According to the creative chiefs interviewed for this piece, it
would appear that the US is riding the crest of the creative wave,
especially with its innovative e-commerce advertising. And, talking
about waves, it would seem that Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO’s Guinness
’surfer’ is, unofficially, the most copied ad of the year.
Apparently, emulating ’surfer’ is a favourite pastime of Polish
creatives who seem to like nothing more than popping down to a central
European beach with a local director and crew to film their own homage
to it.
’Surfer’ is widely acknowledged as a return to the power of filmic, big
production values and craft, despite the fact that there appears to be a
global squeeze on both agencies and creative departments. The ad also
works in every market. As Dave Droga, the executive creative director of
Saatchi & Saatchi, London, says: ’For a long time now the vogue has been
for ads to be gritty and exaggerated scenarios of real life. And
everyone is doing gritty now, so much so that the core idea of the
strategy and production values has been lost. ’Surfer’ marked a return
to the power of beauti-fully produced films.’
There seem to be three tenets to advertising at the moment: first, copy
the North Americans, Brits and the Swedes; second, produce a gorgeous
cinematic number; and third, shoot a low-budget spot (or an ad that
looks low budget) that is funny and locally relevant, but will not
travel.
Alan Young, the creative director of the London agency St. Luke’s,
agrees with Droga. ’I was delighted when I saw ’surfer’, as it marked an
end to kitchen-sink drama.’ He goes on to say that ’advertising has
become amazingly global as there is a lot of cross fertilisation of
ideas, but at the same time it is getting more local.
’The other UK trend is for ads that tackle problems with the brand
head-on and move away from the desire psychology, some examples being
the work for Marmite and Skoda. The creative mission is over and above
making products desirable.’
When it comes to the 2,000 or so commercials directors on the London
market, Droga argues that there is work, especially for new talent. ’The
big names have been dominating for years, now there is a lot of work for
younger ones and some European directors who have done a couple of music
videos. This is a reflection of budgets getting tighter and agencies
being squeezed. It’s also because of the high number of dotcom clients
who don’t have an outrageous budget and have got to look at young
irreverent directors who need an opportunity.’
Young is bored to tears by the quest for new directors. ’There’s been a
hysterical move towards new people and up until last year we only used
people who’d never shot an ad before. Our last two, however, were
established directors and it’s the best work ever. The obsession with
young directors is just as bigoted as not using good, exper-ienced
ones.’
Both Droga and Young agree that US agencies have produced the best
creative this year. ’Everyone in London is into emulating US work and a
lot of the UK work just doesn’t have the bite that it does in the
US.
’North America is now the cradle of creativity,’ Young adds. ’There were
some amazing ads screened during the Superbowl which show a genuine
creative renaissance. Possibly because of e-commerce there is an
entrepreneurial raising of the standard - Budweiser’s ’Wazzup’ is an
excellent example.’
Another fan of the Budweiser campaign is Chris Matyszczyk, the former
executive creative director of Ammirati Puris Lintas Warsaw. ’It’s not
the classic structure of an award-winning ad, but it is very funny and
is now so much a part of American popular culture, as it talks to people
on a huge level. I doubt it will win any awards though as jurors
strictly stick to an ’idea’ of what is a good idea.’
When it comes to central Europe, Matyszczyk says that Poland wins most
of the creative accolades and that most agencies are under huge
financial pressure from their networks and, consequently, are
sacrificing standards for the client without defending creative
principles. Another reason for his lack of confidence in indigenous
creativity is that there is no formal advertising education.
All that exists for fledgling directors is the Lodz Film School, with
most local directors fostering ambitions to be the next Roman Polanski -
not Joe Pytka. ’Most do ads to pay the bills,’ Matyszczyk says. He adds
that the major influences for central European creatives come from
watching the work of other agencies. ’They love to replicate the work of
others, especially Scandinavian humour, because it’s more
affordable.’
Over the past year, Matyszczyk feels that few ads in any part of the
world have been produced to work in other markets. He cites the HBO work
recently produced by J. Walter Thompson as a possible winner at Cannes
and admires the French work for Air Liberte that showed an air hostess
performing a rude demonstration. He adds: ’Most US work is so much about
lifestyle that you would have thought they’d come out of Italy.’
’US advertising is the strongest. The last year hasn’t been Sweden’s
best creative year,’ Filip Nilson, the creative director of Stockholm’s
Forsman & Bodenfors, admits. Nevertheless, he cites the Swedish agency
Hollingworth Mehrotra’s ad for the gay website Sylvester as a Cannes
contender.
’Like everywhere else, the documentary, low- budget look is popular, but
the idea is very localised,’ Nilson says. ’And Swedish agencies have
really embraced the internet. This could be because Swedish consumers
have a more progressive attitude which allows for more experimentation
in media and a quirky idea.
I really admire the work that Traktor is doing in the US for Cnet and
MTV’s Jukka Brothers.’
Jamie Barrett, the creative director of Fallon in New York and the
creator of Jukka Brothers, rejects any notion of seeking inspiration
from other ads. ’Ideas come from sitting on the toilet, staring at your
navel or nodding off at your desk. They don’t come from awards books,
reels or a desire to emulate. The best stuff can’t be traced to
something else, that’s why it feels original.’
