chris and I can see where he's coming from. I don't agree with much of it - or his use of the case he makes against an end product, the brief for which he knows nothing about. But he has the right to say what he thinks. Somebody will be listening.
Anyway, that's it for me on this one. It's been entertaining and has actually given me an insight I wasn't quite prepared for: discovering how roundly I am disliked by so many.
Unless, of course, the "many" is just a few: hunched over their laptops, snuggled up with their cocoa, carpet slippers and that warm, comfortable cloak of anonymity - popping out series vitriol while Rome burns.
John - fuck em - you got paid, they didn't - end of.
John:
You have it wrong. It's not you they hate, methinks it is the work.
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