Advertising & Politics

Somehow, advertising and politics are interconnected. They are both worlds apart, yet uncannily alike. They both have campaigns, ambassadors and a public persona. Appealing to the collective power or the people via mass communication is integral to the success of these two opposing fields. Political parties are like brands: both have logos, taglines, positioning and promise a more fulfilling life.

Here are a few more observations:

1. All images used are for illustration purposes only.

2. Terms & conditions apply, especially when there is a promise of a reward.

3. Campaigns come thick and fast, hit hard… then conveniently disappear.

4. Scams are a tradition, and sometimes earn applause.

5. The people who actually do the work hardly get the credit.

6. When gentle persuasion comes to naught, time for some hard-sell tactics.

7. Strategies are meant to outsmart the competition, and not to offer better products or service to the people.

8. Slogans, catchphrases and tag lines seem credible, yet hardly mean a thing when analysed.

9. Advertisers and politicians make headlines.

10. Misleading is an accepted business practice.

11. It’s all about telling the people what they want to hear.

12. The biggest market share is the holy grail.

13. Politics always use advertising.

14. There is always politics in advertising.

15. It’s a dog-eat-dog world.

Last but not least, advertising and politics are all about vested interests, which is essentially to take money out of the people pockets. Hmmm… maybe there a career for me in politics.

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You know you’ve been in advertising for too long when…

Yes, it’s been a while. Work as usual has been coming thick and fast, and hence the mini hiatus. Anyway, this busyness business got me thinking. All these work and briefs and copy and clients are making me feel I’ve been doing this for far too long. And hence the following been-there-done-that points to ponder…

  1. You actually know how a SyQuest Drive looks.
  2. Cows remind you of a certain type of adhesive.
  3. You think Ronson lighter fluid cures all.
  4. You have a neat collection of mounting boards, cutters, double-sided tape and spray mount nicked from the office for personal use.
  5. You realise you haven’t seen an actual illustrator (a person) for yonks.
  6. You start to notice that clients get younger and younger and younger.
  7. You still subscribe to the print version of ADOI.
  8. You look at newbies and think “aren’t they in for a hell of a ride?”, then give them a sinister smile.
  9. You know almost half of all the colour separators, printers and translators in town.
  10. You know a client that has changed jobs 5 times and still keeps in touch.
  11. You start to pick out other ad-sters in a crowded mall just to kill time.
  12. You actually know the difference between AAAA and MAA.
  13. You get irritated by the ads on TV more than anyone else.
  14. You own 15 pairs of jeans, of which you wear only 3 to 4 pairs.
  15. You are an addict of one or more of the following: caffeine, nicotine, alcohol and the worst… work!

P.S.    Damn I feel ancient!

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The Mamak Stall Syndrome

Like all things Malaysian – such as total disregard for punctuality and being suckers for free things – loafing at Mamak stalls while sipping Kurang Manis tea (which is still manis anyway) is a popular pastime. You could hang out at a Mamak with your best buds, your significant other or just by yourself. It has a universal appeal, quite comforting and always welcoming.

But what separates a good Mamak from a bad Mamak? The atmosphere doesn’t really play a part. Food across all, if not most Mamaks are quite consistent. And prices don’t differ much from one stall to another. When you think about it, it’s the level of service that determines which Mamak stall you frequent. It’s the rapport you build with the servers and how it takes only 10 minutes to tuck into your favourite greasy dish every time, no matter how busy they are. This however may not hold true for everyone, but I think quite a few of us could relate to this observation. Service is important to me anyway.

Now that I’ve some sort established what a good Mamak is, let’s look at the bad ones. Imagine this scenario:

Bang, mari bang. Duduk bang. Maggi goreng ade, mee goreng ade, nasi goreng ade, nasi lemak ade, roti ade, murtabak ade, western ade, tose ade, chapatti ade, semua ade bang. Minum ape pun ade bang, tongkat ali ade, fres oren ade, neslo, horlo, koteh pun ade bang!

