Light Effects.

Copy: Stop scaring your guests.
Ad Campaign for a Lighting Solutions Company.
Via: Luerzers Archive

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaarghhh!!

I remember the first time I saw the first Campaign Brief Campaign in a One Show Awards Annual and I was like, hey that's a fresh idea. It had never been done or tried before...

And then they did the same idea again (just executed it a little differently) and now they are back for the third time with the same idea executed a little more differently! I mean, move on. The idea ha become a stale one and no matter how differently you try and execute it, it is not going to matter!

Get an idea that pushes the same thought process forward or move along and get a whole new one. And by the way, this campaign is kinda ugh! and I still don't know if everybody gets the message at the end of the day.

Times Matrimonials

A campaign for the Sunday Times Matrimonials from Vyas Gianetti Creative, Mumbai. I like each of the headlines. Remember, the T.A. here would probably be the young urban Indian and the ads do the right thing by talking in a tone and manner that bring out the most important aspects that he might consider while finding a dream partner.

I recently saw another matrimonial TVC where the husband virtually acts like a dog following his wife's instructions and the ad ends on a note the one must choose a partner with care or something like that. I somehow like this aaproach better.

Pandey Ji & the Scam Saga!

Looks like some controversies never die and the debate shall go on. Found this Interview with Mr. Piyush Pandey via agencyfaqs. I thought it would be great to know your opinion too. Read on and speak your mind:

‘Scam ads’ is all about bad losers spoiling the party

Ogilvy & Mather India's chairman & national creative director, Piyush Pandey, has been in the eye of a storm lately with virtually half the Indian advertising industry speaking in hushed voices against his domination of the Abbys and even accusing him of indulging in 'scam ads' to win awards.

Pandey, who has maintained a low-profile during all this time, comes out in the open for the first time to takes on these accusations and his detractors in the industry head-on. And in-between, he also speaks on how advertising is selling itself cheap and creative trends to watch out for this year.

Excerpts:

You have been accused of running Abbys as O&M extension?

People shouldn't blame O&M for their failures. Please stop behaving like bad losers or you'll spoil the game for young people who're the future of this industry. Some people have short memories in this industry and they should refresh it a little bit. They may like to do a little homework too. And this isn't about Abbys. They must check from the inception of the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) till when O&M stopped participating - who's work dominated the AAAI awards? Till the A&M awards closed down, who dominated these awards?

Till such time O&M stopped participating in the big-bang awards in Bangalore and Chennai, who dominated it? Basically, if young people at O&M did good work and you did not, why blame us? So therefore, if you have a personal agenda of either living up to your secretarial responsibilities this year, please don't blame O&M for it. Life is too short, let's try and admire the good work and get on with it.

Some people also point out that some of your award winning work is basically 'scam ads'?

I think people should look into their own work, their own one-offs. Look at their own victories before they start pointing fingers at others. And those who have issues against awards and one-offs should look at their own awards and their acceptance of being on the jury of international awards, despite claiming not to believe in them.

What are the 'creative trends' in advertising for this year?

Manifestations of reaching out to people will change with availability of new mediums in mobile, internet and radio. What will not change is the value of an idea. Human emotions will not change. But, there will be experiments on new ways of presenting it to consumers. Communication will have to keep in line with the evolution of a society. For even while we have the new-age bold cinema in India, the Advertising Standards Council of India bans a VIP Frenchie ad, which does not show any people, least nude or semi-nude models!

The society will find its own balance, and if need be, will go back to its roots to find answers. Look at the new film, Rang De Basanti. I think it's good, for it tries to address today's problems by using the past. The message is clear, you can't write away your past.Do you see advertising discipline maturing in India?In India, the ad industry is little less aggressive than it should be. It usually sells itself cheaply. It is sad that this industry doesn't behave like MF Hussein, who doesn't work on a turnover target but a dream, an idea.

If you plan your life around (financial) targets, clients will use those targets against you. But an idea doesn't come cheap. The ad business should, once again, start living the ideas, start valuing ideas, take more pride doing what we're doing and charging clients for it. We should get into a scenario of a stronger sales-driven compensation.

How does the ad market look this year?

The market is looking good. Clients are doing well, and they'll be experimental this year. They will invest in new media in a small way. I hope you won't call it a 'scam ad' next year.

Via: The Economic Times

save the marriage

Amazing! Delivers the message pretty loud and clear I guess. Any idea which agency did this ad?

Ogilvy WWF

One more creative from Ogilvy, but this one is not from Mumbai. This ad for WWF was done by Ogilvy Chennai by Art Director, Binu Verghese! Pretty simple, straight forward and sweet.

Z II E II B II R II A II crossing

Another creative from Ogilvy Mumbai for the Mumbai Traffic Department but it just seems way to dated for my liking. If this Ad was done say 3 years ago, I would have said nice but I just don't get the feeling that it is something that hasn't been tried before. This whole image manipualtion thing does not have the impact of a creative that hits you unexpectedly or in that manner.

