Ron Samuel: Learnings from Asia Pacific AdFest

By Ron Samuel

DAY 1

After learning my lesson the hard way a couple of years ago I was very happy not to be starting the first day with a mind numbing tropical hangover. It was a steep learning curve for some of the people I bumped into this afternoon. They had that ‘did I really do that last night?’ look on their faces. This city can bring out the devil in anyone and you can easily find yourself in a place that you would have never have dreamt you would ever be.

The day started with The Gunn Report. The report collates results from every agency’s award wins in every major ad show and showcases the most awarded work in each category. The agency networks are ranked accordingly. Agencies invest a lot of money to attract and develop creative talent, this is obviously paid for with their clients fees.

So while I can understand that it’s always good to know that you’re getting what you paid for I’m still fascinated by the fact that Donald Gunn has been able to establish a very successful business based on simply seeing who won the most stuff every year. It’s like harvesting egos for profit and we’re happy to keep paying for it. Any client reading this will be asking themselves whether that means that the work actually did what it was supposed to do and that’s where we can see the gap, once again, between what we value and what our clients do. That gap should not exist. Our clients are quickly discovering that they can live quite well without us the opposite is not true. The Gunn Report is a fantastic resource for agencies as there is also a huge archive of work that can be easily accessed on its website. To me that’s where the real value is because the work also gives you an idea of the strategies used to arrive at that particular execution.

Tony Hertz was next talking about how to get the most from your radio commercials. Tony is a radio legend and he gave everyone something that could take away and actually use when they are writing their next script. Whenever that happens you know that you are getting great value from the speaker. Tony shared the wisdom he has gathered from over 40 years in the business and he still writes and produces outstanding radio commercials. He never uses voice overs and he never fills spots with information because it simply won’t be remembered and a voice over at the end of your ad will just disengage the listener you have worked so hard to engage.

His passion for his craft can be summed up in this quote from him ” In a world of parity products the only difference is the creativity.” We all know it’s true but how many times have we ignored this simple truth.

Here are his 7 Secrets for effective radio commercials:

1.Find a feeling

2.Begin with a picture

3.Think about the person,

4. One ad one message

5. Stand in a different place

6. Use characters not voices

7. Produce with a passion

Next up was Morihiko Hasebe (Mori) from Hakuhodo Japan. He discussed the problem of the decreasing lifespan of information and likened a single piece of information to a stray animal in the desert, without support it won’t last very long. When was the last time you heard someone discuss the hugely popular ‘Dumb ways to die’ campaign? Mori gave some insightful examples of how to increase the lifespan of information or messages to keep them alive for the maximum amount of time. He showed how this was done with some great examples. As always I was blown away by the technology that the Japanese employ on these campaign, it was impressive and shows how far behind we are. Google Hatsune Miku and you’ll see what I mean. This was an excellent session from a good speaker who was also happy to share his learnings and leave his audience with advice that they could use on their next brief.

Laura Kightlinger, actress, writer, producer, comedian, fell onto the stage in her re-enactment of Jennifer Lawrence doing the same thing at the Oscars. Whilst it was a funny moment it was largely lost on the audience and a good reminder that it is always good to do your cultural homework before you come here. The Oscars are certainly not a benchmark for great films in Asia and many of the countries represented have their own healthy film industries. She is a genuinely funny person and I enjoyed her presentation even though many of her jokes didn’t connect with the Asian audience. She finished with a great five minute stand-up routine although I think some of the subject matter was lost in translation.

The title of the next speakers presentation was called ‘Don’t just think, make something’ and it was Leigh Reyes from Lowe and Partners, Asia Pacific. Her philosophy is that the tools that we use dictate the solutions that we arrive at. So if you learn new tools you’ll think new thoughts and make new things. She then went on to show us what she meant with a selection of examples of how tinkering with stuff can lead to fresh new thinking and some great ideas. The best part was that she showed where to get the stuff to prototype your idea and actually make something before you decide to outsource the ‘how’. The technology was so simple and cheap but the results were unbelievable. The real lesson here was that the technology has become commoditised and that the idea is still where the real value is. It was good to see the actually technology that is used in activation’s to make things move or light up. It’s the same stuff in most cases and there is no technological or digital experience required to get it working as there would have been a few years ago. We’ll be ordering some of it when we get back. Have look at makeymakey.com and you can see what’s possible. Leigh was a standout.

The day finished with the welcome party in the tropical gardens of the hotel. There are few places that can put on a show like that. The setting was beautiful, fantastic food and almost 100% humidity so you were sweating as fast you were drinking. Those who had had a big night before were deciding whether or not to go out for ‘just one drink’, I ran away.

DAY 2

Saw a few familiar faces at breakfast this morning and talked about what was happening in the industry in the region. The major trend seemed to be the same as it is in Australia in that clients are taking more control of their brands and are not afraid to look beyond big agency networks for true creative partners in each of the markets that they are in.

I was very happy to hear this as it seemed to confirm that our business model is even more relevant in todays market place. The demand for a closer relationship, which is difficult to achieve in a large agency, was a common theme. The fact that it was being discussed by people from some of the largest agencies in the region was interesting.

Speaking of poor brand image, one of my Chinese friends who had been transferred to Canberra from Shanghai put Sydney on her name badge because she didn’t want to be associated with a boring place. Love that city.

The brief for this year’s Young Lotus Creative Workshop was to create a recruitment campaign for McCann Erickson. The young teams represented almost all of the countries in the region. The work that they did was excellent and it was interesting to note that no team did any kind of traditional ad, everything was interactive and engaging. A clear indication that the creative process has fundamentally changed and that it may be a good idea to keep up. One of the campaigns was very sexist but also funny, prospective recruits had to chat a lady up at a bar and if they did well she gave them her phone number which was the HR department at the agency.

Aleisha (pictured below with Stephen Douglas from Fin) attended D&AD Academy Inspiration Sessions, I couldn’t get in because I was too old and obviously beyond inspiration but I’m n
ot bitter even after flying all the way here. Aleisha said that it was very good. Paul Grubb, a British expat now at Red Pill Bangkok, gave an enlightening sessions titled ‘It sure isn’t advertising’ . His belief is that inspiration should not come from ads because they have already been done. His advice is to look for the genius in stuff you don’t like because no-one can teach inspiration you just need to open your eyes.

Paolo Moscatelli Visual Artist – talked about inspiration by observation. He never goes anywhere without taking a lot of pictures on his iphone. For him light is a language with movement, texture, shape. His advice is to travel for enrichment and inspiration and to keep taking pictures.

Tim Lindsay, the CEO of  D&AD and chairman of the workshop added that you have to work to be inspired and put yourself in the way of inspiration. There will always be restrictions because every brief has constraints but as he quite rightly says ‘you can’t play tennis without lines.’

I attended the radio workshop in the afternoon with Tony Hertz and thirty nine much younger delegates. It was called A Trip Beyond The Comfort Zone and was all about creating the imagery you need in order to create brilliant radio commercials. Tony is a master of his craft and it was a privilege to hear first hand advice on how to create and work with images before you even think about writing a script. He left us with a final instruction – become a radio art director and always start with an image, any image.

The day finished with a sunset drink at the Cliff pool bar at the Campaign Brief Asia party sponsored by Fin Post Production and Sweet Shop.

Ron Samuel (pictured top second left) is co founder and creative director at Cooch Creative.