Creative Circle: Hira Mohibullah + Joji Jacob
In a new regular series Campaign Brief Asia asks two creative thinkers from the region to highlight recent great work that caught their eye from around Asia and globally. Creative Circle contributors this week are Hira Mohibullah (above left) and Joji Jacob (right).
Hira Mohibullah
Executive Creative Director
BBDO Pakistan
Asia: Take any film that opens on a metropolitan city from the subcontinent and what hits you is not the cluttered visual itself, but the migraine-inducing horns emanating from the traffic on the street. You’d think it was something a local learns to tune out, like white noise. But no, you never quite get used to it- the honking hangs noisily in the background, scratching at your brain.
For every unnecessary honk on the road I’ve heard, there’s been an urgent need to just SOMEHOW get it to stop. And well, somebody figured out how! That’s why The Punishing Signal by FCB India was my favorite piece from Asia. I was pumping my fist in the air while I watched the case film, going “You show ‘em!”
Global: It’s often that we metaphorically refer to something as hair-raising, inside-twisting or gut-wrenching. But once in a while, something comes along that takes the metaphor right out of that experience. Not metaphorically-speaking, #WombStories by AMV BBDO London left my head reeling by the time I was done watching it.
What I love about it is that the film gives a true ‘insider’ perspective on what it feels like to be a woman: telling stories of the womb that are haunting yet enchanting, gruesome yet beautiful and showing women who are real yet magical, vulnerable yet invincible! One size does not fit all, and this is what this film does; it unfolds a multi-verse of narratives and yet without being definitive, leaves space for many, many more.
Joji Jacob
Co-Founder/Creative
BLKJ Singapore
Asia: If there’s one piece of work that redeems the whole detestable phenomenon of ‘trendjacking’ (‘Moment Marketing’, if you’re an MBA. Ugh!), it’s the Pamper’s ‘Dads for Virat’ spot out of India. Virat Kohli, for the uninitiated, is the current captain of the Indian cricket team and something of a demigod in the country.
So when he recently become a father, Pamper’s and Leo Burnett India did what a whole bunch of other brands and agencies did. Trendjacking. They just did it better than most. The funny and very likeable film brings together a bunch of seasoned dads who offer Virat baby tips using cricket terminology.
In a country collectively coo cooing to a cricketing star’s cute offspring, it’s marketing manna.
Global: To my mind, of the many things that Covid-19 did, one of the most important is our new-found respect for healthcare workers. And into this now-haloed space tiptoes in a beautiful little spot for Macmillan Cancer Support via AMV BBDO London.
A hand, a look, a smile, a tear, a hug, that’s what makes living and dying with cancer a little more bearable. Nothing clever, no twist, just humans being humans. I’ll eat this paragraph if the spot didn’t have people reaching for tissues and their wallets.
