![]() |
Advertising's reason for beingHave you ever been in a strange country where you are faced with the daunting task of walking into a supermarket to buy the basics such as deodorant and toothpaste? How do you select chocolate to have with a coffee and, better still, how do you find a good vodka or whisky to take away the cold wind? ![]() Well, I have been in this predicament. Imagine a cold and dirty train station in Moscow; imagine a sweaty local store in Kuala Lumpur. In both instances I could not speak the language, nor was I understood in my mother tongue. It was bloody awful; I was feeling lost and out of control until - There it was, a can of Dove deodorant - staring at me from across the isle, saying, "Hello, I am your friend, you know me; you and I have a relationship, you carry me around in your bag every day, you can trust me." Oh, and then I saw a Kit Kat; phew, what a relief. Less successful on the vodka front, of course, and the toothpaste - well, I found something strange from Unilever but as I knew and trusted the mother brand I, I somewhat reluctantly placed it in my basket. A reminder And that experience, dear friends and colleagues, is actually a reminder of our reason for being. Too basic? Maybe. But based on a human truth? Absolutely. Brands have value to us as users. And we as advertisers create and evolve great brands. Period. Or is this really the case today? So what then has changed? Why are we feeling a little out of our boots? From the early days of creating brands, according to David Ogilvy, Bill Bernbach and many others, to having to understand where the real power lies today, our eyes need to be wide open. We along with our world have to evolve. And evolve. And evolve. Change and death - the only two things that life guarantees us. Some non-negotiables So how do we do this? In my humble opinion, here are some of the non-negotiables:
So some closing thoughts for us then are:
The answers to these questions will settle the debate around our reason for being. There will be those who accept the status quo and those who challenge it. About the authorOriginally from Cape Town, Alison's 23 years of experience are matched by a fresh-faced enthusiasm for good ideas - a trait which has served her well across the wide variety of accounts, clients and staff members for whom she has been responsible during her career. Her passion for running, original thinking and her daughter's sense of humour get her out of bed each day.
She is currently MD of The Jupiter Drawing Room (Jhb). Contact her via email [[adeeb@jupiter.co.za]] or tel +27 (0)11 233 8800. |