Brand Haiku
The most active group of members on AdBakery are filmmakers. Now, this is an amazing subset don’t get me wrong, but I originally envisioned the site more as an “idea shoppe” than a spec house.
So lately I’ve been thinking a bit about how I might 1) re-focus some attention towards raw ideas, and 2) better include non-filmmakers on the site, without excluding the VIBs (Bakers). I think I might have stumbled onto one little exercise that meets these objectives…
BrandKu
As I’m sure you know, Haiku are poems with three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables. Brand Haiku, or BrandKu, are simply Haiku written with a specific product or brand in mind. These product poems are a personal expression of commercial creativity – they are relatively quick and easy to write, yet structurally focused and creatively unrestrictive. They’re also a litmus test of sort. For example, if you thought you had the foundation of a good ad idea, you could test it out on AdBakery by posting a BrandKu.
I recently sent out a note to a few non-ad-world friends asking if they’d write some BrandKu for me, as a trial. Here’s the sort of thing I got back (varying in goofiness):
SCOPE
Did not brush my teeth,
Slept with food in my molars,
Meeting boss at nine.
VASELINE INTENSIVE CARE
cold and bitter wind
awful raw, dry, itchy skin
you’re my only hope
ACTIVIA
feeling I’m weighed down
creamy spoonfuls do the trick
makin’ things happen
KLEENEX
when something is stuck
Reach for me and give a blow
don’t pick in public!
TROJAN
Unlike our condoms
Trojan Horse impregnated
Succeed when you choose
BrandKu for Research and Insight
Having glanced the small sample above, you can see how research is an obvious next thought. For the same reasons BrandKu might appeal to non-filmmaking members of AdBakery – they’re quick, creative, personal and painless – they make for engaging research tools. Not only do they address the common criticism that much research lacks imagination, they’re just a fun form of creative aerobics that I can really see some people getting a kick out of.
Perhaps more of a stretch, you might also see how Haiku could work as strategic instruments. Take these spec strats. I think many could be nicely adapted into creatively inspiring verses. Out of respect I won’t begin to try and make Brandku of another man’s ideas, but here’s a Men’s Soap thought I had a while back applied to the framework:
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Any thoughts on all this silliness? Care to share a BrandKu?
HER NATURE HIS NURTURE 
Dr. Pepper said
Free pop for GNR fans
What a debacle