BUY MY WORK OR ELSE......

Would you believe that there was a famous incident where a creative director threatened to jump of a building if the client refused to buy the work. Jesus Christ!

We've all been there, done that, got the t-shirt and the badge when it comes to resenting clients for not buying our work. I remember a facebook post that I made recently bitching at how clients are biased towards certain creative types. I had just come from a bad day at work and was fuming at how a client could not see the logic behind my idea. Then some dude replied and said that maybe it was not the client but rather how I conveyed my idea to the client - well said.

Anyway, today was yet another insightful day at the Cannes Festival and i was fortunate enough to attend a session conducted by Jeff Goodby, Co-chair Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. This guy is a legend and is famed for work such as the famous Budweiser frogs campaign. His talk was on how creatives can sell work to clients. Here's what I learnt.

The key point he made was that sometimes creatives tend to live in a world of their own. We should strive to see work through the eyes of clients. Being over passionate about work can sometimes lead us to jumping way over the rationale of what we are doing.

Creatives should learn to build client relations way before the actual meeting. Try setting up time with the client as you go over the brief and try to learn their way of thinking, what kind of work they like, what they are trying to achieve with their business and so on. This way you will build a strong relationship and establish trust.Trust is built with time and when they see you understand their vision and thinking chances are that you will more than likely succeed in convincing them that your work will achieve their goals.

Clients can also be right. Yup, its true. We are often too quick to kill their suggestions thinking that they have no creative cells. The client can have good ideas and it is our task to find these gems then polish them up. Look for points where you and your client can agree.

Another great piece of advise is, do not be afraid to start over. There are often times when we compromise campaigns by agreeing to slice off this and that. By the end of it all, the work gets diluted and has little semblance to what it was in the beginning. The best thing to do in cases like this is to offer to start over and do something else. You just might come up with a better idea.

There is also the matter of persistence. If you have no shadow of doubt whatsoever that your idea will work. Try and sell it to the client again on another occasion. Coming back next year to talk about an idea that was rejected can work. It should be done with humility and a real sense of great belief. You never know, the client might just buy your case and opt to finally approve the work.

Finally, do not be afraid to ask for the big boss to be at the presentation. Sometimes the big boys can see through your idea and the conversation in the board room may completely change. You know the drill, once the big boss says he loves your work the rest of the team will follow and start showering your work with complements.

So there you have it folks, a few tips on how we can simply try harder. When all else fails you could always try and get the client kidnapped so that he is not present for the meeting and someone else signs off your work - just thinking out of the box.

Hey that's just my opinion.

IF YOU CAN'T BEAT THEM, LEARN FROM THEM

I don't know if you have heard of an ad agency called Droga5. Well if you haven't it just happens to be one of the most awarded ad agencies at the Cannes Advertising Festival. Also voted Creative agency of the year 2011.

The work these guys do is phenomenal to say the least and their campaigns include; The Tap Project - a high-profile hoax for Ecko plus they also promoted Bing and Jay-Z by plastering the pages of the music impresario's book in the unlikeliest of places, including the floor of a Miami pool and the lining of a Gucci jacket.

I was privileged to attend a seminar conducted by Ted Royer their executive creative director. Apart from being a creative genius the man is humble and has a brilliant sense of humor. The striking thing is his simple techniques for doing great creative.

What I learnt was too great to keep to myself and just has to be shared.

Here goes:

1  -  There is no formula for doing great creative work. Great work comes from that gut feeling.

2  -   Be simple. If you can sum up your idea in one sentence then it is a big idea.

3  -   Look for the simple truth in front of you.

4  -   Assume your audience is lazy. Make it easy for people to figure out your message.

5  -  Instead of restating the problem, be the solution.

How's that for a simple approach. Of course we don't have to follow everything we are taught and we can go ahead and write our own books - but sometimes a little advise from the worlds best does not hurt.

Hey that's just my opinion.

WHAT EVERY KENYAN CLIENT SHOULD KNOW

Today was yet another inspiring day at the Cannes Advertising Festival. Tonnes of seminars, forums and workshops to attend. Loads of excellent creative work to Marvel at. Myriads of people weaving from one end to the other - but most of all lots of learning's that could change the way we do things at home.

The Cannes Festival has grown by leaps and bounds, the entries submitted every year are growing bigger and bigger. This year alone has seen no less than 34,000 pieces of work submitted. I was lucky enough to attend a closed session with Phillip Thomas - CEO, Cannes Lion Festival. The man said that the one major reason entries have increased is ......ready for it?..........CLIENTS!!!!!

