PRIVATEVIEW: Stanley Wong

I can still remember that day back in 1992, at the JWT Hong Kong conference room. Our chairman Grace Atkinson stood in front of a potential client giving her preamble to a pitch presentation: "This is our single-minded JWT brief and vision to produce the most distinctive and effective communications works within the local market. I hate to say this in front of my creative team that both - being distinctive and effective - are of equal importance, but if I needed to rank them, I would put effectiveness before being distinctive." This is how advertising and communications work and I truly believe in and follow this discipline to this day. For Sprite Hong Kong, the outdoor ads are very successful in grabbing people's attention (including mine) at the start. However, that's all they do really ... they do not inspire or involve me (or any young kids, I guess). I don't think any one would be motivated to have a Sprite after seeing this ad. And also, the constantly changing typeface from ad to ad begs the question: is this a cool thing to do? I still remember the Nike Marathon ad where they put a small, understated 'swoosh' logo on the runner's cheek. To me, this is confident and cool. The visuals for Actara are nice. The chilli ad definitely clicked and the writhing bodies of the red peppers had the essence of a 'safe sex' idea in it. However, I cannot say the same for the mango or rice executions. This is yet another version of Saatchi & Saatchi London's "irritating eye" campaign - a ball-shaped character with arms and legs and a face where the belly ought to be - only this one is in Hong Kong for Mr Juicy. If agencies are thinking of more similar executions, please stop and give us a break. On the flip side, however, it is encouraging to see a refreshing approach to revamp a family brand with a long history like Mr Juicy. But the dark humor isn't quite there. It didn't make me laugh nor did it excite me. Thus I cannot say if it was effective. I would be looking for better story ideas in future. To use a local kung fu comic style for Intouch Sheer Condom is an interesting approach to target young teenagers in Hong Kong. Nice idea, nice visuals but the music of one of the TVC titled "Sheer" could have been a little more sensational. It is very touching to see this ad from the Ministry of Community Development and Sports, Singapore. The idea is simple and convincing. I would think every parent would buy the logic of the ad as a reminder of what they haven't done for their kids recently. Extremely effective. Another simple and nice TV ad for Leisure Commerce Square in Malaysia. I found this funny and refreshing, and also it's a very good solution for such a tough brief. I could envisage some creatives rejecting such a boring and no-hope brief in order to spend their time coming up with another scam ad. Stanley Wong is chief creative officer of Centro Digital Pictures 1. SPRITE Project: Sprite thematic Client: Coca-Cola China Brief: To reinforce Sprite's cool, edgy, self-confident and self-expressive user imagery Agency: McCann-Erickson Guangming Creative directors: Geoff Naus, Norman Ying Art director: Norman Ying Exposure: magazine and outdoor 2. ACTARA Project: Actara "Generation" Client: Syngenta Crop Protection, Asia Pacific Brief: Launch campaign Agency: TBWA Hong Kong Creative director: Clarke Mallery Art director: May Lee Production company: Colour Six Exposure: TV, print, outdoor, below-the-line 3. MR JUICY Project: Mr Juicy Client: Citrus Growers International Brief: To position Mr Juicy as a fun beverage and widen its market Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Creative director: Annie Wong Art director: Karen Lai Copy writers: Simon Handford, Janice Tsang Director: Chan Man Chung Production company: Film Factory Exposure: TV 4. INTOUCH Project: inTouch Sheer Condom Client: Gloria Leong, marketing manager, Whitehall HK Brief: New product launch Agency: Bates Hong Kong Creative directors: Iris Lo, Sylvester Song Art director: Peggy Ho Copywriter: Ronnie Yeung Production company: Centro Exposure: TV 5. MINISTRY OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND SPORTS, SINGAPORE Project: National Family Week 2001 Client: Singapore Government Brief: To encourage parents to spend more 'quality time' with their children Agency: DY&R Singapore Executive creative director: Patrick Low Creative director: Mark Fong Art director: Francis Ooi Copywriter: Ang Kah Han Production house: Moviola 6. LEISURE COMMERCE SQUARE Project: Keys 1 Client: Leisure Commerce Square Brief: To promote property sales for the Keys 1 development and link it to a Peugeot lucky draw Agency: D'Arcy Malaysia Creative directors: Thomas Low, Kins Lee Art director: Kit Copy writer: Amy Tan Director: Low Chunwan Production company: Barney Productions Exposure: TV

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