Two members of the jury at this year’s Chillies Awards said definite improvements have been made in the local advertising industry across all forms of media but there is still a long way to go in order to compete at an international level. In an interview with The Sunday Times FT, Graham Kelly, former executive creative director of TBWA/TEQUILA Singapore and Masako Okamura, the creative director of Dentsu Japan said there has been noticeable progression especially in the quality of print advertising.
Graham Kelly |
Mr. Kelly said Sri Lanka’s ad industry has been keen to find out from the juries how they stock up. “Better, a lot better,” he said. “There is some nice stuff.” However, Mr. Kelly said the juries have been asked by the Chillies organizers to be tough on the competition in order to improve the quality of work. He said what Sri Lanka really needs is a big breakthrough such as winning a gold award at a regional or international ad show to take the industry to the next level. He said the most success Sri Lanka has had is a silver at the Adfest but added that there are ‘enough hungry people’ who want to learn and who can bring home a gold.
Mr. Kelly pointed out that other markets which are further developed are also improving so Sri Lanka may have to double its efforts to catch up and narrow the gap. He also said Sri Lanka should be compared to markets such as Vietnam which is still winning more awards than Sri Lanka. “Sri Lanka is somewhere at the bottom end but they recognize it,” he said.
Ms. Okamura said it is unfair to compare Sri Lanka in categories such as television in which other countries have substantially larger budgets. She said Sri Lanka can compete internationally in the ambient category more fairly. However, she cautioned that the local industry should not restrict itself and should try and be strong across all media.
Masako Okamura |
Ms. Okamura added that Sri Lankans have a passion for advertising and described the work as ‘nice, emotional and heartwarming’ although there has to be a lot done to strengthen the quality to meet international standards. “They have to make their work more exciting,” she said. Ms. Okamura also pointed out that some of the ad’s she has seen need explanations as they are cultural and will not be understood by international audiences.
Mr. Kelly said the global economic downturn has affected the advertising industry a lot and described the situation as ‘fairly gloomy.’ He said the markets which have been affected the worst are not in Asia yet although countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the US and UK have been badly affected and are experiencing job losses. “This is truly global.”
Mr. Kelly said agencies are obviously rationalizing their workforces and are stretching out their budgets even more. He said this is much different from the effects of the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 and 1998 when it was possible to make up the shortfall and losses in other markets.
Mr. Kelly said Internet advertising has been gaining in popularity for several reasons, even prior to the recession. He said it was relevant to everyone and no longer for a niche audience and that it is measurable in addition to being more cost effectiv. In the UK for example, Internet advertising ranks higher than radio and print in terms of popularity, only trailing behind television.
Ms. Okamura also added that most campaigns around the world are dealing with far smaller budgets. “Everyone has scaled back,” she said. “From a year ago, there have been huge changes. We have to think of other ways to make businesses better. It’s tough because we need new ideas.” |
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