Stockland Martel » BMW

New work: Uwe Duettmann for BMW Magazine

Kristina Feliciano — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:39:29 +0000

Uwe Duettmann recently shot a feature story for Germany’s BMW Magazine, with a royal-blue BMW M5 as the star. Here’s a look:

Photo by Uwe Duettmann for BMW Magazine.

Photos by Uwe Duettmann for BMW Magazine.

Do we see an upturn in automotive advertising, perhaps?

Kristina Feliciano — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:37:49 +0000

There’s no question that automotive advertising spending stalled with the recession, but recently there have been signs that this category is picking up speed. We’re not talking a full recovery, but progress is being made.

“Ad spending for cars and credit cards has come roaring back, helping drive 8.8% growth in 2010 U.S. spending for the 100 Leading National Advertisers—the highest growth rate since 2004,” Ad Age reported last June. “Financial advertising surged 29% in 2010, and automotive accelerated 28%, based on Ad Age Data Center’s estimates of U.S. spending for the 12 financial firms and 10 automakers that made the 100 LNA ranking.”

Part of a 2011 Audi campaign shot by Jan Steinhilber.

From a 2011 campaign for Honda shot by Fulvio Bonavia.

From a 2011 campaign for Porsche shot by John Offenbach.

We’re noticing the uptick right here at Stockland Martel, both among the agency’s longtime car shooters and photographers who are more in the generalist vein. “Last year, we had both Jan Steinhilber and John Offenbach shooting campaigns for Porsche,” says Maureen Martel. “Jan also shot for Cadillac and Audi. Uwe Duettmann shot for Mercedes, Volkswagen, Audi, and BMW. Fulvio Bonavia shot for Honda. Hyundai and Renault commissioned Nadav Kander, which is interesting because he’s primarily known as a portrait photographer. And Art Streiber shot an advertorial for Nissan.

“It’s exciting to see this upswing,” she adds, “because automotive advertising offers photographers the chance to be so creative.”

From a 2011 campaign for Hyundai shot by Nadav Kander.

Nissan commissioned Art Streiber to shoot this advertorial featuring the actor Ryan Reynolds.

A 2011 ad for Volkswagen shot by Uwe Duettmann.

Reporting on the 2012 North American International Auto Show earlier this month, Ad Age indicated that “confidence brims,” explaining that “the industry’s upbeat mood was fueled by 2011 sales of nearly 13 million cars and light trucks in the U.S., according to data from Automotive News.”

And last month, Adweek took note of WPP’s plans to establish a new agency whose mission is to boost Ford’s Lincoln brand. “The agency, which will have a staff of some 45 employees—some plucked from WPP’s Team Detroit unit—will focus on account management, creative, and planning. Team Detroit, which handles parent company Ford, WPP’s largest global client, will also provide support on nuts-and-bolts services like creative production, media buying, and accounting from its headquarters in Dearborn, Mich. McNauhgton will report to Team Detroit CEO Satish Korde.”

We’re not saying pre-2008 ad spending is back. But happier days are perhaps here again…

Uwe Duettmann for BMW.

Jan Steinhilber for Porsche.

Nadav Kander for Renault.

Jan Steinhilber for Cadillac.

See more: Stockland Martel automotive photography by Jorg Badura, Fulvio Bonavia, David Drebin, Uwe Duettmann, Jason “Giblin” Hindley, John Offenbach, Martin Sigal, and Jan Steinhilber

Spotlight: Uwe Duettmann

Kristina Feliciano — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 18:13:38 +0000

Uwe Duettmann.

Many people think of Uwe Duettmann in terms of his automotive photography, and it’s true that he’s highly skilled at portraying cars from any number of perspectives. Might, machine, materials, the experience of the drive, sex appeal, practical appeal, humorous appeal—he has expressed all of this and more for clients ranging from Mercedes to Mini, Porsche, Audi, BMW, and Smart. The man is basically a car-photography virtuoso.

But Uwe is driven by far more than just automotives. In Europe, in fact, he’s best known as a photographer of people. Some highlights from his portfolio: Two beehived women misbehave in an ad for Frau magazine; a beauty queen rides a subway in full pageant regalia for an Mtel campaign; a child dressed as a ladybug mopes atop a silver sedan in an ad for FTD. And then there’s his sports advertising for clients such as Nike, Adidas, and Asics, which captures the sweat, the emotion, the movement, and also a kind of marvelous power that comes only from great physical strength.

In the past two-plus decades, Uwe has amassed more than a few armloads of awards, including from the London International Advertising Awards, the Art Directors Club in Germany, and the AOP. But he rarely looks back. He hardly has time to, as he’s always in demand, always collaborating with another art director on another great image and always confident that he will hit his mark. “All I need is good direction,” he says. “It’s like jumping off a plane in a parachute: Even if the target is just one meter by one meter, I’ll land on it.”

Here’s a look at Uwe’s work. To see more, visit stocklandmartel.com/talent/uwe-duettmann/photography.

Photo by Uwe Duettmann.

Photo by Uwe Duettmann, from a campaign for Volkswagen. Agency: Tribal DDB. Art director: Annika Kempkensteffen-Jöck.

Photo by Uwe Duettmann, from a campaign for Nivea.

Photo by Uwe Duettmann, from a campaign for Frau magazine.

Photo by Uwe Duettmann, from a campaign for Nike in China.

Photo by Uwe Duettmann.

Photo by Uwe Duettmann, from a campaign for BlackBerry. Agency: Weis Communications Germany. Creative director: Tonguç Baykurt.

Photo by Uwe Duettmann.

Photo by Uwe Duettmann, from a campaign for the Mercedes C-Class. Agency: Jung von Matt. Creative director: Deneke Weltzien. Art director: Tilman Gossner.

Photo by Uwe Duettmann for BMW Magazine. Shot for Ringzwei. Creative director: Dirk Linke.Click image to see more.

Photo by Uwe Duettmann.