Before I go on, let’s remember we’re talking about a full page ad dedicated to this …
:
Got it?
Right, can someone please answer these 4 questions.
1/ Is ‘:’ really a radically new visual identity?
2/ Am I the only one who thinks ‘the big colon’ sounds more like a nasty medical condition than a cutting edge ad philosophy?
3/ Does a colon really focus more attention on a subject?
4/ Is this another pile of steaming adwank justifying turd?
I remember when I was just starting in this business, the objective of most ad agencies seemed to be to stand out … make a difference … take a stand … move people and clients forward … however it seems nowadays the attitude is to simply go where the money is which might explain why Hakuhodo have decided to duplicate the bollocks being spouted by Landor and Arnell rather than beat and humiliate them.
The problem with my industry is that everyone pretty much say’s the same thing – they just use more and more ridiculous ways to express it – but the days of pure positioning are over, it’s now about doing stuff because when you do things that are interesting, imaginative, purposeful and generous you don’t have to tell anyone about it, they find out for themselves.
That’s probably why so few agencies – despite all their claims – do anything fresh.
Not only are they clueless how to charge for this kind of thing, they’re petrified of putting themselves out of a job.
We are an industry crippled with fear … and yet this ‘baton down the hatches’ approach is speeding our decline, not delaying it.
What is possibly even more upsetting is that in every agency [and I mean EVERY agency] there are people who have the ability to use insight, imagination and bravery to make a real difference for companies … a difference that would be far more powerful and longer lasting than any new logo or corporate downsizing … and yet they are continously ignored because the people making the decisions have forgotten their future lies in understanding and motivating people, not understanding and following MBA processes.
What we need now is more action, less words – and that applies as much to the people inside the agencies as the agencies themselves – so regardless of who you are, what you’re doing or how you feel, create your own fate or you only have yourself to blame.