I like to watch local TV. Sometimes I sit and browse and stare at television shows, the language of which I can’t understand, because I see it as my job to keep an eye on who’s doing what in the ad world.

There was a time, when that meant being pleasantly surprised by the odd nice TV commercial. Either funny, or beautiful or borne out of a really clever idea.

These days?

There’s as much chance of that happening as there is England winning the football World Cup again. That’s right, remote.

But where did it all go wrong? Whatever happened to the brilliant original creativity behind great campaigns from the past for brands such as Just Gold, Optical 88, Sunday, New World Mobility and Vitasoy, to name but a few.

In today’s Hong Kong, every single TV ad seems to follow a pattern, a trend. It’s as if the creative teams has simply selected “Let’s choose idea number 7” and go with that.

Don’t believe me? Here are a few of the trends. Ideas we see repeated over and over.

1. The replacement head

This entails being really really hilarious by placing the product, or an object of some sort, on the head or heads of persons in the commercial. Designed to be wacky or really fun, it’s become such a cliché that almost every other spot now features some idea based on this. Once upon a time, years ago, when this first happened, it may have been original. But now?

2. The product as cartoon character

If you can’t think of an idea, turn the product into a cute little character who intervenes in people’s lives to solve their problems and make them happy again.
Usually they sing a little jingle to make it all even more uplifting.

3. Holding hands together

Usually reserved for public service announcements, the idea is that if everyone in Hong Kong holds hands and smiles, then social problems will magically vanish. In the world of PSA’s, you never ever see the miserable faces that pervade on the streets every day that come with people struggling to survive. You just see a happy, shining Hong Kong wonderland.

4. The perfect child

In Hong Kong TV ads, children are not children. They are perfectly groomed astoundingly clever and cute little angels who open their mouths to utter words that have been put there by agency copywriters with strict instructions from their clients. The result is nearly always annoyingly sickly, with children acting in ways that are completely unnatural. This non-idea is usually reserved for any products to do with child-enhancement, but people creating government announcements somehow think this is also a great way to change social behavior.

5. The perfect family

Featured in just about any TV ad for foods (especially rice or cooking oil) or home appliances, the perfect family live in a perfect home with perfect lives. And any small problems are instantly eradicated by the product.

I’m not making this up. This is the sorry state of Hong Kong advertising today. And while there are some exceptions (I haven’t even touched on property ads mind you), these are the general rule.

In days gone by, Hong Kong agencies produced ideas. The creative people were pushed to be original. To solve problems in new and different ways. If it had been done before, you killed it at birth.

And before you say “It’s easy to criticize, what are you don’t to change that?” I would argue that our recent Unicef ‘Right to Play TV commercial has been one of a few on air that people have seen and commented on, as having at some semblance of an idea behind it.

It’s a shame we’re in the minority.

My old friend Mike Fromowitz recently posted a blog in Campaign magazine regarding the recent rise in start-up advertising and branding companies such as our own. It’s an increasingly common topic these days, and if you look around across Asia some of these ‘little shops’ are doing very well indeed, attracting big name clients to give them a try.

I think there is a good reason for this and it has more to do with the issues facing bigger, international agencies as it does the qualifications of the small, independent ones.

Here’s a theory to add to what Mike has suggested, shoot it down if you will. In recent years, Asia in particular has come on in leaps and bounds in terms of award-winning creative work. More than that, the diversity of source countries producing great work is broader than ever. The global creative map has changed forever.

What’s also changed and is seemingly irreversible, is the ability of agencies to actually sell in great work to clients. Selling ideas is tricky. Clients, by nature, are more likely to be apprehensive about ideas which seem risky, are not familiar. Not tried and tested. Which is why most creative advertising we see around us every day is tried and tested. Not to mention mostly crap.

But in today’s world, agencies don’t have to sell in their great ideas. They simply request the client’s permission to ‘run them’ in order to qualify for the award shows. So everyone’s happy. The creatives are happy because they get their chance. Client service people are happy because they don’t have the (once upon a time very stressful) pressure to try and get brave ideas through the client. And the clients are happy because they are comfortable with the tried and tested work anyway. Despite the fact that more outstanding ideas might work that much harder for their brand and achieve better returns.

However, the end result of all this is that many agencies (I’m talking big network agencies) are now split down the middle. There is the real world. The bread and butter work which gets churned out every day for real briefs from big spending clients. Nobody really tries to rock the boat with that. Clients won’t buy brave ideas anyway. Do the job and take the money. Then there’s the pretend world, where you do excellent creative work for the shows, pay for it to run (big agencies have budgets set aside for this) and pretend it was real. (It always makes me laugh when agency leaders blame poor standards of creativity on a bad economy which makes clients more nervous…when nobody bothers getting better work past clients in the first place these days…they simply ask to run it.)

This is now the norm. If you asked many agencies to showcase the work they do on their biggest spending projects vs their most award-winning work, there’s a very high chance that the two will not correlate.