Barrett has big hopes for the agency’s work for FX at Cannes. He says:
’It’s really caught fire, probably because it has the phrase ’big
breasts’ in it, which seems to cross borders well. Funny ads were in
great supply this year but the two ads that really stood out for me
because of their emotional quality were the Volkswagen Cabriolet spot,
where a couple drive under the big moon, and ’surfer’.
Barrett believes that US creatives are gradually becoming more
acclimatised to creating for the internet and interactive TV. ’I have
hope that good old-fashioned advertising people will soon be treating
the internet as just another medium and doing extraordinarily creative
things for it. There is very little incentive for creative people to do
great work on the web as there’s not much glory in it at the moment. But
when that changes, the floodgates will open,’ he adds.
But Ron Mather, the creative director of the ±±¾©Èü³µpk10 Palace agency in
Sydney, is uncertain about the effect that e-commerce clients are having
on the Australian market. He says: ’A lot of these clients are nervous
and aren’t sure how to spend their money. They know that the old
conventional ways of advertising are outdated and are looking for
guidance on how to find their way around this new economy.
’This isn’t improving the creative standard, as we have endless
campaigns for websites that are dull, with some sad attempts of
duplicating Outpost.com. The need for clever and creative solutions are
still there, rather than just wacky techno ’what was that all about’
solutions that seem to be in vogue at the moment.’ Despite this Mather
is still upbeat. ’Reels from the major international awards show that
there is some great work being done in this market,’ he says.
1. BUDWEISER ’WAZZUP’
Client: Budweiser
Agency: DDB Chicago
Director: Charles Stone III
Production company: C&C Storm Films
Not since Wendy’s ’Where’s the beef?’ has a copyline so rapidly entered
the US vernacular. An unconventional ad by the definition of what makes
a good one and by the way the idea was conceived. The director scripted
it as a test and then approached the agency. An interesting choice for
such a big-spending client. It might break the Holy Grail of advertising
by not having a core idea, but the buzz is phenomenal.
2. GAP
Product: Gap clothing
Agency: Direct to client
Director: Michel Gondry
Production company: Partizan, Los Angeles
Like ’Wazzup’, the new Gap drive also eschews the advertising copybook
by using retro music, special effects and models to set a new creative
agenda for clothing retailers. Gondry directed the brand’s Christmas
campaign which capitalised on the success of his earlier video for the
Chemical Brothers’ Let Forever Be. It is doubtful if the campaign will
please any awards juries because of its maverick nature.
3. MTV ’JUKKA BROTHERS’
Client: MTV
Agency: Fallon, New York
Director: Traktor
Production company: Partizan, New York
MTV’s Jukka Brothers series features four forest-dwelling brothers who
rely on MTV to advise them on fashion. Three of the siblings are super
cool as they spend all day watching crazy dance moves, but the youngest,
who lives alone in a TV-less shed, is totally lacking on the hip
front.
The campaign marked the first corporate drive to promote the brand image
for the network for three years and succeeds in being both bizarre and
appropriate.
4. VW POLO ’HEAVEN’
Client: Volkswagen
Agency: BMP DDB, London
Director: Walter Stern
Production company: Academy Commercials
’Heaven’ is a stirring, yet ironic anthem to driving in rush-hour
traffic. Unlike many of the current crop of car commercials, this film
combines mundane and domestic environments with a poetic voiceover to
define a modern genre of automotive advertising. Now there are no longer
any excuses for commercials that feature a smug driver racing through a
desert landscape.
5. SPECIAL K ’PASS THE LOTION’
Client: Kellogg
Agency: Leo Burnett, Toronto
Director: David Wellington
Production company: Blink Pictures, Toronto
A topical campaign from Leo Burnett, Toronto for Special K that
challenges existing ideas of how to advertise to figure-conscious women.
By embracing the fact that most women don’t give a fig if their man’s
body is perfect or not, the campaign encapsulates modern woman’s
thoughts and sets a new precedent in selling to her. The copyline is:
’You don’t expect him to be perfect. Why expect it from yourself?’
6. CNET.COM ’CURTAIN’
Client: Cnet Inc
Agency: Leagas Delaney, San Francisco
Director: Traktor
Production company: Partizan, London
As US e-commerce advertising gets more bizarre, this campaign from
Leagas Delaney SF stood head and shoulders above the rest with its
quirky humour and by making itself understandable to computer
ignorami.
The Swedish directing team Traktor cast from local shopping malls to
find people to sport T-shirts demonstrating the site’s benefits.
7. MARMITE ’APARTMENT’
Client: BestFoods UK
Agency: BMP DDB, London
Director: Paul Goldman
Production company: 2am Films
A fine example of that clever reverse psychology trick. We all know that
the world - well Britain - is divided into two camps: those who love
Marmite and those who hate it. This spot cleverly encapsulates this
dichotomy by using the ’come back to my place for a cup of coffee’ line
in a fresh way. The spot probably won’t do that well at international
awards because both Marmite and the gag are such indigenous
propositions.
8. MCDONALD’S ’WEDDING’
Client: McDonald’s
Agency: Leo Burnett, Bangkok
Director: Anupap Pongramatta
Production company: Mucky Muck Co., Bangkok
Right across the globe, McDonald’s has been setting standards for
innovative advertising. These simple and beautifully shot scripts show
extraordinary examples of eating on the go. The ads were among the top
winners of the Asia-Pacific Advertising Festival and are a dead cert for
success at Cannes.
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