TBWA Malaysia searches for suits by reverse engineering briefs from award winning work
November 30 2014, 1:05 pm | | 90 Comments
For too long, creatives have been the ones who briefed themselves when it comes to making award-winning work.
To search for better and more creative suits TBWA Malaysia has launched a new website that asks people to reverse engineer a brief from award winning work around the region.
According to TBWA Group Executive Creative Director, VJ Anand, it’s not done to make fun of these ads but it’s just to demonstrate how hard it can be to come up with a great brief.
They also took a dig at themselves just to be fair.
“You never know, along the way we might also discover some really creative servicing people in this market with this exercise,” said Anand.
90 Comments
Here’s my brief for KFC ….
http://www.coloribus.com/adsarchive/outdoor/burger-king-hungry-11917605
Stupid!
This is funny. It’s hitting out at the scam work from asia but masked in a smart manner.Well done TBWA, disruptive to tje core.
Haha. Funny. Thanks VJ. I’ll send you our other briefs, ads, case studies & films so that you can learn from those too.
Yeah send them over mate. We will surely make the work better than what it is now. Or at least we will do some actual real work with em. ;p
Pointless initiative from TBWA Malaysia, I wonder what is the brief they wrote for this “pointless” camapign.
What was the brief behind this “recruitment” campaign? Really question the intention. Didn’t do well at Kancil so need better suits for big come back next year?
Why do creatives that try to win awards but end up not winning, always take a shot at other that wins?
1. They are jealous. Their work didn’t win.
2. They don’t have talent.
3. The only way they can get some fame or attention is by making fun of other creatives work.
Actually they should use their own work as examples because that’s the reason why they are doing average work.
If you can’t take a joke…
At least this campaign is original and not copied.
Dear VJ,
Here’s some of our big work with results that speaks for themselves.
You are welcome to improve them or do something better.
Milo Twisted Football:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rozO7dkOX4&sns=Cannes Silver Lion, IPA Bronze, Gold at WARC, Bronze at the Asian Marketing
Effectiveness (AME) and a Silver at the Malaysian Effies.
Here’s another:
Mas Journeys-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3lliWNnYhA&sns=em
Pizza Hut Rescue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TgumDkb1Pw
Here’s your work:
Cornetto:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRXm5ND73O8&sns=em
Tesco Everday Value:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hPR63FAI2A&sns=em
I think you better just concentrate on your own work, man.
You really need an idea and help.
Good luck & all the best,
Gavin
VJ, do you want me to post the initiative works that you did but didn’t win a shit in the past few years?
Nicely done Gavin!
Actually you don’t need to bring yourself down to their level. You’ve done a lot and have a lot to be proud of.
i really love the milo truck campaign one of the good ones to come out from your agency. You dont have to come down to my level and fight with me. You have nearly double my experience im just at the beginning of ny career path and ive got alot of room to do great work like yours…the real stuff.
my point here was if u see the some of the work that won and if u write a brief for it ..it totally doesnt make sense.
our industry is at a point where kids think to win you have to manufacture these kinda work. We can all do it with real good stuff like your milo truck or twisted football.
thw examples u gave maybe be shitty to ypu but to someone else it maybe brilliant . same with your work. so dont stoo0 down that low mate. i am nobody i this business. you are one of the old gurus here.
why fight when we all can do good work.
the industry takes itself too seriously and
lotsa egos. once we loose that we will be a great industry
I don’t get the point of taking pot shots at winning ideas and agencies when the point is we should be raising the bar of the industry creative standards together. Didn’t win? Learn from today and win tomorrow.
Think it speaks volumes that the ECD of a major advertising agency in Malaysia would stoop to trolling on the comments section of an industry website. Not only once, but twice. Not only staying as humorous banter between fellow creatives, but to then quickly start flinging real mud.
Classy mate, classy. Just as I expected.
All credit to Gavin Simpson and VJ for using their real names. I on the other hand need to stay anonymous.
I don’t get why agency folk who don’t win for the year will take potshots at other ideas and work that’s won? If we don’t support the industry and spearhead good creativity, who else will? The least we can do is to show commaraderie and not screw the ones who won. Haters be hatin’.
And here’s the brief for Goodyear http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/goodyear_ultra_grip_tyres_teddy_bear
VJ – I know you and I know the work you did in your career todate. And you doing this is truly dissapointing and utterly lack of decorum altogether.
