Gentlemen, the brief is showing!: Published articles/agencyfaqs 4

Article in agencyfaqs, feb20, 07

GENTLEMEN, THE BRIEF IS SHOWING!

As far as ad agency Planners are concerned, there are five kinds of ads.

1) Those that are clearly for the awards. You had nothing to do with it. Worse, when you first heard it, you probably said that it goes against the core brand proposition. You are now biting your tongue and wishing you had cheered it along, or found a strategy to fit. At least the creative whiz kid won’t be thinking of you as a wet blanket and tagging you as “Planner type”!

2) The second, and according to me, the best, are those that are so captivating in thought that your heart does a little blip, and so watch-able in execution that you want to see them again and again. You really don’t think about the strategy behind it. You are too busy wondering whose idea it was, how on earth they thought of it, and wishing you had done it. Somewhere you’ll see the name of the creative team that worked on it, but you’ll always be left wondering who the Planner was, till his or her CV reaches you one day. And even then you’ll ask him, “Did the idea really come FROM the brief, and AFTER the brief?” And then you’ll get to know the inside stories that are always so nice to get to know, “Actually what happened was…!” A few months later, there are conflicting reports and you may hear that “actually” it didn’t make that big a difference in the market. But a year later you hear it’s actually got an Effie!

3) At the other end of the spectrum are those that you can never fathom what on earth they are up to. And you don’t try because by then you have switched channels. The Brand Manager wrote the brand window, the technical person rewrote it, and the film star and her daughter are mouthing it. Or the client wanted Amitabh Bachchan or Shah Rukh Khan. Anyway, the creative guy heard his aunt-in-law discuss it with the cook, and they are the target audience, not you and I. And the Planner reports that awareness and salience have increased. It really is OK. Every ad can’t win a Cannes or an Effie. You have to be in business before you can be creative!

4) The fourth type are the ads with the SO…THAT.

The original Vivid Metaphor or Vivid Demo ads that we were taught when I entered advertising two decades ago! And which still work.

Sambar that smells SO GOOD THAT your husband will think your south Indian friend sent it. Hair styling SO QUICK THAT she will reach the restaurant before him. FM radio music SO GOOD THAT you’ll be singing even from inside a manhole. Mobile service SO CHEAP THAT you don’t have to give missed calls. Chimneys that take away the smell SO WELL THAT you can’t smell even fried fish.

Now fill in the blanks… Cream that makes you look SO YOUNG THAT… Chips SO AUTHENTIC IN TASTE THAT… Milk biscuits with SO MUCH STRENGTH THAT… Tea with SO MUCH TWIST IN THE TASTE THAT…

The Planner (hopefully!) was the one who identified the proposition. The client was willing to make one clear claim. Creative found a good demo. It sailed through research. It’s working. Everyone is happy… and screaming HOW’S THAT?!

5) But this is the one that’s most fun for Planners. Because, ah ha, you know what they are trying to do! These are the ones that you talk about the next morning at work… “Did you see the new so and so? They are trying to do x,y, zee!” “ What ya… Creative just put the brief in the ad!”

Thousands of men are using fairness creams, but fairness creams are seen to be a woman’s product - our fairness cream is specially formulated for men, you don’t have to use a girl’s cream. Men’s hair is different from women’s hair - let’s create a new segment in the hair dye market. This car has multiple benefits, so it is for the multiple roles of a man. That car is for small car upgraders, and children - a huge emotional driver - love the arrival of a big car. That bike on the other hand, is targeted at a younger age group - it’s for bachelors. Women seem to know cleansing/ toning/ moisturizing, but they don’t necessarily know about scrubbing - we have to make them see it as part of that routine. Mothers stop using baby soaps on their babies after they are two - they must be told to use it till their babies are three or more; we need to extend usage.

The strategy shows, or the insight shows, or the target group definition shows… in other words gentlemen, the brief shows. Brand Manager and Planner have cracked it together!

But don’t knock it, because even Superman lets it show!