Translation:

Come brother, come. Sit brother. We’ve got fried instant noodles, fried noodles, fried rice, lard rice, greasy pancakes, stuffed greasy pancakes, western food, Indian pancakes, Indian toasted pancakes, all we have brother. Drinks also we have it all brother, ali’s cane (an aphrodisiac), fresh orange, nescafe+milo, horlicks+milo, coffee+tea also we have brother!

Hmmmm… strangely the English version is longer than the Malay version.

Anyway, after this friendly Mamak fellow advertises his offerings, which in fact confuses you further, he leaves you to deliberate while repeating the same thing to the next bunch of walk-ins. While this strategy packs in the customers, it leaves the already seated customers out in the cold. I’ve been to places where they don’t even bother to collect my payment as they are still busy preying on new customers. Needless to say, I’ve never been back.

Now a question. What do many businesses in Malaysia have in common with our common Mamak stalls? Yup, you guessed it. It’s this unhealthy fetish to attract new customers, while neglecting the ones they already have. Even when it’s common knowledge that acquiring a new customer is more expensive than retaining an existing customer. And the new customer may not even be as profitable when compared to an existing customer.

While advertising is critical to attract new business and for brand building, not giving due attention to existing customers could have dire consequences. Because in the increasingly wired consumer world, one unsatisfied customer could deter many potential customers, no matter how good your product, advertising or brand is. For the uninitiated, the process of endearing yourself to existing customers is called Customer Relationship Management or CRM for short. Serve well, keep in touch and reward your customers occasionally. They will show their appreciation via word-of-mouth to their peers, friends, family and acquaintances. And nothing beats that.

Teh tarik kurang kurang kurang manis satu!

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A Few Good Creative Men

The title of this post is actually the name of the video from YouTube that I’ve posted for your viewing pleasure. The video is actually a parody of a movie called A Few Good Men, starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore among others. I must say it is one of the few good (pun intended) Tom Cruise movies, back when he was very watchable.

If you’ve not watched the video yet, I suggest you do. Or if you’ve seen it before, just view it again to refresh your memory. The video pokes fun at the daily battle between creatives and suits. As funny as it is, the insights offered are very valid indeed. Here are some of the key learnings from the video:

  1. No matter how creative a suit thinks he/she is, the least creative person on the studio is more creative.
  2. A creative can become a suit (not that anyone wants to), but not vice versa.
  3. A bigger logo does not sell products… period.
  4. It’s a suits job to sell the creative, not direct the creative
  5. If a suit does not like an ad, he/she should pick up a pencil and write some ads

Just in case you are wondering, I have nothing against the AEs, AMs and ADs of the world. They do a very difficult job which requires tons of humility, patience and persistence. If I were an AE, quite a number of clients would have mysteriously vanished from the face of the earth.

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The Revolution Pt.1

The revolution will not be advertised.

The revolution will not make the art director swear any more than he already does. It will not make him tell his children (if he ever has a social life to have any) never to become a designer. It will not make him make revisions just to get the job out of the way. It will not make him want to claw his eyeballs out when the clients wants the creative to be more colourful. It will not make him tired, spent and suicidal by the time he is 35.

The revolution will not make the copywriter thinking of becoming a chef. It will not make him stay up late writing lame scripts and short stories. It will not make him regurgitate copy written for another client about 2 years ago. It will not make him a go-to guy to write proposals, letters, memos and whatnot. It will not cause excessive substance abuse to calm frayed nerves. It will not make him contemplate a move to the ‘other side’.

The revolution will not make the creative director re-hash the same concept over again for different clients. It will not make him think that things were better and the new blood are all shit. It will not make him sacrifice great ideas for client preference. It will not make him want to open a quiet little pub with his life savings. It will not put him through the misery of another pitch where his team is just there to make up the numbers. It will not make him curse the client behind their backs.

The revolution will not be advertised, because the revolution is alive.

To be continued… by the way, no gender bias intended.

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Know Thy-Brand

Isn’t it a no-brainer to know thyself before your tell others about yourself? In the context of a product, service or brand, it’s about learning everything you need to know – from attributes to USPs and strengths to weaknesses – before even considering a marketing effort.

