So, what do we do about all the copycat at advertising awards?

Cap48 or do an ideal homage

It occurs yearly, at a number of promoting awards – from the Dubai Lynx to the Cannes Lions to each different conceivable and possible awards pageant: Copycats. Funnily, Cannes Lions usually finally ends up giving awards to copycat adverts it already gave awards to prior to now. Joe La Pompe, the specialist in recognizing such adverts as soon as gave a convention in Lebanon and in it he quizzed the viewers about a picture in his presentation – that of smiling infants. Naji Boulos discovered the which means (and gained Joe’s ebook!) as to what it meant: The artistic persons are too younger to determine that the idea has already been completed.

And contemplating the artistic folks find yourself being a bit older and turning into a part of Cannes Lions (or different such festivals!) jury members they bring about their amnesia with them, and bingo – find yourself rewarding adverts with out figuring out they have been completed earlier than.

Additionally, again in 2002 – which is an eternity – we used to get, consider it or not, together with the briefs samples of what the competitors has completed so as to not fall into the lure of repeating what was completed. Typically, it’s luck that saves you – a financial institution took so lengthy to approve an idea in order that the day they permitted it, and getting back from the assembly, seems one other financial institution had already completed the concept and was plastering it throughout city (if you wish to know what the concept was, it was merely a Lebanese coin  – the five hundred liras! – tied to a ribbon a pinned to a jacket). One other instance? A distinct consumer – an automotive large – additionally took time to approve an idea when the Greenback to Euro was fluctuating, so I proposed a line “our costs are $tabl⟨€⟩” the following day the city’s most luxurious store had within the newspaper an advert that stated “$al⟨€⟩”. Certain it is perhaps a case of “nice minds suppose alike” or as the remainder of the proverb goes “and fools seldom differ” (please examine my enjoyable take right here).

However once more, aside from businesses and juries who’re too younger to know the adverts occurred prior, and aside from businesses who not have analysis division due to cost-cutting or integration or no matter different cause, and aside from pure sheer dishonesty of which too many ego-filled advert persons are identified for (on the artistic, consumer servicing, advertising or consumer aspect, briefs equivalent to “I would like an advert that appears like this one” are far too widespread reality be instructed!) – the explanations are simply too many and sadly too far rooted inside the business.

So the place can we go from right here? The simplest approach is to say that “imitation is an indication of flattery” or “that is an thought whose time has come” (I noticed that in a plagiarism symposium the place a 30 second tvc was copied body per body and the particular person presenting the convention – from a really reputed native company no much less – was nonetheless satisfied that “it was an thought whose time has come”) to “eh w chou fiya?” (yeah so what) as a neighborhood Lebanese advert man as soon as bluntly instructed me (he’s identified for nicking virtually all his ideas from different worldwide businesses – or worse the portfolio of college college students!)… However all of those are simply us hiding behind our finger.

At promoting awards we must always know higher. A few of us – Joe La Pompe, myself, others as properly, we attempt to pinpoint the originals both from our archives or our reminiscence. Additionally, simply to be clear, you can’t copyright an thought, what you possibly can copyright and defend is the execution of the concept (After all, some folks copy the executions and legal guidelines be damned!). Small notice although, we should not confuse copycats with homage as within the glorious case above of Cap48 which neatly performed on the improbable Eva Herzigova Wonderbra “look me within the eyes. I stated the eyes” (unique right here) to help Cap48 which battles towards incapacity in Belgium (right here) utilizing disabled mannequin Tanja Kiewitz who’s lacking a limb and which provides the headline a very completely different which means.

Or maybe, the easiest way is – if you cannot beat them, be part of them as Rosa Parks Paris did for its consumer Grand Frais – which was copied by Monoprix in Doha in Qatar – and you’ll see the comparative of the 2 adverts right here… So what did Rosa Parks Paris do for its consumer? It subtle the advert emblem free in order for the opposite manufacturers to take it and insert their very own emblem with out the trouble harnessing a number of free adverts for Grand Frais and replying to the entire challenge neatly and with a number of humor…

Properly, now that is a marketing campaign price a number of awards.