Andy Greenaway
This was my very first job when I joined Ogilvy Singapore in 1998. Around fourteen ads were created over three years. These are my favourite two.
This was world's most awarded poster in 2003. The worldwide editor of The Economist said it was the best ad they'd ever done. I'm not sure the great David Abbott would entirely agree with that assertion.
There were a lot of people involved in this campaign. It came through one of my CDs who was an evangelical preacher. Twelve Churches came together to spread His word to the general public. One million dollars was put behind the media. It caused a stir in Singapore where religious harmony is taken very seriously. The government banned the Print campaign. But still allowed us to run Outdoor. Bizarre. Over thirty ads were created and I contributed a fair few lines. The team originally wanted to put the headlines black on a white background. It didn't work for me. It didn't feel like God. White words (light) coming out of the darkness seemed better. More enlightening, perhaps.
This started out as a guerilla marketing campaign before guerilla marketing campaigns existed. We hired 50 students across Singapore to place empty KFC bags alongside Ronald the Clown. MacDonald's staff soon came out to clear the bags. But as soon as they disappeared back inside the restaurant, our students placed another empty bag next to Ronnie's foot. It became a game of cat and mouse. We eventually turned the idea into a poster. No words. No explanation. Just a simple yet powerful image that told a story.
We were approached by a charity called Sanrakshan. They had a lot of free newspaper and magazine space from the SPH Group, Singapore's leading news organization. So we thought, how do you take an old medium like print and make it more interruptive? So we decided to make print digital. The response has been overwhelming.
This was a campaign I worked on while I was at Saatchi & Saatchi. The client loved the idea and we were given a shoe string budget to use a combination of stock images and studio shots. The final result was awful. I said to the Art Director, call in a favour. He did. Down in New Zealand. The photographer did an amazing job. And he got great business as a result of our big win at Cannes.
I wrote these headlines in twenty minutes while lying on a couch, with the TV on, drifting in and out of sleep, while recovering from a hangover. It's amazing how your mind can work wonders when it sits right in the middle of coma and consciousness. Pei Pei Ng was the Art Director. And John Klang the photographer. I've seen anyone make tiles look so interesting.
Nike had been given permission to brand the National Parks in Singapore. We went for a walk around the East Coast Parkway and spotted a part of a running track that had been closed off for maintenance work. It led to a beautiful idea. We were rewarded with a Gold at the One Show.
I'm a big believer in witty, compelling copy. I wrote this headline for Outward Bound in Hong Kong. It's a thought that captures their philosophy wonderfully. You go in with doubts. You come out with confidence.
This was my first major advertising campaign. The executions above are just a sample. It was a fully integrated campaign with TV, Outdoor (the examples above), Print, PR and Direct Marketing. It was a huge success. Their market share went from 3.5% to 12% in just six months. It won awards all over the place. And our client, the Post Master General, was promoted to a Ministry position on the back of the campaign's success.