My Ads of Fame Collection: Why do brands lie today?

We don't see great ads anymore. What we see are ads done for the clients or ads done by the agencies to bag awards. I have nothing against awards. They remind you that you are still in people's good book. Just that a large percentage of these award winning works are recycled. People doing the same thing under new names. And I have nothing against Clients, it's just that most are not in touch with reality. In these days of Google and Social Media, most ads still stink of lies. Fast broadband. Caring bank.  Shame.

In this Collection, you'll notice that the Creators of these ads had one objective in mind: to connect with their audience so they might care about their offerings. They first sought to interest their audience, then they went on to sell the offering in a simple yet profound way. Above all, they said the truth and ran away. Great ads are about truth but then truth well told. Enjoy

A Bill Bernbach's classic where truth always wins out in Advertising.  When you know you are not no 1, how do you find strength in that? Now, don't try this with today's delusional brands. They are always No 1.

This is one of the most famous of Ogilvy's ads. Way back in the 60s.  When you are selling a generic thing like a work shirt, you need to put some spin on it. Don't just use models for modelling sake [ like we have on our streets today, posing for the camera is not advertising. Smiling faces. That's photography. Do something crazy and run away ]

Way back then, Leo Burnett did stunning jobs for Kellogg's Corn flakes and this one is timeless. The product is in view but not forced into the view. The focus is on the moment. The Copy is not pretentious. It's just Corn Flakes for God's sake! What we see today are commodities ads that flaunt the number of vitamins they contain plus the name of the Chairman sitting on their board [ now, I made that last one up ]

I bet there's no Advertising book worth its salt where this Bill's work has not been mentioned. The only sad thing is no one has the gut to do such an ad. If this ad was done today, I guess the Brand team would insist that 'small' is not in their dictionary.  Why do people tell lies today, even when we have Goggle to tell us that your broadband is not actually 3.9G as claimed in your advertising.  [ Kenny, 3.9! How far? ]  There must be something sexy about telling the truth in advertising especially when you know how to turn it around to your advantage. 

Great ads have some edge to them. This was grabbed from the famous  Super bowl commercial of Apple in 1984.  

At 60 miles an hour, the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock. That's Ogilvy for you. Nothing to add.  

When you are ready to talk, close that Powerpoint.

It's amazing how 99.9% of us still don't get it.

One of our best graduating students at Orange Academy. Caroline Latona.  Here was her final defense and the Strategy was on point. However, we always warn our students that it doesn't end there. You have to be able to translate Strategy into an experience.

Consumers don't read Powerpoint or a Strategy document when they get to the shelf to buy our products. They simply SEE it, SMELL it, TOUCH it, FEEL it or HEAR it.

A brand is an experience.

There are no worse times in history of Brand Communication when the buzz word is 'Strategy'. People design Powerpoint. People flash numbers. People draw graph. And honestly, all of that is good. I'm a student of Y&R Strategic Planning and I really do know how to design engaging Powerpoint presentations.

Howbeit, my brodas and sistas, when you really mean to talk to a humankind. When you really need to pass your message across to some human being somewhere.
When you really mean business in this business of Brand Communication, you have to close that Powerpoint presentation and keep your eyes on the ball. Yea, you heard me. Powerpoint and Big Grammar don't grab balls. Hands do. Good pair of hands.

This Coca-Cola Facebook page captures humankind. It's not about the formula it contains,  it's about the story of the people who drink Coca Cola. That's not a Powerpoint. 

Since 2008, Orange Academy has helped more than 27,000 Graduates and over 600 Executive Managers find their own voice through our various programs. Again and again, we have discovered that one major ingredient that has helped shaped the best of our best is the power to turn a business strategy into an experience.  We call it Magic. www.cluborangeng.com

It means the readiness to take on new discoveries about humanity. We want our students to be very curious about everything. Curious about what make people tick. Sex, yes, sex. Money, music, laughter, friendship, colours, images, cries, stories. The list is endless.

This Samsung Facebook page reeks of Strategy. It's like a designed Powerpoint in a Social Media space. 

You want people to respond to you? Give them an experience. Full stop.

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Every now and then, we take a few people away into a workshop that is all about them and we are not ashamed to do so as this may be the only selfish thing they will be doing for themselves. Why?
CV will get irrelevant Your company may outgrow you
Your talent and skill may face a stiffer competition Relationships may fail

The world is changing per second everyday and the only thing people will always buy when they transact business with companies will always be people. People do business with people; no one gets attracted to buildings or companies. The only thing you can do for yourself and your company to keep being in high demand is by finding your own voice or brand your frontline people so you can return more on your investments. That's Personal Branding. PB.

How do you find your voice or Persona or your core story? How do you tell it so well that it affects everything you touch positively? In the past, PB was an expensive thing to have as you would need to own a Medium in order to project your voice. Today, the world has been flattened by the Digital Media and the possibilities for PB are endless. First, you have to know what you should be about. 







Our Team, led by Kenny Brandmuse, will help you MAP out your core story, using our trusted and proprietary tools. Secondly, you have to know how to tell your own story without sounding self-praising. Self advertising is not PB. It's like a needle in the ocean. PB is more enduring.

Successful PB today include Oprah Winfrey, Richard Brandson, Barak Obama, Rick Warren, Waren Buffet, Steve Jobs, ASA, and Christien Amanpour.

Give it all that it takes

When I first got my 1st Copy writing Job at McCanns, I was living miles away from the office and my salary was barely enough for one week meal. I had a serious accommodation issue and I had just landed my dream job. Working in Brand Advertising can be rigorous and it often requires long hours of works; it's even worse if you are a cub Copywriter as you have to do all the dirty jobs.

One day, while returning from Lunch with some of my colleagues, I saw a pub house near my office. [ A Beer Parlour ] I noticed there was a little house attached to the Pub where the bartenders slept. Then I had a crazy idea. What if I offered to help these guys at night maybe I could get to squat with them for a bit? At first, they laughed at me, thinking I was joking, then they saw the tenacity in my eyes. So, on Mondays, I would move in to the Pub house after works and returned back to my far away house on Friday evenings. My job was straightforward. I had to help them do all their dishes and tumblers each and every night. Then I could go to sleep. That was how I paid my landlords. That was how I pulled through those first few months on the job. It was crazy as I had to keep that part of me from my colleagues. In fact, there were times , we would pass that Pub and everyone would imagine how the guys that lived there were surviving. It was such a tiny little room with a tiny window opened to the main road where all the vices in Yaba resided those days. When I drive by that pub today, I get a little emotional as the little room attached is no longer there. The Federal Government has taken my room away. It went with the road construction works, leaving only the Pub house.

Here's the thing. If you are lucky to find your dream job, nothing should be in your way. Not even accommodation. You've got to give it all that it takes. If you really mean to grow a career, keep your eyes away from the pay-cheque. Look at where you are going. No one is really out there to help you when you are starting a career. Personal Brands know how to help themselves. Keep your eyes on the end. Discipline yourself. Cut out some luxuries. Salaries don't grow careers. People do. When you cut your teeth and you finally find your own voice, then you can spread your wings and fly. But right now, you have to give it all that it takes.