Creative talent gets Ideas

http://www.todayonline.com/articles/150376.asp

Business // Tuesday, October 24, 2006

New book is a rich resource for advertising professionals and industry newbies, too

Tang Li
news@newstoday.com.sg

IN TODAY'S competitive market, the greatest challenge facing creative professionals in the advertising world is arguably the search for the "killer idea" that will build a great campaign which in turn will strengthen the client's brand and seal the creative professional's reputation.
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That search may be easier now with a new book launched by the Institute of Advertising Singapore (IAS) at the annual Hall of Fame Awards recently, where Dr Lee Boon Yang, Minister of Information, Communication and the Arts, was the guest of honour.
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Aptly named "Ideas: How 16 Singapore Advertising Hotshots Create their Ideas", the book promises to be a rich resource for Singapore's creative wannabes.
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In the book, Singapore's leading talents — such as Mr Tham Khai Meng of Ogilvy & Mather, Mr Patrick Low of Young & Rubicam, Mr Ng Tian It of McCann Erickson, Ms Linda Locke of Leo Burnett and Ms Lim Sau Hong of 10AM Communications — discuss how they find the ideas that have made their work so prominent.
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"Ideas are the lifeblood of advertising. Without ideas advertising just takes up space," says Mr Palani K Pillai, chief executive of the TNBT Group and editor of Ideas.
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Mr Pillai says that he organised the book as an industry resource to help Singapore's young creative talents find an education and inspiration in order to maintain Singapore's position as a leading advertising creative centre.
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Industry observers agree with his assessment of the Singapore advertising industry and his belief that Ideas can contribute to the local industry.
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In fact, in the Gunn Report, which measures the success of media innovation and creativity, Singapore has been listed as one of the most awarded countries for print advertising.
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Mr Neil French, former world-wide creative head of the WPP group, describes Ideas as, "a book that needed to be made," while well known author, Jim Aitchison, describes the book as the "heritage'' for Singapore's aspiring creative talents.
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Mr Tham, co-chairman of Ogilvy & Mather Asia-Pacific, believes that Ideas will be an "inspiration" to industry professionals.
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"It gives permission to the kids because if these guys can do it, they too can do it," he said.
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The book is also relevant for non-industry professionals.
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As Mr Kelvin Periera, chief creative of Crush Advertising, says: "It will show them that there's logic to the madness of creativity."
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IDEAS will be available at select bookstores next week and will retail for $64.90.
New book is a rich resource for advertising professionals and industry newbies, too