Erection aid Levitra sponsors elevator UP buttons in Sao Paul
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Seen on Adrants.

Milan hairdressing salon latest to go pubic. (Ouch). See on Adrants.

Ever wished you could look over a rival’s shoulder and listen to their pitch? Russell Davies (a fellow Brit if I am not mistaken) does just that and demonstrates its actually kind of like listening to a kindred spirit — only wittier and more like, totally artic-ew-lat. Check out this description of the creative process (ripped with no editing from his blog) and then read the entire post.

It’ll change what you do in your next pitch.

"… This is the model of idea creation that most agencies (advertising, digital, whatever) sell their clients. A bunch of smart strategists narrow down the strategic possiblities (with their clients or without) getting to a simple, smart, sharp, focused strategic idea
which forms the basis of a controlled explostion of creativity. (Not too big, not too small). This idea is then implemented across a number of media channels to the happiness of everyone . This model is, of course, complete bollocks, and it’s designed chiefly, to save money by a) keeping the really expensive people (the creatives) working for the minimum amount of time and b) making the process look calm and predictable. No good idea has ever happened like this.

The reality of any good process that produces great work is more like this:


It’s a mess. A good strategist involves the executers as soon and as often as possible. She allows execution to feedback into strategy and vice versa. Something that happens at the end changes something you thought of at the beginning. It’s chaotic, wasteful and unpredicatble. It involves lots of people, lots of dead-ends and wastes lots of ideas. But it’s the only way to produce stuff that goes beyond the everyday run of communications. Something that people actually want to engage with. Something that works."

p.s. And marvel at how he integrates You Tube videos and his camera into the post. We have to try that.

St. Mary’s emergency room at Stanyan and Fulton in San Francisco is one of the quickest in the West.

Which is important as the average wait in a urban ER can be up to 4 hours. Ouch.

See more here.

Here’s the full release:

EMERGENCY ROOM CARE IN UNDER 30 MINUTES?
Mortar’s New Campaign for St. Mary’s QuickCare is No Joke

San Francisco, CA (September 30, 2006) — This month, St. Mary’s Medical Center—one of San Francisco’s leading hospitals—unveils a new outdoor ad campaign for its QuickCare ER service, designed by integrated agency, Mortar.

With average wait times of up to four hours, it’s no wonder that most emergency rooms get a bad rap.  Not so at St. Mary’s, where QuickCare staff promise that ER patients with non-life-threatening illnesses and injuries will be seen in under 30 minutes.

With a highly trained team of doctors and nurses, St. Mary’s offers quality, reliable ER care around the clock.  Its unique QuickCare program—with 24/7 triage, bedside registration, and faster x-rays—features a streamlined evaluation process to make sure patients won’t spend hours waiting in the emergency room.

“Modern healthcare is changing.  At St. Mary’s, it’s about putting patients first, and that means caring for people quickly,” said Ken Steele, CEO, St. Mary’s.  “St. Mary’s is the pioneer of fast emergency room care in the Bay Area—we are the place to go if you want immediate, skilled care so that you can get on with your life.”

A departure from typical healthcare advertising, Mortar’s campaign for St. Mary’s takes a gently humorous approach to the everyday situations that send people to the emergency room.  Whether they are hurt crossing the street or fall ill after eating something adventurous, San Franciscans can start down the road to recovery within 30 minutes of arriving at St. Mary’s QuickCare.  Intended to deliver a local, San Francisco feel, the ads can be seen around the city on buses, bus shelters, Mushroom_busqueen and banners.

“Humor is rarely used in healthcare, and we wanted to develop a campaign that is refreshing, new and above all approachable,” said Tim Spry, Creative Director at Mortar.  “Accidents are a reality of life—no one likes going to the emergency room.  By taking a light-hearted approach, this campaign says that if you need to go—even for minor injuries—St. Mary’s will have you in and out of there in no time.”

Every day in San Francisco, nearly 10 people are injured in traffic collisions—incredibly 1 in 6 of traffic-related injuries are caused by people violating traffic signals.* That’s why one ad, headlined “I can totally make it,” features a close-up of a pedestrian walk light flashing “3 seconds”.

Upset tummies often warrant a visit to the ER too: food poisoning affects 200,000 Americans every day.**  And as one of the world’s culinary epicenters, San Francisco is home to plenty of daring diners. So the campaign also reminds viewers that it’s OK to visit the ER if you are feeling queasy.

To view examples from this campaign, visit mortaragency.com/stmarys

About St. Mary’s Medical Center Emergency Room / QuickCare

People can’t always avoid life’s minor accidents and illnesses. But St. Mary’s QuickCare program helps patients avoid spending hours waiting in an emergency room. This unique program guarantees that patients will be seen within 30 minutes of their arrival.  The QuickCare program is available to patients with non-life-threatening illnesses and injuries. The program offers 24/7 triage, bedside registration, plus faster X-ray results and a smooth, more efficient process.

For nearly 150 years, St. Mary’s Medical Center has provided the Bay Area with compassionate, personalized care combined with the latest advances in medical care and cutting-edge technology.  One of San Francisco’s leading hospitals, St. Mary’s offers patients a full range of outpatient and inpatient services delivered with the human touch.  St. Mary’s QuickCare is located on the corner of Stanyan and Fulton in San Francisco. For more information, visit www.stmarysmedicalcenter.org
or call 415.750.5700.

About Mortar

Mortar is a new, San Francisco-based brand communications agency dedicated to helping organizations make emotional connections with today’s shell-shocked consumers. Mortar’s unorthodox approach typically combines street-level research, integrated strategy, online and offline advertising, public relations, and immersive tactics that defy boundaries and amplify budgets. Details at: www.mortaragency.com

*According to the San Francisco 2005 Collision Report by the San Francisco Department of Parking & Traffic, non-fatal injury collision totals for 2005 were 3,227.  16% of these were caused by violation of traffic signals and signs.

**The Centers for Disease Control reports that an estimated 76 million cases of foodborne disease occur each year in the United States.