Aside from scam awards, there is one other contentious issue among advertising creatives: creative indulgence. Meaning: ads that are meant to satisfy the creative urge of the creative team rather than meet the business needs of the client.
One such campaign is the one for Brand Capital. Series of ads, with logos that look like famous brands – Johnson & Johnson, Samsung etc., are juxtaposed with Indian names.
Arresting campaign, brings a smile.
I presume that the aim of the campaign is to show how Brand Capital can partner SME’s and help them realize the full potential of their brand. The carrot is clearly the growth prospects of the brands, thanks to the media visibility provided by Brand Capital. If I were an SME owner with huge ambitions of growth, shouldn’t I be shown the growth potential of my brand? This creative execution says that in a tangential way (convert a Saaarang into a Samsung) and may even confuse the reader about counterfeit brands. But for me, the creative is aimed more at being featured in ad blogs rather than catch the eye of the real target audience.
And then there’s the ‘Every trip has a purpose‘ campaign for Cleartrip. The creative approach is gutsy but how does it dovetail into ‘Travel Made Simple?’ And is one going to visit the website again and again to read ‘purposes’ like ‘2 enjoy’, ‘to visit Golden Temple’ and ‘festival and attend a marriage’? Shooting a commercial impromptu without an approved script is a bold move, a daunting task. But isn’t the output a case of creative indulgence?
4 Comments
interesting! we should also employ creativity to satisfy ourselves rather than always for economic benefit
@ Sanjeev…
I do not think Lakshmipathy is advocating the idea that Advertising Creatives be deprived of creative satisfaction… That is prime…
But (I'm guessing here, because I am only a teacher – and an end using buyer -not an advertising professional neither, am I an advertiser) what should never be forgotten here, is that the business of advertising exists because it has to promote the businesses it is advertising…
I often watch commercials or look at ads and easily identify the ones that obviously mad some ad agency very happy. I picture them high-fiving and giggling about a particular campaign, that just doesn't translate with the public.
There are examples rife of cases where campaigns win awards, but the brand is not winning in the market place. But no advertising is created in isolation – and hence its the role of the stakeholders to ensure that the communication in action finally delivers on the key brand job, not key persons interest.