I like to look at the work that we do from the perspective of time. Not only about whether the script is better as a 15-second or a 60-second TVC. But more about whether the work can make someone give us his or her time, willingly and happily.

The whole world demands of our time. The news wants our time. Entertainment wants our time. Work wants our time. Family, friends and lovers want our time. And we want time to ourselves.

The moment we wake up from sleep, we are open to assault by phone calls, emails, conversations… We give away our time, and we take time away from others too. And somewhere and sometime in-between all of these are billboards, TV commercials, sampling booths, Facebook campaigns… This happens every minute, every hour, every day, every year.

The massive amount of information that is floating out there in real and cyber space forces us to consciously and unconsciously choose what we want to engage with, and filter out what we don’t. I believe this is how a ‘normal’ person remains ‘normal’ with our mind managing how much time we give to others. Our mind creates blind spots of things that we are exposed to everyday so as to allow for new and fresh information to be introduced into our system. Whether we retain and accept the new and fresh information is another matter.

Advertising time eats into our ‘other’ time. Advertising is part of our everyday culture. It is familiar. There is perhaps a formula that is publicly known. I believe our mind has a way to label anything resembling the known form of advertising into familiar information. So for advertising, to hopefully not be filtered out, one way is to package it in an unfamiliar form.

So I try to create work that is not like advertising whenever the opportunity presents itself. I call these useful ideas. Ideas that can be used by the targeted person to solve problems pertaining to the brand and its category. Ideas that can last longer than the duration of a campaign.

For example, toothpaste caps that turn toothpaste into cute shapes like stars and seashells to encourage kids to want to brush their teeth without much fuss. Thus helping parents deal with a daily problem.

A CSR program that tackles two problems at the same time. We gave away life vests that use empty plastic bottles for flotation to help people trapped in floods, and also to get the people to help reuse these plastic bottles to save the environment.

A pink elephant sculpture made of soap and is also a fountain to make schoolchildren in the northern region to want to wash their hands so as to prevent intestinal worms infection.

A packaging design that uses a color guide to suggest how best to cook green leafy vegetables. It helps to prevent wastage of vegetables that may not look as green as the day you bought them but are still very much edible.

And through these non-advertising advertising ideas, the brand manifests itself to the person. The idea has a relationship with the brand’s target. And because the idea is actually useful, the person spends more time engaging with it. And it sticks in the mind of the person longer because of its usefulness. It is human nature to develop a stronger bond with something or someone we have a longer relationship with.

The views expressed in this article are personal opinions and do not represent the views of the respective agency.
Source: Brands Vietnam