Private View: And then the client said...

In Private View, we ask two creative leaders to comment on recent work from around the region.

This month's participants:

• Harry Llufrio, executive creative director and partner, Asia, AnalogFolk (left)
• Xuan Pham, creative group head, Fred & Farid Shanghai (right)

Opening remarks:

• Llufrio: N/A
• Pham: It’s fun to fantasise about how competitors sell their ideas to clients. Let’s imagine how they pitched these campaigns.

1. #MakeTheMostOfNow
Client: Vodafone India
Agency: Team Ogilvy

Llufrio: It’s interesting to imagine how different this Goa trip might have been 35 years ago. Highlighting the traveller’s dependence on his daughter and his mobile device is a nice touch. But how is he so good with technology yet terrible at recalling key milestones such as his honeymoon?

Pham:

Agency: Recently, my parents got their first mobile. It’s not a smartphone but if it was, I’m sure they’d use video-calls, maps, live-streaming and holograms. So we follow an elderly couple on a trip making the most of it with Vodafone.
Client: How will it appeal to a younger audience?
A: Matching hats, and they’ll ride a motorbike.

2. The extendables
Client: Four Seasons Condoms
Agency: Marcel Sydney and Paris

Llufrio: I just had a flashback of being sent to cut the grass as a kid after Sunday lunch, on my own. I’ve always admired the tenacity condom brands have in Oz. They are always blatantly direct, and/or extremely playful. This is clearly a bit of both.

Pham:

Agency, delivering the most epic speech: The time has come to save frustrated parents from their evil kids. We have the tool to save their sex lives!
C: Can I have a beta version after this meeting?
A: *does weird thumbs-up and cheesy smile*

Campaign's take: Hey, kids, watch this while mommy and daddy go...

3. I got next
Client: Nike China
Agency: Wieden+Kennedy Shanghai

Llufrio: I love it when an advert doesn’t feel like an advert, but instead more like a piece of entertainment. This is a great example. It contains so many nice touches, from the ever-changing skilful moves of the players to the constant buildup of the competition, and especially the game graphics, the nightmare scene and subtle but enhancing sound effects. Like!

Pham:

A: We’d like to make a film full of attitude. Something cool, swag style.
C: Will it be inspiring, fun and energetic?
A: We’d like to make an inspiring film full of attitude. Something cool, swag style, fun, energetic.

Campaign's take: Height-challenged ballers prove fearless in new Nike spot for China

4. Do what you can’t (The Ostrich)
Client: Samsung
Agency: Leo Burnett

Llufrio: You can’t go wrong using a classic soundtrack and bringing its lyrics to life with an aspirational ostrich. Samsung brilliantly conveys its philosophy of breaking boundaries with a flightless bird achieving the impossible, with a little help from technology. The execution is spotless. You’re not thinking ‘nice CGI’, just believing every bit of it. Quality.

Pham:

A: We open with an ostrich wearing a VR headset. Some pigs are flying in the background, something really emotional. Then the ostrich starts to…
C: Brilliant. Just remove the pigs; our target audience only like ostriches.

Campaign's take: Samsung underscores #dowhatyoucant brand strategy with new global ad for S8 Galaxy

5. Green light run Tokyo
Client: Adidas Japan
Agency: TBWA Hakuhodo

Llufrio: A clever concept based on an interesting insight around the number of red lights in Tokyo and the obstacles they are for urban runners. Challenging runners to complete the distance uninterrupted is very cool. I love how the music subtly changes when they run past a manga fan.

Pham:

C: I want something that’s never been done before.
A: It’s a marathon where runners are connected to the traffic lights …
C: Do you have an example of a brand that’s done that? We must make sure the technology exists.