Activate Japan

When I first heard that I was being posted in Japan all of my creative colleagues said, “Wow, how exciting…you get to go where the creativity is so fresh…I wish I was going there!” Well that creative perception of Japan has all but evaporated now. What has happened to creativity in Japan’s advertising? Where has it gone? Over the past several years there has been a lot of finger pointing… Who is to blame? Of course the easiest target is the economy…sales are dropping and the competition is becoming more fierce… ”Our communication must work harder!” is the most bantered about rallying cry. Some creators blame the 15-second format…the sacred reach and frequency must be maintained… I admit I find that challenging too. Where is the excuse for our press advertising’s demise? Some agencies blame the pool of available creative talent. One interesting fact…this is the only country where there is not a creative “Hot Shop” as we call them in the West… I’ll come back to this one later. I like this one and I have some sympathy for this excuse… Japan is different…That is why we can’t win a Cannes… and globally. Then there are those who say our work is so popular in Japan...it works at home…I question that… Tokoro Jogi was used in over 26 different advertisements since I arrived, maybe more…they are all popular… Did he enhance the brands that he endorsed, do you remember the brand, did he set the brand apart from the competition…? I think the only thing he may have accomplished is make the brand “shitashi mi yasui.” Have we just become lazy? I have seen internal creative reviews where everyone begins with, who should we use as the spokesperson? Yikes…imagine losing a pitch because the celebrity that the competitive agency suggested was like better by the client…what was the idea? We don’t have one yet…whoops. That’s enough excuses to tackle in one blog. Let me try to answer some of these criticisms and although many may disagree with my solutions I will offer some… Ok let’s start with the economy… Yes it’s true clients are becoming more timid and less likely to focus on one selling message in a TVC since the media time costs so much. Since one of BBDO’s founders developed the idea of “brainstorming” in the late 1930s business has been trying to wed creativity to commerce. Unfortunately the very nature of business tends to stifle creativity as the very competition it fosters establishes one of the biggest blocks: the fear of making a mistake. But the economy is bad almost everywhere you look and creativity is flourishing in some of the most unexpected places like Brazil, Thailand, Portugal, even Russia is starting to show signs that creativity in advertising is alive and well…somewhere. 15 second discipline. Also reach versus quality of reach…a great idea can certainly live in a 15 second format…I also think fewer 30 second spots with a strong idea is worth more than twice as many 15 second spots with no idea! Lack of creative talent. There are plenty of good creators at production houses but they could not create to a strategy if they had to…in fact they don’t have to. Many production house creators just won’t create to a sound strategy…they believe that it would spoil the opportunity to be creative…it would be too difficult. Anyway they are not responsible ten months down the road when the competition has overtaken a brand’s positioning and precious share points! Japan is different…we can’t win at Cannes This is true everywhere…Brazil and Thailand’s best work could not win at Cannes but it works phenomenally well at home Well at last year’s ACCJ awards I didn’t even see good work worthy of winning awards here at home! I do feel strongly that Japan can win at Cannes…if we go back to where it was in the 80’s. The spots during the 80’s were refreshing and memorable…perhaps Japanese creatives should go Retro.