Death Penalty? With Compliments of Kent!

You know the bad habit the Sri Lankan suppliers have – in printing their name bigger than the actual message on every signboard or display they produce? Like “Solex” in huge letters and “STOP - Police Check Point” in tiny letters? Some companies do these signs for free to get some visibility (cleverly disguised as CSR) while the others get paid for the job and still print their name in huge letters so that my grandmother could read it from a distance without her glasses.

I couldn’t help but crack-up when I saw the epitome of this stupid habit: a signboard on the wall behind the immigration counters at the Colombo International Airport reads something like this:

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WARNING!

Drug Trafficking is Punishable by Death

With Compliments of Kent

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More thoughts on signage sponsorship here.

Advertising that Sails...

I saw this picture on the left on Ramesh De Silva’s blog. Simple idea, very nicely done, to promote a nearby café. It doesn’t deserve a Chilli like the comment says, for it is an original!

Then I saw the one on the right – a Rockland Rum ad in the Serendib Magazine – typical Chilli material.

The ad tries to emulate a good trend, but the graphics are poorly executed. No finesse, the lines look very rough and rugged. Logo slapped on in the middle of nowhere, as if the art director was running out the room for a loo break. No time to think, no time craft the ad.

Best of all, is the slogan: “You’ll find no other Rum like ‘dis on ’de earth.”

WTF?

People from all over the world read Serendib, and they are claiming that there’s no other Rum like this on the earth? Who are they trying to fool? Did the agency think that travellers on-board SriLankan airlines have never heard of other brands of fine rums such as Cruzan for example? Or Bacardi or Malibu at least? It’s not what the slogan says but what it means that matters.

Right now, Rocklands are looking stupid in front of the globe trotters who fly SriLankan, thanks to an agency that writes lines for the sake of revering a brand with no evidence to prove it’s obviously false claim.

And the Chilli goes to..?

Sanga’s Sixer to Hutch...

Sangakkara switches from Hutch to Airtel. His fans are disappointed, they think Sanga was unethical and he has let them down.

They blame Sanga.

Sanga has not breached the contract he signed with Hutch or its ad agency. The contact expires and a cleverer agency negotiates a deal that discriminated the old brand he was representing. It may be unethical on Sanga’s part (I didn’t think sleeping with the enemy was that easy); but it is definitely not illegal. I’m sure he must have asked for a huge lump sum to say what he says about the old brand.

It is the agency’s responsibility to negotiate fees with celebrities – and they draft the contracts – usually with a certain amount of exclusivity to protect the brands. Ideally, the exclusivity prevents the celebrity from endorsing the competition a for couple of years, even after the expiry of the contract. There is a silly mistake agencies tend to make while negotiating: they tend to encourage less exclusivity so that they could pay the celebrity much less than they’d demand. More conditions cost more money, so they think it is best to stick to a basic agreement that doesn’t cover much, and cost much.

Agencies think that they are doing a great big favour to the client by offering a celebrity for an ‘affordable’ price-tag. Think cheap and act cheap – and it is sure to cheapen the brand in the long run.

Ad agencies should learn to pay the celebrities what they are worth. It is the agency’s sole responsibility to protect the brand with an air-tight contract, they should not also forget that the more money they pay the celebrity, the more commission they are going to make.

Our agencies should learn more on how to handle the models and brand ambassadors. They need to learn how to draw model releases and exclusive contracts. This is not the first time a celebrity takes a brand for a ride; the agencies are the brand guardians – they must know how to protect their brands.

Hutch is paying the price today for some account manager’s stupidity and short-sightedness, while the fans blame Sangakkara for for being unethical in business.

I’d say it’s the ad agency that’s to be blamed for this mess and if I were Hutch, I would fire the agency, on the spot.