You might have heard or seen the work of Banksy, the satirical and very sharp Bristol graffiti icon.  It is worth having a look at more of Banksy’s creative work.

As I was flicking through the above link I came across this image.  So my idea discussed below is sort of original, a dog and a cow are not exactly the same and anyway dogs hit a better demographic and are more mobile.

NW Business Insider had a wonderful piece on the dog advertising concept in their current feature on guerrilla marketing.

I originally came up with this concept after selling in the story of a certain dog called Dante in to the South Manchester Reporter. The story of the curry loving pooch spread to the Metro, Manchester Evening News and even The Guardian.

It seemed obvious that there was original and possibly effective advertising mileage to be had and so I teamed up with Mick Greer and Phil Howells, well- seasoned advertising pros.

The lucky recipient was a family lawyers called Greens & Co.

It is some fun but also when there is so much competition to grab our attention it is a little different and attention grabbing.

A quick note: Has no-one done it before? I don’t know. Churchill said an original idea is just a good one everyone has forgotten.

BBC4 showed and is showing a biography of David Ogilvy - “the father of advertising.”

It is quite a story as Ogilvy was approaching 40 when he set-up his ground breaking and highly successful agency Ogilvy and Mather.  Within a few years he had Shell, Lever Brothers and Rolls Royce as accounts.  Billings were over $100m after 10 years in business.

Ogilvy’s career was built upon a number of disparate experiences that he drew upon, from AGA cooker door to door salesman to farmer in Amish country.

If you have time it is well worth finding out about this media icon, even if the biography just creates a greater a enigmatic view of Ogilvy for you.

BBC 4 is showing some really interesting programmes on advertising (repeated on BBC 2).

Mad Men is being hailed in critical circles as a brilliant drama exposing the glamour and the seedier side of the advertising business in early 60s New York.  It also shows the transition from consumers taking admen and their work at face value to having to be more creative and honing their art to really communicate with their audience - just think how creative you have to be to catch someone’s attention these days.

The history of advertising documentaries that follow the industry from the 50s to the present are insightful and really hold your attention.  How the ads worked, why some great ideas actually resulted in a drop in sales - Strand cigarettes - and how an industry that started with many chancers  - not all - reached a peak in the 80s with Saatchi and Saatchi thinking they were so powerful they could buy the Midland Bank.

In the manner of Points of View: well  done BBC