Is advertising really a creative business?

Q: How many advertising people do you think made it onto Fast Company's recent list of The 100 Most Creative People in Business?

A: One.

That's right, just a single creative from our whole "creative industry". An industry that awards itself for "creativity" more than any other.

Of course, Elvis Chau of JWT Shanghai deserves full credit for this magnificent achievement. Imagine if he didn't make the list and we had no-one to represent our industry. How embarrassing would that be?

Ironically, even Elvis says, "Advertising is not that original."

Perhaps it's time for ad agencies and their clients to stop talking the talk about how to engage consumers who are already engaged with things far more engaging than advertising, get their heads out of their research reports, and start to produce something that is genuinely creative and entertaining.

Now there's an idea!

The world's first Tranny-Pacific airline?

It's not everyday we see a new airline launch that makes us sit up and pay attention like this one does.

PC Air, based in Thailand, is the first airline in the world to feature transsexual flight attendants. Of course, the gags almost write themselves ("Did you order meat & 2 veg, sir?") but the most entertaining part of the Asian marketing launch has to be this TV commercial, which is absolutely priceless:

We're not sure which is our favorite shot - the close-up of the boy's shoes as they suddenly become stilletos, or the look on the guy's face when the flight attendant gives him his wallet back. Only in Thailand!

However, we can't help but think that PC Air may have missed a marketing opportunity with the name of their airline. 

Any suggestions?

Freelancer.com passes $100 million but where's Asia marketing?

The world's largest outsourcing marketplace Freelancer.com has just marked a milestone $100 million in user earnings, according to this article in Campaign Brief.

Interestingly only one S.E. Asian country, the Philippines, features in the top 5 freelancing countries:

1. India 34%
2. United States 11%
3. Pakistan 9%
4. Bangladesh 6%
5. Philippines 4%

No Asian city makes it into the top 10 outsourcing cities - all are in the US.

This could be because Freelancer.com is specifically focused on the US market, or it could be that businesses marketing in Asia are yet to realise the potential of creative outsourcing.

But creative outsourcing's day may be coming, as the competitive advantage of building a flexible, multidisciplinary creative team at a lower cost becomes apparent to more and more entrepreneurs and SMEs advertising in Asia.

Here at Naïve we have seen it grow from nascent beginnings, to the point where creative outsourcing is becoming a realistic alternative to a mainstream agency for many smaller - and even some larger clients.

While Freelancer.com concentrates mainly on individual design items like logos, business cards, corporate identities etc, using freelance copywriters and designers it is now possible to source strategic brand planning, creative concepts and execution through the outsourced model. All without the bureaucracy, stifling processes and silo mentality that often come in dealing with a big traditional agency.

1.2 million jobs have been posted on Freelancer.com to date, and if one thinks of the potential for those marketing to Asia then the outsourcing model begins to look like an attractive business proposition.

Of course just like any business, reputation and trust will be vital as clients ponder the switch to an new and unfamiliar model. But once it has been proved that creative outsourcing can provide exactly what businesses in Asia need then creative outsourcing will really prove its worth.

Why are so many clients in Asia unloved and unwanted?

In our travels through the agency world in Asia we often encounter a situation where client and creative department have become estranged.

In short the love has gone (if it ever existed in the first place).

It starts with the creative 'stars' who have tried and failed to make any impression on a client who, stubbornly resists their brilliant creative thoughts, and undoubtedly award winning ideas.

The recalcitrant client is then quickly dropped by the creative director, who moves on to focus on more productive and 'enlightened' clients. And so on down the food chain, until it lands up at either the solid uncomplaining creative team who are clinging to their jobs; a relatively junior team who are pleased to be working on anything or the freelancers who can't complain and just get on with it.

Trouble is, these clients marketing in Asia are often the ones who pay the bills; serious revenue that big agencies can't afford to lose. So when the client senses this lack of attention and kicks up a fuss, the big guns are ordered back onto the business and our unhappy client is smothered with love once again.

But of course it seldom lasts, passion quickly fades and the whole cycle begins again.

Perhaps there is an opportunity using creative marketing to reach out to these spurned clients: if only you can find the creatives to love them.

With Asia’s staff churn problem set to worsen, is it finally time for a new model?

A recent report by specialist recruiters in the media and creative marketing sectors suggests that creative staff turnover in Asia is reaching epidemic proportions. In some markets, it said, turnover rates are approaching 40%.

Partly this attrition is borne out of an Asian marketing sector experiencing continuous change through the growth of ‘digital’. Online media and mobile has exploded, and many large companies are now building their own, dedicated internal digital teams often recruiting directly from existing agencies.

With such obvious dissatisfaction amongst staff perhaps it is finally time for advertising agencies in Asia, who are struggling to retain their top creative talent, to consider a different model; a model that gives the creative team more freedom, flexibility and control.

The outsourced creative model, where creatives become independent operators coming together to work on specific projects is not new, but it’s one that agencies in Asia seem loath to experiment with, despite it offering a way to keep creative staff motivated and connected.

And it’s a model that is much better suited to today’s multi-platform world. A world where the leveraging of technology is so much more important to marketing in Asia. By breaking down the traditional agency barriers, art directors and copywriters can collaborate with digital specialists and creative technologists to utilize new technology, and to create new ways of engaging and involving consumers.

As pioneers of this model for Asian marketing we know, from our own experience, that it is a way of working that appeals to a lot of creative people. And it’s our view that happy people produce better work and tend to stick around.

At the end of the day it comes down to trust. Most agencies marketing to Asia are still tied to a 20th century factory model of employment, and expect to see bodies sitting behind desks; otherwise who knows what those crazy creatives will get up to when they are left to their own devices.