There has been talk of the death of advertising as a new media landscape continues to evolve but is there any truth in the claiming that creativity’s best days are over?
Federico Garcia, ECD at Huge New York, defended its case at Connect London with an inspiring presentation about his experience and expectations for the medium.
“In my opinion there’s nothing further than the truth. People keep hammering on about how advertising is dying because people hate it, but I completely disagree with this notion,” explained the ECD. “What people hate is bad advertising.”
Garcia referred to classic Super Bowl spots including Pepsi’s Cindy Crawford ad, Apple’s 1984 and Budweiser Whassup? to support his argument but challenged the industry to be more consistent.
“The reason I’m mentioning all these Super Bowl spots is because I feel, at least in the US, it’s the only place where we’re really trying hard to win,” he added. “USA Today ranks the ads each year and as a creative you’re trying to win the Super Bowl, it’s the objective of every agency. But through the rest of the year, it’s like we’re not even trying.”
The Super Bowl’s equivalent in the UK is Christmas when audiences wait in anticipation for the John Lewis festive campaign to break and Garcia said that’s another example that people like advertising.
But he questioned why agencies are only trying to win big with ads that are actually good at a certain time of year? Garcia took the audience at Connect: London on a journey through his own inspirations and experiences over the years in a bid to encourage agencies to take more creative risks.
“Go down blazing. People keep are attacking advertising because they think it isn’t relevant. We need to start shooting back even if it means making enemies,” he added. Watch the full session below.