Hasta La Creative!

Advertising Agency: Equus Red Cell, New Delhi, India
Creative Director / Copywriter: Swapan Seth
Art Director: Anusheela Saha

“Before they get into the act, our tomatoes need a nice vibrator to really get them in the mood.
From farm to fork.”

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An excellent campaign, looking as Global as one could. Hats off to the teamAdvertising Agency: Leo Burnett Mumbai, IndiaExecutive Creative Directors: KB Vinod, KV SridharArt Director: Deepak SinghPhotographer: LaiCopywriter: KB VinodStudio: Groovy StudiosDigital Imaging: Bhushan Patil, Procolor

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Advertising Agency: GREY WORLDWIDE, Dubai, UAE
Creative Director: Alisdair Miller
Copywriter: Vidya Manmohan
Art Director: Prasad Pradhan

They don’t have a cool name, like Razor Burn, Cloud Nyne, or inVisible. In fact, they sound like an accounting firm. Thankfully, they’re not into accounting. What they are into is corporate survival, and other things that will make your accountant giddy.

Atlanta-based Nolen & Associates is proof-positive that contempt prior to investigation is foolish. Judged solely by name, they’d never be classified as an agency that is boldly progressive, unafraid of saying “no.” Yet, that’s exactly what they are, and they have a simple message: Market through the tough times and emerge stronger.

And that, in a nutshell, is Cricket Theory. They call it a brochure, but it’s so much more…

Available on the Nolen & Associates site, The Cricket Theory is tightly written, steeped in fact, and delivers a powerful message:

“Make as much noise as Possible in Dark times.  You will be remembered when it is Light Again”

The Cricket Theory becomes less theory and more fact as various case histories and studies are highlighted.  Yet, the marketing budget is the first to get cut during economic uncertainty.

The Cricket Theory is a short, insightful tool that disproves this practice in a convincing, yet subtle, manner.

Over their 23 years in operation, Nolen & Associates observed as companies eliminated entire marketing plans out of fear. Yet, it was a fear rooted in uncontrollable, intangible factors.

So, the agency searched for information to determine which strategy performed better; shouting in the face of recession, or silent waiting.

The result: companies that “Chirp Loud” and “Chirp Often” come out ahead of those that remain quiet…both during, and following, a recession. There are a couple reasons for this;

“When your message is one of the few reaching the audience, your odds are much better for a greater return on your marketing and advertising dollar. When the upturn does come around– and it will – and your prospects and customers are looking to increase spending, your company (or your brand) will likely be the first one that comes to mind…”

Perhaps the most interesting fact listed in The Cricket Theory is that, contrary to popular belief, spending actually increases during a recession.

The Cricket Theory has become part of Nolen & Associates’ DNA, and is a testament to their progressive nature; while other’s founder, one agency has a plan to enable success during the best, and worst, of times. And no, it’s not your agency.

Jeff Louis: Strategic Media Planner, Project Manager, and New Business Account Coordinator. His passion is writing. If you would like to get in touch with Jeff, please leave a reply or follow the links: www.linkedin.com or www.twitter.com.

It’s that time of year again – Cannes is coming. Does the lure of hardware, sunshine, and glamour call you like a siren song? Are you dying to add a trophy to your office or brag to clients that you were nominated the umpteenth time for an award? If so, perhaps you’re in the wrong business.

Don’t get me wrong – I love awards. I have a box in my basement, full of old trophies and ribbons from high school standing as a monument to a time in my life when I lived for my work (at the time, my work was drill team, but you get the idea). There is nothing I like more than being singled out for being the best. Now that I’m a lot older and, hopefully, a little wiser, I’ve finally gained some perspective and would like to bring you back to reality, even if for just a moment:

1. Is the client happy? We must never forget that this business is always about “them” and never about “us.” What good does it do your client if the critics like your creative, but the client is not seeing much of a return on his/her investment? Clever is good. Profitable is better.
2. Are you doing good work on all of your campaigns, or on just one spot? It’s so easy to focus on only one commercial or campaign and pull out all the stops. Are all of the clients in your portfolio receiving the same consideration? If not, then it’s time to stop playing favorites and get back to work.
3. When pitching clients, how often do awards come up? Be honest. Do you spend more time talking about yourself than about what you can do for the client?
4. Define good work. I’ll bet if you ask 20 different ad professionals what good work is, you’ll get 20 different answers. Yet, we let a panel of, say, 10, determine what the best work is? No thanks.
5. Awards don’t always equal good work. I believe that for every award-winning agency, there are at least 10 non-winning ones that are doing as good, if not better, work. I had the great fortune to work for a small shop that routinely churned out great work. We never won awards for it, though. Why? We never entered. We knew that we turned out kick-ass work that got results for our clients, and that was all we needed to know.

Sara Barton is a copywriter, social media strategist, and avid blogger who is in search of her next opportunity. Contact her via twitter, LinkedIn, or her blog.

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Advertising Agency: Memac Ogilvy & Mather, Dubai
Executive Creative Director: Till Hohmann
Creative Director: Dalbir Singh
Art Director: Rafael Rizuto
Copywriter: Dalbir Singh, Rafael Rizuto
Illustrator: Regina Groffy

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Advertising Agency: Publicis Graphics Amman, Jordan
Account Handler: Khalil Nunu
Creative Director: Nathan Ross
ACD & Art Director: Rami Qaddoumi
Photographer: Eyad Shamieh

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Advertising Agency: IMPACT BBDO, Cairo, Egypt
Chief Creative Officer: Ali Zein
Creative Director: Nevine Nour
Art Director: Christine Bebawy

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Advertising Agency: Horizon Draft FCB, Kuwait
Creative director: Joe Ghazal
Art director: Yasser Khairat
Photographer: Haifa Malhas

I’ve written a couple times on Beyond Madison Avenue about the difference between agencies that talked about being creative, or social, or cutting edge, and then comparing them with those that actually were.
There are certain errors that will keep me from visiting your site, your blog, or your agency ever again.

• Number One: You state that you’re a large creative muckity-muck. I go to your site, and it is under construction. Nothing works.
• Number Two: Misspellings. One every once in a while is tolerable. One on your homepage, in an ad, or on your resume is where we part ways.
• Number Three: Professing your prowess in a certain medium, client category, or emerging media, and then not being able to back the statement up with verifiable proof. Don’t say that your agency excels in social media if you don’t have a blog, a Twitter account, or even a Facebook page.

One of the agencies I wrote about was Lisa P. Maxwell. They claim to know social media. Then they prove it by having live webcams showcasing all of their employees working. Check it out at lisapmaxwell.com.

This weeks award goes to Boone Oakley. Although they sound like a cheap wine, they have the creative juice that most marketing directors wish they could tap as their own. Boone Oakley has their entire agency, including creative, produced as a series of YouTube videos. The best thing about their YouTube “website?” Functionality. Click on the link for collateral work, you are whisked to another video showcasing their collateral work.

Thus, there are a series of several videos, and I watched every single one. In one fell stroke, they’ve not only debuted their agency (as well as taken some well-deserved shots at big agencies) but they have creatively shown their creativity. Don’t tell me how many awards you have or that your agency was voted “Most Creative” in 2006. Show me how that spirit is lives and works today. Below is the first video along with one of the the linked videos.

This is one of the videos that is available under “Work by Medium.”

Jeff Louis: Strategic Media Planner, Project Manager, and New Business Account Coordinator. His passion is writing. If you would like to get in touch with Jeff, leave a reply or follow the links: www.linkedin.com or www.twitter.com.