O YE WANNABE CREATIVE

"Never apply to an agency as a designer, you will just be another "trash""....Is that statement true? I have always wanted to work in an agency, but from what i have heard is agency treat designers like shit. I hear art/creative directors live in they own class, create briefs n pass em to em juniors to execute em n then they go brag its they job. Designers have no creative input whatsoever, u just thea to beat deadlines. So i would like to know from anybody working in an agency, whats ua story"

I saw this on The art directors and copywriters of Kenya group page, hence this post. I definitely hear the cry of this possibly young creative trying to get a foot into the business. I have indeed heard this several times from several creative prospects. My question is this. What's with the hurry and the pessimism? Sometimes its good to learn from people who have traveled the same journey. So here goes.

When I completed my Bachelor of Arts in International Relations, I had an idea that I wanted to get into advertising but I just didn't know what kind of job I wanted in the industry. I had been exposed to advertising by my old man who was the marketing guru of his time and I really admired his work (Read: As Smooth as Embassy Kings). My first gigs in advertising were actually a hustle to get partying cash via auditioning for roles in adverts which we got informed about at Phoenix Players where I was regularly on stage. I started getting to know guys in the industry by asking questions and networking during shoots and wrap parties.

Enter tarmacking and I started knocking on doors. I remember walking into Century Advertising with t-shirt, torn jeans and dreadlocks which at the time were associated more with what we then called obohos and less of a cool factor. The Client Service Director agreed to see me and when I presented my case to be hired as an account executive, I could see him holding his laughter. Infact to this day I strongly believe that I must have been the focus of jokes at the Norfolk Hotel which at the time was a watering hole for industry heads and the marketing fraternity. So as you can guess by now, I was not hired.

Next stop? I decided to change my career direction to creative. No web at the time, so I got a hold of some books and studied the different advertising agency job descriptions and copywriter rested well with me. So I shave off my dreadlocks, buy a suit and head out to Scanad which at the time had a staff of less than 15 guys. I asked to see Bharat Thakrar and was told that he was in a meeting. I got the same answer everyday for 2 weeks. Yes, I sat at the reception everyday for 2 weeks. One day I got a break, and he decided to see me.

When I met Bharat he asked me why I thought I was a capable creative and I told him about my participation in commercials, my exposure to the industry from childhood and also the fact that acting on stage was somewhat connected to creativity. So the dude gave me some speculative radio work.(Oh yeah and to my agony Bharat told me to drop the suit and come to work looking like a creative. 4 years of dreadlocks sacrificed for nothing...boo hoo hoo). He was impressed and asked me to see him. So I got hired as a trainee Swahili Copywriter. I slyly dropped the Swahili part when introducing myself to staff and found myself doing English copy.

Now, this was no joyride. The Creative Director Andrew White had not yet come back to settle in Kenya and client service used to send briefs to him via fax (remember fax machines...he, he, he). So I used to get very odd jobs for months. Stuff like headlines for tiny sale sale sale ads or just being asked what's slang for this and that. I was getting frustrated but I just decided to keep learning. Of course there were occasions where some suits would just take all the glory for jobs that I was involved in. Nonetheless I stuck to it knowing that I would grow.

Andrew White finally settled in Kenya and I remember our first meeting. I walked up to him and really kissed ass telling him that he was the greatest creative ever and that all I wanted to do was to learn from him. Boy, did I learn. He made me write like 100 headlines for jobs - and I mean that literally. He was teaching me to be my best critic. He taught me stuff like if I type a radio script and it does not make me laugh out loud while typing, then its not funny. He threw me in the deep end and sent me to what I thought were intimidating production houses. Advertising boot camp this was. But within 6 months of working with him, I had already played great roles in some campaigns eg the Fanta Welcome to the World radio commercials which scooped tonnes of Loeries in South Africa.To cut a long story short, the rest as they say is history.

So how does this relate to the post? Well, I personally think that there are too many know it all rookies in the industry who do not yet know it all. You are not going to write an award winning ad with every brief you receive. Yes, you will be given the jobs that senior creatives do not feel like working on. You will sometimes find the odd Creative Director who will run away with your ideas. You will probably do this for a year or two. But do you know what? YOU WILL LEARN.