Sargam by Ogilvy, Mumbai

Both these ads for Sargam were created at Ogilvy Mumbai. I'm still a little too dazed to judge them. Something doesn't seem perfect in either of them. Maybe I am being a little too closed in my approach to them but can anybody tell me what they think of these 2 ads?

Neil French Apology!

Advertising is the most fun you can have with your clothes on...but keep them on coz you never know what could happen once you take them off! Ad Guru Neil French and his controversy at Toronto is a thing of the past but then it looks like the man is back with an apology...if you can call it that. Read on to know what he has to say about the whole incident...makes a good read.

Cafe RED by Lowe, Delhi

The team of Priti Nair, Udayashankar rao, Brijesh jacob, and Suraj Kumar are the brains behind this campaign for Cafe Red in Delhi. I somehow believe that december often is the best month for creative ideas from across the world. May be it has to do with Santa Claus. :)

Jokes apart, I like the way this campaign tells me that there is a quicker alternative available. May be the art could have been better, but then again it is december and ther's so much more to do!

Adopt, a saner approach to creativity!

I generally like most of the work from 1pointsize and am of the general opinion that chennai gets most of its best creative campaigns from there. This campaign for the Blue Cross of India left me a little dissapointed. I get the fact that being creative and delivering a certain message in an interesting manner makes a big difference in the way the message is recieved, But what if the message is completely lost in acheiving the creative aspect of the ad?

I showed this campaign to almost 15 people and barely 2 of them got what the typography was trying to tell them. Maybe it's the execution or the idea itself but I just don't seem to think that this is a great campaign. Especially because it is not a niche product where it is OK if only a few people get the idea. It's adoption and that is an extremely generic sector of people you are talking to. Anybody thinks otherwise, shout it loud! :)

Alter-Ego by Bournvita

Ogilvy, Mumbai is the agency behind this campaign for a health drink named bournvita. Sure to work with the kids because I know how badly I wanted to be Superman when I was Six! To see my name in that font would have been like cloud nine. This one should be extended into a Direct Mailing Exercise where the message is customised so that each could feel as great and try the Bournvita Power! I think it would work well, what say you??

Wellaflex Hold

This campaign for wellaflex shampoo was my favourite campaign in the hair care segment. It features an amazing idea and some great execution to go with it. Stunning work in a category where I have not seen a lot of great work off late. (atleast in a part of the world I live in !!)

Moisturising Shampoo - Hydratta

This campaign for Hyrdratta has great art that tells me the product benefit in an extremely intresting way.

my body gym!

This campaign from Ogilvy for a gym named "my body" is a little convoluted! I think its a campaign but its strange coz' each of these ads look like they are from different campaigns. The ads don't seem to have that general campaign feel to them. Is there a rejoinder that anybody can see to make sense out of this campaign?

Makes Others Look Fat!

This funny campaign for a non-alcoholic drink done somewhere in South East Asia (Thailand, I think) had me in splits for a while. The brand promise is that it will make others around you look fat. I could think of lot more extensions of the same thought but I'm sure they chose two good ones (rather popularly known ones) and did these. :)

Slim Jeans from JWT Bangalore!

JWT Bangalore often comes up with some superb work across all its various clients. This campaign for Levi's Slim Jeans is one such example. Amazing work with absolutely minimal budgets.

As a copywriter, I clearly remember the number of times I have cribbed about the client asking for a campaign when he/she does not have the budgets for a photo-shoot and other production services. Well, I guess what you need is an idea and not the money. This campaign proves all that abslutely right!

Fevicol Brilliance!

O.K., one more time. I don't have to say anything at all. Just sit back and admire yet another piece of brilliance from Ogilvy, Mumbai. Stunning!!

A pair of Absolute Havaianas

This campaign has such lovely art direction that I'm convinced that it would compel me to buy a pair of these if I was a girl or a woman. I'm of the general opinion that advertising cannot sell products! An ad needs to convey the message that a certain product or service exists and it needs to bring a customer to the store to examine that product or make a call to enquire or any such action and the ad has done its job.

But a campaign like this actually goes a step ahead amd makes me decide that I will own one of these even before I know more about them! Maybe it is the art, maybe the product itself, maybe something else altogether. All said and done, the art here is stunning

Bianco Footwear

This bizzare campaign for Bianco Footwear caught my eye in the extremely interesting manner in which it chose to highlight "fashion trends" for the season! Great art and a visual that grabs you not instantly but probably after a split second. I'm happy that Bianco has moved away from cutting of people clothes or making them wear bizzare clothes to show off the footwear. A campaign that was done last year and the year becfore that too and was getting rather over-repeated, This is probably a welcome break. Nice work!

smile you're on a SAMSUNG!

I found this ad a little forced to start with. I know that lots of ad campaigns use aexxageration as a ploy but maybe I'm a little too sensitive when it comes to human lives coz' this one somehow lowers the importance of the situation, if you get what I mean! Firefighters = Heroes and a hero will always give up anything to save my life, sorry guys, this one is a little too exaggerated for my belief!

Sugar Free & Ant Free!

This ad for Chupa Chups (Sugar Free Version) by DDB spain simply rocks! Sooper.