Yes, my fellow Kenyan.....Clients are encouraging agencies and creative partners to submit work.

The CEO pointed out that more clients are engaged in celebrating creativity. In fact you can't tell apart work submitted by clients and work submitted by agencies. Take for instance a new awards category launched this year called "Branded Entertainment". The first entry received was from BMW for work on the movie Mission Impossible 4.

Clients have become enlightened and have made a shift from where emphasis was only placed on measuring agency work effectiveness by data, research, return on investment and so on. They want more creativity. They are enablers for agencies to win awards.

Now, I am sure we can go into the age old debate on what choice a client would rather make. Return on Investment or Great Creative? Well Mrs.Client, here's the deal. Its simply a balance of both.

Now you may say that Cannes awards are for more developed markets, but I say that we are not trying hard enough to put our country in the spotlight. Look at the new countries that are scooping gold.....Romania, China, Venezuela, Guatemala, Kuwait, Lebanon, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Columbia. And you tell me that Kenya cannot be on this list. I mean some agency from Tunisia today scooped Gold for an activation campaign. Come on guys!!!!!

Its time for Kenyan clients to start pushing for greater creative output. The world is doing it. How can we be left behind?

Hey, that's just my opinion.

HOW TO JUDGE CREATIVE WORK

Hello creative world.

Goodness, its been ages since I found some inspiration to write. I tell you blogging is not a walk in the park as pointed out to me by a lot of people. Nevertheless I thank everyone who has asked me to get back to writing; and what better place to find inspiration than where all creatives gather annually. Yes, thanks to the grace of God, I am at Cannes Lions.

This place is buzzing with creatives from all over the world. Creative Directors, Art Directors, Clients, Media Houses, Production Companies, you name it. Its creative Mecca.The list of speakers is also amazing including Former President Bill Clinton giving a speech.There's so much to see, so much to hear and so much to learn; but I guess at the end of the day the cherry on the cake is seeing all the great entries and ultimately who walks away with Gold.

There has always been a great debate on how to judge creativity. Many awards ceremonies create joy and on the other hand great resentment from those who feel the Judges may have done better. Its something that has always confused me. So how exactly do we judge great creative work? Well, today I found the answer to the question via a really inspiring talk by a man called Michael Conrad - President, Berlin School of Creative Leadership.

Here's what I learnt:

Judges look at work based on a criteria of 10 things. 1 - 4 is bad, 5 - 7 has potential, 8 - 9 is great.

10 -  Is it the most inspiring work in the world?
9   -  Does it set a new standard in communication?
8   -  Does it set a new standard in the category

7   -  Has is got excellent crafting?
6   -  Is it a fresh idea?
5   -  Is there innovative strategy? (Are you saying something about something we all know in a new way eg  "Got Milk"?

4  -   Is it a cliche?
3  -   Is it non competitive?
2  -   Is it destructive? (Read: Bad casting, bad quality, etc)
1  -   Is it just appalling (No humanity whatsoever?)

I found this information too precious to be selfishly stored between my ears. Its a great criteria for all of us in the creative realm to set for ourselves not only when entering work for awards, but also raising standards in what we do daily. And remember, at the end of the day advertising has to inspire peoples lives and make them take action.

So ask yourself. Where does your work score on a scale of 10? I don't know about you, but I feel inspired.

Hey, that's just my opinion.

CONFESSIONS OF A SPOILT CREATIVE

It has been an interesting month for me as I have had to make several adjustments in my life. The biggest one I think has been getting used to using public transport all over again. My car has been in the shop for quite some time getting a well-deserved makeover and I don’t see myself spending Pampers money on using cabs daily. So I got over my rather spoilt self and decided to start javing like a normal Kenyan - and boy am I glad I did it.

I think moving up the ranks spoilt me in a way. I started hanging out exclusively in up-town spots. Is this a good thing for a creative? In a sense yes and in a sense no. Up-towners are great for networking and finding out the inner udakus of the industry. But on the other hand too much up-towning makes you forget what’s going on in the greater world.

You see when you start getting out more, you start getting amazing insights that you will never find behind your desk or on that i-pad. Getting into a mat has taught me what radio stations guys are really hooked up to, it has taught me what ads really get noticed out there, it has taught me what the person I try to communicate with cares about or does not care about.

Couch, google or desktop creativity is a really dangerous thing. In fact, it is not surprising that when most clients see a creative walking into the boardroom, an undercurrent sense of mistrust starts flowing. You see some clients get the jitters and often ponder about the stuff you put in front of them -  "Is this really going to connect with my consumer or is this just another abstract art exhibition to fuel egos at Caribana?"