If you are trying to get into an agency, then focus first on learning and the rest will follow. No one walks into a company and is given all the golden clients as a rookie, it just cant happen. Clients also do not want to work with rookies. What you need to do is find a mentor within the agency, swallow your pride, become their shadow, drink what they drink even if you don't like it, get likeable and seek to learn. As opposed to thumping your chest and always challenging his or her ideas. They have been there longer than you so they probably know a thing or two more than you. Of course there is a chance that you may be better, but only time will tell.

There is also the aspect of patience. Rookies are in such a hurry that I sometimes wonder what their goal is. To be a Cannes Jury Member after just 1 year in advertising? Come on man, study the international creative greats and see how long they have been around and kept at it. Chill out and learn to develop your craft. The money will definitely follow if you are any good.

Here's another tip. If an agency is not hiring then ask them for a project and do it pro bono. That way you will be able to judge whether you are really cut out to be in the industry or not. The advantage of this also is that you will be building a portfolio and if that agency completely rejects you, turn the tables around and show another agency the work that you did training with an established creative.

Finally, have faith in yourself. For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he - Proverbs 23:7. If you have a negative mindset and create thoughts of defeat or that you will never get hired, then you probably wont. Its not rocket science.

If you come from Generation Y, this may sound like a lot of cow dung to you. I can't blame you though, its your nature.

Hey, that's just my opinion. 

I JUZ DON GERRIT!

“What’s with these accents used in ads? Who are the targeted customers?” I saw this comment on my facebook page and I couldn’t help but think “Finally! Finally!”. Consumers have caught onto the new vibe spreading fast across Kenya. We are proud of who we are. We are proud of this great nation. We are proud of our peculiar habits. We even have a unique pride in our flaws, because they belong to us. So how come media and advertising has not caught on?

Just have a listen to the station voices at most radio stations and you will notice one common thread; A foreign voice luring you to listen to what’s coming up next or announcing why the station is so cool. I don’t know how this became the standard voice-over procedure but it is extremely disheartening to note that we have been made to think that a British or American voice is the sound of authority. Are Kenyan voices not good enough?

Seriously I find it extremely patronizing that subconsciously we believe that only foreign voice over artists will entice a largely local audience to tune into a local station. Even worse is when you hear these voices completely mispronouncing local lingo. Tei-tei-meisha na Safaricom, Piga kwa one bab na Airtel, Kamata beiyi pouwa na Orange. I mean, seriously?

For those of you who need some education on how this is done. Here’s a crash course. The Programs Controller decides that the station needs a couple of new Station IDs. The station creative is briefed. The lines are approved. They are then emailed to the station voice. The station voice based in some shire in England receives the e-mail. He drops his cucumber sandwiches, does a couple of reads on his little recorder and sends the voice over to the anxiously waiting natives at Lion Place, Nation Center or Lonrho House. The voices are then processed and placed on air. About a month later someone’s bank account in Loch Ness gets fatter - Utter and complete nonsense.

Let’s ask ourselves this. Is there a shortage of voice artists in Kenya? This is unacceptable and someone needs to put a stop to it. Why can’t we use local voices?  I just don’t get it. Complete third world mentality and unnecessary exportation of currency which could otherwise be used locally to fuel our economy.

But then again, I am not saying that we throw caution to the wind and start using Kenyan voice artists on radio stations just for the sake of it. I would be hard pressed to record a voice that pronounces car as curr, far as furr or fast as furst. All I am saying is that it’s about time that we stopped treating listening audiences like morons who will consume anything that is thrown at them. Judging from the facebook post, the consumer has started kujivunia.

So over to you Kenyan advertising practitioners. Lets put an end to vocal colonialism. Take One.

But hey, that’s just my opinion.

HOW NOT TO RUN A CREATIVE DEPARTMENT

The other day I was jumping up and down on the sofa after checking out the brilliant Radar Security advertising campaign (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pk5wXTq7VY). Fresh, new, captivating, exciting and most of all from Kenya. It’s the kind of campaign that any serious creative would love to have been part of –  I am so jealous. The product of a great creative team probably working on a pro active idea. So what drives great creative teams? Well I think the biggest part of this must be a great working environment that enables great creativity.

