Hello Again

Okay, so right after I announce a hiatus, I actually know what to write about. These bursts of inspirations are so unpredictable. 1 month of no blogging! That's a track record I got there. Here goes:

There's something about music that we all love.

I for one, enjoy it to a passion so strong, that if music ceased to exist, I might just jump off KL Tower.

What I love so much about music, is the emotion that each note conveys.

Listen to angry music, and you'll probably feel motivated to hit someone.

Listen to happy music, and your mood lifts up a little.

Don't you find it amazing how well music affects us all so easily?

We're talking about emotions, in people, the most difficult part of the human mind to manipulate.

You can't make people feel happy, sad, or angry.

It comes of free will.

But music, good music, pulls it off so easily.

Come to think of it, music and writing are actually quite similar.

I said similar, not the same.

Think about it, like I said, when you hear happy music, your mood lifts up a little.

Likewise with writing, a good author can evoke feelings that the reader wouldn't be feeling before the person reads his/her piece.

Remember the time you read Harry Potter? If you haven't read the book you seriously need to go dig a hole.

Now tell me, even if you didn't cry about it, that you weren't sad or outraged when Sirius died?

Or when Dumbledore died?

Okay so maybe you wanted them to die (if you did, I hate you), don't tell me you didn't at least have a burst of "YES NOW THEY'RE BOTH GONE! YOU DIE NOW POTTER! LONG LIVE THE DARK LORD! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" sort of feeling? (you evil, evil person)

See, before hearing the melody, or reading the story,

People don't care.

I mean, why would they?

Why should they read or listen to something that has nothing to do with them?

We're all selfish by nature, when it all comes down to it.

So what makes us want to read? Or to listen to the music people make?

My guess is, that whatever was produced is powerful enough to make people love it.

Enough to catch their attention, and hold it, for hundreds of years.

This actually relates to advertising, in a strange way.

Or maybe not so strange.

The way I see it, advertising is pretty much fighting for that kind of attention people give music and stories.

A great ad, can actually make people on the street stop, and stare for a very very long time.

And do more than staring.

The ad would hit them right in the gut.

Mess up their emotions.

Make them happy, angry or sad.

They'd actually want to find out what it's all about,

Be able to relate to the ad, whatever it's selling.

Generate some sort of hype over the product,

And we're sold.

And what would make the ad even better?

The very fact that out of billions of ads created, it can still be remembered for years to come.

That's what I think.

How do we achieve that?

At the moment, I really can't answer this.

My time in the industry hasn't been long enough.

I say give it maybe a few years.

Then I'll come back to you on this.

From What I've Learned

Okay so I've jumped ship.

The Account Executive turned into a Copywriter.

It's like trading my office skirt for a pair of jeans.

Not that I'm complaining.

It was a personal decision entirely.

The reason?

I'm not telling here.

So far in a month, I've actually learned a lot.

In my 2 weeks as an Account Executive,

I've learned courage,

Strength,

And the fact that you need to smile all the time.

Act like nothing's wrong.

Even after you got screwed really badly by your boss/client.

That, needs a lot of strength.

So now I'm a copywriter -in-training.

Now this, this is a whole new ball game.

You're talking to more than your client, your boss, and everyone else in the agency.

You're talking to almost everyone on the face of the Earth.

You're fighting with 100 million something advertisers on this planet,

Along with other forms of mass media,

Movies, Drama serials, News... And a whole lot more.

Just to grab the attention of not just one, but at least a million people.

That takes creativity.

With that, comes insanity.

So let's see how this goes.

What Works For You

Back when I was in primary school,

I was about.... 9 to 11 years old.

I remember I was asked many times by the people around me,

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

I said, a teacher.

That was because my mum was a teacher.

Also because at the time, the people I looked up to were teachers.

Coming from a Chinese school,

we were taught to respect our teachers at all times.

We were made to bow to them in respect.

If you didn't bow, you'd get a whacking.

At least, that was how it was in my school.

Then I went to secondary school.

My perception changed.

We got the shittiest teachers on earth.

Teachers that pissed me off.

So that killed my interest then and there.

I decided to become a zoologist.

Because I love animals.

Then I discovered I had no interest in science (the biological science).

So I thought of becoming a psychologist.

Then my relatives discouraged me in a fear that I would go mad within a year.

It was years before I discovered how stupid I was to believe them.

Then I thought, why not be a professional violinist?

I mean, my entire family was filled with musicians,

Starting from my great grandpa (he was an opera singer as well as a lion dancer).

Besides, I loved playing my violin.

