We need higher standards

At the 1993 Cannes Film Festival, Canada finished with a ranking lower than Switzerland and Portugal. Think about that for a second and you’ll probably agree this is a problem. Either Canadian creative standards have dropped, or every other country’s standards have risen and we’re not keeping pace.

Is there a solution?

Is there a solution? I’m not sure. But perhaps, if we look at the causes there may be. First of all, the reason why I’m talking about creative is because that’s the most visible thing we do in advertising. The end result of planning, research and hopefully an insight is an advertisement or a campaign. And Canada’s commercials have been judged to be not as good as everyone else’s in credible world competitions, for a long time and on a fairly consistent basis.

At this point, one should keep in mind that the problem doesn’t have a lot to do with production values. We have, in my opinion, some of the best production people and facilities in the world. If world competitions – like Cannes – were judged on production values alone, I’m certain Canada would do reasonably well.

But they’re not. Competitions are usually judged on ideas first and executions second. Ideas are the key.

The lack of real insight. The lack of strong, original, persuasive ideas, in my opinion, is the root cause of why Canadian television advertising is not world-class. And nowhere was this more evident than after watching some 800 commercials during the Bessies judging.

There were, of course, many trends and formulas, disguised as ideas. For example, the I-had-a-pot-full-of-money-but-no-idea spots; the aren’t-I-clever spots; the let’s-bore-people-to-death-through-psychographics spots (ironically, these commercials were entered by an agency that has publicly put down creativity and award shows in the press); the I’ve-got-it! Let’s-use-real-people spots; and a new trend in Canada, one that was started in Minneapolis about 10 years ago, the need-a-blank-question-mark spots (need a new twin? need an idea?)

Simple criteria

The Bessies judging, for the most part, seemed to be based on some fairly simple criteria: Is it creative? Is it relevant? Does it sell? And in the end, despite having to wade through a lot of awful stuff, the Bessies turned out to be not a bad show. There may even be a few world-class commercials in there. But there was no indication that Canadian creative standards as a whole are any higher today than they were a year ago.

To be fair, clients are playing it safe, more so these days than ever. As well, the increasingly pc Canadian marketplace is a difficult place for agencies to create relevant communications aimed at a specific target group (letters, we get letters).

But despite these things, creative standards can be raised if we stop putting style before substance and craft before idea. If we realize that if it’s been done before, that’s a pretty good reason not to do it again. And if we return to the basic tenets of our business, namely, a commercial has got to be creative in order to be noticed; it’s got to be relevant in order to be taken seriously; and it’s got to sell.

Because, if we as an industry don’t become more seriously committed to raising our standards, our business will continue to erode. Clients will continue to seek out alternative marketing methods, other types of marketing advice and quite possibly, better, more focused, idea-driven agencies. Even if they are located in London, New York, Minneapolis, San Francisco, or for that matter Switzerland and Portugal.

peter holmes is creative director of Holmes Donin Alloul Marketing and Communications, a new Canadian agency, located in Toronto’s Yorkville district, that recently rose out of the ashes of Franklin Dallas.

Holmes was involved in the launch of Sears Club and Air Miles, as well as the new Tilden Rent-A-Car ‘drive something better’ positioning. And Holmes was creative director on the winsome Tourism P.E.I. campaign.