It really pains me to see the lack of knowledge and understanding that permeates the corridors of marketing departments. It is disheartening to come to terms knowing that marketing or brand executives do not take the effort to live and breathe their assigned portfolios. It has become so rotten, that almost everything is done to please the bosses instead of pleasing the targeted consumers.

Are SWOT analysis’ even conducted by companies these days? Maybe the fears of discovering the threats and weaknesses mix trigger a phobic reaction. There’s a serious lack of responsibility and a high tendency to make assumptions. Briefs these days do not even come with requisite information. Wait a minute… hell, there are sometimes no briefs at all.

At the very least, the absolute bare minimum, a job order (instead of a ‘brief’ since they are pretty much non-existent) must outline these points:

–      Who are we talking to? (psycho & demo)

–      What is the objective? (what’s the purpose of this communication)

–      What is so interesting about what we have to say/sell/give? (USPs)

I bet many marketing “professionals”, handling key accounts, would not be able to furnish the above without referring to their superior or Google. No doubt, there are many talented marketing and brand people out there whom I’ve had the pleasure of working with. And I must say I’ve learned tons from them.

But there are this I-Know-It-All, I’m-Better-Than-You and Do-As-I-Say bottom dwelling creatures that make me want to puke. But then again, I would not even waste my energy on throwing up for them.

Please, take the effort. Learn, ask questions and take the initiative. And don’t act smart if you don’t know what you’re doing, we notice you know?

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The Unwritten Rule of Social Media

Should social media management fall under the care of an advertising agency? You may think that since it’s all about communicating to online consumers, then it should be the responsibility of an ad agency. Or more appropriate, your friendly interactive agency. I’m not so sure about that.

Social media management essentially consists of all efforts that either initiates contact with prospects online or responds to online activities that reference your product or service. I’ve defined it rather simply because it is actually as simple as that. Anything that you do or the consumers are doing online with regards to your business must be monitored regularly by a dedicated team. Be it an internal team in your organisation or an agency that specialises in social media management, which I think is non-existent here in Malaysia.

Think about it. Let’s say you ask your existing ad agency to take care of social media management. Stuff like creating and updating Facebook/MySpace pages, publishing an informative, relevant and interesting blog and responding to comments about your product in third party blogs. This requires a concerted, calculated effort because of it’s never ending nature. As more and more consumers discover the wonders of going online, the more comments, approvals and criticisms there will be about your product or company.

And who do you think most likely be managing your company’s online presence in this ad agency of yours? Wait for it. Yes! It’s your overworked, multiple-account-handling and possibly clueless copywriter… and maybe a planner or strategist if you’re lucky. Would you really let the future of your brand’s online direction rest in the hands of one or two persons?

You may think a copywriter is suited to handle social media, true but not entirely. I’ll give you 2 reasons:

  1. Copywriters are trained to write marketing copy. Anything that smells like regular copy, especially words like “Buy”, “Free” and “Exclusive” are ignored by users. Social media is all about the influencing power of peers and not an advertising wordsmith.
  2. To make interesting blog posts and respond to comments or criticisms, the copywriter has to have an extensive knowledge of the product/service, brand and company. No, a powerpoint outlining company history, brand guidelines and product catalogue will not do. How many companies will allow a writer to be embedded with them for at least a month? Not many.

Social media is a different ballgame altogether. Relying solely on a copywriter is like asking a property lawyer handle your criminal case. While it’s possible, the risks are far to great. Your brand might just end up in the slammer.

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Malaysia Ad Spend 2009

Advertisers in Malaysia spent RM5.9 Billion in 2009. That’s an increase of almost half a Billion from 2008, which was at RM5.5 Billion. Advertising spend is perceived to be a strong indicator of a nation’s economy.

Well that’s what the Malaysian Advertisers are spending, but are the consumers buying? It’s hard to tell really, because sales figures are closely guarded secrets, so there’s no way of knowing for sure. But for discussion’s sake, let’s say that we’ve managed to make people spend money they don’t have on things they don’t need quite admirably in 2009.

