Shell has created a very strong stable of print ads that has artfully expressed an area of value that the public has often overlooked. That is that shell does not only extract substances from the ground to make energy, but they also have a valuable culture of innovation.

One of their ads in this campaign is ” Say No to No”, a quite clever take on the main rule of innovation (the main rule being do not discount crazy ideas by saying no to those ideas immediately). The ad shows an industrious, determined, and smart college student going crazy expressing his ideas on the chalkboard. The ad is an inspiration in its imagery. The ad also portrays a tone of rebellion in that you should not listen to you doubters and pursue your wild schemes. This, I like.

Two things that I find troublesome, at least from Shell’s point of view, are this:

• The ad shows one industrious kid writing away with his crazy idea. How autocratic is that? There is no doubt that one person can come up with a good idea, but in a culture of innovation it takes a group of people to make an idea shine. One person evokes one mind. It evokes one point of view. One could even say the boy a the board, with his back turned to everyone could care less about anyone else.
• “Say No to No” is a great distiller of a broad and complex concept into a tiny chunk, but it could come back to burn Shell. Say No to No could be interpreted in so many different ways. Wouldn’t it be fun, for instance, if Shell broke major environmental regulations (which, most likely they have) and the headline in the newspaper reads: “Shell says No to No”? It always sucks to have your brand catchphrase bite you in the as like that.

Regardless of your feelings about Shell, they’re not going away, so I appreciate seeing some sort of commitment to promote an innovative culture. It makes me feel just a bit more warm and safe on a visceral level.

I’ve recently seen a fantastically produced advertisement for Louis Vuitton featuring Keith Richards playing guitar at 3a.m. in what I assume is his hotel room. This seems like a straightforward brand strategy to involve rock stars as a promoter of your goods. What I am impressed with, though, is the fine print on this ad. It says: “Keith Richards and Louis Vuitton are proud to support The Climate Project”.

The Climate Project is a Nashville, TN based non-profit organization presumably linked to Al Gore. I am sure this organization has great intentions, but how exactly does Louis Vuitton and Keith Richards support The Climate Project? To me, Louis Vuitton represents luxury, a high level of craftsmanship, excess, and extreme consumption.These are all things that seem to tie Keith Richards to Louis Vuitton making a near perfect associative brand pairing. Why muddle this down with a confusing and not particularly sincere statement about The Climate Project? Could someone shed light on this objective?

I would suggest to Louis Vuitton to make a stronger and more integrated statement, and then show us a bit how they are committed to this statement rather than throwing in what appears to be an arbitrary afterthought.