It all started off perfectly, racking up the wins, I was on fire, soo fast, shooting out 3-4 ideas in a minute.
I felt like the Usain Bolt of advertising, come to think of it, I think I have a claim to that title!
At one point I was shooting them out without even looking where I was going with the marker on the layout pad, I had that much energy and confidence.
Like Muhammad Ali I was dishing out my skill, this is how I felt!
Muhammad Ali is a idol of mine, I have always said to myself, I would like to be the Muhammad Ali of advertising, a tip I noted from Paul Arden's book 'It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want To Be', aim to be something outside advertising, adds freshness/originality instead of trying to replicate something already there within the industry.
Yes I was flying high, however I should of stepped down while I was winning, instead I got greedy with my position and carried on for more victories.
Thats when I hit my losing streak, well I would not call it a losing streak, more like a on and off button, like I was running out of power, I was off form..
BUT it felt like a losing streak.
With all those loses, well it was quiet fuzzy judging they could of been wins here and there, anyway their is one creative I seek to revenge my defeat too, he is the art director of the @IdcircoCreative brunch, the creative team known as Adam + Jack, that being Adam.
They remind me of Master Blaster from Mad Max Thunderdome.
They are one of my main rivals, and I hope one day to clash with them in Mortal Kombat with my creative partner, tag team style, but until that day comes I will be training very hard Rocky montage style, cutting down trees and shit.
Here is a stand off..
kind of.
In the end I respect my opponents/competition, its what makes advertising so exciting for me, because I am in community of friends as well as creatives, its all good banter, and they help me improve bonucing ideas off one another, I am talking about the OMBLES!
And this is something Nick can note in the testimonials.
"OMB is my hit."
I am addicted to it, I confess, I am a total OMB junkie.
What I am saying is creative advertising would be a very boring/lonely place if there was not people in the industry pushing you to improve, inspiring you, showing you that it can be done.
I guess you can say that in most professions, but its in this career you meet all sorts of people, big and small, logical and impulsive, book worm and dare devil.
Its these chemistries that make such fantastic teams that create the advertising that sticks in your head, Im talking about the oh so epic moneysupermarket twerking man, as an example.
I see teams like Lion Arses, Art Cub & Word Otter, Adam + Jack, The Mac Daddies, Oli + Josie and Richard and Jolyon, who make me want to settle down and start a creative team of my own.
Hopefully I will find true love at Watford, but right now I am a solo act.
I finally had the pleasure of meeting Lion Arses and Art Cub & Word Otter at the OMB stand, I got to face them in head to heads a couple of times, with all of us taking turns to judge and set the brief with stop watch in hand.
Nick was confident that the OMB stand was in such good hands that he even left me to run the stand for over a hour, it was quiet a amazing experience and role to be given, well to be honest my OMBLE instincts just kicked in, and I just challenged people from the New Blood crowd.
Liam a fellow OMBLE helped out, such a nice fella, wish I could of had a pint or two with him, on form at the moment with 20x OMB wins, watch out for his art direction.
During my time running the OMB stand I created a game from the head to heads called AD ROULETTE.
The rules where similar to OMB, a brief is set, do a ad in under a minute, however this game involved 5-6 people in a circle, with only one piece of paper each to draw one ad only, if you tried to scribble it out and do it again, then you where disqualified, simple as that, so you had to think hard on what to pitch, this works on your decision making skills.
Here comes the best bit of the game, the referee who sets the brief, can takeaway something obvious, that will make the brief harder but also make you come up with something far more fresh and original.
For example, I can set a brief on advertising toothpaste but you can not mention cleaning teeth, or I can set a brief on lipstick but you can not mention sex.
This game improves the overall thinking of the contestant, and like roulette the weakest idea removes you from the game, until we get down to the final two contestants.
The idea was to make this game as intense as possible, and it worked with plenty of people getting involved, even lecturers setting the awkward briefs.
Its a idea I would like to work upon, however it has too many similarities to OMB at the moment, but if I cut away those similarities, who knows what AD ROULETTE could become.
Another side project set.
To sum up my time at the OMB stand it made me cherish the fact that most of us are on the same boat, trying to establish ourselves and keep our grip in such a competitive industry, a industry that a lot of people want to be part of, and if your not careful you will be knocked out the circuit.
Its a club with a giant queue, everyone is trying to get in, and it makes me confident and proud that I have got this far, establishing myself in the OMBLE community and getting into Watford.
Just the other day I was buying the cadbury mascot gorilla soft toy from the Cadbury World shop, I just like to collect advertising memorabilia, and so I got chatting with the women over the counter, mentioned I was going into advertising and she replied "Advertising must be very interesting to be involved in".
Hearing that just strengthens my passion and desire that I am going down the right career path.
We all have are own achievements, proof that we have made a impact in creative advertising, whether it be big or small, what matters is we are still in the game, we have not given up, going strong!
With that I support the cause of my fellow creatives with this sticker to advertise Lion Arses on my new Macbook pro, I am nursing this kitty until I can find the right time to stick it on.
Thanks for reading and here is a credit roll of some of the best ads I produced in the head to heads on the OMB stand.
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