Hello folks. A cold and wet morning in Nairobi. Speaking of which, I will probably sound a bit cold when I say that I have noticed a complete lack of basic work ethic especially with the new emerging generation of local creatives.
I am young at heart, but do confess that I have been in this industry for a while. During this time I have seen changes from old school photography techniques to the emergence of the Internet in agencies. So what's my bother? Well, my bother is how creative studios nowadays have lost the breed of creative which used to concentrate on nothing but ideas and what has emerged is a lesser breed that concentrates more on adding friends on facebook and chatting on g-mail.
Do not get me wrong and think that I have personal beef, but the net is becoming more of a burden than an asset when it comes to producing work. If you think I am alone, check out the IT policies in Kenyas most successful ad agencies. Guys can only log onto social sites before 8.30am, between 1and 2pm and after 5.30pm, the result? Well it speaks for itself doesn't it? Creatives are left with exposure to sites that will add value to their concentration and work harder rather than developing a new addiction that takes away crucial work time.
Being a good creative is not just about throwing the first idea that comes into your mind and feeling like you own the world, being a good creative is not just about looking the part with torn jeans or having great social skills. Creativity is not just a laid back 9-5. A good creative takes time to craft his work, a good creative takes time to research the brand she works on, a good creative challenges his or herself to be better, a good creative tries to find out what her competition is doing and tries to get the better of them. The secret to those dudes we all see winning Cannes lions is the mad hours they put in and igniting all they can from a little spark. IT'S TAKES HARD WORK!
Is facebook, twitter and gmail a good thing? Well of course it is. Its just that there is a right time for everything. Now, you may argue that one needs social media at work to ease off and take a break, but I hardly see a living example of that in my experience. So do I support the Creative Directors who have banned certain sites during working hours? 100% yes.
The other argument of course is that its all a matter of planning time well. Show me a young Kenyan creative who can do this.
Hey, that's just my opinion.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
THINK FAST, THINK FIRST
Wah, its been a while. Guess I got caught up in the fast world of deadline after deadline. While I was away new developments have emerged and it seems certain companies have worked really fast to own the developments. I am talking about airtel and mobile number portability.
As we all know, very soon you will be able to hama with your mobile number to any network. Now while this may be across the board for all networks, airtel has chomokad guns blazing and owned mobile number portability. I find their ni kuhama move remarkable because of the simple fact that no other network has yet shouted about it.
Of course this may seem like a premature assumption and I am sure art directors and copywriters are working their diabs off, but truth be told airtel has owned the situation hands down. Checking in first in a situation like this paints a fantastic picture for consumers. They feel like the network has their interests top of mind, they see the company as innovative, they anticipate more goodies in the future from airtel.
If you are the first company to be in the consideration set, you gain considerable advantage over any other company that might be considered. By being the first company that enters the consideration set you get to set the bar for which all other companies will need to beat. Ideally, the questions you arm the consumer with will point out obvious holes in the other companies' in the consideration set, which will make your company look better.
All in all, its a great time to be a consumer in Kenya as I can predict that offers galore is coming our way. So over to the creative teams on Mombasa Road, Church Road and Ngong Avenue.....show us what you got!
Hey, that's just my opinion.
As we all know, very soon you will be able to hama with your mobile number to any network. Now while this may be across the board for all networks, airtel has chomokad guns blazing and owned mobile number portability. I find their ni kuhama move remarkable because of the simple fact that no other network has yet shouted about it.
Of course this may seem like a premature assumption and I am sure art directors and copywriters are working their diabs off, but truth be told airtel has owned the situation hands down. Checking in first in a situation like this paints a fantastic picture for consumers. They feel like the network has their interests top of mind, they see the company as innovative, they anticipate more goodies in the future from airtel.
If you are the first company to be in the consideration set, you gain considerable advantage over any other company that might be considered. By being the first company that enters the consideration set you get to set the bar for which all other companies will need to beat. Ideally, the questions you arm the consumer with will point out obvious holes in the other companies' in the consideration set, which will make your company look better.
All in all, its a great time to be a consumer in Kenya as I can predict that offers galore is coming our way. So over to the creative teams on Mombasa Road, Church Road and Ngong Avenue.....show us what you got!
Hey, that's just my opinion.
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