PRIVATE VIEW: Linda Locke, regional head of creative at Leo Burnett

<p>When I was asked to write this review, the world felt a far safer </p><p>place and advertising seemed to have a place in it. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>On Tuesday night and for quite a few nights after that, it disappeared, </p><p>replaced by the devastating and horrific images of the atrocity wreaked </p><p>on America - filling our eyes, our minds and our hearts. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>And then, bit by bit, ads started to reappear and for the first time in </p><p>days, I started to feel calmer for it seemed to signal the first signs </p><p>of normalcy, of getting back to business. And so we shall ... </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>JTC International Business Park: Two ads that seem to have little in </p><p>common, save the logo. The first ad featuring a man on the beach with </p><p>the suggestion of his office drawn in. Wow, an office by the beach I </p><p>thought, but I read on only to discover no, it's actually in the middle </p><p>of an industrial park - but, they assured me there is a real park there </p><p>- enough said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The second ad featuring a lot of different light bulbs and a headline </p><p>that talks about "letting your ideas take off" - cliched. Such a shame, </p><p>the park is really set in a park. Now there's a story waiting to be </p><p>told. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Chow Sang Sang: There is a nice visual device in the sunburn shadow left </p><p>by the jewellery, but it's a bit of a stretch to suggest the wearer </p><p>loves the jewellery so much she never takes it off. Too complicated and </p><p>so is the layout. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Oxygen: It's quite a clever ad - a roomful of children being asked </p><p>general knowledge questions while a computer loading symbol appears on </p><p>the child's forehead. It takes forever to load information to answer the </p><p>questions an off-screen teacher asks. The idea that broadband is as </p><p>quick as a child's mind is a very human way of selling the benefits of </p><p>broadband and a compelling way to sell technology. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Dao Heng Card: A beautifully-shot film with wonderful art direction </p><p>touches and great music. It makes me want to pick up the phone and book </p><p>a holiday immediately up until the couple's kiss on the beach; when it </p><p>tried to tell me that if I sign up now I'd get free Samsonite bags, it </p><p>brought me back to earth with a bump. The hard sell supers also seemed </p><p>unnecessary. I just needed to know that with a Dao Heng credit card, it </p><p>could be me on that romantic holiday. Everything else should have been </p><p>relegated to a print ad. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Jurassic III: A fun ad that communicates simply and graphically great </p><p>art direction and leverages the previous two films well. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Samsung: A good product trying too hard to get its message across so </p><p>much so it feels like it's yelling at me. The idea of higher </p><p>'rinsability', if such a feature really exists is a compelling one. The </p><p>art direction does little to help tell the story. I'm afraid it's an </p><p>opportunity missed. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>JTC INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CENTRE </p><p>Project: International Business Park </p><p>Client: JTC Corporation </p><p>Brief: To inspire people to carve a niche in the growing knowledge-based </p><p>economy. </p><p>Agency: Mandate Advertising International, Singapore </p><p>Creative director: Paul Hume </p><p>Art director: Eric Chow & Jude Castillo </p><p>Copywriter: David Goh </p><p>CHOW SANG SANG </p><p>Project: New Shop Opening </p><p>Client: Chow Sang Sang Jewellery </p><p>Brief: To promote a shop opening in Hong Kong </p><p>Agency: Lowe Lintas & Partners </p><p>Creative director: Kinson Chan </p><p>Art director: Bunzz Ng </p><p>Copywriter: Helen Chan </p><p>OXYGEN </p><p>Project: "56K Kid" </p><p>Client: CLP TeleCom </p><p>Brief: to launch the Oxygen Broadband service </p><p>Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi </p><p>Creative director: Francis Wee </p><p>Art director: Maurice Wee </p><p>Copywriter: Renee Lim </p><p>Production House: Film Factory </p><p>DAO HENG </p><p>Project: Dao Heng Holiday </p><p>Client: Dao Heng Credit Card </p><p>Brief: To stand out from the extremely competitive local credit card </p><p>market by giving the brand a unique personality as well as offering </p><p>consumers distinctive product benefits. </p><p>Agency: MK2 Communications </p><p>Creative director: Kasey Lin </p><p>Art director: David Cheung </p><p>Copywriter: Joe Chan </p><p>Production House: Odeon </p><p>JURASSIC III </p><p>Project: "Eggs" </p><p>Client: Smart Telecom </p><p>Brief: To serve as a teaser for the upcoming movie "Jurassic III". </p><p>Agency: DDB Philippines </p><p>Creative director: Roger Pe </p><p>Art director: Juan Paolo Tana </p><p>Copywriter: Roger Pe </p><p>Production House: Calypso, Makati </p><p>SAMSUNG </p><p>Project: Washing machine </p><p>Client: Samsung India </p><p>Brief: To move away from advertising generic benefits towards </p><p>communicating a message that has a greater emotional appeal </p><p>Agency: Triton Communications </p><p>Creative director: Atanu Chakravorty </p><p>Art director: Atanu Chakravorty </p><p>Copywriter: Shashank Gupta </p><p>Production House: Thomson Press </p><p><BR><BR> </p>