I’m sure we’ve all seen the latest T-mobile flashmob TV ad – and this post is not about that ad per se. Rather it’s about the debate that seems to have sprung up around it.
Because the professionals seem to hate the ad, but the public just love it.
Look at the advertising blogs and you’ll see the same criticism again and again – “unoriginal”, “seen it all before”, “old hat”, “rip off”, etc.
Yesterday, I told my kids what I did at work. They never ask – they’re not particularly interested really, like all kids, but I told them just to see the expression on their faces. It went something like this: ‘Today kids, I wrote two words’. All of them frowned slightly and stared at me. My eldest was the first to speak – ‘Was that it?’ The middle one said – ‘Is that all you do?’ The little fella added – ‘That’s easy!’ I explained that I had been in meetings, done a few rough visuals and researched projects but the most important part of the day was the two words.
I told them that these two words were the right two words – two words that will potentially drive a global campaign for a multinational IT company. These two words, like the immortal ‘Just do it’, would challenge, would be a catalyst for the future of a sector, would be something a company could proudly stand behind with commitment, openness and confidence.
The thing is, even though everyone who has seen these two words has loved them, the client has yet to see them. They may look at them the same way my children did – ‘Is that it?’ – then the whole thing dies. Amazing really – the life and death of campaigns. Every client is an Emporer giving the thumbs up or thumbs down to the gladiator who has fought bravely to stand in front and await his fate.
Eight years ago, one month before 9/11, I presented one word to a different multi-national IT company, this time the place was north of New York and had corridors so long that you couldn’t see to the end. They liked the word. The understood it, saw the potential, got behind it, really pushed for it – it was the right word and set them apart from all the competition in that sector. All associations were positive and it was a brilliant, insightful word that explained so much so simply. But it never saw the light of day. Someone somewhere for some reason (no doubt political) decided his or her wavering thumb would this time fall downwards. Subsequently, another nondescript, wallpaper campaign followed. Weird isn’t it?
But our quest for the right words, the right images, the right elements to make the right campaign never ends. Every set-back just makes you stronger and more committed to keep doing better work in the hope that that thumb points skyward again. And it will.
Chris Catchpole
Creative Consultant
Chair of the DMA Creative Forum