I have been around Kenyan ad agencies and media houses and been exposed to all sorts of modus operandi. I once had an experience that was interesting. The sort of interesting that makes you wake up at 5am and think twice about going to work. Intimidating, unprofessional and absolutely no consideration of what makes a creative tick.

Contrary to popular belief, creatives care. We care about producing stunning campaigns that will get consumers talking, we care about creating work that will create improvements in sales graphs, we care about doing what’s right for brands. Hence silly juvenile company politics has absolutely no space in a creative department.

Let me tell you what I mean by politics. Politics is when the head of a creative department is sidelined from making hiring decisions by the rest of his management team. Politics is when the creative head is told that his team is never at work, while in essence some stay seriously late hours when decision makers are at their favorite bar lighting up their egos. Politics is when you are told that your department is not pro-active, while you dont even consider those who go to oversee roadshows while on leave. Politics is when a member of staff from another region is seconded to your department and when you ask your division head about it, they deny any involvement in it and site it as an HR matter. Politics is when a group of managers tell you not to involve the company marketing department in any marketing related work.

Politics creates mistrust in a company and when creatives get caught up in the political game, great ideas are seldom conceived. You are busy trying to watch your back so much that you can barely think ahead. You are in constant fear of suggesting amazing campaigns lest you look too good and others who have hidden agendas feel outshone. You feel no need to be proactive and all you are interested in is getting your daily quota of work done and run creative run.

Even worse is when a creative does not receive any support from the top. How do you expect a sales team to deliver briefs to the creative department when the departmental heads find writing briefs a headache? How do you expect the sales team to gain knowledge of the creative process when there is absolutely no support for your in-house creative process training efforts? The sad thing is that some people never see that with a little support, effort, simple collaboration and communication; you can easily turn 250K into 2.5M.

Ladies and gentlemen. creatives are sometimes like toddlers. Create an environment of fear and I promise you they will never have the confidence to let their minds get into the zone and create awesome pieces of work. Create an environment of freedom and trust; you will be amazed at the constant churning of brilliant ideas.

So, got a creative department? Then maybe its time you learn how to keep the politics out and let the fun and freedom in. At the risk of sounding controversial to those who are religiously inclined “no weapon held against creatives shall prosper”, but nonetheless “creatives forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

But hey, that’s just my opinion.

YOU'VE GOT TO TAKE IT PERSONAL

Have you ever had an “I want to bury my head in the sand” moment? Okay, let me tell you what I mean. It’s that moment when you think you have written the greatest ad concept in the world, then you walk into the clients office and when you take one look at the client – you know that things are thick. The cool concept that represents the brand through let’s say something like hip hop is not going to go down well with the guy sitting in front of you; who was the target of constant mockery from cool guys throughout his campus life and whose girlfriend ran away with a rich kid who picked her up with his dads car. 

My Kenyan advertising journey has made me believe that the client has to buy you first, before he buys your concept. You have to do your research on who you are going to present to. Is he a young urban dude who revs at Galileo, is she devoted to weekend service at her local church or is he the kind of dude who is off to shags to check on his rabbit farm every weekend.

Of course you my say that it should never be about personal feelings and the sell should be all about what is best for the brand. Let’s just say that this is easier said than done. One of the things I picked up from presentations from the best of the best in advertising at Cannes was - before you sell your work, get to know your clients personality. You could have an award winner in your Power point presentation, but if it rubs the client’s personality the wrong way, you are in for a shocker.

So what’s the best way of getting to know your client? Simple. Wine, dine, coffee, lunch. Have informal conversations about their business and the ad industry in general. Or even better try and meet the client before you get down to doing their work so you can understand their thinking. Throw in mature off the cuff conversations or some humor so you can get to know how they think. With this in mind you will be more equipped to think like the client.

Have I had my fair share of embarrassing and ill prepared moments? Where do I start? The day I went to present to an insurance company board of directors with an Asian Creative Director not knowing that the team I was presenting to was comprised of high profile GEMA members. Or the time I made political wise cracks at a meeting not knowing that the new head of Marketing was appointed due to political affiliation. The list goes on and on.

So my friend before you attend your next pitch, think way ahead and don't just do your brand research but also do your client research. It may just make the difference between winning the business and have a glorious advertising career or changing plans and venturing into full time greenhouse tomato farming.

But hey, that’s just my opinion.