BY EE-LYN TAN
educate@thestar.com.my
Creativity, passion, dedication... Once again, students at the Kancil Awards Festival prove they have what it takes to make it to the top of the advertising industry.
THE brief – to turn Tat Seng rubber slippers into a household name, with a global following.
Armed with paper, pencils and markers, the 180 students from nine institutions set about the task of turning the plain-looking blue, white and black slippers into a fashion statement.
Bearing in mind that their competitors would be celebrity favourite Havaianas and Crocs, the students had to dig into their creative resources to come up with innovative ideas to sell to their “client”, Tat Seng Rubber Industries.
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Orr (second from left) with students (from left) Regina Julia Taslim, Sze Yin, Kendy Tan, Shawn Ng Shau Rung and Victor who impressed judges with their 'No choice' concept for Tat Seng slippers. |
This was the challenge presented to aspiring students who wanted to pursue careers in advertising at the Kancil Awards Festival “Advertising Unplugged” workshop.
The Kancil Awards, one of the industry's biggest events, takes place annually.
Split into six groups of 30 students each, the enthusiastic students were placed under the care and direction of one of six top executive creative directors (ECD) – Grey Worldwide regional ECD Jeff Orr, TBWA-ISC/Malaysia’s Bas Moreu, Naga DDB’s Ted Lim, BBDO’s Ronald Ng, Ogilvy & Mather’s Daniel Comar and Young & Rubicam’s Rahul Mathew.
With a deadline of just three hours to present their concepts to their respective ECDs, the setting was akin to that of a real life advertising agency.
Up for grabs for the two winning teams was the chance to attend the Kancil Awards the same night, where they would be able to rub shoulders with the biggest names in the industry.
A rousing start
This year's workshop at Sunway Lagoon Hotel in Petaling Jaya was a change from last year's event, which comprised a series of talks attended by students.
Workshop co-host and 95% programme director and trainer Shaikh Shahnaz Karim said the concept of putting students to work was good as it gave them a taste of what the work environment is like in a real life agency.
“Having someone stand in front of you and give you a lecture will just cause many of you to fall asleep,” he told the students, who burst into laughter.
The six ECDs were given a rousing welcome as they walked down the length of the room before introducing themselves. They each provided input on this year's theme – “Fearless”.
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The judges had a hard time deciding on the two winning concepts. |
The students then moved into their respective teams and set to work.
Lim got his group off to an energetic start by having them introduce themselves amidst loud applause while Ng had his students get comfortable by sitting on the floor.
Some were seen scribbling and drawing on large sheets of paper while others appeared deep in thought and conversation throughout the three-hour period.
Fun and work
95% director and trainer Janet Lee, who also co-hosted the workshop, said many students today are good at art and design but lacked strategic thinking and planning skills, which is the key to climbing to the top of the industry.
Lim agreed and said most students are taught to be craftsmen rather than thinkers.
“If your thinking is wrong, your writing and drawing won't be right, no matter how good an artist or writer you are,” said Lim, who has spent almost his entire 20-year-career in advertising at Naga DDB.
Mathew echoed their sentiments. To him, a major problem is that students today are often more concerned about the execution of the advertisement than the big idea.
“Advertising is about creating a solution to a communication problem and that is what is most important, not what the ad will be.
“Unfortunately, that is what many students are caught up with,” said Mathew, who had moved to Malaysia from Mumbai, where he was the creative director at McCann-Erickson, two months ago.
Moreu felt that the element of fun was lacking as he watched the students work.
“Advertising is not something boring and dull. You must learn to have fun,” urged the Dutchman.
Mathew agreed and said fun was essential in advertising.
“When you have fun, your ideas have a new life to it,” he said.
Something earthy...
After endless discussion and banter among the ECDs during the judging session, the options were eventually narrowed down and two were chosen as winners.
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This is what you have to work with, says Lee, holding up a pair of Tat Seng slippers. |
Bagging the top prize was
Signature Slipper, where the team came up with the idea of packing three coloured markers with every pair of Tat Seng slippers for customers to personally customise them.
Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (Limkokwing) graphic design (advertising) student Alex Yeoh was one of the four students who came up with the winning concept behind Signature Slipper.
“When we saw the word ‘global’ in the brief, we decided that it should be an idea that is down-to-earth, something that everybody can identify with,” said the 19-year-old.
Yeoh said his teammates started “doodling” on the slippers as they were so plain and that was when the idea came to them.
“We saw the slippers as a blank canvas and banked on the concept that they could become art. Since the slippers are only RM2.60 and a pack of three markers cost only RM2, the package will be affordable for everyone,” he said.
Yeoh's teammate, PJ College of Art & Design graphic design student Wafiqah Zainab Aman was grateful to her ECD, Mathew, for his help.
“He guided us as we came up with the idea, and advised us that the concept was more important than the execution of the idea,” said the 19-year-old.
Ng commended the team and said it was the extra 10% inspiration (packaging the markers with the slippers) that made the difference between a good idea and a great one.
Something plain...
The other winning concept, entitled No Choice, saw the team turning the unfashionable slippers into a fashion statement.
Limkokwing professional design (advertising) student Chee Sze Yin said she and her teammates focused on how plain and honest the product was.
“We came up with a whole bunch of ideas but the concept we eventually adopted was a simple one that came about after a lot of thought and changes,” said the 20-year-old lass.
Their idea called for a rack with nothing but Tat Seng slippers. It may be simple but obviously effective. As Lee observed, the concept being sold is that anti-fashion is the fashion.
The No Choice team, supervised by Orr, had nothing but praise for his guidance.
“He made sure we remained focused,” said Limkokwing graphic design (advertising) student Victor Chia, 22.
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Fun is essential if you wish to be produce creative work, say Mathew (left) and Moreu. |
Orr explained that the winning ideas were chosen because the brief had mentioned “global” and the ideas had the potential to make it to the international stage.
“I can see these concepts working in other countries besides Malaysia, although Tat Seng is Malaysian,” said the Australian.
Comar added that both teams had thought outside the box.
“With Tat Seng, the students had limited choice because it markets only one type of slipper; yet, the teams were able to come up with new and exciting ideas.
“They showed us that they had researched the product and explored new territories with it,” said Comar, who was previously ECD with Ogilvy in Vietnam.
Tips from the experts
After the dramatic announcement of the winners, the ECDs held a question-and-answer session with the students, providing them with tips for future endeavours.
Ng told them that time should never be an excuse for not being able to complete the task at hand.
“There have been times when I am given a brief and three hours later, had to present the concept to the client,” he said.
He commended the students on their creativity, adding that he saw a lot of good ideas during the judging session.
“The advertising world is a difficult industry to be in. If you want to make it to the top, you have to be hungry,” he said.
Lim's advice was that students should have a strong grounding in strategic thinking.
“That skill will prepare you for the challenges of the big, bad world out there,” he said.
Orr advised the workshop participants to become students of the industry.
“Get to know the famous campaigns that have made an impact. They are easily available on the Internet today. If you don’t do that, you're not serious about the business,” he said.
But, at the end of it all, Comar summed it up by telling the students that to do well, they have to love what they do.
“If you love communicating with people, you'll love the industry,” he said.
Moreu agreed and said he sees his job as a hobby, not as work - and that has kept him going through the years.
“Go into advertising because you love it, not because of the money!” said Ng, adding that the only reason people are willing to stay back in the office to work till 2am is because they love what they do.
monday
