Pay-off lines, positioning statements, slogans…call them what you will but those few words that you see accompanying a logo on an advertisement are more important than you might think. Why? Because they either encapsulate what the brand is all about or they deliver a promise. So when one comes across a pay-off line like “Real bread for real people” (as I did whilst driving to a meeting the other day), one shudders at the lack of understanding on behalf of the marketer or at the amateurism of their ad agency (if they have one). Continue reading →

Not so long ago, most big corporates believed their advertising accounts could only be handled by large advertising agencies; ad agencies with established infrastructures and offices in other African countries and overseas. Whilst this is still the case with some, (especially the multinationals), there has certainly been more openness during the last few years towards the big ad spenders handing projects to smaller agencies. Continue reading →

I have often wondered whether recruitment advertising couldn’t be more creative? After all, one is promoting a product, much like any other. In the case of a recruitment ad, a company is selling a position. As well as itself. This being the case, the task is akin to advertising a perfume or a brand of peanut butter where one needs to do a selling job to persuade and convince a potential purchaser. Continue reading →

If you’ve been to the cinema lately, you may have seen a new commercial for Johnnie Walker. If you haven’t, you’re missing something special. Beautifully shot, superbly scripted and wonderfully acted, the commercial is more a mini-movie than an ad – with titles rolling at the end as in a full length feature film. Continue reading →

We’ve all seen or heard them: topical ads in newspapers or on TV or radio that have us laughing or talking around the dinner table. And yet, given the fact that this type of advertising elicits a response from people (as opposed to so much conventional advertising these days that is seldom talked about), it’s a wonder that so few companies engage in it. Continue reading →