Gideon Amichay

I’m so honored to write a guest article for the new Gunn Report.

The Gunn Report, authored by Donald Gunn and Emma Wilkie, is the most prestigious annual publication in the advertising world. The report is detailing the most successful print and television advertising campaigns of the year.

Greater Than

The ‘greater than’ symbol stands for better, bigger or stronger.

People > Everything
We should put people back at the heart of everything we do. Not consumers, users, unique users or target audiences defined in military terms. People. That’s because we are here to improve people’s lives.

Problem Solving > Advertising
Advertising is not just about fun, great images or sophisticated copy.
These are only the tools. Our business is about the bottom line. Advertising shouldn’t be seen as an end in itself, but rather as a tool for solving business problems.

Content > Promotion
We ask people to give us their most important resource: time. People spend time exploring things they are passionate about. They read, watch and listen at their choice. Whether it is cinema, TV series, newspapers, magazines, books, internet sites, Facebook, or blogs, you name it; they are spending their time there because they are passionate about it.
So content is the king. The better the content the longer the time people will stay with it. At its best, advertising can create quality content. At its worst, advertising interrupts content with promotion.

Product > Communication
A platform is better than just an Ad. In other words, let’s do more and talk less. That’s because products last. Campaigns rarely do. Products create better touch points with people. Apps are a good example: apps are products and not just communicating tools, and therefore engage people better than ever.

Innovation > Creativity
Creativity has become just another commodity. Being different is the first key to successfully standing out from the crowd. Whether it’s a new product, a new service, a new business model, a new way of communication, a new way of advertising or a new use of media, innovative solutions can be better problem-solvers. Innovation lives outside of product/service categories. We can achieve better results through innovation than we can through what we think of as creativity.

Beta > Perfect
The iPhone 6 will be better than iPhone 5. The iPad 4 will be better than iPad 3. Google is a beta. Facebook is a beta. Instagram is a beta. The entire internet is a beta version of tomorrow’s internet. The name of the game is to be fast. Learn fast. Act faster. Create things and test them (not research them to death.) Improve on the go. See what takes and scale that. Act like a start up. Embrace a beta culture. Remember Oreo’s tweet during the Super Bowl blackout last year? Well, you should. It was a Grand Prix winner at Cannes Festival.

Insight > Big Data
I have a great respect for the phenomena of big data. That said, I think a simple truthful insight is much more powerful. Today, with the great technology we have at our disposal, we can track tons of details and numbers. But what’s missing is the understanding that numbers don’t make the difference when it comes to reaching the public – insight does. Insight brings us to the ‘Eureka!’ moment we’re all aspiring to. And with big data availability, big expectations are born. But with one simple insight “Dove Real Beauty Sketches” campaign has won 29 lions at Cannes Lions 2013.

Idea Based > Algorithm Based
Data-based marketing is incredible. Everyone knows that.
Location based marketing is great. Almost everyone use it.
Search based, performance based, algorithm based. Could anyone live without those?
“Dumb ways to die” campaign has scored a record at Cannes Lions 2013. It won 5 Grand prix wins. But it was not search, performance or algorithm based. It was based on an idea.

For Good > For Business
In a world where most products have the same qualities and a similar price, the most important factor influencing brand choice is purpose. Brands should have a social mission, not just a commercial proposition. Brands can empower the community. They should give back to the community. Purpose leads to preference. Purpose goes way beyond the commercial value and provides people a reason why.

? > !
Not knowing is better than knowing. Questioning can lead us further.
There is more potential in every “?”. It’s always better to be in a learning mood. It’s the best place to be. Not knowing makes everything much more interesting. “?” is more challenging

The most powerful ideas are a mix of all these points.
2014 > 2013

Richard Wild is Chair of Advertising and Design Departments at School of Visual Arts New York. I’m honored to have his foreword for my book. Thank you Richard.

No, No, No, No, No, Yes is an amazing story that chronicles Gideon Amichay’s rise as a force in the rarefied domain of critical thinking.

In the world of visual communications, Gideon is one of the few individuals who has mastered the art of problem solving, an unteachable discipline. His accomplishments have expanded to include author, entrepreneurialist and teacher.