To me, a hallmark of a creative leader is to make a brand famous by raising the creative bar, setting a new standard and make history. And NOT creating a gutter and be king by stepping on your fellow colleagues, friends and taking a piss at an award show result that was not in your favour.
You win some. You lose some. The next time you win, make sure the world is looking.
For now, go back to being the VJ i used i know….the caring, professional, inspiring creative leader that is ever-willing to help others before himself.
Gary Read
Mad-man by birth.
Err… Did Gavin really put the Pizza Hut and MAS work and compare it to the wins of The Milo work?! Milo is good but really the other two are mediocre. Atleast the Tesco and Conetto work was much more entertaining than those two.
I think Gavin has calibre and balls for not bothering with a pseudonym to pen his thoughts down here. Well done, Ogilvy!
I am truly appalled at the mud slinging that has been going on since the Kancil Awards. To me, it reeks of a case of sour grapes. The people casting aspersions at the winners are indeed very disrespectful of their colleagues in the industry. Instead of congratulating the winners with good grace, they have been making all sorts of unfounded allegations on social media. They obviously do not understand how much tears and sweat go into creating excellent work. They are also disrespecting the judges and the judging process. They were not present in the judging room. I was. And I cannot stress how vigilant the judges were. Every piece of work was scrutinised thoroughly. They left no stone unturned. It was grueling in that room. A word to the naysayers: Instead of casting stones at others, why don’t you channel that energy to creating excellent work? Maybe then you will win next year.
Maybe.
Let’s reverse engineer this campaign!
Woon Hoh says social media making allegations. The truth is apiece of work that win big has already been made. I’d really like to see if bbdo can win at Cannes with the same knowing full well that burger king did the same thing earlier. It’s not sour grapes, it’s a fact.
Not sure what the fuss is about. The guys at TBWA never shat on the work. They just found an interesting way to recruit creative suits.
But then the comments got personal and the rest went on about work that isn’t real and about my work is better than yours. childish.
But the reverse brief is a unique idea. Who cares what happened at the awards. It’s just a local Malaysian show.
I think (reading this thread) I would come to the conclusion that the Malaysian advertising scene is populated by a bunch of defensive w*nkers with egos larger than Jupiter & Saturn combined.
I was told that their local awards show had more than 40 Gold awards handed out?
Mate, that’s not “vigilant judges”, not by a long shot; it’s either very low standards, or it’s a bunch of blokes who know each other a tad too intimately, and there’s been a lot of mutual back-scratching going on.
(An equally “mutually-anatomical” phrase springs to mind, but let’s maintain some decorum, eh?)
Utterly ridiculous. If that’s how suits are evaluated and hired, maybe creatives should be hired based on how good the sell their own work.
Nothing to do with winning or losing, it’s all to do with check and balance. When someone’s brave enough to voice out and stand for what he believes in and set standards, that someone should be applauded. Shame on those who call themselves gurus of this industry when they take sides and not supporting real work
Aw shucks, do I have to write another story? Rather discuss Einstein’s theory of mass and energy!
It’s funny to see how top leaders fighting against each other about who produces better work. 🙂 Made in Malaysia.
Let’s look at this objectively.
1. Everyone at Ogilvy obviously also works in Panama, they happened to have the same Pizza Hut Idea (http://www.adeevee.com/2014/05/pizza-hut-delivery-oven-delivery-outdoor-promo-direct-marketing/).
2. The Milo twisted football is SUCH a successful campaign that it’s been running since 2012! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l69CYDTStA4, check out the date.
3. BBDO decided that no one knows how to use Google and used a BK campaign from 2008, so many years ago! Who will know!! http://www.coloribus.com/adsarchive/outdoor/burger-king-hungry-11917605
4. Kancil is the Jury Chairman’s show. Kancil is a money spinner la. More submission however dishonest is still money.
5. Fair judging, yeah right! There were much better submissions in all the other categories that were completely ignored – you just need to be Jury Chairman or his mate to manipulate everything around your HUGE egos. I was there too. Everyone was an idiot.
Look, for all those that think the show was honest and a great showing of Malaysian talent. Let’s see how these ideas fair at the regionals and the internationals. You may be a big fish, but you’re in a tiny pond my creative friends.
Embarrassing that luminaries like Ronald Ng even show up at the Kancils.
Time for a change folks.
