"In The Thick Of Things"

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Think Free.

Remember that thing they used to tell us in primary school- there’s no such things as a stupid question?  Silly question, because I know you remember. Think of it this way, as kids, we grow up being taught to be curious, encouraged to be oblivious to was seen as standard and even more so, made to believe that there are many ways to interpret and view absolutely anything. We were given a paint brush to create whatever that was on our minds. So what happened? What happened to being the odd one out, to seeing the little things in the bigger pictures? Our proclaimed personalities have to get the bulk of the blame. They box us into only acting, speaking, and reading, eating, and thinking in a certain way. Let’s forget about having a personality... rather have an attitude. A spirit with no inhibitions, an attitude that allows us to want to experience everything, be everywhere, know a little about everything. We no longer want to be seen as stupid to the obvious, because something’s are just so simple. But I think we should stop our mature driven traits and get in touch with the freethinking, dumbstruck nature that is the child inside of all of us. This is even more so important when you’re in the creative and advertising industry. Yes live a little. When we  live a little, things become easier, solutions to the most complex of problems (briefs) come to you. Most importantly ideas flow because you are in a state of freethinking, and you are able to re-invent and innovate.

The Youth, Arent as Bad as we Think they are..

Creative’s continually get briefed campaign after campaign to find insight on how to connect their brands to the youth market. It’s a daunting task considering the fact that millennial’s change the views and opinions daily, but despite that, core beliefs and values still remain rigid. How do we then find common ground when trying to engage the youth and more importantly keep them engaged?

It’s possible if you dig deep enough and unravel what actually drives the target markets behaviour. Trends, celebrities, technology, opinion leaders? When that’s done, the tricky part is where an idea has to match the key findings. When it comes to social media and youth oriented advertising plans it’s pretty simple. The youth want to tell a story. Marketers should understand that they live their lives offline in order to tell a story online. This is to mutual friends and family and to a life they aspire to. So if you come up with something that will be able to make me tell a story, a story through a simple status update, tweet or online check-in where your brand efforts are strong enough to get mentioned, then you’ve done something right.  

Their  online activity reflects a life that they live truthfully, and that has a ripple effect on brands as that influences others in their respective circles. That’s the same reason that makes viral campaigns and trending topics so successfully. It’s a story that we want to share. It something that resonates deep within us instantly. With the youth market especially, what’s most important is that we have to chuck out all the research(after analysing it) and then see things from their side. The right insight will definely drive your brand from just being another product to being a culture leader.

" Always Remember..."

Advertising : Brilliant Copy Driven Ads

Swiss Life : For all Life Twists and Turns.

Copy driven print Ads. Brilliant execution to illustarte how life can quickly change for the bitter, so its best to have a flexible financial plan.

Credits:

Agency: Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett, Switzerland
Creative Director: Peter Brönnimann
Copywriter: Thomas Schöb, Simon Smit
Art Director: Reto Clement, Daniele Barbiereo

Im Trying To Make It Look Simple

A couple of months in, it has been an overwhelming life stage change for me. As we know, a person’s expectations are forever changing because of new situations we find ourselves in, and promises being made to us. I recently finished my media studies course majoring in strategic advertising and was blessed to find placement soon after. The experience has come like no other. I find myself in an environment that is very pleasing to the unknowing, but like everything else, there’s much more than meets the eye. A place where you have to adapt to being on level ground, never mind climbing from bottom up, you quickly come to the understanding that there is a very complex hierarchy at force here. From who says how high, and who does the actual jumping, I’ve literally been thrown in the deep end.

To be honest, time moves very quickly in a sticky and smudged kind of way. It’s all about the little corporate nuances, where you have to rely on your snap judgment and hindsight to pick up. There’s apparently no room for mistakes in the industry I’m in, but I wrap myself in the warmth of the fact that it’s all about learning for now. I try to quickly and efficiently  grasp working tendencies as smoothly as possible, leveraging my creative and productivity levels but still blinded by the fact that it’s possible to make an error here and there. You see, in fact, it’s only about the learning; I find myself at a point where I’ve thrown whatever it is I interpret as my comfort zone away and now dwell in the ocean of challenge.

I have a vision that keeps my blood boiling. That same vision is what keeps my eye on the ball. My mentor once told me that I have to be patient and that success doesn’t come over night. He sees my ambition and my willingness to succeed, but I could understand where he is coming from. In everything we do, and things we are passionate about, there is a thin line that creeps up to haunt us between being ambitious and being over-enthusiastic. Being over-enthusiastic destroys many intelligent but naive students that enter the real working environment, where you see them trying to be and do everything at once. Us the beginners, have to set our goals relative to our ambitions so we don’t hurry the process and avoid getting lost in the abyss that is “lack of enthusiasm”, just because it’s not happening the way we’ve been planning it in our heads throughout varsity. Like I said expectations are forever changing, the quicker we learn to adapt the better. By so doing, that will eliminate plenty of disappointment.

A couple of months in, all I’m trying to do is sync my drum-roll, the more precise my beat – the more pleasant my experience will be in this new concert I'm living.   www.twitter.com/tumimokgethi

The Little things That count.