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The Brief: Breaking new ground

Advertising stalwarts share their views on how advertisers are using innovative formats to keep up with the evolving client brief

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The Brief: Breaking new ground

The Brief: Breaking new ground

Advertising stalwarts share their views on how advertisers are using innovative formats to keep up with the evolving client brief

Aanchal Kohli | Mumbai | November 25, 2015

Ad-format

Changing patterns of content consumption across media have led brands and their agencies to think differently, experiment, and come up with new ways to catch the attention of the consumer. The potential and popularity of digital media has created a stir in the ad world, with every brand scrambling to get a share of the pie.

Short and long films on digital media have become a trend of sorts. Start-ups and young brands like Koovs, Urban Ladder, Lenskart, shopclues etc are coming up with these films with quirky themes and treatment. In keeping with the changing times, client briefs to their agencies have also changed.

A while back, DBS bank had come up with an interesting video called 'Chilli Paneer' to highlight the core values of the brand. The film was unveiled in four parts and received rave reviews. Urban ladder's 'The Homecoming' was more than seven minutes long and was launched on Diwali.

Innovation is the name of the game and it's not restricted to digital media. Television commercials have also found ways to be different, introduce new concepts, and become more topical.

MG Parameswaran MG Parameswaran

MG Parameswaran, Advisor FCB-Ulka Advertising, also known as Ambi, said, “Advertising agencies have learnt to adapt to the changing consumer and media scene, from the days of patent medicine advertising to today. Ad agencies helped create new advertising opportunities by pioneering soap operas on radio, this soon found its way into television.”

“We are now seeing the emergence of long format story telling on digital media. This is not as new as it is presumed. BMW films 'The Hire' are probably more than a decade old and they predate YouTube. In a way, a brand and its agency created a new medium on the internet,” he added.

Piyush Pandey Piyush Pandey

Veteran adman Piyush Pandey, the Executive Chairman and Creative Director for Ogilvy & Mather India and South Asia, said, “Every piece of work is developed on the kind of brief and client we get. I am sure these start-ups are ambitious and hungry for fresh and good work. They are full of new ideas and aim to be ahead of the curve. Digital today has added positively to every one's way of thinking and at the same time it has opened quite a few opportunities for brands and agencies to tell their story. ”

Koovs.com very recently broke their very first campaign and sharing their point of view, Sonal Bhatia, Head of Marketing at Koovs.com, said, “The focus is slowly shifting from product centric content for ad films to something experiential and innovative. Also with an increase in internet penetration and digital consumption, it has become imperative for brands to communicate equally across traditional mediums and digital. Considering most digital content is consumed by youth, it is important to generate content that is fresh and cutting- edge to be able to make a connect.”

KV Sridhar KV Sridhar

KV Sridhar, Chief Creative Officer – India, SapientNitro, said, “A lot has changed over the years and somewhere today old people are not so comfortable working with the young generation as there is a huge cultural difference in terms of thoughts. These start-ups are today owned by young guys and hence they have a very different way of advertising and marketing too. The agencies get really quirky and differentiated concepts and briefs.”

The changes have thrown up several challenges for the agencies. Staying different, while sticking to the brief, is no mean feat. According to Ambi, the challenge today is not just to make long format films but to make them interesting, engaging and relevant. “I have seen great films, but in the end could not figure out the connection with the brand. I have seen badly made films where it is a sheer torture to watch for more than a minute. The bread and butter of our business, the 30 sec commercial is not going to disappear any time soon. We may however look at making the ads in longer and longer formats,” he added.

On a more positive note, Bhatia added, “There is no challenge as such, as agencies are also continuously evolving and are aware of the changing sentiments. The main task is to find an agency that best relates and understands your brief. Grey London has been an apt agency for our campaign owing to their out- of -box creativity and in-depth knowledge of the current global youth scenario.”

Pandey here opined that it would always be challenging to cater to the client's needs and demands. “The way the industry will grow and evolve the client's brief will keep on evolving and changing and we as an agency will have to keep up to it. There are clients who understand the needs and demands of fresh work and at the same time there are clients who are stuck to the past. So it is our job to keep up with clients who are looking forward to fresh work and hand-hold clients who have trouble adapting to fresh ideas and innovations.”

With the advent of cutting edge technology and changing formats of advertising, the ad world seems to be changing its game completely. The newest trend may be just round the corner.

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Info@BestMediaInfo.com

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