been lowered by the article. She said that
‘advertising is the power of seduction’
and few with the requisite passion were
being seduced to the industry leading to
dilution of ideas. With time clients were
frustrate as ‘the agency was not brining
much to the table’. looking for people who challenge them.
Her third point was the relentless focus
on the consumer who must be the centre
of the ideas because ‘when it works with
the consumer, we all win’. Like Lenny she
also amplified the fact that we are losing
the connection with the consumer.
Judy Kairo on her part spoke on the
crucial contribution that the Client
Service department plays in the creative
process determining to a large extent the
‘creativity’ or lack thereof of the ideas.
She said that Client Service needs to be
‘inspirational conveying what’s needed
and not just regurgitate the client’s brief ’.
They should bring to the table a deep and
wide knowledge of the clients business.
Rather than e-mail the brief they should
hold briefing sessions where they debate
and challenge one another. This when
done well is inspirational resulting in
better creative ideas. One way of interpreting research data
is by spending time with the consumer
to understand ‘a day in the life of their
life’. By understanding in a deeper way
the consumer motivations and how they
affect their behaviour the ‘advert will
connect better’. She feels we are in danger
of losing the consumer by focusing on the
channel or medium which ‘can kill the
idea’. Instead it is about asking ourselves
‘how we can reach the consumer in a
more compelling way irrespective of the
medium’.
Also important is the need for all in the
agency and indeed the client to hold one
another ‘to higher standards’. She believes
that even factual logical ads, which are
growing in popularity, can still have a big
idea. One of the barriers she highlighted
was the lack of adequate training in the
industry today compared to the yester
years. Thus initiatives such as the Creative
Week are important as they get the young
Creatives to gain from the experience of
industry thought leaders as well as learn
from one another.
She also spoke on the importance of
awards as a powerful motivator for the
whole agency. On the same note ISA does
also hold a two day seminar with Jonathan
Domitz of Mindscapes. The training
provides the participants with tools than
enhance creative thinking leading to
better ideas.
Kendi spoke of the need to do three things
that can enhance the quality of creative
ideas: the need for what she called ‘healthy
conflict’ between the client and the
agency where they are ‘comfortable with
one another to allow for disagreement’.
They can, without fear, tell one another
‘you are wrong’ but within context. She
believes that relationships are a big factor
in producing exceptional work calling for
the ability to integrate the different points
of view that each brings to the table.
Secondly is the need to take risks; ‘do
not be safe’ she said. Today the client is
She agreed with Andrew White that there
is power in sitting together, as creativity is
a collaborative process. She also said one
of the barriers to great ideas is the fact that
young Creatives lack mentors especially
for local brands. Global brands have the
advantage of support from various centres
where they reside though they still need
to factor in local nuances. She said that
in the past people were invested more
in developing the craft and that people
who have been there longer should take
the responsibility for this quality as the
discipline it takes; the best method to the
madness can’t be read in a book.
She called on the young Creatives
to widely expose themselves to great
advertising from all over the world as
they will draw from this large reservoir.
YouTube, for example, is a great source
of learning which they can tap into ‘to
understand how other Creatives solve
problems from the brief to the idea’. She
pointed out to the fact that we may be
complicating things with ‘all this data’ as
despite everything that is happening today
the ‘basics have not changed’. She ended
by retaliating that the re-introduced local
advertising creative awards are important
as they motivate the Creatives and also
create a reservoir from which they can
draw from in the future.
Svetlana spoke of the need to be agile,
adaptive and understand the culture of
each particular industry the client operates
in. She gave the example of the telecom
industry which being very competitive
and changes rapidly speed is of essence
and therefore Creatives have to develop
ideas rapidly. She also emphasised the
need to personalise the message given the
many options, especially digital, that we
have today. There is still need to analyse
the data to understand the consumer pain
points. We must also guard against falling
into the trap of ideas that are aimed at ‘just
selling at the expense of brand building’.
We should also take cognisance that the
consumer has changed and as marketers
we need to change as well. The consumer
is today more advanced but she feels
marketers are lagging behind. ‘We are
not curious enough to learn and not just
want to deliver what the client want,
which is impressions, clicks and reach
without worrying whether the customer
understands the message’ she said. Given
the changing landscape with more media
choices available we need to be broader
minded and think integrated campaigns.
The increased choices coupled with the
increasing clutter we need to ensure two
things: firstly the message cuts through
the clutter and secondly ‘it is entertaining
as people go to the media to be entertained
and our adverts are an interruption’.
When the debate was opened to the floor
Kilimo Mwangoji of Shekele Advertising
bemoaned what he called the ‘death of
the ideation process’ as he felt that today
Creatives are ‘just getting a lovely image
and sticking on the headline’. ‘Where is
the discipline of the big idea?’ he wondered.
He was of the opinion that availability of
a myriad of images may be contributing
to the lack of or shortcutting the ideation
process resulting to fewer great creative
ideas in the industry.
All in all the creative week was beneficial
to all who attended and we hope it will be
bigger and better this year.
Robert Wamai is a trainer
and advertising consultant, a
passionate consumer advocate and
believer in the power of brands.
You can engage him on this or
related matters via email at:
[email protected].