Ad agency new year cards: moving with the times

Over two decades ago, sending out the New Year greeting card was a big event in ad agencies. At Trikaya, where I worked then, it was a painstakingly created product – a lot of effort used to go behind its creation. I was proud of that attitude because the agency put in a similar effort across all its creative output – even if it was for ‘just a New Year card’. The cards had a new theme every year (reflecting the business trend of the day) and was crafted beautifully – the copy writing and art direction was top notch. Most of the card were laugh out loud stuff in terms of theme and copywriting –  I recollect one where global-Indian brand names were spoofed (remember, those were the days of Lehar Pepsi). The effort behind the cards had a flip side too – they were invariably delayed.  Some of the work went on to win awards at the Ad Club under ‘Direct Mail. I wish such creative work was preserved – it would be great source of inspiration for all.

I was reminded of all this when I saw this 2006 effort for Volkswagen. Apparently, DDB New Zealand spent two months working out the intricacies of the ‘snowflake’.

Image via: D&AD

Over the years, ad agency New Year cards especially from the west have kept pace with the times and have moved to digital – YouTube video messages, mobile sites and so on.