PRIVATE VIEW: Tan Khiang, executive creative director of M&C Saatchi, Hong Kong

Now that the dotcom hype is over and with the Nasdaq at a miserable low, does that mean we now have more time on our hands? Maybe more time to read copy? More time to look at an ad? Enjoy the wit in words and visuals. More time to craft an ad. Be entertained. And hopefully convince us to go out and buy some stuff. If we all spend a bit, we can spend our way out of the gloom and hopefully keep our jobs. So now that people have more time to digest stuff, shouldn't we be a wee bit more challenging. The Fuji Xerox ads are just too familiar. Headlines that simply describe what the visuals are showing, with the clever placement of products and its benefit. The layout does look decent though. Sorry Patrick, you can rubbish some of my ads next time. A fun ad from Nike. It is bold and to the point. Nobody dares to manipulate The Great Helmsman; you get arrested for that. Except pop artists who seem to get away with it. So if this appeared in mass media then it takes 'Just Do It' one step further. A teddy bear with a hand of a baby doll. A toy with mismatched parts. Ghastly, shades of Toy Story. But why a teddy bear? Maybe concern of the family is intended. But there are better examples of what mismatched parts will evolve into, which would possibly be more relevant and convincing. The other Audi ads are just atypical; stock shots from Europe with the instruction, "please use it and write a clever line to go with it". Understandable, as the luxury of shooting car ads in Asia are few and far between. So now for the clever headline. The Baygon ad is simple and to the point. No words needed. It has a pack shot and it is a very big one. No dealer addresses, no product range photos. It demonstrates the effectiveness of the product. It knocks the lights out of mosquitoes. And it is from the Philippines. Some strong work has been coming out of the Philippines in recent years. Mr Clean during the election was just so perfect. But David Guerrero and company have done much better work and are capable of better. Bank of East Asia's CyberBanking ads. Tough subject. How does one visualise what is not there? Some computer animation to give us an idea that we are talking about an online service? Some futuristic setting? Or show somebody in a remote beach somewhere because you are now not deskbound? What we have with this ad is a man in a hat in an urbanised setup, possibly New York. He goes about his business on top of buildings with giant surrealistic symbols. What you can imagine can now be achieved. The cinematography is beautiful. The idea is somewhat a tad too soft. An Asian man in a suit with a hat. How many hat-wearing, suited man do you see on the streets of Hong Kong and Singapore? Better with a baseball cap. A rare piece of Korean work. Too warm and fuzzy, too much education that Dunkin' Donuts has holes in them. Don't all donuts? Lots of food shots and a talent that can really bite. Just wallpaper. We need more wit, more entertainment, more fun, more slapstick, more daring. We need more long copy, where's Neil? FUJI XEROX Project: Printers campaign - Phase 2, Key Drivers Client: Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific Brief: To raise the awareness of Fuji Xerox's printers Agency: Dentsu, Young & Rubicam (Singapore) Creative director: Patrick Low Copywriter: Heng May May Art director: Benny Quek NIKE Project: Nike Olympics Celebration Client: Nike Taiwan Brief: To encourage Taiwan people to participate in sports by emphasising the fact that Beijing had won the race to host the 2008 Olympics Agency: J. Walter Thompson Creative director: Lo Sheung Yan Copywriter: Lo Sheung Yan Art director: Hu Gang, Johnson Sheng AUDI Project: "Teddy", "Supermodel" and "Take-off" Client: Premium Automobiles/Audi Brief: to feature selected models in the Audi range. Agency: Mandate Advertising International Creative director and copywriter: James Mortimer-Roberts Art director: Lo Weng Heng BAYGON Project: Baygon Mosquito Killer (BMK) with Micro Mist Spray Client: Bayer Philippines Brief: To communicate to people that BMK is the most effective killer of mosquitoes Agency: BBDO/Guerrero Ortega, Manila Creative director: David Guerrero Copywriter: Marc Dimaano Art director: Manny del Rosario Media used: Print BANK OF EAST ASIA Project: MyCyberWorld Client: Bank of East Asia Brief: launch the bank's MyCyberWorld Agency: Grant Advertising Creative director: Titania Yuen Copywriter: Dilys Siu Art director: Alan Wong Production House: Film Factory Media used: TV, Print, MTR, Cinema DUNKIN' DONUTS Project: Dunkin' Donuts' launch campaign Client: Dunkin' Donuts Brief: To build brand likeability Agency: TBWA Korea Creative director: Chang Hee Choi Copywriter: Jong Suk Hur Art director: Woon Ick Son Production House: Mass Production Media used: TV and cinema

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