#WOW
– I wasn’t aware that creatives briefed themselves, ever
– Award winning work doesn’t mean shit if it doesn’t deliver on your client’s KPI’s
– A reverse brief is something an agency develops to challenge the client (however, I see where you’re going with the ‘title’ of the campaign)
Milo campaign is average and as for MAS. “journeys are made by the people you travel with”? where’s the creativity/big idea in any of that?
You dudes need to learn from shit like #likeagirl.
Incase the Asian creatives in this thread don’t quite get it, winning awards and winning awards on scams are two different things. Winning awards makes us better, winning on scams makes us wankers. (AND there’s a difference between initiatives and scams, but again, I feel this concept will just pass over the heads of asian ad creatives).
Kudos to TBWA KL for this. At least ONE big award winning agency has the balls and the conviction to do the right thing.
To @purple heart.
I’m looking very objectively to your comment and refer to point 5 in which you said “…I was there too”. I assume by that you are stating you were one of the judges there. That is shocking that you would be disagreeing now even after you have casted your votes. Maybe no one heard you amongst the jury. Perhaps you need some empathy just to feel “heard”. Perhaps all the judges disagreed with you. Tough luck. Perhaps you find this forum more suitable to take potshots from a distance just to feel like people care about you. You must have felt very left out as a judge.
The more I read about it the more it affirm my decision to leave the industry and country!
The briefs are really funny. ☺
Sole objective of advertising is to…. sell.
Awards mean everything and nothing at the same time.
And You’re only as good as your last job.
For those who didn’t go for the awards night or check the awards website:
1. Finalists were never published on the website
2. There was no gallery of the finalists at the awards night
This year’s Kancil didn’t celebrate Malaysia creativity, just the few that judged.
The choice is simple, if we want to make a change, just boycott the Kancils next year. Spend on the regionals instead where you have a better chance of being fairly judged. Or decide to submit if they have a proper jury panel with credible judges in each category.
To @purple heart
To point 2. Finalists were displayed at Publika.
Internationals. That’s where the pudding is proven. If you can’t win there you can’t break in to the local scene. It’s unfortunate that it has come to that but the truth is, if you want to be impartially judged on your work, you have to spend the money and go big.
Upon a chance meeting with Adrian Miller he told me years ago, and I’m paraphrasing, “Who gives a fuck about Kancil’s?” His plan was always to collect lions, flying angels, pencils and globes. When all that is said and done, getting your fair share at Kancil’s is all but guaranteed.
It’s a sound strategy and one I’m glad to practice, but of course, who can deny the allure of going on stage in front of your contemporaries.
as an idea, I do not understand the point of this at all. maybe i’m dumb. or maybe i don’t see the humour in it on a Monday morning.
VJ, maybe if you can explain the point of it all to me, I will understand it better.
maybe it was intended in good nature, but surely you could tell that the end result would just be a piss take (to both other agencies and all suits everywhere) disguised as an exercise to “uncover some creative suits”.
and even that thin justification makes no sense whatsoever.
Turn the spotlight from an award show dominated by scam winners (that was not a criticism, just an observation) to how there are not enough good suits around?
and lastly, the humble, driven, nurturing creative leaders who once led our agencies (we know who they are. we grew up being taught and inspired by them) would not have wasted their time on something as pointless as this.
Looks like the tbwa ads struck an exposed nerve….you can tell just by the response from senior creative figures…
not a suit, btw,
That’s assuming that our brilliant leaders of yesteryear weren’t doing “initiatives”. Let’s get real for a minute. WE ALL DO INITIATIVES. Some help brands, others help their creators. It’s not an ideal scenario. But we do it because it’s called survival. Not participating is akin to career suicide.
One can only hope we are doing our best in our daily jobs and win awards with that alone. Many will tell you that it’s just not that easy.
The focus is creativity. That’s the currency. That’s what floats the stock market price – WINS. I am not saying that we all go out there and blindly copy work because that’s just fucking stupid. But we all have KPIs and we all want to get paid. We all want that great big gig in the sky (think: regional).
This isn’t a waste of time, it’s a big finger poke in the eye. Exposing the behind scenes drama. I like it. I rate it. I also think it’s a huge ass risk. Kudos to having balls enough to ignite the conversation.
/tangent
“pushing creativity” by plagiarising other people’s hard work and getting rewarded for it?
Good on VJ for putting the spotlight on this, intentionally or not.
Think,
great opinion. you’re entitled to yours. i’m entitled to mine.
the people i looked up to growing up were doing initiatives, sure. Of course they were. Not all, but most of them.
