Every year over here at Cream we see an incredible amount of outstanding media campaigns and 2013 has been no different. Take a look at our top five from this year:

Real Beauty Sketches

Statistics show that only 4% of women actually feel beautiful. Dove's intention via this campaign was to make the remaining 96% feel the same way. An FBI-trained sketch artist was asked to draw women’s portraits according to their own descriptions. The artist, who had never seen the women before, initially relied on descriptions by strangers to create the portraits. He then sketched them again by listening to the women’s own descriptions of themselves. The two portraits looked entirely different. The campaign caused dove’s fan-base and social media platforms to go through the roof, it was shortlisted six times at the Festival of Media LatAm 2013 and won the ‘best engagement’ category. To see the full campaign click here.

We are now well in to the spirit of Christmas with only a few more days left to go until the big day.

Brands are competing everywhere for the funniest/most heart-warming/most surprising reaction from their consumers.

Over the past 10 years we’ve seen the industrial revolution of advertising. Broadband gave hundreds of millions near-instant access to information and entertainment, and mobile allowed them to take that content with them. It’s no surprise then that we’ve seen an almost incomprehensible amount of content move to digital.

In the advertising world, this has meant the development of an incredible amount of infrastructure, but the focus has been on the mechanics: ad format innovation, new measurement methodology, more efficient buying and optimisation techniques. Innovation has focused on the building blocks, but what comes next will be incredible…

In mid-2012, a North Korean army minister named Kim Chol was reportedly ‘obliterated’ with a mortar round, on the orders of leader Kim Jong-un, for ‘disrespectful behaviour’.

The news was only one rivulet in a stream of concerned rumour winding out of the isolationist Communist state, where reports of disappearances, poverty, summary executions and starvation form a complimentary backdrop to the Kim dynasty’s cult of personality.

For the outside world, most of these atrocities are symbolised by an overwhelming wave of moss-green nylon, gold medals and red stars, the uniform of the North Korea People’s Army and the epitome of the iron fastness that the country’s rulers lock around their own subjects.

However, Elle Magazine has seen something of worth in the iconic attire, featuring it in a recent online piece as ‘North Korea Chic’. The magazine informed its readers that “some iteration of the military trend stomps the runways every few seasons. This time, it’s edgier, even dangerous, with sharp buckles and clasps and take-no-prisoners tailoring.”  The piece included the image of a single gold stiletto poised next to a North Korean soldier at attention.

The piece has prompted outcry from journalists and human-rights groups, who believe that the pieces trivialise the current abuses of the North Korean military complex, as well as having little respect for the people suffering under such a regime. The magazine apologised quickly and replaced the spread with a ‘Naval’ shoot, retaining the majuscule ‘N’, though not before drawing attention to the long, concomitant relationship between the military and the fashion world.

Elle is not incorrect in their point; tropes of military uniform such as gold buttons, braiding, epaulettes and camouflage continually resurface in the industry’s undulating tastes, and the importance of aesthetic impression to commanding respect and power has never been lost on the canniest designers; for instance Valentin Yudashkin designed new kit for the Russian Army only a few years ago.

However, the issue here seems to be the perceived lack of cross-cultural awareness that the magazine is exhibiting, and an absence of empathy for the ordinary people of North Korea, especially in light of recent revelations about the extent of the regime’s crimes, including the imprisonment of children in torture camps, and the execution of twelve high-profile performers for a variety of offences, including the possession of a bible.

More than most types of Advertising in Fashion, have long employed imagery that has been considered insensitive or controversial; Vogue magazine was once criticised for a shoot involving extremely expensive pieces of jewellery and clothing modelled on some of the poorest people in India, prompting accusations that the magazine was treating this demographic as little more than objects.

These publications exist at a fascinating cross-section of art and commerce, one in which a strong aesthetic ideal, perhaps considered very beautiful and thought-provoking, is paired with a strong sense of commercialism and a competitive need to sell seasonal styles.

The immediate withdrawal and apology by Elle showed a willingness to accept that a mistake had been made, and that the crossed line is now clearly marked.

“If winning isn't everything, why do they keep score?” - Vince Lombardi

Are you ready for some (social) football? As we gear up for the height of holiday sports season and head in to Super Bowl XLVII, the mobile/social fan is charged up and raring to go. From streaming live video directly, to checking player statistics, to posting comments on Facebook and following player hashtags, the rise of the SmartFan is upon us. Because when it comes to sporting events, fan experience is everything. The better the experience, the more likely fans will come back over and over again. These days, fans are streaming into stadiums armed with smart phones and tablets and an avalanche of downloaded apps. They want full immersion in the game, the players, the league … and they want to share it all with their friends in real-time.

The concept of brand storytelling often comes under fire for being clichéd, because, when it comes down to it, many brand stories lack the essential characteristics of an actual story: traditional elements such as surprise, drama and conflict.

