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Changes made after execution account for a huge percentage of wasted budgets
In our years of experience we have noticed that advertisers who make multiple changes to their work invariably end up in a situation where costs skyrocket, and their end result is poor. With a little communication and forward planning most of these changes would have been avoided.

When the goalposts are moved
Some changes are inevitable and nobody is able to foresee every possible circumstance. The trick is to know how to change the game when the goalposts have been moved. This means reconsulting with all parties and altering the brief to take account of new information.

Understanding everyone's role
Avoiding these changes requires an understanding and appreciation of everyone’s role in the process. Would you tell your electrician which cables to use - make him pull them out and replace them over and over?

Successful businessmen like Sir Richard Branson have realised that although they are the leaders of their companies they don’t need to prove it at every level of the business. They simply set directions (their vision) and leave the getting there to those they entrust to do the job. Sure those employees are made accountable, as they should be. But they are also rewarded and encouraged to feel as though they are in a partnership which respects their contribution.

Loss of incentive
When a service provider like an agency is made to do exactly as told, and are no longer respected as a partner in the client’s success, they very quickly lose incentive. The employees of the agency stop bothering to think a task through or to invest energetic thought into it because they expect the client to change their work anyway. They become much more unproductive and a vicious cycle is begun.

Having worked in numerous agencies, large and small, over the past 36 years I have seen this first hand at every one of them.

Experience is the benchmark
Part of the problem lies in the fact that anybody can buy a computer and some desktop publishing programs and call themselves an advertising agency.

The only true test of an agency is in its experience. Experience in this business can only be measured by time in the field and variety of products or services handled.

Speed dating pitches

Selecting your agency on the result of a hastily produced one-off pitch idea
You wouldn't choose your marriage partner on the basis of a speed dating session but some clients choose their agency on what they can come up with after a couple of quick meetings and a single paragraph of brief.

I don't pretend to have the answer to the dilemma of finding an appropriate agency and I realise that marriage is a slightly more important endeavour but something more satisfying to all partners is required. Got any ideas? Leave a comment.

Spelling trouble for business

Don't send me your resumé with a speling error in it - it'll go strait into the bin!
It seems that in these days of SMS messaging many people have become increasingly careless about correct spelling and punctuation. A simple thing such as proofreading material for publication is clearly too time consuming for some. Lately I've seen glaring errors in newspapers, magazines, advertisements and especially emails.

Professional people who have not taken the care to ensure that their communications are carefully checked show a disregard that I fear is a reflection of their business dealings. If their attention to punctuation and other details is so poor, how can I trust them to do the job correctly? It would probably be rushed and perfunctory with no attention to detail. I would even prefer not to trade with this person.

Professional writers make mistakes and overlook the odd typo, but it's a simple thing to take the time to re-read and edit your writing. If not, then you could be missing out on customers.

Holden ads disprove Olympics tie-in value

Holden and Ford ads come out on top despite ignoring the Olympics

During the Beijing Olympics you would have seen a plethora of ads using a tie-in to the event as a tool to garner brand support. But does this actually work? A new study has shown that consumers may be turning a blind eye to sponsorship messages.

According to the Courier Mail "Results from the inaugural Ipsos ASI Olympics Advertising Study show that using the Olympics as an advertising theme to gain attention and engage the audience was no sure-fire approach for advertisers and brands to get a positive response from viewers." 

The study researched 1500 consumers who awarded Holden 'Best of Category' for its Sportswagon ads, Ford came in second with its Falcon ANCAP Safety ad and Holden came in third with its Commodore ad. None of these top three carried any mention of the Olympics. The study measured audience reach, advertising awareness and recognition, impact on consumers, relevance and persuasion.

Seems that gimmicks are no substitute for quality advertising.

Seen & Noted

Here are some nice ads we've noticed. Some show the continuation of the trend towards little or no copy, others are examples of great use of environment and thinking outside of the square.

Hi, I'm a PC ad

Microsoft hits back

Seen the Mac ads where a nerdy guy represents a PC and a hip guy represents a Mac? You probably know that Microsoft has been stung by the success of this famous Mac campaign. So much so, it seems, that they've countered with a new series of TV and online ads.

The new ads have two parts. The first campaign shows numerous people announcing "I'm a PC" and reveal the widespread diversity of PC usage. Not a bad effort, I think, but they lack the sense of humour and directness of the Mac originals, and they don't really tell anybody anything they didn't already know about PCs.

The second campaign is just downright weird. It pairs retired Microsoft founder Bill Gates and comedian Jerry Seinfeld in a series of suburban vignettes that seem to meander all over the place. In some, it takes over 3 minutes of unfunny Seinfeld-esque interplay about nothing before finally reaching its point, which is "PC - Perpetually Connecting". Beats me what it does for the brand and, worst of all, it's just plain boring.

Breaking out for MacArthur Central

Our new photo shoot for MacArthur Central is the cat's whiskers

While rival CBD shopping centres battle it out for attention, a smaller nearby centre, MacArthur Central, has struggled to be noticed. Marketing manager, Kelli Robertson, asked Black Eye to create a stronger public profile for this unique multi-use centre.

Our campaign required a new photo shoot to support our positioning statement "For whoever you are today".  Part of the campaign is focused on the quality fashion retailers in Edward Street, and uses a deliberately tongue in cheek poster aimed at our larger rival's use of animals in their marketing.

More images from the campaign can be seen here.