Not all of them liked each other either, from what we gathered, but i don’t think any of them would go on a high horse and put the spotlight on a rival’s scam under the guise of “brief writing”. They simply didn’t have time for something as silly as this.
Because what i don’t understand is the hypocrisy of it all. This “brave” idea exposes scams under the guise it’s to look for better suits. But even the agency in question “were inspired by” something that’s been done before? http://talent.adweek.com/gallery/8662745/Right-OVER-Wrong-Liquid-Paper
We are all in advertising. So, in one way or another, we have all sinned and we’ll all be raving in hell together someday. But let’s not celebrate an idea that hides behind good intentions to criticize others in such a hypocritical way.
Btw, I was lousy at scamming. But it wasn’t career suicide. Doing fine now. Regional gig.
Can somebody please explain how this idea that ran in Panama
https://www.behance.net/gallery/18880929/Oven-Delivery-by-Pizza-Hut
http://vidadelcopy.com/2014/05/27/entrega-caliente/
Ended up being submitted by the same network in Malaysia, with no credit given to the original creators of the idea, i.e. the creative guys at Ogilvy Panama?
It’s disgusting to see TBWA recruiting suits based on how they judge the creative brief. While I agree the creative brief needs to be inspiring but being creative in writing a brief is just not our forte. We can present you factual and logical creative opportunity in the brief that may seems interesting for the creative, but how often are these piece of works award worthy?
Behind the scene, all these creative winning work wasn’t created with a brief. It was created to fulfill the ikea shelf space they have in the office and for others to chest thumps. 90% of the time creative people come to suit and beg if not force them to sell these off equity work to client and how is this being fair to the suit and the clients who pay your salary?
Lastly, so much talk of creating award winning creative for the client, but is this a true promiseTBWA? I sincerely wish your suits are not scarifying their family time for a dog’s dinner ad!
Apologies for jumping in here, but I think I’ve been misquoted. What I actually said was “I want to fuck a Kancil”. Thanks.
Before put the spotlight on other agencies. Perhaps we should just look back at last year’s Kancils.
Here’s the work that TBWA won at Kancils 2013 & 2012.
There’s nothing big or real about all these?
Sanyo Eneloop XX Battery – Power Icons .
We’ve never seen these Brand of Batteries in Malaysia. They are not available in Malaysia.
http://www.kancilawards.com/2013/print/12-print-campaign-merit-power-icons-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
http://www.kancilawards.com/2013/craft-printoutdoordesigndirectpromotion/22-craft-art-direction-bronze-bruce-lee-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
http://www.kancilawards.com/2013/craft-printoutdoordesigndirectpromotion/22-craft-art-direction-merit-wrestler-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
Papermate Liquid Paper – Right The Wrong.
Wow such a big client and real on this. In this digital age where everything is printed from emails, letters to contracts, I’m surprise people still use liquid paper. Perhaps that’s why they needed to advertise.
http://www.kancilawards.com/2013/print/12-print-campaign-merit-right-the-wrong-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
http://www.kancilawards.com/2013/print/11-print-single-bronze-angel-vs-demon-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
http://www.kancilawards.com/2013/print/11-print-single-merit-perseus-vs-medusa-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
http://www.kancilawards.com/2013/craft-printoutdoordesigndirectpromotion/22-craft-art-direction-silver-angel-vs-demon-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
http://www.kancilawards.com/2013/craft-printoutdoordesigndirectpromotion/22-craft-art-direction-bronze-perseus-vs-medusa-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
http://www.kancilawards.com/2013/craft-printoutdoordesigndirectpromotion/25-craft-photography-silver-angel-vs-demon-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
http://www.kancilawards.com/2013/craft-printoutdoordesigndirectpromotion/25-craft-photography-merit-wizard-vs-witch-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
http://www.kancilawards.com/2013/craft-printoutdoordesigndirectpromotion/25-craft-photography-merit-perseus-vs-medusa-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
http://www.kancilawards.com/2013/outdoor/32-outdoor-posters-silver-angel-vs-demon-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
http://www.kancilawards.com/2013/outdoor/32-outdoor-posters-merit-perseus-vs-medusa-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
http://www.kancilawards.com/2013/outdoor/34-outdoor-campaign-merit-right-the-wrong-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
It’s interesting that when this campaign wins so many Kancils nobody bitches about it. No one makes any noise or question why so many awards for this campaign.
