Advertising debate over scam continues

At this week’s debate on Creativity, Cash and the Chillies organized by the International Advertising Association (IAA) essentially to discuss scam ads, the general consensus judging by the reactions of the audience to its usefulness in resolving some high octane issues plaguing the ad industry, wasn't very flattering.

In fact, some members of the audience, during and after the debate described it as meaningless and unproductive. First off, the advertising industry remains deeply divided on contentious issues such as scam. If left unresolved, it is very likely to remain a disruptive issue which will undoubtedly plague next year's Chillies as well. Secondly, there is a general lack of focus and direction on where the industry sees its future, perhaps due to the infighting and squabbling between the agencies in their quest to brand themselves as number one.

The panel comprised of Joint Managing Director of Triad Advertising Dilith Jayaweera, Chairwoman of Lowe LDB Lilamani Dias Benson, Managing Director of Masters Advertising Mike Masilamani, Managing Director of Eagle Insurance Deepal Sooriyaarachchi, Executive Creative Director of Leo Burnett Solutions Trevor Kennedy, Senior Copywriter at JWT Brandon Ingram and moderator for the evening, Managing Director of Bates Asia Nimal Gunawardena.

Scam advertisements, those created for the sole purpose of winning awards became a controversial issue in 2007 and remained a hot button topic in the run up to this year's Chillies and in its aftermath. Masilamani argued that the entire industry was being tarred and looked at as charlatans when certain agencies resort to scam. Jayaweera described scam in general and scam ads as 'bad', amusingly likening its badness to VAT scams and election scams to illustrate the overall depravity of the word. He made a distinction between scam and plagiarism, arguing that scam and the creative freedom it allows should not be overlooked and that agencies can enhance their creativity from them.

Sooriyaarachchi, the only marketer on the panel suggested that a separate category be created for advertisements not meant for the market, an idea that has already been floated about in the industry prior to the 2008 Chillies to mixed reactions. "Why celebrate awards for scam ads?" questioned Kennedy.

So is the local industry obsessed with winning awards? According to Jayaweera, the answer was a definitive yes. "We are obsessed with awards," he said. "We [Triad] want to create award winning pieces." Ingram said the fundamental issue was that agencies are so obsessed with winning and trying so hard to be creative, forgetting that great work and focus on brands will inevitably be rewarded. Agencies should love their brands as much as they love awards, he said, adding that even the quality of scam work is below average.

On the subject of creativity versus effectiveness, Sooriyaarachchi said there is no room for debate. Advertising has to be effective because it’s for clients. He further said agencies should understand the 'risk appetite' of clients or what they are willing to try out and also understand the thinking of marketing managers who have to make judgments on what they feel will work. Benson said markets have matured and consumers have become savvy and open to idea driven communication. However, it is the clients who get nervous about edgy ideas that have award winning potential, in particular the larger brands that want to play it safe. Benson also brought up an interesting point in that it is typically campaigns for smaller clients which tend to win awards. She urged the industry to be radical but to stay relevant to the brand and not fall prey to creative indulgence.

Kennedy said there was far too much creative indulgence and that in fact, there were not that many great ideas at the Chillies. He added that it was frightening that creative people don't understand their client's business and have resorted to just copying things. Jayaweera said the core product of advertising agencies is creativity.

"We want to better our product," he said, adding that awards help agencies better their core product by working towards an objective. "We are not there to solve client's problems only." Instead, Jayaweera said agencies are there to seek opportunities for clients by delivering creative solutions.