This week's guest judge is Sean Boyle, global planning director at JWT, New York. In a career spanning over two decades, he moved to the US from Saatchi & Saatchi where he spent four years as creative strategy director (Asia) based in Bangkok and China. He has also worked as planning director at BAM-SRVT and Principals in Sydney; at Bateyads in Singapore and in his hometown of Dublin at both CDP and O&M.
In past iterations, Boyle has been a stand up comic (until everyone told him to sit down). In 1999, he produced a feature film - The Long Lunch, and has written a screenplay - Roaring Water, The Sack of Baltimore. Sean has won creative ad awards as a writer; and is a frequent lecturer and commentator on the subject of advertising and what-not. He has been described as an 'angry young man'; however he feels he's getting old and a bit tired of it all really, to continue to live up to that moniker.
HOLY COW GUM! Things are changing creatively. It is a creeping change - a bit like the way Cow Gum silently fell by the wayside: we woke up one day and it was no more*....
HOLY COW GUM! Things are changing creatively. It is a creeping change - a bit like the way Cow Gum silently fell by the wayside: we woke up one day and it was no more*.
The same thing is happening now on a much more important scale.
In many respects, we are getting what we wished for.
And, as usual when we're asked to react, our industry is coming up short.
Clients, big clients, are slowly beginning to understand the need to up the creative ante if they wish their messages to be noticed and considered. The need to start going with their guts, rather than the opinions and advice of a local postman or schoolteacher.
The P&G school of sledge-hammering their 'look what our better mousetrap does!' message has become both boring (was it ever not?), and in some-cases incapable of substantiation from a legal perspective.
We were all brought up to eschew the commercial that 'could be for anything'. Relevance was deemed to be critical. "Emotion" was usually the bit at the end of the ad where a beaming mother hugs her rapscallion-y son and tussles his hair.
At the leading edge today however, if it's good; funny; touching; magnificent... relevance doesn't really matter that much.
Today, we say, 'isn't it great that it's for us'.
Sony Bravia - 'Could be for anything (colourful), but isn't it great it's for us!'
Cadbury Gorilla - 'Could be for anything, but isn't it great it's for us!'
(And planners, please stop driveling on that the latter is 'all about Joy'. You're embarrassing us. It's a powerfully funny ad by Cadbury...end of over-analysis.)
In first world markets, most punters with any sort of a brain between their ears know brands inside out; they know what the brand does and they don't want us to continue ramming this into their skulls ad nauseam.
They are sick of us pedaling two million dollar pouring shots of chocolate weaving its way languidly over nuts and sultanas.
They don't need another ad for a television claiming crispier pictures and the 'ultimate' wanky lifestyle. If they give a shit at all (and most punters truly, truly don't) they want to be challenged.
They want a bit of charm, brilliance and humour. Otherwise they won't watch.
Somewhat meaningless entertainment that engages, with your brand attached at the end, is the way of the future in mainstream media. Don't let any strategic nut-job tell you otherwise.
We can get funkier and more relevant and "sell-y" when we go in-store, on-pack and on-line.
Slowly but surely, clients are coming around and asking us to weave some magic that'll entertain (Purely that. Nothing else.) and make their brands noticed and loved by the masses.
And here's what we do: when this marvelous opportunity is presented to us, we usually turn our mainstream ads into something from a bad TV sketch show; we bring kerrrazy animals to life; we pun away with puerile innuendo and we show slapstick humour, usually involving odious, beer-gutted men getting smacked in the gonads by a plank.
Take a look at this year's Super Bowl offerings.
Find me something that is truly amazing out of that lot.
Hulu maybe came close. Careerbuilder wasn't bad. But they are all depressingly derivative.
Look at the animal count: chimps, dalmatians, koalas, ostriches, mooseseses, rhinos, warthogs, water buffalo, lizards, clydesdales, horses that aren't clydesdales, dolphins, the list goes on.
These are today's "highly creative" equivalent of Two C's in a K.
A longwinded build-up to a mercifully short review.
What stuff is striving to put something new on the table?
Let us always celebrate the brave client.
What makes you green with envy?
What isn't some bogus piece-a-double-page-spread-crap for a shoe-polish out of South East Asia?
Is there anything this week that doesn't look like it was made by a creative team that only do advertising because they weren't good enough to get into proper comedy?
BEST TVI don't really understand the
Asics spot. But despite the high animal count, it is a beautiful thing; wonderful, and hallucinogenic (it is after all from Holland). I suspect it will enter my dreams. The other spots? Laugh (and in one case, cry), I nearly did.
BEST PRINTIt's not going to win any metal... but
Tango gets my nod because it is a) clearly real and b) intuitive, fluid (ahem) and gritty. It speaks with the naughty irreverence of this brilliantly stewarded brand.
BEST OUTDOORLet's hope the winner of the
Scratchie Billboard has strong nails. This and the
smoking thing were the most interesting to me - (oh, and a note to the Peruvians: you've an unfortunate, 'h'-missing typo in the idea's explanation that needs correcting).
* To the many reading this that don't know what Cow Gum actually is, here's a random blog on the subject that explains all: http://www.davidthedesigner.com/davidthedesigner/2007/02/whatever_happen.html