It’s simple, its a decent campaign. It won all this awards because it’s not a bad campaign. All these wins could has easily been Golds at Kancils if the campaign was better. Why bitch when other do well?
The Potong Artisanal Pops Enterprise? Really? A cheap Ice Popsicle. Really?
http://www.kancilawards.com/2013/craft-printoutdoordesigndirectpromotion/23-craft-illustration-merit-nutty-choc-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
http://www.kancilawards.com/2013/craft-printoutdoordesigndirectpromotion/23-craft-illustration-merit-cocoa-banana-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
http://www.kancilawards.com/2013/craft-printoutdoordesigndirectpromotion/25-craft-photography-merit-killer-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
Tower Records Malaysia. Is there a Tower Records in Malaysia?
Movies without interuption or commercials breaks? That’s a great reason to buy DVDs
http://www.kancilawards.com/2013/outdoor/34-outdoor-campaign-bronze-interruption-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
http://www.kancilawards.com/2013/craft-printoutdoordesigndirectpromotion/25-craft-photography-bronze-ghost-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
http://www.kancilawards.com/2013/craft-printoutdoordesigndirectpromotion/25-craft-photography-merit-killer-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
iProperty.com Malaysia Sdn Bhd.
http://www.kancilawards.com/2013/design/44-design-open-includes-posposter-merit-wolf-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
http://www.kancilawards.com/2013/craft-printoutdoordesigndirectpromotion/23-craft-illustration-bronze-wolf-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
http://www.kancilawards.com/2013/craft-printoutdoordesigndirectpromotion/23-craft-illustration-bronze-humpty-dumpty-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
http://www.kancilawards.com/2013/craft-printoutdoordesigndirectpromotion/23-craft-illustration-merit-snow-white-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
Lollipop Lure – Kidproof South East Asia
My favorute.
http://www.kancilawards.com/2013/directpromoactivation/51-directpromoactivation-direct-single-silver-lollipop-lure-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
Live On – Malaysia Society of Transplantation.
http://www.kancilawards.com/2013/film/71-film-broadcast-single-silver-live-on-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
2012
GreenLife CSR? What brand is this?
http://www.kancilawards.com/2012/printposter-point-of-sale/24-poster-campaign-silver-smaller-world-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
http://www.kancilawards.com/2012/printposter-point-of-sale/23-poster-single-silver-little-japan-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
http://www.kancilawards.com/2012/printposter-point-of-sale/23-poster-single-bronze-little-great-britain-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
http://www.kancilawards.com/2012/printposter-point-of-sale/23-poster-single-bronze-little-australia-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
alt. TYPE. A type house. do they still exist?
http://www.kancilawards.com/2012/printposter-point-of-sale/23-poster-single-bronze-quick-fox-and-lazy-dog-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
GPS Bay.
http://www.kancilawards.com/2012/craft/92-craft-art-direction-merit-skull-tbwa-kuala-lumpur
Here’s the ones that won something at Kancils. What about the ones that didn’t win anything?
So before you accuse other agencies of scamming or producing pro-active work, please look at yourself first. We all know the work you have done along the years.
For the record, doing pro-active work isn’t work. Even Droga has done it. If you proactive work doesn’t win, don’t be jealous. Don’t bitch about it. Just do better work. Make your real, proactive or scam work great that the judges can’t help it but award it.
Mad love Adrian Miller’s comment.
For a bunch of guys who sell ice cream and whiteners and pizza to the masses, we’ve kinda lost control of our egos haven’t we? Relax. it’s just advertising.
http://bit.ly/1jZVZFr
not a suit, btw,
Congratulations, you’re regional without having to kill yourself doing initiatives. As for the rest of us, guess we’ll all have to do what we have to.
You’re right, it is your opinion. I was stating a fact of the unspoken landscape in creative departments.
Adrian,
My bad.
Why initiate an ad that’s been done before by someone else? And why do creators of these copied work brag about this proudly, even listing awards won and links? And how do judges not spot these copycats but award them with metal?
here’s two cents from someone who’s been in the industry for 3 years. I am appalled and disgusted by the amount of stealing and scams that have come out of Malaysia in the past couple of years.
Is this what the ad industry in Malaysia has been reduced to? All the seniors who encourage this should be ashamed.
Kudos to VJ and the team for standing up for those of us who still believe in good original ideas.
“The Potong Artisanal Pops Enterprise? Really? A cheap Ice Popsicle. Really?”
which planet are you from where ice cream potong for RM5 is cheap?
