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Lord Leverhulme famously lamented half his advertising was wasted. He didn’t know when he was well off. André Laurentino, the multi-award winning Brazilian who heads the 2011 Loerie TV and radio jury, says the no-go factor is more like 90%. “Only 5% to 10% of the advertising we see on everyday TV is really outstanding,” he says in an email interview before his arrival for the judging next week.
It’s no coincidence most award shows also give accolades to only the top 5% to 10%. It seems 90% of it still relies on trite stories that go immediately unnoticed because they’ve become clichés.
So is television still the glamour medium for advertisers?
“Yes and no,” says Laurentino (Dedé to his friends). Yes, because TV is a very good medium for narrative, like cinema. No, because it can no longer work alone. “TV has reinvented itself with the drama series. Some of them are better than big Hollywood films. Advertising is trying longer formats – for the creative freedom they allow. The web is a great place for those productions to live in. Think of the impact of the BMW films. That kind of narrative power is pure gold. Is it TV, a YouTube channel, cinema, an iAd?”
That indeed is key to understanding Laurentino’s attitude towards TV. He says the secret of good TV advertising is “not being just TV advertising”. Single-channel marketing is dead, he clearly feels. Virtually every ad will combine channels: TV with outdoor, radio with print, Internet with everything. The strongest influence of the web isn’t seen in the style of advertising but rather “in how they operate together. And together is the key word here”.
Laurentino agrees radio tends to be a neglected medium by advertisers, which harms quality but offers opportunity. “My first job in advertising was writing spots at a radio station for clients who were too small to have agencies. I must say my production then was far from good. But I’m proud to say that, 18 years later – when I quit being an art director to become a copywriter – I got a national silver medal for a radio spot. And last year we won Brazil’s first gold Cannes Lion for radio ever.”
Laurentino, a successful novelist, sitcom writer and executive creative director at TBWA London, comes out of the wave of creative achievement that has engulfed South America – particularly Brazil – over recent years. But it wasn’t an overnight success, he says. “The big difference is the world is now paying attention. But it has been going on for a while. South America is full of creativity and advertising is yet another way for it to show.”
It’s no coincidence most award shows also give accolades to only the top 5% to 10%. It seems 90% of it still relies on trite stories that go immediately unnoticed because they’ve become clichés.
So is television still the glamour medium for advertisers?
“Yes and no,” says Laurentino (Dedé to his friends). Yes, because TV is a very good medium for narrative, like cinema. No, because it can no longer work alone. “TV has reinvented itself with the drama series. Some of them are better than big Hollywood films. Advertising is trying longer formats – for the creative freedom they allow. The web is a great place for those productions to live in. Think of the impact of the BMW films. That kind of narrative power is pure gold. Is it TV, a YouTube channel, cinema, an iAd?”
That indeed is key to understanding Laurentino’s attitude towards TV. He says the secret of good TV advertising is “not being just TV advertising”. Single-channel marketing is dead, he clearly feels. Virtually every ad will combine channels: TV with outdoor, radio with print, Internet with everything. The strongest influence of the web isn’t seen in the style of advertising but rather “in how they operate together. And together is the key word here”.
Laurentino agrees radio tends to be a neglected medium by advertisers, which harms quality but offers opportunity. “My first job in advertising was writing spots at a radio station for clients who were too small to have agencies. I must say my production then was far from good. But I’m proud to say that, 18 years later – when I quit being an art director to become a copywriter – I got a national silver medal for a radio spot. And last year we won Brazil’s first gold Cannes Lion for radio ever.”
Laurentino, a successful novelist, sitcom writer and executive creative director at TBWA London, comes out of the wave of creative achievement that has engulfed South America – particularly Brazil – over recent years. But it wasn’t an overnight success, he says. “The big difference is the world is now paying attention. But it has been going on for a while. South America is full of creativity and advertising is yet another way for it to show.”
