Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Interesthing Sharing Week #5: Unplugged

Go go Power Rangers!

And FINALLY... our man of the hour, pants full of power, too sweet to be sour... the man, the myth, the legend... JOESCHER CHEE!

Against all odds, Joescher triumphed against six other hopefuls to emerge as Week #5's VIP (Very Interesting Person). Making the task more difficult (or easier, depending on how you look at it), this week's special theme was INTERESTING SHARING: UNPLUGGED. Yep - no Youtube, no fancy videos, no slam-bang websites, no anything with a wire connected to it!

Joescher's winning sharing? A simple exercise for kicking off any bad habits. As the story goes, a man once wore a wristband on his left hand. Every time he complained, the wristband would be changed to his other hand. His mission: to have the wristband remain on the same hand for 30 days straight; in other words, quit complaining for 30 days.

And of course, like all good motivational tales, we were challenged there and then to apply it! Like obedient children, we slapped on our wrist-slash-rubber bands and made a pledge to quit an unhealthy habit for 30 days.

"Be at office before 9.30am every day."

"100% daily efficiency!"

"Quit smoking...Haha, no lah...reach office before 9.30am every day."

We'll see, we'll see!

Other Stuff: (for office use)
Chee Chiaw shared on the Rolex Mentor & Protege Arts Initiative.
Teh shared on shapes in design.
Zen shared on belief.
Mok shared on 'which side of the car is the petrol tank' indicator.
Sharon shared on hourglass riddle.
Chin Yong shared on the Secretani project.
Current Standings: Mok 6, Joescher 3, Zen 3, Chee Chiaw 3, Teh 0, Sharon 0, Chin Yong 0.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

The Secretani Mission

Picture these, all ye faithful:

Dreary Monday morning. When suddenly...

RING RING!

"Joe, I need an ad for Garden Asia magazine!"

It was our beloved client, Zam from Secretani. (For the uninitiated, Secretani is an organic spray to enhance plant growth.)

"Ohhh-kay. When is it due?"

"Erm...tomorrow."

WAH-LAU-WEH.

Welcome to CC+J Adhaus, where creativity isn't sold in juice, but buckets.

So first things first, we gathered the brightest minds in CC+J, ahem ahem, and sat down to discuss who we wanted this ad to speak to, and how. Originally, we had planned for the complete brand identity to be defined this week, but now had to do a quick one based on gut feel and simple research.

Eventually, we narrowed the audience down to 2 groups: gardening enthusiasts who spent hours daily caring for their plants, and casual gardeners who kept a few potted plants at home just for greenery.

As the product was new and without A&P yet, it made more sense to go for the former group. The ones who would actually seek out the best fertilisers for their plants, and understood the joy of seeing them bloom.

And of course, what did this group want to hear most? 'Enhanced plant growth' was a powerful proposition, but difficult to convey in a print ad without credible facts to back up. 'Convenience' was too flimsy as well; hardcore plant lovers wouldn't mind if they had to move mountains for lovelier plants.

As we probed deeper, the answer became apparent enough: what users really wanted was a natural, safer alternative to common fertilisers. By sharply highlighting the contrast between the organic and synthetic, here's the final ad we came up with:


And all's well ends well... The client loved it! Another day saved, by the CC+J team. =p