@TBWA FAN
Well done for spotting that Papermate was an initiative poster campaign. I think they know that, dude?
But it’s up on their little Reverse Brief site as well. Check it.
So they are putting themselves up to be lampooned as much as anyone else, right?
So your point is…???? Don’t get it.
They never made a claim about their own superiority – you did, plus other commenters here. Read the thread, man.
I’d be much more worried about the fact that some of these are such blatant rip-offs of other people’s work.
Keep calm and copy on. Kancil 2014 was a joke. Congratulations to those who’ve tried to come up with original idea and won.
http://adsoftheworld.com/media/ambient/penguin_books_tweet_for_a_read
http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/freelander_2_city_vs_nature
http://www.coloribus.com/adsarchive/prints/raid-insecticide-optionschinese-vase-5422005/
http://www.coloribus.com/adsarchive/prints/raid-insecticide-optionsporcelain-5421955/
Guys, get a life.
It’s just freaking advertising.
Scams, real work, awards,
we’re running out of f***s to give.
Safe Tracks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_4Ll9G2WDw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auTFJGCrJJU
Expedia Vacationizer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_oL-9VZcgA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO7JKP1A1m4
Award show are just benchmark of creativity. Work that is inspiring, relevant and fresh should be awarded. Ever wonder why creative refers to award winning case studies and work when they need inspiration when it comes to real job?
Why I refuse to rebrief.
Dear Ad Industry,
A rebrief. We didn’t get it right.
A rebrief. The clients don’t know what they want.
A rebrief. Wasted time. *cue eyes rolling *
Let’s reflect on the state of affairs instead.
You’re still thinking about the ad industry aren’t you?
Think about our country.
The education system.
How about that girl who didn’t realise that 5 guys forcing themselves upon her is called rape
because that’s what she saw on her free laptop with unlimited Internet access
and thought it normal.
Did you spot opportunities in the above?
Recognise the need for an idea that lasts beyond an award show season.
Now wouldn’t that be solid gold.
Remember why we signed up for this in the first place.
The sheer joy of coming up with something awesome.
The sense of relief, not actually believing the clients bought it.
The way people (judges included), and not judges (people included) smile when they see it,
feel it, experience it, talk about it.
Remember the jealous constructive camaraderie of one-upmanship.
Did you react?
Is that a smile on your face?
You know who you are.
Reinvent.
Clients are. Production houses are.
Hell. Even housewives with instagram accounts are.
Redefine.
Because we are losing relevance.
Millenials don’t give jack about shiny baubles.
They don’t care if we’re #throwingshade at each other.
They don’t find us sexy any more.
Dinosaurs fight, while small fries are evolving.
Pot calling kettle, while people are doing startups.
Enough of vague metaphors.
Rebrief? Let’s get back to reality instead shall we?
You guys can post all the work these agencies did or copied. But this idea by these guys got you all talking, that by itself is gold. Why is there so much hatred in this industry? Give these guys props, they made us think, debate and even argue. What an original idea. Now go make a better campaign than this. Be more provocative than these guys. I am inspired to.
Dear Creative Council of Malaysia,
Are you just going to sit by and watch your own people kill each other and perhaps the future for the rest of the Malaysian creatives?
If you are disinterested with your seat on the council, why don’t you just vacate it for new blood whom might actually want to take the Malaysian ad scene forward instead of it ending up like Scamland Singapore?
Or organize a charity boxing match for the disgruntled few to slug it out. At least then we can have another industry party. Personally, I prefer the charity boxing match.
Cheers.
Can’t wait to watch the case study video of this campaign. Sure pick up something wan!
Got to say I like this idea and there are some lovely brief’s coming out of this based on the few that I’ve checked out. Looking in, the industry in Malaysia needs to lighten up a bit, find a sense of humour, and see this for what it is – Just another agency self promotion. It’s certainly seems to be working for TBWA going on these comments.
This is like watching children fighting over chocolate fingers.
Just because it’s wrapped in gold foil doesn’t mean it’s gold.
I totally didn’t get the gold foil chocolate finger reference.
I really wish there was a “Like” button for these comments. Some of these are pure gold.
But there’s another button that carries far more weight. The “Share” button.
A “Like” says “yeah, this is kinda cool”.
But a “Share” says “I like this idea enough to give it some of my social media real estate”.
It says “This idea made me stop scrolling for more than a split second”.
“This idea beat out the countless thumbnails with boobies for my attention”.
