There was a general feeling of excitement at this year's Best of the
Best Awards in Hong Kong, as Ogilvy Mumbai's anti-smoking ad 'The
Journey' made everyone sit up and take notice of the potential of
India's creative scene. There were a lot of good ideas on display that
night, prompting one industry journalist to call the work on show
"explosive, exciting, fresh and a match for the best creative work
anywhere in the world".
Next week, at the 48th Cannes International Advertising Festival, we
will find out if the work can live up to the words. While Asia-Pacific
agencies can impress us at home, do they have what it takes to bring
home some of the 2001 Lions?
Last year, the region's agencies won 17 Lions, including two gold ones,
which were scooped by Results (an Ogilvy & Mather subsidiary) for a
Tobasco sauce ad in Thailand and O&M Singapore for its Scrabble
TVCs.
To get an idea of the odds for agencies here winning it big this year,
media spoke with a few of the jurists who will be representing the
region at the festival next week.
One thing is clear: if Asia's creative work is to stand out in the world
arena, it won't do so with multi-million dollar special effects or
international stars. As every creative director in the region knows all
too well, agencies here are nearly always forced to compete for
significantly smaller budgets than their counterparts in America and
Europe.
"One concern I have is that advertising tends to reflect the level of
energy created by a country's or a region's economic power," observes
Jun Fujishima, creative director at Dentsu Tokyo (Media Lions Jury). But
a poor budget is a poor excuse for failing to take home awards, as he is
quick to point out. "The answer to the budget problem is simply great
creative ideas."
"A bold idea," says Joji Kashu, vice-president and senior creative
director McCann-Erickson Japan (Press & Poster Jury), "reaches beyond
budgets and borders." Lots of money will never be a substitute for a
good creative team, agrees Christopher Jones, creative director -
Interactive at Sydney's Euro RSCG Interaction (Cyber Lion Jury). "Good
creative directors should be able to shine even with limited dollars to
play with."
David Guerrero, the head of Manila's BBDO/Guerrero Ortega and a Cannes
regular for the last five years, believes that low budgets may actually
be an advantage when it comes to developing good creative, as it forces
agencies to "make more use of our everyday surroundings and locations
which can look fresh and interesting when seen from outside our
region".
This approach of looking closer to home for inspiration is one that
Bhanu Inkawat, chairman and ECD of Leo Burnett Bangkok (Film Jury),
believes creates the best campaigns. "The Japanese really started us
thinking with their ads that had a strong Japanese flavour. They made
agencies in other Asian countries think, 'Can we do something like
this?' Not to copy the Japanese ideas, but to look closely at our own
culture for inspiration and ways to connect with our own audience."
So what will these jurists be looking for? Bhanu, who also sat on a jury
at the last Clio festival, says that despite all the theories and books,
judging a good ad comes down to a gut feeling. "It's a process you're
doing Monday through Friday at work, but when you're at an awards show,
there are so many great ideas that it's difficult. When you sit through
six or seven thousand commercials, you look for something that really
speaks to your soul."
Chris Jones describes a similar approach. "I like ads that make an
emotional connection with the viewer. You watch the ad and say 'I know
that feeling'.
The art direction can be very simple. It's the humanity, the slice of
real life aspect, which appeals to me. I love lush productions. But does
the execution have a heart and soul?"
So where will those soul-striking ideas come from? The jurists can't
agree. Most picked Thailand, Singapore and Japan as the Asian
favourites, with China and India close behind.
Joji Kashu has a hunch that Korea will show off some good stuff this
year. "Korean agencies have been noticeable lately. The Korean economy
is doing well, and we've seen some strong work in the entertainment area
- movies, music, plays, things that are a bit more lively. I'd expect
that to have an effect on the ad industry."
But Chris Jones is more prosaic when he sums up his expectations: "I
haven't seen any brilliant work in Asia in the past year."
Yet most of the jurists agree that Asia-Pacific agencies will draw some
serious attention. And even if that doesn't happen, all is not lost. The
important thing, Fujishima says, is to have a good time. "I've attended
AdFest and the Clio Awards, but this is the first time for me to sit on
a jury at an international competition. I'm looking forward to meeting
judges from other countries, and hopefully enchanting them with
Asia."
"Even if you don't win, you can still admire and learn from some great
work," Guerrero says. "Of course, it hurts if you don't at least get
some work on the shortlist. But then again, you're in the south of
France in the middle of June, so there's a limit to how bad things can
be."
