More steam over Chillies 2007

The comments and controversies regarding the Chillies -2007 (in last week’s The Sunday Times FT) were interesting and intriguing. My views are meant to draw attention to and clarify two of the most important issues about the Chillies. The focus is on creativity as opposed to effectiveness and ‘scam’ advertising.

Creativity and Effectiveness
Advertising is a communication strategy which must always be evaluated within the context of marketing. The objective of marketing is to offer customer satisfaction. In order to achieve this objective marketers have to go through the process of identifying needs and once a product or service has been produced to satisfy those needs, to brand it and ensure that it is available at the right price, in the right places, in the right packaging, at the right time and in the right condition. These are the infrastructural requirements. Once these have been put into place comes the most challenging part for marketers – to inform customers of the availability of the product / service and it’s benefits and make them feel that this will satisfy their needs. It is to develop and implement the strategy of informing, describing and persuading that marketers call upon the advertising agencies. It is their responsibility to create great advertising.

Four common factors in advertising, according to Jerry Siano, a former Head of N.W.Ayer (one of the first ad agencies in USA ), are: “It’s interesting or people won’t read it; It’s informative or they won’t carry a message away from it; It’s honest or the message won’t hold up once it’s been tested against reality; and it’s human or people won’t relate to the message.”

To include these four factors in mass media advertising certainly needs creativity, plenty of creativity. Creativity needs talent. It also needs skill. More importantly it needs research, clarity of thought and discipline. This is why there has to be a very close agency – client partnership. The term ‘chemistry’ is a better way of describing this partnership because there has to be a high level of interaction.

This interaction is needed because the advertising strategy has to fit into the marketing plan. Advertising can never be an isolated strategy. Advertising agencies must realize that all reputable and recognised companies have qualified marketing professionals as heads of their marketing divisions and as brand mangers. These professionals know about advertising and the role of advertising.

They may not be able to prepare an omelette but they do know what type of omelette they want and also, they will be able to tell the difference between a good omelette and a bad one! Advertising has to achieve what the marketers want it to achieve. And this is where the effectiveness factor comes in. Here is what David Ogilvy, once described by Time magazine as the ‘most sought after wizard in the advertising business’ said: “I do not regard advertising as an art form but as a medium of information. When I write an advertisement I do not want you to tell me that you find it creative. I want you to tell me that you find it so interesting that you buy the product.”

The lesson for advertising agencies is very clear. Creativity is the means to effectiveness. Creativity can never be an end by itself – at least not in Marketing. It does very little for the brand when a panel of judges claims that the advertisement is creative. It does very little for the brand even if customers claim that the advertisement is creative. But it does everything for the brand when customers say ‘That brand is just what I want.’ That is effectiveness.

Scams
It is most unfortunate that an honourable and challenging profession such as advertising has allowed its reputation to be tarnished with ‘scam’. Scam is defined as a ‘plan or action for making money which is dishonest but is clever.’ In short it is unethical.

To claim that there is nothing wrong in scam advertising because it is done in other countries is not only unethical it is immoral. One of the views expressed was that some agencies don’t always wait for the client’s brief to indicate what advertising is required and that they develop one-off advertisements for the brand. It is claimed that these have been called scam and some have won awards.

This comment needs a response. Clients welcome ad agencies taking the initiative and producing advertisements without a prior brief because they think the advertisements are relevant and would help the client to achieve its marketing goals. It is a good example of the right chemistry at work. But it is important to note that the motive of the ad agency is to assist the client achieve its marketing goals. Such advertisements are definitely not scam. But if the motive of the ad agency is to win an award and the agency is somehow able to coax the client to approve its release to the media - then it is definitely a scam. Such agencies should be kept at more than an arm’s length away.

(The writer is a former president of the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing who also served as Chairman of the SLIM Advertising Awards Committee and was a member of the panel of judges).