“This idea is something my friends/parents/electrician/plumber would talk about”.
“This idea makes me feel something”.
“This idea deserves an honest opinion from me”.
Golds, Grand Prixes and Black Pencils are the currency of our industry. But not out there in the real world where real shit happens.
And whatever opinion you may have about Project Reverse Brief, it certainly ticks a lot of those boxes for the target audience (ie. us)
In our ideas, let’s gun for that elusive “Share”.
And the metals will follow.
Let me give you a scenario why creative should present the ideas themselves.
It’s like when you reno your house, do you prefer talk to the bangla construction worker or the interior designer? Same goes to the ad industry, client love to see the creator in person.
you might not good in presentation, but one thing i can tell is, client can feel your passion as compare to the suits. I don’t simply let my “baby” being bastardise by someone.
To me, i treat this as the training and exit plan for myself. If i can create and sell. I am preparing myself to setup my own agency in future. No harm If I have the skill of selling.
see the bigger picture?
Ha Ha Ha Ha.
Hello to my fellow keyboard warriors!
love,
KW1
Hello everyone
Just a couple of points to take note off:
1- Are you certain that all these ads were scams? Considering the fact that initiatives are not the same. Initiatives are ultimately an agency’s attempt to both grow their business portfolio and the clients profile. Something creative people don’t seem to understand
2- Even if they were scams, you do realize it requires the suit an uphill battle to get the clients permission, present the case at hand and allow for the client to still spend on media buys and sometimes cost of work. Not all agency’s have the budgets to do what the big boys do and fund everything.
3- These wins and creative ads; scams or initiatives; good or bad; were approved by a client. So technically you are not only battering the agency but also the client and brand.
So for VJ specifically, have you gotten approval from the respective clients and brands that had approved for the ads to be submitted in the first place to have done annihilation to their pieces of work?
You have to hand it to TBWA.
When you consider this campaign against all other agency self promotional campaigns that no one in the industry sees, this one comes out with a Gold!
All the big egos here, just admit it, they were all scams. Don’t you deny that come award season, the best of the best creatives in the agency are tied up doing ‘initiatives’ and they can’t pull away to churn out the work for the REAL brief from their REAL clients. The suits are sent scrambling to find obscure clients or convince existing clients to buy into the scams; It’s free! It’s an agency initiative they say! All you have to do is fork out the budget to pay for the tiny teeny quarter page ad buy in The Sun. The producers will pull every favour they’ve accumulated that year to get their friends over at the studios and production houses to do it ‘as a favour’. The job is done in record time.
If only such fervour can be displayed for real, actual work your clients have put down good money for.
Go back to work you lot…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szrof4WJsKw
@ A suit
Dove real beauty sketches, #likeagirl and Petronas aren’t scams are they? And those are all up there for comment, among the copies of other agencies work (and, in one cannibalistic example, their own network.)
So to A your Q, “Are you certain that all these ads were scams?” – no some of them are not.
A suit,
Advertising resides in the public domain. All fair game to give comments or reverse their briefs.
I’ve love this whole thread.
Well done to VJ Anand, his team and TBWA for creating this campaign. I agree with tip of the hat above as this has been a great agency promo in the whole scheme of usual agency promos.
It’s got noticed in Malaysia and, through this thread, in Asia.
It’s also opened everyone’s eyes to a copycat culture in Malaysia. I’m shocked by some of the links above. CDs there really need to act on this.
And over 40 Golds awarded at Kancils is ridiculous. The show needs to adopt world standards with its judging to gain credibility.
@looking in from singapore.
How many Gongs were awarded just recently in Singapore? Please refresh my memory. Bro, Singaporeans are the biggest scammers. Go back to your chili crabs.
@ Gong-ed out:
Sorry mate, I’m going to go with “Looking in from Singapore” – when so many entries are blatant copies of other work, don’t add insult to injury by spraying them so cheaply in fools gold. Smacks of self-congrats, mate.
If the judging “standards” at the malaysian awards were upscaled to cannes (about 35,000 entries if memory serves right) there would be about 1,400 Gold Lions awarded. And who’d want one of those any more?
Maybe malaysia has to just revamp its system. (Plus stop being so sensitive, I thought tbwa wasn’t attacking anybody. Harmless fun is all. Relax, man.)
Yes, agreed. There were too many gold gongs awarded at CCA, but more than half were for the BBDO Guinness campaign. A worldwide gold winner at Cannes, Clio, London International and more. Malaysia’s Golds will reach finalist status at these shows – maybe, with a bit of luck, the odd bronze.