Think about it. Almost RM6 Billion. That’s a six followed by 9 zeros – 6,000,000,000! And why are advertisers spending such insane amounts of money? Essentially, it is in hope that consumers return the favour. Yes, so that consumers consume more and ‘invest’ in products and services perceived to be of better quality.

ADEX in Malaysia by Media (RM Mil)

RM6 Billion spent on Media by advertisers in Malaysia in 2009
RM6 Billion spent on Media by advertisers in Malaysia in 2009
Source: The Star, 2 Jan 2010.


Please note that the above figures are only Ad spend on Media. Meaning creative cost not included.

So how much do you think all the agencies in Malaysia charged their clients for creative work in 2009? Definitely not RM6 Billion I’m sure. And I wonder how handsomely my fellow creative workers have been compensated last year? Well, if all the money is spent on media, what left the agencies?

Maybe because spending on good creative and strategies were so little, it didn’t even merit a mention. I guess it’s the norm. The middlemen get the dough, while the fishermen get peanuts. And they complain there’s not enough creative talent to go around!

I want to look for a job in media.

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About Branding

Okay. I know I’ve been envisioning a world where advertising will be transparent, seamless, targeted and minus all the mumbo jumbo that we’ve become accustomed to. But to reach this level of efficiency, a product or service has to first establish itself in the market. Herein comes the matter of branding.

A quick example. When Apple launched the iPhone, it did virtually no advertising. The mere mention from Steve Jobs that Apple is launching a phone was enough to create a ripple onto the sea of consumers. A buzz was created first among newsmen and techies then all the way to college nerds and the average consumers. People formed opinions about the iPhone months before it was even officially launched. And when it did hit the stores, the demand for an iPhone was overwhelming. Even that that time, advertising was minimal.

So what does this tell us? It’s not that Apple didn’t have to money to advertise to create the desired buzz, they just let consumers do it at almost no cost. But to be able to do this, there are 2 key criteria:

  1. The product has to be revolutionary and ground-breaking. Something that consumers have not seen, heard, felt or used before. It has to be a product that taps into a relatively untapped market. In the case of the iPhone, it’s Mobile Phone Entertainment.
  2. An established brand presence; especially as a leader in your market segment. In the case of Apple, it’s The Most Innovative Tech Gadget Maker. It also helped that Apple had already launched other successful products: the iMac and iPod come to mind.

Granted, the big boys with the dough have the advantage. They can leverage on their big brand presence and seamlessly transition into an advertising future that’s becoming more and more minimalist. Let’s say Google announces it plans to launch an application that scans the world’s online documents and creates an article on any subject in a click of a button, with contributing writers compensated. You pay a fee of USD3.99 for each article churned by this application which is fact-checked, referenced and annotated.

Now Google is a big, trusted online brand and people would be happy to part with their money for a product that they know would be of quality. Now if Microsoft announced it wanted to launch a similar product, well let’s just say there could be a couple of issues. Remember Windows ME anyone? Here’s while the product is revolutionary, the brand that is advocating it may have a problem convincing consumers due to past functionality problems. For the record, I would just like to say here that I have nothing against Microsoft.

So what can up and coming brands that do not have the presence do? For them, the product or service becomes critical. They must get it spot on. It has to be of real use to the consumers. It must create a new market or venture into an underserved segment. In short you have to be the first in your brand category, a pioneer. No one else must have what you intend to offer, even differing USPs won’t work; it has to be a brand new product or service.

Here are some success snippets as examples:

Apple, a now revered tech company, created the iPod, a portable, intuitive digital music player.

Nescafe, the world’s largest selling coffee, was the first instant coffee.

Old Town Coffee, now a successful franchise, was the first upmarket “Kopitiam”

Perodua, now the No.1 local car brand, was the first to introduce compact cars in Malaysia

Digi, a leader in the pre-paid business, was the first to introduce prepaid calling.