This is very different from the world’s most famously high profile creative agencies (ie Weiden and Kennedy, BBH London etc) who built their reputations by doing great work on real briefs. They did this by having very strong client relationships. By being honest and firm with clients. And also, by leading the relationship, as opposed to the other way round where agencies are told to do as the client says with a ‘customer is always right’ mentality. (Because the main objective is to meet the numbers.)

So, there’s the great divide. Two world’s under one roof. The results of all this are a generation of young talented creative leaders who know no other route to the awards stage than under the table. And agency client managers who would not have the faintest idea how to begin to sell in a daring idea to a client. Agencies are not breeding any Frank Lowes today. Any Mike Greenlees (tasked with the difficult challenge of selling in Dave Trott’s ideas..). Any Rod Pullens. In fact, let’s say any real leaders.

For the small independent agencies, who are often started by senior, experienced agency people who want to get back to the basics and see a better way, this is good news. Because you know what? Clients want that too. At least the good ones. They want people who think for their brand or business. Who have opinions and offer expertise. And know how to sell a brave idea.

I know which world I prefer.

Tourism Asia. One word says it all.

Something is going on in the world on Asian tourism advertising, and it can be summed up in one word. Literally. And it’s usually an over-the-top adjective.

Incredible India. Amazing Thailand. Exotic Cambodia. Wonderful Indonesia.

It seems as though there is has been some sort of revolutionary new breakthrough in research informing us that the less said the better when it comes to travel. Or is there a current shortage of English copywriting resources in the region that has resulted in one lucky freelancer getting all the jobs? Like, he or she has got it nailed.

When it comes to copy, it was drummed into me at a very young age to keep it short and sweet. Say what you need to say and don’t encumber the reader with unnecessary fluff.

But this inexplicable trend for single-word descriptions is taking it a bit far. At least Malaysia has managed to come up with two words in ‘Truly Asia’ (at least that seems to have a modicum of strategic thinking implied in it, as with 100% New Zealand).

What makes it even more ominous is that in almost every case, the absence of a proper strategy is underlined even more when these ‘slogans’ are seen as the exclamation mark dotted on the end of up old-as-hat clichéd television commercials which are consist of the same tired old vignettes which result in nothing more than a filmic guide through that country’s holiday brochure.

Stunning, beautiful landscapes. Pristine blue water with untouched natural wonders. And the same old perfect thirty-something Caucasian couple having the romantic time of their lives interacting with healthy looking natives who have inexplicably beatific smiles on their faces. It all results in a tourist wonderland at the end of which you can plonk one word which sums it all up.

Fantastic. Remarkable. Spiffing. Jolly.

Try irritating. It’s a better way of describing the effect these bland, predictable marketing efforts have on the average poor viewer.

Where will it all end? Who else will jump on the bandwagon (or train, boat or plane)?

Here are a few suggestions then, just to jump the gun.

Awesome Australia.

Unstoppable China.

Mysterious Japan.

Expensive Hong Kong.

Crazy North Korea.

I could go on but I might be doing some unsuspecting freelance copywriter out of his or her job.

Speaking as an experienced creative person I firmly believe that the most important factor in building a successful creative agency isn’t creativity.

It’s the client relationship.

Don’t get me wrong, I still have some creative fire in my belly after many many years, and I believe the quality of the work you produce is definitely what sets one agency apart from any other as much as good food distinguishes a quality restaurant from the riff raff. But the quality of your relationships is how you get there.

If you are not working with clients who believe in what you deliver, who respect you and are prepared to listen to you, then effectively your role is no more than waiter, to use the restaurant analogy.

I once remember a client, in fact, the son of a family business owner who, upon hearing the account service director state he would pass his comments on to the creative team and ask them to look into a problem was told “No, don’t ask them, tell them to do it. Just remember who is paying the bills.”

What a brat. Looking back today I can laugh at the naive arrogance of this, not uncommon among usually the more junior people who clearly misinterpret the idea of a working relationship. As an agency proprietor, such a person would not last 5 minutes with me today.

Because to me, the saying ‘the customer is always right’ does not belong in the world I live in. That of delivering effective creative solutions for clients.

It’s an expression from the world of sales which effectively means ‘make a sale at all costs.’ That’s the end goal.

In the world of marketing, a good creative brand expert is not there to make a sale at all costs. You are there to understand a client’s business and the challenges they face, in order to find creative solutions which can help.

Sometimes that means recommending things which perhaps the client may not agree with. And in this world, the customer is not always right. Especially when that customer lacks the necessary experience.

Most importantly, the respect must be a two way street, and I’ve no time for creative arrogance either.

To me, if I have found a good client with whom I enjoy a constructive, mutually respectful relationship, I will devote blood, sweat and tears to helping them. I’m not just after their money (frankly many agencies are, it’s all about meeting budget at all costs). Need urgent help on a holiday? I’m there.

I genuinely want to add value and do the best job I possibly can.

But I place great emphasis on the ‘mutual respect’ part. Once that is established, everything else falls in place. And I believe that’s the secret to success. Well, for the most part (I may disagree next week).