Oh, and chilli crabs are on the menu for the weekend. Can’t wait.
This campaign is a classic case of creative misdirection in green lighting an idea that looks like it works…. but fails miserably.
Not one entry on the website takes the brief writing exercise seriously…they are all taking the piss out of the ads and being snarky to the point where Im convinced that all the entries so far have been fabricated by TBWA themselves.
Moreover the very premise that you can get good at writing briefs by reverse engineering them from finished work is flawed to the core. That is like dying that you can become a great writer if you appreciate a great book. Or a great painter if you appreciate a great painting. Pure nonsense, Im afraid.
Relax guys, Let’s not make this a Malaysia vs Singapore war. The problem is in Asia ( let’s be honest ) but you are right, TBWA at no point on their site blamed any of the work featured. If you actually went through the site, some of the briefs are decent. It’s certainly one of the best self promotion idea ever done for an agency and along the way created talk-ability.
@Looking in from Singapore
“…BBDO Guinness campaign. A worldwide gold winner at Cannes, Clio, London International and more. Malaysia’s Golds will reach finalist status at these shows – maybe, with a bit of luck, the odd bronze.”
By that, do you also mean that the BBDO So Good is a cheap Golden Kancils Winner may only win bronze internationally and isn’t as good as BBDO Guinness?
@ neutral
“Not one entry on the website takes the brief writing exercise seriously…they are all taking the piss out of the ads and being snarky”
you haven’t even been to their site, have you? They have listed the finalists of their brief writing contest…….which one of the finalists is “taking the piss out of the ads and being snarky”, pls tell us?
“Pure nonsense, Im afraid.”
Guys, let’s calm down now. And think for a second – what would Yasmin Ahmad say?
And on that note, this article is going to trump over Ronald Ng’s article.
Thank you for admitting that Singapore is the home of chilli crab.
Siok!
Is the chili crab at jumbo better or in little India?
A suit said:
“1- Are you certain that all these ads were scams? Considering the fact that initiatives are not the same. Initiatives are ultimately an agency’s attempt to both grow their business portfolio and the clients profile. Something creative people don’t seem to understand”
To make it simple to understand – we’re in the business of promoting brands to people, not to award juries. So to define it – “initiatives are scams with tangible marketing results”. It should be an agency’s R&D to test the waters, to put their money where their mouth is, and put out something that the general (TA) public sees and respond to. KFC’s case in point – I have never seen it anywhere else but in advertising websites. Does it raise KFC’s profile? To whom? By how much? Are there quantifiable perception or behaviorial changes?
I’ve been to many pitch presentations where the agency honchos display their so called ‘award winning work’ (poster scam pieces) where the potential clients just glaze through it, like it’s totally irrelevant to their business issues. This does not grow the agency’s business portfolio, it jeaprodises their chances of doing real creative work on that client. As for client profile… a scam piece promotes a client’s profile to award juries, and stops right there. Is that really a useful profile?
I’ve also been to pitches where the agency head honcos display real initiatives that are market tested and market proven, which shows proven market results, and where clients do take note, because they see a relevance to their business envionment – moving real consumers.
2- “Even if they were scams, you do realize it requires the suit an uphill battle to get the clients permission, present the case at hand and allow for the client to still spend on media buys and sometimes cost of work. Not all agency’s have the budgets to do what the big boys do and fund everything.”
Definitely must have been a very arty fartsy scam to begin with, that had very little to do with the clients business problem. So, why even bother? And why should we even award such a scam? It’s not even advertising, it’s just ‘art’. Then the Kancils should be renamed the ‘Kancil Art Awards’, not ‘Advertising Creativity Awards’.
Anyway, any ad industry that promotes and celebrates scams are basically 2bit, 2nd rate ad industries, and the longer we tolerate scams, the further we get from being respected as an industry.
We have done initiatives, but never scams – where we’ve stumbled across a brillant insight and idea. Where we set consumer response targets and marketing targets. Driven by those quantifiable objectives, we craft the idea/campaign to achieve those goals. In the process, we learn and discover new paradigms and experiment with new tweaks. Funded by oursleves and our clients, so we equally share the risk and the glory.
That’s how you build relevance back into this business, and credibility of your creativity. Not by your so called simplistic notions of “agency’s attempt to both grow their business portfolio and the clients profile. Something creative people don’t seem to understand”.