Advertising is about ‘going beyond’

In his summary of industry trends, he hit out at the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for their apparent lack of the understanding of "freedom of speech". But on the positive side, he said the power of creativity was gaining respect for what it could do for business. "Creativity is the new baseball bat... it's about coming up with an idea first and then working out where to channel it and how. That whole thought process has been finessed."

He urged the industry to harness "the talent we have out there and not just become urban pollution". Examples cited were the Cell C city ads for the landscape of Jozi streets and the fact that homeless people were used as the stars of an ad for a homeless shelter in Jo'burg.

What is amazing is how this "going beyond" is infectious, Schalit says. An Adidas billboard made world headlines when soccer was 'played' 10 stories up, across the billboard designed to look like a pitch with players with a ball suspended over the billboard on the side of a building. It certainly cut through the substantial clutter of downtown Tokyo advertising.

"Even the Germans are stepping out beyond now. They actually took an inflatable church with a real Minister of religion and moved it around the country in an attempt to encourage Church attendance. They actually held services wherever the church was erected. It is so powerful how 'going beyond' can be."

Sometimes you have to shock people into action, says Schalit, getting under their radar. Brands that have been brilliant at it in SA, are Virgin and Absolut Vodka, for example.

He also highlighted recent advertising synergy with the popular sitcom, 'Sex and the City', where the hunky character who plays Samantha's boyfriend in the series did a 'PR stunt' for Absolut Vodka in the series – posing nude with a bottle of Absolut covering his vital bits. This was then translated into real life when Absolut Vodka rented a hording on Times Square in New York to display the ad created for the TV programme. How is that for product placement?! The promotion was taken further with a series of promotions and parties.

Schalit says people always have their noses in something, phones, computers, other people's business... "People forget to look up occasionally - that's where inspiration comes from." He cited the example of Cell C's creative use of the solar eclipse a few years back to introduce its 'C' brand.

"And look how mistaken colloquialism set up this company brand: Vodacom's 'Yebo Gogo'." It has become one of the most recognized payoff lines and is now an integral part of South African colloquial language – spanning cultural groups. The Castrol guys are another example, he said.

"Going beyond gives you a longtime campaigns," Schalit points out. The Brothers Raj in the Corsa ads are another example – this cult team have just launched their own website.

Schalit's final comment: "The worst thing we can do is be boring. Safety is out, excitement is in. Be wrong."