I believe that creatives can gain client confidence by once in a while coating conversations with small talk about the things they have observed consumers doing. Clients want know that you have sat next to the guy they are trying to sell to in real life – and not just in air conditioned research group rooms. Clients want to know your views on how you saw their consumer interacting with their brands. Clients want you to be their brand spy in a sense. You cannot achieve that by confining your life to an android phone, the Art Café or your Subaru Legacy.

Ask yourself. How are you going to come up with that great on ground experiential campaign unless you are on ground yourself? How are you going to notice that innovative competitor radio station activation in the city center if you don’t take casual CBD walks? How are you going to come up with that great Kenchic, Coca-Cola or Dettol hand sanitizer idea if you don’t go to a face the wall chips joint at lunchtime? How are you going to notice the potential of that great ZUSHA idea for responsible public service vehicle driving if you don’t sit in a mat? How are you going to learn about mobile phone surfing  if you are not in that City Hopper during rush hour? How are you going to come up with that great safe sex campaign if you don’t observe different walks of shame in tao? How are you going to know what works for rural folk if you don’t hang out with your relas in shags? Catch my drift?

So there you have it folks. If you are a spoilt creative, it’s time to wake up and smell the dirt and smoke. You’ll be amazed at how much inspiration you’ll get. Go on, Get out NOW!

But hey, that’s just my opinion?

How social is your brand?

Hello folks, its that time of year again and apart from attending Christmas party after Christmas party there seems to be a slight slow down on brief traffic (at least on my end). So what else to do but spend time educating myself on trends courtesy of the great www.

So this got me thinking. Have Kenyan brands really embraced social media and if so, what succesful social media campaigns come to mind? Ummmmmm......ummmmmm none actually apart from maybe that clever campaign that Safaricom conducted i.e the King and Queen of facebook. Not bad when you think about the objective of growing data numbers.

I stumbled across the following article on the 10 most successful facebook campaigns of 2010 (Guess the 2011 list is not yet out). Cool thing is that they have amazing numbers to justify their success. Interesting read. Enjoy and maybe learn something.

So what Facebook marketing campaign you have noticed recently that impressed you? Please share your opinion.

The 10 Best Facebook Campaigns

Facebook campaigns seem to be going all warm, caring and fluffy recently as brands realize that solving problems and helping those in need can be a very effective marketing tactic.

Three of the Facebook campaigns in this list have an altruistic reason behind their campaigns, from donating $500,000 each to 20 schools to raising funds for the “Make A Wish Foundation”.

The marketing goals for the Facebook pages vary but quite often the simple goal of just increasing their fan count to their Facebook page seems to be top of the list as brands have worked out very quickly that being able to communicate to 1,000′s or even millions of fans via a simple status update is very efficient highly leveraged marketing. Companies have also realized that  people’s main reason for becoming a fan for the most part is not so charitable, but is about having access to the latest special offers and freebies.


1. Kohl
The Department store Kohl’s gave away $10 million to various schools decided by the votes of their fans on Facebook. It was an excellent promotional campaign as the 20 schools with the most votes were each given $500 thousand. Kohl’s Facebook page sky rocketed to well over a million fans, and the winning schools each tallied well over 100,000 votes. Kohl’s hit it out of the park so to speak with this campaign centered around the social network, and they did an excellent job utilizing social media tactics to help in its social responsibility efforts.

2. Target
Popular department store Target left the choice of where to donate $1 million into the hands of their fans on the social network. The company used an application titled “Super Love Sender” and kept fans updated in real time which charity was in the lead. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital ended up being the winning charity. Overall though, the excellent campaign was a complete success as it created quite a boom on the store’s Facebook page.

3. Ford Explorer
Ford shifted promotion techniques as they began gearing their campaigns towards social media outlets, and they really pushed the boundaries with innovative ideas. This past summer they released tidbits of info leading up to a Facebook event unveiling the 2011 Ford Explorer. The campaign was the first time a car company has ever used a website to reveal their new model as opposed to an auto show. Ford also went as far to randomly select one of their fans to giveaway a free Explorer upon their fan total surpassing a certain number.



4. Jack In The Box
Popular fast food chain Jack In The Box, and their slightly creepy mascot Jack, added a nickel in an imaginary jar for every new fan they accrued on Facebook in their October Rich Fan Sweepstakes. They started at just over $2,000, and when they gave away the money about a month later to a randomly selected fan, the jar was up to over $11,500. Needless to say, giving away free money is one of the best and easiest ways to acquire new fans on the social network. It was certainly a creative campaign though that helped the fast food chain see an explosive increase in fan numbers.