Many brands have great stories to tell – just look at how well the Sainsbury’s ‘Christmas in a Day’ film has been received - but what gets in the way is a fear of showing things for how they really are. Brands have always lived in a happy land of optimism and aspiration, and they don’t want to leave. I completely understand why – this is how TV advertising has worked for years, with strong results for many brands. But as they start to explore longer form content, we need to challenge this ethos.

By telling the truth, I don’t mean compromising commercial confidence or presenting a negative view of the world per se. I mean using the skills of documentary story telling to bring real emotion to a story with all the ingredients of a truly engaging story - the jeopardy, the drama; the highs and the lows in other words.

Embracing real life in the form of branded documentary works to connect with audiences, not only because it is true, but because it reflects core values that the brand actually stands for. It lets the story take centre stage, enabled by the brand.

Take our ‘Wind for Prosperity’ initiative we are launching this week with the global wind energy firm, Vestas. We are documenting the process of Vestas refurbishing and transporting wind turbines to the poorest communities in the world, in a film to inform the world about the issue of energy poverty. It’s not just a film to promote the use of wind power, and the Vestas corporate brand is not the star of the show – these are the people in the communities whose lives have been affected by simply not having stable access to electricity.

Similarly, our recent short film produced for the recruiter Randstad - called Becoming Me, about finding your perfect job - does not tell people that Randstad is going to change your life. We are telling the story of real people, using authority and emotion, and illustrating the conviction, commitment and hard work it actually takes to find the perfect job - and the personal, even existential crisis that people experience in this quest. In telling this story, Randstad is showing how it is different from other recruiters.

Randstad were brave and inspiring in the sense that they allowed us to show the warts and all in the quest to tell an authentic story about the twists and turns of our careers. In return, our commitment in the film is to leave viewers feeling moved but also positive about what’s possible in their own careers. The lows amplify the highs. Randstad’s approach enabled us to persuade BAFTA award winning filmmaker Ben Anthony to direct ‘Becoming Me’, in his first piece of brand funded work.

Showing vulnerability can often make the best story. It’s not always an easy journey - a successful branded documentary needs a huge amount of trust between the producer and the brand, to allow the producer to be true to the story, capture the lows with the highs, but finishing with a satisfying ending that feels good and leaves the audience wanting to do something positive.

Brands can create something meaningful and moving by working with professional filmmakers, but they need to trust us to create an authentic story – without emotional honesty, a film is less engaging.

And less shareable, too. YouTube is littered with corporate videos that look like they cost a lot, but have something like 72 views to their name. People tend not to share corporate messages. People share things that feel implicitly socially rewarding because they can relate to it.

Shareability should be one of the key measures of ROI on a piece of branded content. We shouldn’t be asking, why would someone watch this, but actually, why would someone share this? Think about the psychology of sharing. People share for two reasons. To make themselves look intelligent, or to make people laugh. Social sharing of content is an extension of personal identity.

We experienced high impact shareability on our YouTube exclusive documentary Breaking the Taboo last year, with around 800,000 views, 10,000 subscribers to the channel and Tweets from celebrities such as Dizzee Rascal reaching over 30 million Twitter followers. This took the film’s theme of the failed war on drugs and drug policy reform to a mass global audience. Our mission is to engage people with brands, with the same passion.

Brands understand that they need to be having meaningful conversations with people. While it can be a struggle to figure out what this actually means, brands have a powerful asset in their hands that can deliver business changing results, if they just let it: the truth, which can actually be quite beautiful.

By Johnny Webb, managing director, Sundog Pictures

Whether it’s Cornetto’s 3D out-of-home floor graphic in Thailand, Desperados’ light show on London’s festival scene or e-commerce site Tmall.com’s “virtual experience” in the real world, we’re impressed with activations this week. Be sure to check them out for more pics, videos and more.

If that’s not enough, you can also check out Sony Xperia’s new Z1 Hidden campaign, the HTC One Android smartphone brought to life via custom content and our Campaign of the Week: Papermate – 'The world’s most stolen pen'.

Check out all the latest case studies from the past week here.

The annual Christmas TV commercial is an important point in the calendar year for advertisers and consumers alike, but will we ever see the day where one of the big retail brands bypass TV all together and launch their Christmas campaign purely online? Paps Shaikh, European GM, Say Media explores the pros and cons around whether it’s possible to create a new tradition in the digital space.

Christmas; It’s an expensive time of year for brands and a lot of time and effort goes into creating a spectacular television commercial (TVC). And it’s no surprise. Not only is it an important point in the calendar year for advertisers, but also for consumers. Each year, they will eagerly wait for that moment when the infamous Coca-Cola truck makes its way across their TV screen, a signal that “holidays are coming”.