A word of warning though, just being first isn’t enough. You must also be the first in the minds of the consumers. And you must work to keep the brand presence at Top of Mind levels consistently. This is why Proton is not the No.1 local car manufacturer anymore. It was the first, but never really did anything after that.

The End of Advertising as We Know It

Forgive me for the rather long title. But then again, it is still within the 8-word limit, which is presumably the threshold of an effective headline. But then again again, this and pretty much every other ad-rule that you and I have painstakingly learned over the years could turn out to be antiquated junk. Remember the ‘cow-gum’ anyone?

While we’re haggling on the most catchy headline or where not the place the logo or how many more slides it will take to convince the client, the industry is evolving at breakneck speed, right under our noses. Ignore the signs at your own peril:

1. Mass advertising is dying: TV audiences are dwindling, newspapers are seeing reduced readership and radio listeners are tuning out.

2. Consumers are becoming or are already smarter: with a wealth of information just a search away, consumers are making purchase decisions way before they even go to a retail outlet or pick up the phone.

3. Clients are becoming increasingly results oriented: viewership, readership and strong creative do not faze clients anymore. It’s Click-Through-Rates, Page Views, Cost Per Impression. Bottom line… ROI.

4. Ads have to work harder and quicker with the amount of clutter that permeates the media. Consumers are seeing through the creative fluff, which is becoming increasingly cheesy.

5. Shouting FREE! and EXCLUSIVE! don’t seem to work: okay, let me rephrase, they don’t seem to work as well as they used to. The audience know exactly what they want and crave relevancy, quality and newness over freebies or empty promises.

These are just 5 early warning signs, from the top of my head, pointing to an advertising future that may become unrecognizable sooner than you think. I guess we’d all be happily trudging along had it not been for the internet, which is threatening the livelihood of traditional advertising. But the web is not the only contributor to these winds of change.

There’s a far more powerful force that is dictating the evolution of advertising, and yet we hardly notice. If fact, we are part of this force as every time we use it, it becomes better. This entity began with a humble quest of ‘organizing the world’s information’ and I must say it have succeeded admirably. I am referring to none other than our favourite surfing buddy… Google.

What has Google got to do with advertising you ask? Everything I say.  For the average user, Google is a tool to search for content online. Google’s business is search, and it was just search in the beginning. Slowly but surely, Google has evolved into a media cum content cum advertising agency. It has made advertising even more transparent, bridging the divide between advertisers and potential customers. There will come a time where you will be able to buy almost anything online (if that’s not the case already). No more fancy advertising agency, kick-ass creative or mind-boggling strategies.

Advertiser signs up for a Google account, and with a ridiculously low budget creates a targeted, virtually risk-free advertising campaign. Consumers search for a product or service, sees the sponsored link on the results page by an advertiser and clicks on it. The consumers are now at the advertiser’s doorstep to be done with as pleased. Simple, effective, direct, focused, efficient and economical.

You may argue that this is just an online trend. How would this work in a real, physical world? Technology is moving at such a blinding pace that we will become more and more wired as the years or even months roll on. There are web-enabled mobile phones, GPS navigation systems and the now humble laptops to encroach into our increasingly wired world.

Imagine this scenario:

You walk out for lunch from your city-centre corporate office. The restaurants are crowded, there’s hardly a spot for you and your lunch buddies.

Normally, you would ‘tapau’ and dine on your desk while pretending to be a model employee. Well, that’s so… hmmmm… 2.0. Fast forward a few years into the future and this is how your lunchtime might pan out.

You whip out your phone (which is a PDA cum netbook cum camera cum navigator cum alarm clock) and search for restaurants with a table for four in your area. You make a reservation, which will be held for, say, 10 minutes.

Now that’s lunching made easy. Now where does advertising come in all this? Can you see it? Subtle but effective. The restaurants will actually pay the Lunch Search Service to be listed.

Isn’t that advertising at its fundamental form? Connecting businesses with potential customers? No art direction, no compelling copy, no insightful strats… no fuss!

You know what? It’s not too far away I tell you.

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