5. Bing and Farmville
A little before the beginning of Spring, Microsoft’s Facebook page for Bing launched a campaign that helped them accrue almost a half million new fans on the social network. The search engine did this by giving away FarmVille currency to all new fans that hit the “Like” button. Bing drew in great traffic and their page grew rapidly, but engagement of the content on the page was drawn into question. The Microsoft page responded by making itself a hotspot with the latest news about the popular Zynga developed game to keep their new fans around.

6. Papa Johns Pizza
The first pizza chain’s Facebook campaign to appear on our Year End list is Papa Johns. They promoted their Papa’s Speciality Pizza Contest using Facebook, and it created quite a buzz and a growth in fans as a result. The contest put the fans taste buds and creativity to the test as it was up to them to come up with a new pizza for the company. The winner also saw a piece of the profits, so it was not too much of a surprise that this creative campaign helped the popular chain’s fan-base on Facebook continue to expand.

7. Southwest Airlines
To go a whole list without mentioning at least one company that has utilized Facebook’s new popular feature, Places, just would not be acceptable. Southwest partnered up with the Make A Wish Foundation for an excellent charitable promotion that had the airline donating a dollar to the organization every time a passenger checks into a Southwest served airport. The promotion has had great success, as it is for a great cause, and it has it helped Southwest gain over 1 million fans on the social network. Be sure to check in on your next flight and join an excellent campaign.

8. Kellogs
Popular cereal company Kellogg’s teamed up with Feeding America, and the Facebook page Kellogg Cares comes as a result. The page has been a quick increase in fans, and the content posted makes it such an interactive success on the social network. The page’s aim is to educate younger generations on proper nutrition through posts and video updates. Kellogg’s used Facebook in an extremely humane fashion to raise awareness for a particular issue.



9. Domino’s Pizza
Domino’s Pizza has completely revamped its brand image this year through advertising campaigns, and a heavy focus on interactive social networks. As they were coming to the realization that their pizza previously tasted similar to cardboard, they started a tab on their Facebook page where fans could voice all of their complaints with the popular chain. Regardless of any opinion on whether their new pizza has actually improved, their use of Facebook to listen fans opinions was a great way to begin to improve a deteriorating image that was initially attached to their brand. Domino’s continues to be extremely interactive on the page offering responses and updates for fans.

10.  Corona
Corona Light cross-media campaign this past year included a goal to become “The Most Liked Light Beer In America.” A most notable part of this was to use Facebook, and by fanning the page you could see your picture up in the bright lights of New York City’s Time Square. The campaign was a great social media success in the sense that it had fans interacting on the pages as well as spreading the story of the billboard by word of mouth. The billboard ran for a month until the beginning of December, and many fans were able to snag pictures and be a part of this Facebook-based advertisement.

USE ME, I'M FAMOUS!

Theory and practice prove that the use of super stars in advertising generates a lot of attention from the public. So how is the Kenyan advertising fraternity doing when it comes to choosing brand ambassadors? Have we chosen the right ones? Are they relevant? Have they done justice to the brands they represent? Here's my opinion.

Julie Gichuru: Dettol Handwashing Campaign
This is a no brainer. Julie was the perfect choice. Her personality emits warmth, care and knowledge. Julie has initiated and taken part in several philanthropic campaigns over the years. The ad was also executed in a simple manner. It didn't look like out the place acting. Just good ol'Julie. "If I don't take care of them, who will?" Babes, you can take care of me any given day. Hell I can even trust you to baby sit my daughter.

Wahu: Rexona Anti Perspirant
Here's another association that I find pretty cool. Most chics simply adore Wahu. She has this girl next door personality which she easily switches to the sexy lass who's married to the first person who comes to mind when you think Kenyan A list celebrity. The girls would definitely listen to Wahu and the glitz that was captured on the billboards was right up her ally. I found the TVC a tad bit exaggerated, but hey that's just me. Considering that she's a chic always on the move, hard working and an excellent stage performer; I'd say that they got this one right.

David Rudisha: Kiwi
Talk about a great opportunity lost in execution. The storyline was kind of cool but what raised debate was the whole "fyatu fyako" saga. But maybe its only a few up-town guys who notice the accent. Is the reaction the same in the Rift Valley? Maybe not. Shoes, durability and the World Athlete of the Year? Yes, I buy the connection and its perfect but clearly the directors had a really hard time getting the guy to read the auto-cue. Ok, I'll let it pass, at least the ad remained relevant to his trade.