But then dad discouraged me.

Because he'd seen how long the professionals practiced, and I wasn't even up to par.

7 freaking hours. I could only manage 5.

I wasn't even that good.

I knew where my limits were.

If I wanted to be good, I had to go to Vienna.

So I thought, why not go into design?

I could draw well.

I had... Ideas.

Being naive back then, I had no idea how hard it was to come up with a good design.

So mum suggested I take an advertising course.

At least I had a hand in everything.

So I could decide on which aspect to go into, as I pleased.

I've never regretted that decision. Not even once.

Because as I learned I discovered so much more.

It takes more than drawing and ideas to make a good design.

It's much more challenging.

Advertising, though it may seem glamorous to some,

Isn't as glamorous as it seems.

You do get the glamor.

But you get a whole lot of hard work to go along with it.

And dammit, you work hard.

unless you want to be stuck as a junior for the rest of your career.

I can't say I've had very much experience in the advertising world,

But I can say I've seen enough to know how it is.

So I have found my passion.

I will work to get that scholarship to Australia, or England (I still can't decide).

I will work to get myself an advertising job in New York.

And that's where I'll be.

So for those of you who still haven't decided on what you want to do,

Find your passion.

Everyone has one.

You just need to know more,

to research.

Find out what works for you.

A Little Something for the Boys

Now this is hot.

After a long Hiatus

Hello all!

It's been awhile. Blame my lack of updates on assignments and exams. However the good news is, I'm now free!!! I've decided to take the time off to get in touch with my music (or rather get reacquainted), considering how long it's been since I last touched my violin. And to reflect on what I really want to do in advertising. Next semester have to choose electives liao, so yeah. It's been a semester filled with all sorts of drama which I will not speak off here, but thankfully, it's over. :)

Oh yes, and I broke my record. 3 DAYS OF NO SLEEP! Okaylah I slept a few hours in the afternoon, but trust me, it wasn't enough. On the 3rd day I could barely think and I had to complete an individual assignment.

One good thing about this semester is that I've grown... Somewhat (I so feel like laughing at myself now). I never knew that there was so much more to advertising than what I learned in the past few semester. Advertising (especially the creative aspect) is HARD. It's not the execution part of it all. It's the formation of it. Execution-wise, every Tom, Dick and Harry can do lah, to be honest. But good ads don't work that way.

This semester was an eye-opener.

And I have my lecturers: Margaret Chew and Alicia Chong to thank for that. Despite the times that I've whined incessantly about how hard the assignments all were, I believe I did learn something from the both of you. I don't think you'll ever read this, but I still want to say a heartfelt thank you to the both of you.

This is an ad that will never ever be shown in Malaysia (Malaysians, we all know why...)

Personally, I feel that Bruno Aveillan (the director of this ad) is a genius. I absolutely love his work. The concept of this ad is clearly seen, and beautifully executed. Now if only we could make more ads like these...

Beware of the Bear

HAHA... XD

Good form of advertising, don't you think?

A Japanese Advert

I tell you, I can never remember the name of the product of this ad even though I've seen it so many times. It's what we call vampire creativity, an ad that is so creative, that you cannot remember the brand name at all. This ad won the "Golden Pencil Award". According to my lecturer, this is the ultimate award that a copywriter can wish to achieve.

So, tell me what was your first impression of the ad, and... can you still remember the brand name after watching it? :)

It's a Big Ad Indeed.

I saw this ad a few days ago in class. Not sure if you guys have seen it, but personally, I feel it's really creative. Apparently, after the launch of this ad, the sales of Carlton Draught rose. It was really bold of the advertisers and the company to choose such an unconventional way of launching a beer ad, considering that your average beer ad does not involve millions of people running around and singing.

Death of Another Genius

Yasmin Ahmad, may she rest in peace, has passed away at 11.25 pm on June 26 2009. Yasmin, 51, collapsed while presenting a working paper at Sri Pentas, the headquarters of the television station TV3 on Thursday and was rushed to the Damansara Specialists Hospital. It is reported that she suffered from a stroke and brain hemorrhage.

I was utterly shocked when hearing the news. She was at the prime of her life, heck, the prime of her career. I loved her works - Sepet, Gubra and Muallaf, just to name a few. Her advertisements were nothing to sneeze at either. They are some of the most creative Malaysian ads I have ever seen, and good Malaysian ads are very hard to come across. She orchestrated the adorable and endearing "Percintaan Tan Hong Ming".



I admire her, I truly do. Goodbye, Yasmin Ahmad, may you rest in peace.