I’ve pondered for some time trying to understand how Gideon was able to achieve such success, and the one possible explanation I’ve come up with to unravel this enigma is a combination of various factors that have resulted in this achievement. By undertaking the seemingly impossible task of creating hundreds and hundreds of conceptual illustrations with the intent of being accepted into, arguably the most difficult venue, The NEW YORKER magazine, fostered the emergence of persistence, perseverance and endurance. These qualities were coupled with an essential inner sense of confidence, which can be traced back to what Gideon refers to as his first creative director, his mother, Rachel.

By focusing on illustration and by developing a voice based on conceptual ingenuity, this unique conceptual ability aided Gideon when he undertook the task of being an art director in the world of advertising. He entered this field without any of the dogma that is inherent in advertising education. This gave him the opportunity to embark on projects in the world of advertising with a new and untainted vision. His innovative ideas were challenged again and again, which met with every conceivable “NO”, which he took as an opportunity, a challenge that enlivened him and gave meaning to his life. He understood that one must embrace the roadblocks, not react to them, and it is at this very place where his genius emerged and flourished

Gideon mastered the art of storytelling, which is the foundation of all successful social media. This has become a tool in his arsenal where today, his concepts are so provocative that the media extends his work tenfold.

Gideon has now undertaken the task of educator at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The courses that he teaches set the stage for others to enter the world of risk taking, love of process, coupled with a spirit to embrace new challenges.

Gideon Amichay understands the pathway toward creativity where he does not have to knock down walls, which is time consuming and unproductive; he knows the secret of how to simply walk around them.
Teaching the intricacies of his journey to others will be Gideon Amichay’s legacy.

Richard Wilde
Chair of the Advertising Department at School of Visual Arts New York
Chair of the Design Department at School of Visual Arts New York

Available on: Amazon, Kindle

Keith Reinhard is Chairman Emeritus of DDB Worldwide and a legendary adman. I’m honored to have his introduction for my book. Thank you Keith.

Intro / Keith Reinhard

Gideon Amichay defies easy characterization. In appearance he is elegant and soft-spoken. His gentle manner gives no clue to the imagination that rages inside. His mind is a seemingly continuous eruption of original observations and surprising ideas – often brilliant and always provocative.

Though Gideon is a native of Israel now residing in New York, he travels the world, and when asked where he lives, he answers: “I live on Earth.” He is a storyteller, an artist, an entrepreneur and a teacher. But most of all, Gideon Amichay is a keen observer who sees the world differently, then arrives at insightful conclusions for us to consider, or imaginative solutions to vexing problems.

I admire Gideon’s ability with both pencil and camera and his obvious belief that a touch of whimsy not only engages our attention but also helps us understand and remember. And as someone who has spent a lifetime trying to bring creative ideas to life in advertising, I can personally (and painfully!) identify with Gideon’s assertion that the cost of creativity, as he puts it, is that we are never truly satisfied.

I like Gideon Amichay because he always makes me think. Readers of this book will be made to think as well. My suggestion is that the book be kept handy as a touchstone for creative people who need a quick and ready dose of inspiration. Open any page of No, No, No, No, No, Yes! It will open your mind.

Keith Reinhard
Chairman Emeritus
DDB Worldwide

NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, YES
Available on: Amazon, Kindle,

http://nononononoyes.com/

http://nononononoyes.com/

When the Pango US launch brief landed on our table, we all racked our brains to come up with the best and most interesting solution.
By all of us, I mean the team in the US and the team in Israel. After we racked our brains big time, we decided to build a brain, instead.
I am pleased to present the Smart Parking installation that features on the central square of Scranton Pennsylvania as part of the official Pango launch.

Agency: No, No, No, No, No, Yes. New York. Client: Pango Shyyny USA LLC
Chief Creative Officer: Gideon Amichay, Creative Director: Yaneev Avital, Creative team: Matt Devasto, Xingpei Wang, Designer: Liat Lapushin, Producer: Ken Yagoda, Artist: Basia Goszczynska

http://wnep.com/2013/05/28/pango-promises-easier-parking-in-scranton/

Tonight at the JNF BUILDING, 42 EAST 69TH STREET

Problem Solving > Advertising
Content > Promotion
Product > Communication
Innovation > Creativity
?>!