Ogilvy Paris ECD Digital & Innovation David Raichman picks his Desert Island Ads

David Raichman is the executive creative director digital & innovation, Ogilvy Paris, a multicultural, multidisciplinary advertising agency and one of the five biggest Ogilvy offices in the world.

Desert Island Ads

Given my passion for hiking – going far away and deep into nature – I am up for the voyage to MAA’s Desert Island. There are a few essentials I’d take with me, if I could.

My Sony Alpha 7r camera comes immediately to mind, something I always have with me. But, I realize I need to part with it, only because people are core in my pictures and I will be alone.

So, I’ll take a collective range of inspiring things to keep both sides of my brain fueled.

Something trendy: The Academic – Bear Claws

For me, it’s more of what it represents than what it is — illustrating a trend of hacking a format and turning a technology glitch into an asset. In this instance, Facebook’s audio/video time lag is turned into an asset enabling the creation of an innovative take on live looping.

Something smart: The Fun Theory

A creative idea that uses science, technology, psychology and entertainment to change consumer behavioral habits. Speaks to both the left and right side of the brain. It’s how I think about creativity and why I graduated from school with four degrees: philosophy, quantum physics, cognitive science, applied art.

An experiential ad: Nike Unlimited Stadium

A virtual race that I can engage in with myself as I’ll be alone on this island. Best illustration of how advertising can be useful in a meaningful way. You can experience the proof of the brand impacting the way a society behaves.

Another experiential ad: L’Oreal Makeup Genius

It’s interesting when advertising brings a new usage. L’Oreal opened a real trend before Snapchat Lenses. Using augmented reality to transform your look.

A book. Mythologies by Roland Barthes.

Ideas were really shaping the world and now the new society is shaped by objects – especially hi-tech objects. Roland Barthes was already looking at how objects can impact our society.

A second book. The Inevitable by Kevin Kelly.

Tech guru and futurist, I discovered Kevin Kelly two years ago at SXSW. His book explains how the future of technologies (A.I., automation..) can be interesting as an extension to humans. Not a competition but complementing..a completion.

A personal item. Documentary style photography inspirations from two American photographers: William Eggleston and Philip-Lorca diCorcia.

Eggleston takes photos of urban landscapes describing everyday life.

With Philip-Lorca diCorcia photography style is mixed with the fictional world of cinema and advertising. Gives a feeling of spontaneous moments capturing everyday life, even though his settings were well staged.

An iconic ad: Apple’s 1984

It reminds me of a real part of my life, growing up in an analog world becoming digital. This work is an archetype of society’s values at-the-moment. This is probably the main difference between art and advertising. One is timeless and the other is finite. Advertising puts its efforts into the society’s values at-the-moment.

Finally, I pick my personal labours of love: Babolat PLAY and Coca-Cola Sharing Can.

The Connected Tennis Racket. Spent two and a half years building the Babolat brand and the racket to create the experience that conveys the message in the racket. Demonstrates how a product can not only be used to play tennis but change your behavior to impact your game.

Sharing Coca-Cola Can

Even though I will have no one to share my Coke with, it reminds me to keep on innovating.