The annual event celebrating the World’s Best Advertising & Creative Communications- New York Festivals International Advertising Awards® recently concluded their year’s finest and extraordinary awarding. While many campaigns won the highest reward, many went home with a special mention. All in all an event rejoicing the world’s most sought after creative means.
This year MediAvataar MENA spoke to one of the jury members- Fadi Yaish, Regional Executive Creative Director for Impact BBDO UAE and he very kindly divulged some creative threads to what makes a campaign tick and how advertisers today are more and more thinking over the edge to embrace the new age idea game where nothing is impossible, yet how certain things on the digital content front make him feel uncanny.
Here is what he had to say….
MediAvataar MENA: Which were your favorite campaigns from this year’s entries?
Fadi: There were many great pieces. It’s very hard to tell. Each of the pieces in its own way had a great rise to surface. For me the Petroleum campaign and an outdoor campaign really stood out. Over all I really appreciated the courage of the clients taking a leap in there communications to reflect on their businesses. They were great business solutions but we need to understand that it wouldn’t be an easy decision to embrace those ideas and making them happen.
There was a campaign on Black Friday- a day that every brand and business is indoors to increase their sales but this particular brand advocated a shut down, so that people can enjoy the outdoors, it’s an outdoor product company so it became very relevant for the brand and the audience, but it was such a brave move by the brand.
In the petroleum campaign for example, the brief was to increase the number of sales in a year. And for this brief I don’t know anybody who would come up with the same idea as they did. They came up with the idea of building petroleum energy stations, it’s one of those ideas where in an agency anybody comes up with such idea people say that no it’s such a huge risk and task. But they really believed in the idea and made it happen. It stood out on social media, increased the number of sales at the same time transcended a message of saving the world.
This is the power of a great idea and more power to them!
MediAvataar MENA: What according to you is a perfect message?
Fadi: The most important thing about the perfect message is that the communication should be truthful to the brand and the target audience. Very relevant to the brand and what they do and that is how it resonates with the audience. A great idea that is not so relevant with the brand, it does not serve the purpose.
Great idea coupled with great execution is the key!
MediAvataar MENA: In your creative journey, what has been one of your most a) gratifying and b) bizarre experiences so far?
Fadi: Biggest learning- realizing the true power of great ideas. When you have a great idea it just rises, nothing can put this idea down, it will work and if it doesn’t there are no excuses, you cannot blame anybody and the answer to it is that your idea is not as good as you think it is.
Bizzare thing – Online content. The mindset that anything could be online, you have any activation and it has to be put online. People thinking that it is the cheapest and fastest form of communication where quality doesn’t matter. Online content is not something new, it has been there forever it’s only after so many years people are buzzing around this word, pretending like anything could be content, if you do a commercial and it has to go online it’s not necessary that it has to be cheap.
MediAvataar MENA: What’s the secret to attracting the best talent and keeping clients happy while balancing the books?
Fadi: It’s very simple making sure that we stay up with the standard. Coming up with ideas inspiring for the clients, this is where our strength as an agency lies.
MediAvataar MENA: Where do you place GCC region on the global creative backdrop?
Fadi: We are doing well, standing out; but we need to do more work that appeal to everyone, great ideas that last. Come out with effective campaigns that stand out, which people will never forget I am not sure we have those. Campaigns which do not have expiration date. Rising to another level where you want to inspire more people.
MediAvataar MENA: Your message to the budding creative talent in the region
Fadi: This is the most interesting time we are living in, a moment that is so exciting. Anything is possible; this is the best time also the toughest. Hard work always pays and by coming up with great ideas you can rise above anything else.