Sheila Mwanyiga: Vaseline Cocoa Butter
Totally correct. Sheila is another favorite with the girls. She is a girly girl so to speak. The kind of chic that women find approachable for chit chat and advise. The girl is also a total knock out in my books so the association here clearly works. The execution was smooth, sexy without shouting. The exact thing that I guess a chic wants when she uses Vaseline Cocoa Butter. Simply perfect.

Nameless: EABL responsible drinking
Ok EABL decided to get Kenya's most famous male singer and use him to endorse a drink driving campaign. Was it a good decision? Hell yeah. You see Nameless is the kind of guy who makes a living from working late night after late night yet somehow he has managed to maintain star appeal without getting involved in scandals. The dude is hardly known for insobriety. If Nameless came up to me in a bar and told me, hey teddy you are too plastered to drive si you take a cab.....I would probably listen to the logic. Whether I would go home is a whole different ball game.

Amani: Airtel
Not bad. When Airtel did this they were hoping to swoop the youth market. Did the campaign work for them? Mimi pana jua. What I must say though is that Amani was a great choice. With all those MTV awards plus no major scandals she fitted in perfectly. Lively and bouncy (Yes, two of them really bounce). Lets not forget that she had already crossed borders and worked with various continental artists before the campaign, so her association with stars was relevant.

Suzzane Owiyo: Harpic
Now, now, now. Here's one that really caused a lot of debate. Suzzanne Owiyo and toilet? Toilet and Suzzanne Owiyo? SHIT!!!!(pun intended). I really do not get the connection here. Do guys connect her with home care? I don't think so. Would she work for something like Visa cards or Kenya Airways? I think so. Owiyo is definitely a great and celebrated Kenyan but the connection with Harpic I do not really get. I would really like to know your opinion on this one. My opinion? Nope, Harpic missed the boat on this one.( By the way did you know that the Nyambane Harpic campaign sent their sales soaring through the roof?).

Jua Kali: Orange
Here's a perfect example of a wasted opportunity. Jua was at the height of his career but Orange was at the height of the unknown. Cool personality not so cool brand. 10 million bob worth of Jua Kali endorsement went down the drain. If you ask me the execution was totally lousy. What were these guys thinking? Anyway at least Orange contributed to the Kenya music industry in its own weird way.

Ezekiel Kemboi: Milo with Actigen E
Milo selected Ezekiel Kemboi for his champion status in the Kenyan sports arena. This choice could not have come at a better time for the brand especially with the way this guy performed at Daegu (Remember the dance?). Milo has always been associated with sports and champions so their choice here was great. Imagine if they had chosen to go the Samuel Wanjiru route....walalalalala.

Wyre: Samsung dual sim
Wyre is a dude who represents the cool factor. I believe Samsung made a good choice here. If the objective was to make dual sims look cool then they achieved it in my opinion. The only thing that fell flat on its face was the radio campaign. A chic comes up to Wyre and screams oh my god its Wyre, can I have your autograph? Wyre then says, you can either have my autograph or this cool samsung phone so pretty girl "make a choice, make a choice". The chic then chooses the phone and Wyre belts out "She said dat". Pretty corny. What I would have done is simply get a cool Wyre music piece done for Samsung.

Wilbroda: Royco
When it comes to touching base with the real mwananchi, lets just face it Citizen TV has taken the cake. Somehow they have managed to make huge stars out of their cast and I tell you these guys are huge in the mashinanis. Wilbroda was used pretty well to sell those Royco cubes. She was in complete character.She's the kind of woman who would knock on your door with udaku for five centuries and not leave. Pretty okay when it comes to creating attention for the brand.

Wilbroda, Jalango & Awinja: Molo Milk
There's something I really like about this commercial in its raw Kenyan comedic fashion. Its pure slapstick, pure silly. You cant help but laugh at those two clowns. Nice choice of personalities. Only one major snag. The guys go "Usiseme maziwa, sema Ngombe" while the brand is Molo Milk. Now, if the brand was called Ngombe Milk that would have been a clear win. If the packaging has a fat ass cow then maybe it makes sense. All the same lets watch this space and see if those two clowns will generate a spike in the Molo Milk sales graph.

Celebrities indeed play an important role in the Advertising industry and no doubt Kenyan celebs are starting to make a good amount of cash from brand endorsements. But here's my advice. Choose your celebs carefully, lest you just might be flushing your money down the toilet (No relation to Harpic, I swear).


Hey, that's just my opinion.