Private View: Sisters, drag queens, pi and pinball

In Private View, we ask two creative leaders to comment on recent work from around the region.

Participants:

• Bobby Pawar, MD, CCO South Asia, Publicis (left)
• Jonathan Lim, global creative director, Xiaomi (right)

Opening remarks:

Pawar: Okay, here we go. The sun rises, bees do their bee things, somewhere a parrot sings— and a random creative guy pounds out his opinion on his unfeeling keyboard. (Confession: c’est moi.)

Lim: Clients—the marketing guy and the sales guy—are the ‘final barrier’ between campaign ideas and the end consumer. Let’s look at what they have to say about these recent campaigns.

1. #Sistergood
Agency: Dentsu Jayme Syfu Philippines

Pawar: Noble effort. The insight is good; sometimes the biggest hurdles a woman can face in the workplace can be the insensitivity of other women. Sadly, that’s all that’s good. What should have been inspirational feels staged.

Lim:

Global head of marketing: Great insight. Maybe soon we’ll see a sisterhood of advertising.
Global sales SVP: This won’t directly bring in sales but it would make us look good if the movement picks up across the marketplace.

2. Queen of the desert
Client: AAMI
Agency: Ogilvy Melbourne

Pawar: Two drag queens have a break down. Sounds interesting. Actually, it’s their car that breaks down, to be fixed by the insurance company. Okay, if you must. But I wonder what would happen if two drag queens were on a therapist’s couch spilling their troubles? That could be hilarious.

Lim:

GHOM: “Not very insurancey” — it’s funny and quirky. This will stand out from the competition.
GSSVP: I see doors opening to the niche but potent cross-dressing consumer segment, and also their girlfriends.

Campaign's take: Boas, bling and nan caves: AAMI remains 'Not very insurancey' 

3. Pi Day
Client: McDonald’s Hong Kong
Agency: DDB Group Hong Kong

Pawar: Put your hands together: we have a punster in the house. I admit to liking puns as much a deer loves a lion that’s trying to eat it. But bias aside, this idea of promoting pies on Pi Day is, well, pie-dictable.

Lim:

GHOM: Whoever said that creativity is unquantifiable? Great promo using something totally unrelated to connect with a wide audience. But isn’t this kind of ad much used in the West?
GSSVP: The top pie-ority is always to sell more, so this is excellent. More ideas like this, please!

Campaign's take: Pi-day promo pricing propels pies

4. SCB unlimited cashback card
Client: Standard Chartered Bank
Agency: TBWA Singapore

Pawar: You may be tempted to say, ‘Nice looking film, but what’s the idea?’ The execution is the idea. Briefs like this are tough. The creative team deserves our applause for making a film that is visually so well crafted that it holds our attention.

Lim:

GHOM: A casual way of presenting a usually serious bank to promote its product to its audience.
GSSVP: I like how this hits all of their product benefits. I’m sure they’ll score tons of new sign-ups by the end of the campaign.

Campaign's take: Pinball wizardry: Standard Chartered makes a game out of credit-card rewards

5. 6-months break-up challenge
Client: OLX
Agency: Lowe Lintas

Pawar: The premise is kinda clever, equating selling stuff that you haven’t used in a while to ‘breaking-up’. It’s likeable for what it is, a retail ad. Perhaps if they had staged it as a comedy sketch, they might have hit the funny bone.

Lim:

GHOM: The insight into procrastination is pretty spot-on and the execution seems fun, too.
GSSVP: Might need a little more work to convert users, perhaps exploring how much their “beloved” is actually worth.